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GLANCES AT EUROPE^ 
 
 (^■■^./■/■>^ 
 
 txits nf ICtttera*' 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, ITALY, SWITZERLAND, So. 
 
 
 THE SUilUIER OF 1851. 
 
 INCLUDING NOTICES OF THE 
 
 GEEAT EXHIBITION, OR WORLD'S FAIE. 
 
 BY HORACE GREELEY. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 DEWITT & DAVENPORT, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 1851. 
 
/ 
 
 
 Entxekd, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, br 
 DEW ITT & DAVENPORT, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of Now York. 
 
 R. Craighead, Printer and Stereotyper, 
 lU Fulton Street. 
 
 \"v 
 
NO APOLOGY. 
 
 If there be any reader impelled to dip into notes of foreign travel mainly 
 by a solicitude to perfect his knowledge of the manners and habits of good 
 society, to which end he is anxious to learn how my Lord Shuffleton waltzes, 
 what wine Baron Hob-and-nob patronizes, which tints predominate in Lady 
 Highflyer's dress, and what is the probable color of the Duchess of Double- 
 hose's garters, he will only waste his time by looking through this volume. 
 Even if the species of literature he admires had not already been overdone, 
 I have neither taste nor capacity for increasing it. It was my fortune some- 
 times while in Europe to " sit at good men's feasts," but I brought nothing 
 away from them for the public, not even the names of my entertainers and their 
 notable guests. If I had felt at liberty to sketch what struck me as the 
 personal characteristics of some gentlemen of note or rank whom I met, 
 especially in England, I do not doubt that the popular interest in these letters 
 would have been materially heightened. I did not, however, deem myself 
 authorized to do this. In a few instances, where individuals challenged obser- 
 vation and criticism by consenting to address public gatherings, I have spoken 
 of the matter and manner of their speeches and indicated the impressions they 
 made on me. Beyond this I did not feel authorized to go, even in the case 
 of public men speaking to the public through reports for the daily press ; while 
 those whom I only met privately or in the discharge of kindred duties, as 
 Jurors at the Exhibition, I have not felt at liberty to bring before the public at 
 all. Having thus explained what will seem to many a lack of piquancy, -in 
 the following pages, implying a privation of social opportunities, I drop the 
 subject. 
 
 No one can realize more fully than the writer the utter absence of literary 
 merit in these Letters. He does not deprecate nor seek to disarm criticism ; 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 he only asks that his sketches be taken for what they profess and strive to be, 
 and for nothing else. That they are superficial, their title proclaims ; that 
 they were hurriedly written, with no thought of style nor of enduring interest, 
 all whom they are likely to interest or to reach must already know. A jour- 
 nalist traveling in foreign lands, especially those which have been once the 
 homes of his habitual readers or at least of their ancestors, cannot well refrain 
 from writing of what he sees and hears ; his observations have a value iii 
 the eyes of those readers which will be utterly unrecognized by the colder 
 pubUc outside of the sympathizing circle. For the habitual readers of The 
 Tribune especially were these Letters written, and their original purpose has 
 already been accomplished. Here they would have rested, but for the unsoli- 
 cited offer of the publishers to reproduce them in a book at their own cost and 
 risk, and on terms ensuring a fair share of any proceeds of their sale to the 
 writer. Such offers from publishers to authors who have no established 
 reputation as book-makers are rarely made and even more rarely refused. 
 Therefore, Sir Critic ! whose dog-eared manuscript has circulated from one 
 publisher's drawer to another until its initial pages are scarcely readable, while 
 the ample residue retain all their pristine freshness of hue, you are welcome to 
 your revenge ! Your novel may be tedious beyond endurance ; your epic a 
 preposterous waste of once valuable foolscap ; but your slashing review is sure 
 to be widely read and enjoyed, 
 j My aim in writing these Letters was to give a clear and vivid daguerreotype 
 
 I' of the districts I traversed and the incidents which came under my observation. 
 
 ! To this end I endeavored to see, so far as practicable, through my own eyes 
 
 f rather than those of others. To this end, I generally shunned guide-books, 
 
 even those of the " indispensable" Murray, and relied mainly for routes and 
 distances on the shilling hand-book of Bradshaw. That I have been misled 
 ) into many inaccuracies and some gross blunders as to noted edifices, works of 
 
 art, &.C., is quite probable; but that I have truthfully though hastily indicated 
 the topography, rural aspects, agricultural adaptations and more obvious social 
 characteristics of the countries I traversed, I am nevertheless confident. I 
 made a point of penning my impressions of each day's journey within the 
 succeeding twenty-four hours if practicable, for I found that even a day^s post- 
 ponement impaired the distinctness of my recollections of the ever-varying 
 panorama of hill and dale, moor and mountain, with long, level or undulating 
 stretches of intermingled woods, grain, grass, &,c., &c. I trust the picture I 
 have attempted to give of out-door life in Western Europe, the workers in its 
 fields and the clusters in its streets, will be recognized by competent judges as 
 BubBtantially correct. 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 The opinions expressed with respect to national characteristics or aptitudes 
 will of course appear crude and rash to those who regard them as based 
 exclusively on the few days' personal observation in which they may seem to 
 have originated. To those who regard them as grounded in some knowledge 
 of histoiy and of the present political and social condition of those nations, 
 corrected and modified indeed by the personal observation aforesaid, their 
 crudity and audacity will be somewhat less astounding. No one will doubt 
 that other travelers in Europe have been far better qualified to observe and to 
 judge than I was, yet I see and think, and am not forbidden to speak. We 
 know already how Europe appears in the eyes of the learned and wise ; but if 
 some Nepaulese Embassador or vagrant Camanche were to publish his " first 
 impressions " of Great Britain or Italy, should we utterly refuse to open it 
 because Baird or Thackeray, could give us more accurate information on that 
 identical theme 1 Would not the Camanche's criticisms possess some value 
 as his, quite apart from their intrinsic worth or worthlessness ? Might they 
 not afford some insight into Indian modes of thought, if none into European 
 modes of life 1 
 
 I deeply regret that the general impression made on me by the Italians was 
 such that my estimate of their character and capabilities gave offence to their 
 brethren now settled in this country. Their feeling is a natural, creditable 
 one ; I will not reply to their strictures, yet I must let what I wrote in Italy 
 of the Itahans stand unmodified. I shall be most happy indeed to confess my 
 mistake whenever it shall have been proved such, but I cannot as yet perceive 
 it. And to those who, not unreasonably, dilate on the rashness of such 
 judgment on the part of one who was only some few weeks in Italy, and did 
 not even understand its people's language, I beg leave to commend a perusal 
 of " Casa Guidi Windows," by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I had not seen 
 it when I wrote, and the coincidence of its estimate of the Italians with mine 
 is of course utterly unpremeditated. Mrs, Browning speaks Italian and knows 
 the [talians ; she lived among them throughout the late eventful years ; she 
 sympathizes with their sufferings and prays for their deliverance, but without 
 shutting her eyes to the faults and grave defects of character which impede 
 that deliverance if they do not render it doubtful. To those who will read her 
 brief but noble poem, I need say no more ; on those who refuse to read it, 
 words from rae would be wasted. 'Believing that among the most imminent 
 perils of the Republican cause in Europe is the danger of a premature, 
 sanguinary, fruitless insurrection in Italy, I have done what I could to prevent 
 any such catastrophe. When Liberty shall have been re-vindicated in France 
 and shall thereupon have triumphed in Germany, the reign of despotism will 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 speedily terminate in Italy ; until that time, I do not see how it can wisely be 
 even resisted. 
 
 'A word of explanation as to the " World's Fair " must close this too long 
 introduction. The letters in this volume which refer to the great Exhibition 
 of Industry were mainly written when the persistent and unsparing disparage- 
 ment of the British Press had created a general impression that the American 
 Exposition was a mortifying failure, and when even some of the Americans 
 in Europe, taking their cue from that Press, were declaring themselves 
 " ashamed of their country " because of such failure. Of course, these letters 
 were written to correct the then prevalent errors. More recently, the tide has 
 completely turned, until the danger now imminent is that of extravagant if 
 not groundless exultation, so that this Fair would be treated somewhat 
 differently if I were now to write about it. The truth lies midway between the 
 extremes already indicated. Our share in the Exhibition was creditable to us 
 as a nation not yet a century old, situated three to five thousand miles from 
 London ; it embraced many articles of great practical value though uncouth 
 in form and utterly unattractive to the mere sight-seer ; other nations will 
 profit by it and we shall lose no credit ; but it fell far short of what it might 
 have been, and did not fairly exhibit the progress and present condition of the 
 Useful Arts in this country. We can and must do better next time, and that 
 without calling on the Federal Treasury to pay a dollar of the expense. 
 
 Friends in Europe ! I may never again meet the greater number of you on 
 earth ; allow me thus informally to tender you my hearty thanks for many 
 well remembered acts of unsought kindness and unexpected hospitality. 
 That your future years may be many and prosperous, and your embarkation on 
 the Great Voyage which succeeds the journey of life may be serene and hopeful, 
 
 is the fervent prayer of Yours, sincerely, 
 
 H. G. 
 New-York, October 1st, 1851. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 I. Crossing the Atlantic, 9 
 
 11. Opening of the Fair, . .19 
 
 III. The Great Exhibition, 29 
 
 IV. England — Hampton Court, 38 
 
 V. The Future of Labor— Day-Break, 47 
 
 VI. British Progress, 53 
 
 VII. London— New-York, 62 
 
 VIII. The Exhibition, 69 
 
 IX. Sights in London, ........ 77 
 
 X. Political Economy, as Studied at the World's Exhibition, . 87 
 
 XI. Royal Sunshine, 96 
 
 XII. The Flax-Cotton Revolution, 107 
 
 XIII. Leaving the Exhibition, 113 
 
 XIV. London to Paris, 120 
 
 XV. The Future of France, ........ 127 
 
 XVI. Paris, Social and Moral, 134 
 
 XVII. Paris, Political and Social, 141 
 
 XVm. The Palaces of France, 149 
 
 XIX. France, Central and Eastern, 157 
 
 XX. Lyons to Turin, 164 
 
 XXL Sardinia — Italy — Freedom, 174 
 
 XXII. Pisa— The Leaning Tower (Letter Missing), . . . .184 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 XXIII. First Day in the Papal States, 186 
 
 XXIV. The Eternal City, 191 
 
 XXV. St. Peter's, 201 
 
 XXVI. The Romans of To-day, 208 
 
 XXVII. Central Italy— Florence, 214 
 
 XXVIII. Eastern Italy— The Po, 222 
 
 XXIX. Venice, 231 
 
 XXX. Lombardy, 238 
 
 XXXL Switzerland, . . . 248 
 
 XXXII. Lucerne to Basle, 256 
 
 - XXXIII. Germany, 261 
 
 XXXIV. Belgium, 268 
 
 XXXV. Paris to London, 273 
 
 XXXVI. Universal Peace Congress, 279 
 
 XXXVII. America at the World's Fair, 286 
 
 XXXVIII. England, Central and Northern, 293 
 
 XXXIX. Scotland, 303 
 
 XL. Ireland— Ulster, 308 
 
 XLI. W^est of Ireland— Atlantic MaUs, 312 
 
 XLII. Ireland— South, 320 
 
 XLIII. Prospects of Ireland, 328 
 
 XLIV. The English, 340 
 
GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 
 
 Liverpool (Eng.), April 28th, 1851. 
 The leaden skies, the chilly rain, the general out-door 
 aspect and prospect of discomfort prevailing in New York 
 when our good steamship Baltic cast loose from her dock 
 at noon on the 16th inst., were not particularly calculated 
 to inspire and exhilarate the goodly number who were then 
 bidding adieu, for months at least, to home, country, and 
 friends. The most sanguine of the inexperienced, however, 
 appealed for solace to the wind, which they, so long as the 
 City completely sheltered us on the east, insisted was 
 blowing from " a point West of North " — whence they 
 very logically deduced that the north-east storm, now some 
 thirty-six to forty-eight hours old, had spent its force, and 
 would soon give place to a serene and lucid atmosphere. 
 I believe the Barometer at no time countenanced this 
 augury, which a brief experience sufficed most signally to 
 confute. Before we had passed Coney Island, it was abun- 
 dantly certain that our freshening breeze hailed directly 
 from Labrador and the icebergs beyond, and had no idea of 
 changing its quarters. By the time we were fairly outside 
 of Sandy Hook, we were struggling with as uncomfortable 
 
 2 
 
10 GLANCES AT EUROPE, 
 
 and damaging a cross-sea as had ever enlarged my slender 
 nautical experience ; and in the course of the next hour the 
 high resolves, the valorous defiances, of the scores who had 
 embarked in the settled determination that they would not 
 be sea-sick, had been exchanged for pallid faces and heav- 
 ing bosoms. Of our two hundred passengers, possibly 
 one-half were able to face the dinner-table at 4 p. m. ; less 
 than one-fourth mustered to supper at 7 ; while a stern but 
 scanty remnant — perhaps twenty in all — answered the 
 summons to breakfast next morning. 
 
 I was not in any one of these categories. So long as I 
 was able, I walked the deck, and sought to occupy my eyes, 
 my limbs, my brain, with something else than the sea and 
 its perturbations. The attempt, however, proved a signal 
 failure. By the time we were five miles off the Hook, I 
 was a decided case ; another hour laid me prostrate, though 
 I refused to leave the deck ; at six o'clock a friend, finding 
 me recumbent and hopeless in the smokers' room, per- 
 suaded and helped me to go below. There I unbooted and 
 swayed into my berth, which endured me, perforce, for the 
 next twenty-four hours. I then summoned strength to 
 crawl on deck, because, while I remained below, my 
 sufferings were barely less than while walking above, and 
 my recovery hopeless. 
 
 I shall not harrow up the souls nor the stomachs of 
 landsmen, as yet revehng in blissful ignorance of its tor- 
 tures, with any description of sea-sickness. They will 
 know all in ample season ; or if not, so much the better. 
 But naked honesty requires a correction of the prevalent 
 error that this malady is necessarily transient and easily 
 overcome. Thousands who imagine they have been 
 sea-sick on some River or Lake steamboat, or even during 
 a brief sleigh- ride, are annually putting to sea with as little 
 necessity or urgency as suffices to send them on a jaunt 
 to Niagara or the White Mountains. They suppose they 
 may very probably be " qualmish" for a few hours, but that 
 
CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 11 
 
 (they fancy) will but high ten the general enjoyment of 
 the voyage. Now it is quite true that any green sea-goer 
 may be sick for a few hours only ; he may even not be 
 sick at all. But the prohahility is very far from this, 
 especially when the voyage is undertaken in any other than 
 one of the four sunniest, blandest months in the year. Of 
 every hundred who cross the Atlantic for the first time, I 
 am confident that two-thirds endure more than they had 
 done in all the five years preceding — more than they 
 would do during two months' hard labor as convicts in a 
 State Prison. Of our two hundred, I think fifty did not 
 see a healthy or really happy hour during the passage ; 
 while as many more were sufferers for at least half the 
 time. The other hundred were mainly Ocean's old 
 acquaintances, and on that account treated more kindly; 
 but many of these had some trying hours. 
 
 Utter indiflTerence to life and all its belongings is one of 
 the characteristics of a genuine case of sea-sickness No. 
 1. I enjoyed some opportunities of observing this during 
 our voyage. For instance : One evening I was standing 
 by a sick gentleman who had dragged himself or been car- 
 ried on deck and laid down on a water-proof mattress 
 which raised him two or three inches from the floor. 
 Suddenly a great wave broke square over the bow of the 
 ship and rushed aft in a river through either gangway — 
 the two streams reuniting beyond the purser's and doctor's 
 offices, just where the sick naan lay. Any live man would 
 have jumped to his feet as suddenly as if a rattlesnake 
 were whizzing in his blanket ; but the sufferer never 
 moved, and the languid coolness of eye wherewith he 
 regarded the rushing flood which made an island of him 
 was most expressive. Happily, the wave had nearly spent 
 its force and was now so rapidly diffused that his refuge 
 was not quite overflowed. 
 
 Of course, those who have voyaged and not suffered will 
 pronounce my general picture grossly exaggerated ; wherein 
 
12 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 they will be faithful to their own experience, as I am to 
 mine. I write for the benefit of the uninitiated, to warn 
 them, not against braving the ocean when they must or 
 ought, but against resorting to it for pastime. Voyaging 
 cannot be enjoyment to most of them ; it must be suffering. 
 The sonorous rhymesters in praise of "A Life on the Ocean 
 Wave/' " The Sea ! the Sea ! the Open Sea !" 6z:c. were 
 probably never out of sight of land in a gale in their lives. 
 If they were ever " half seas over," the liquid which buoyed 
 them up was not brine, but wine, which is quite another 
 affair. And, as they are continually luring people out of 
 soundings who might far better have remained on terra 
 firma, I lift up my voice in warning against them. "A home 
 on the raging deep," is not a scene of enjoyment, even to 
 the sailor, who suffers only from hardship and exposure ; no 
 other laborer's wages are so dearly earned as his, and his 
 season of enjoyment is not the voyage but the stay in port. 
 He is compelled to work hardest just when other out-door 
 laborers deem working at all out of the question. To him 
 Night and Day are alike in their duties as in their exemp- 
 tions ; while the more furious and blinding the tempest, the 
 greater must be his exertions, perils and privations. In 
 fair weather his hours of rest are equal to his hours of la- 
 bor ; in bad weather he may have no hours of rest what- 
 ever. Should he find such, he flings himself into his bunk 
 for a few hours in his wet clothes, and turns out smoking 
 like a coal-pit at the next summons to duty, to be drenched 
 afresh in the cold affusions of sea and sky — and so on. An 
 old sea-captain assured me that his crew were sometimes in 
 wet clothing throughout an Atlantic voyage. 
 
 Our weather was certainly bad, though not the worst. 
 We started on our course, after leaving Sandy-Hook, in 
 the teeth of a North-Easter, and it clung to us like a brother. 
 It varied to East North-East, East South-East, South East, 
 and occasionally condescended to blow a little from nearly 
 North or nearly South, but we had not six hours of West- 
 
CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 13 
 
 erly or semi- Westerly wind throughout the passage. There 
 may have been two days in all, though I think not, in which 
 some of the principal sails could be made to draw ; but they 
 were necessarily set so sharply at angles with the ship as 
 to do little good. Usually, one or two trysails were all 
 the canvass displayed, and they rather served to steady the 
 ship than to aid her progress ; while for days together, strip- 
 ped to her naked spars, she was compelled to push her bow- 
 sprit into the wind's very eye by the force of her engines 
 alone. And that wind, though no hurricane, had a will of 
 its own ; while the waves, rolled perpetually against her 
 bow by so long a succession of easterly winds, were a deci- 
 ded impediment to our progress. I doubt whether there is 
 another steamship which could have made the passage 
 safely and without extra effort in less time than the Baltic 
 did. 
 
 Our weather was not all bad, though we had no tho- 
 roughly fair day — no day entirely free from rain — none in 
 which the decks were dry throughout. In fact, the spray 
 often kept them thoroughly drenched, especially aft, when 
 there was no rain at all. During four or five of the twelve 
 days we had some hour or more of semi-sunshine either at 
 morning, midday or toward night. The only gales of much 
 account were those of our first night off Long Island and 
 our last before seeing land (Saturday), when on coming 
 into soundings off the coast of Ireland, we had a very de- 
 cided blow and (the ship having become very light by the 
 consumption of most of her coal) the worst kind of a sea. 
 It gave me my sickest hour, though not my worst day. 
 
 Our dreariest days w^ere Wednesday and Thursday, 23d 
 and 24th, when we were a little more than half way across. 
 With the wind precisely ahead and very strong, the skies 
 black and lowering, a pretty constant rain, and a driving, 
 blinding spray which drenched every thing above the decks, 
 themselves ankle-deep in water, I cannot well imagine how 
 two hundred fellow-passengers, driven down and kept down 
 
14 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 in the cabins and state-rooms of a steamship, could well be 
 treated to a more dismal prospect. I thought the philo- 
 sophy even of the card-players (who were by far the most 
 industrious and least miserable class among us) was tried 
 by it. 
 
 Spacious as the Baltic is, two hundred passengers with fifty 
 or sixty attendants, confined for days together to her cabins, 
 fill her quite full enough. For those who are thoroughly well, 
 there are society, reading, eating, play and other pastimes ; 
 but for the sick and helpless, who can neither read nor play, 
 whom even conversation fatigues, and to whom the under- 
 deck smell, especially in connection with food, is intensely 
 revolting, I can imagine no heavier hours short of absolute 
 torture. Having endured these, I had nothing beyond them 
 to dread, and it was rather a satisfaction, on reaching the 
 Irish coast, to be greeted with a succession of hail-squalls — 
 to work up the Channel against a wet North-Easter, and 
 be landed in Liverpool (after a tedious detention for lack 
 of water on the bar at the mouth of the Mersey) under sul- 
 len skies and in a dripping rain. I wanted to see the thing 
 out, and would have taken amiss any deceitful smiles of 
 Fortune after I had learned to dispense with her favors. 
 
 There yet remains tlie grateful duty of speaking of the 
 mitigations of our trials. And in the first place, the Baltic 
 herself is unquestionably one of the safest and most com- 
 modious sea-boats in the world. She is probably not the 
 fastest, especially with a strong head wind and sea, because 
 of her great bulk and the area of resistance she presents 
 both above and below the water-line ; but for strength 
 and excellence of construction, steadiness of movement, 
 and perfection of accommodations, she can have no su- 
 perior. Her wheels never missed a revolution from the 
 time she discharged her New- York pilot till the time she 
 stopped them to take on board his Liverpool counterpart, 
 off Holyhead : and her sailing qualities, tested under the 
 most unfavorable auspices, are also admirable. She needs 
 
ROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 15 
 
 f3ut good weather to make the run in ten days from dock to 
 dock ; she would have done it this time had the winds been 
 the reverse of what they were or as the Asia had them be- 
 fore her. The luck cannot always be against her. 
 
 Praise of commanders and officers of steamships has be- 
 come so common that it has lost all emphasis, all force. I 
 presume this is for the most part deserved ; for it is not 
 likely that the great responsibility of sailing these ships 
 would be entrusted to any other than the very fittest hands ; 
 and this is a matter wherein mistakes may by care be 
 avoided. The qualities of a seaman, a commander, do not lie 
 dormant ; the ocean tries and proves its men ; while in this 
 service the whole traveling public are the observers and 
 judges. But such a voyage as we have just made tries the 
 temper as well as the capacity it calls into exercise 
 every faculty, and lays bare defects if such there be. To 
 sweep gaily on before a fresh, fair breeze, is compara- 
 tively easy, but few landsmen can realize the patient as- 
 siduity and nautical skill required to extract propelling pow- 
 er from winds determined to be dead ahead. How nicely 
 the sails must be set at the sharpest angle with the course 
 of the vessel, and sometimes that course itself varied a 
 point or two to make them draw at all ; how often they must 
 be shifted, or reefed, or furled ; how much labor and skill 
 must be put in requisition to secure a very slight addition 
 to the speed of the ship — all this I am not seaman enough 
 to describe, though I can admire. And during the entire 
 voyage, with its many vicissitudes, I did not hear one harsh 
 or profane word from an officer, one sulky or uncivil re- 
 sponse from a subordinate. And the perfection of Capt. 
 Comstock's commandership in my eyes was that, though 
 always on the alert and giving direction to every move- 
 ment, he did not need to command half so much nor 
 to make himself anything like so conspicuous as an ordi- 
 nary man would. I willingly believe that some share of 
 the merit of tliis is due to the admirable qualities of his 
 
16 GLANCES AT EUHOPE. 
 
 assistants, especially Lieuts. Duncan and Hunter, of tFie 
 U. S. Navy. 
 
 In the way of food and attendance, nothing desirable was- 
 wanting but Health and Appetite. Four meals per day 
 were regularly provided — at 8, 12, 4 and 7 o'clock respec- 
 tively — which would favorably compare with those prof- 
 fered at any but the very best Hotels ; and some of the din- 
 ners — that of the last Sunday especially — would have done 
 credit to the Astor or Irving. Of course I state this with 
 the reservation that the best water and the best milk that 
 can be had at sea are to me unpalatable, and that, even when 
 I can eat under a deck, it is a penance to do so. But these 
 drawbacks are Ocean's fault, or mine; not the Baltic's. 
 Many of the passengers ate their four meals regularly, af- 
 ter the first day out, with abundant relish ; and one young 
 New-Yorker added 2i fifth, by taking a supper at ten each 
 night with a capital appetite, after doing full justice to the 
 four regular meals. If he could only patent his digestion 
 and warrant it, he might turn his back on merchandize 
 evermore. 
 
 The attendance on the sick was the best feature of alL 
 Aside from the constant and kind assiduities of Dr. Crary,. 
 the ship's physician, the patience and watchfulness with 
 which the sick were nursed and tended, their wants sought 
 out, their wishes anticipated, were remarkable. Many 
 had three meals per day served to them separately in their 
 berths or on deck, and even at unseasonable hours, and 
 often had special delicacies provided for them, without a 
 demur or sulky look. As there was no extra charge for 
 this, it certainly surpassed any preconception on my part 
 of steamship amenity. I trust the ever-moving attendants 
 received something more than their wages for their ar- 
 duous labors : they certainly deserved it. 
 
 The notable incidents of our passage were very few. 
 An iceberg was seen to the northward one morning about 
 sunrise, by those who were on deck at that hour ; but it 
 
CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. 17 
 
 kept at a respectful distance, and we thought the example 
 worthy of our imitation. I understand that the rising 
 sun's rays on its surface produced a fine effect. A single 
 school of whales exhibited their flukes for our edification — 
 so I heard. Several vessels were seen the first morning 
 out, while we were in the Gulf Stream : one or two from 
 day to day, and of course a number as we neared the 
 entrance of the Channel on this side ; but there were days 
 wherein we saw no sail but our own ; and I think we tra- 
 versed nearly a thousand miles at one time on this great 
 highway of nations, without seeing one. Such facts give 
 some idea of the ocean's immensity, but I think few can 
 realize, save by experiment, the weary length of way from 
 New- York to Liverpool, nor the quantity of blue water 
 which separates the two points. Friends who went to 
 California by Cape-Horn and were sea-sick, I proffer you 
 my heart felt sympathies ! — It was some consolation to me, 
 even when most ill and impatient, to reflect that the gales, 
 so adverse to us, were most propitious to the many 
 emigrant-freighted packets which at this season are con- 
 veying thousands to our country's shores, and whose 
 clouds of canvas occasionally loomed upon us in the dis- 
 tance. What were our " light afflictions " compared with 
 those of the multitudes crowded into their stifling steerages, 
 so devoid of conveniences and comforts ! Speed on, O 
 favored coursers of the deep, bearing swiftly those suffering 
 exiles to the land of Hope and Freedom ! 
 
 We had a law trial by way of variety last Saturday — 
 Capt. Comstock having been duly indicted and arraigned 
 for Humbug, in permitting us to be so long beset by all 
 manner of easterly winds with never a puff from the west- 
 ward. Hon. Ashbel Smith, from Texas, officiated as Chief 
 Justice; a Jury of six ladies and six gentlemen were- 
 empaneled ; James T. Brady conducted the prosecution 
 with much wit and spirit; while iEolus, Neptune, Capt. 
 Cuttle, Jack Bunsby, &c. testified for the prosecution, anr" 
 
 2* 
 
18 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 Fairweather, Westwind, Brother Jonathan and Mr. Steady- 
 gave evidence for the defence. The fun was rather heavy, 
 but the audience was very good natured, and whatever the 
 witnesses lacked in wit, they made up in extravagance of 
 costume, so that two hours were whiled away quite 
 endurably. The Jury not only acquitted the Captain 
 without leaving their seats, but subjected the prosecutors 
 to heavy damages (in wine) as malicious defamers. The 
 verdict was received with unanimous and hearty approval. 
 But I must stop and begin again. Suffice it, that, 
 though we ought to have landed here inside of twelve 
 days from New York, the difference in time (Liverpool 
 using that of Greenwich for Railroad convenience) being 
 all but five hours — yet the long prevalence of Easterly- 
 winds had so lowered the waters of the Mersey by driving 
 those of the Channel westerly into the Atlantic, that the 
 pilot declined the responsibility of taking our ship over the 
 Bar till high water, which was nearly seven o'clock. We 
 then ran up opposite the City, but there was no dock-room 
 for the Baltic, and passengers and light baggage were 
 ferried ashore in a " steam-tug " which we in New York 
 should deem unworthy to convey market garbage. At 
 last, after infinite delay and vexation, caused in good part 
 by the necessity of a custom-house scrutiny even of carpet- 
 bags, because men will smuggle cigars ashore here, even 
 in their pockets, we were landed about 9 o'clock, and to- 
 morrow I set my watch by an English sun. There is 
 promise of brighter skies. I shall hasten up to London to 
 witness the opening of the World's Fair; and so, "My 
 Native Land, Good Night !" 
 
n. 
 
 OPENING OF THE FAIR. 
 
 London, Thursday, May 1, 1851. / 
 
 Our Human Life is either comic or tragic, according 
 to the point of view from which we regard it. The 
 observer will be impelled to laugh or to weep over it, as he 
 shall fix his attention on men's follies or their sufferings. 
 So of the Great Exhibition, and more especially its Royal 
 Inauguration, which I have just returned from witnessing. 
 There can be no serious doubt that the Fair has good 
 points; I think it is a good thing for London first, for 
 England next, and will ultimately benefit mankind. And 
 yet, it would not be difficult so to depict it (and truly), 
 that its contrivers an^l managers would never think of 
 deeming the picture complimentary. 
 
 But let us have the better side first by all means. The 
 show is certainly a great one, greater in extent, in variety, 
 and in the excellence of a large share of its contents, than 
 the world has hitherto seen. The Crystal Palace, which 
 covers and protects all, is better than any one thing it con- 
 tains, it is really a fairy wonder, and is a work of inestima- 
 ble value as a suggestion for future architecture. It is not 
 merely better adapted to its purpose than any other edifice 
 ever yet built could be, but it combines remarkable cheap- 
 ness w^ith vast and varied utility. Depend on it, stone 
 and timber will have to stand back for iron and glass 
 hereafter, to an extent not yet conceivable. The triumph 
 of Paxton is perfect, and heralds a revolution, / 
 
20 GLANCES AT EUROPE, 
 
 The day has been very favorable — fair, bland and dry. 
 It is now 4 P. M. and there has been no rain since daylights 
 but a mere sprinkle at noon unregarded by us insiders — the 
 longest exemption from *^' falling weather '^ I have know^n 
 since I left New York, and I believe the daily showers or 
 squalls in this city reach still further back. True, even 
 this day would be deemed a dull one in New York, but 
 there was a very fair imitation of sunshine this morning, 
 and we enjoy rather more than American moonlight still, 
 though the sky is partially clouded, [How can they have 
 had the conscience to tax such light as they get up in this 
 country?] Of course the turn out has been immense ; I 
 estimate the number inside of the building at thirty 
 thousand, and I presume ten times as many went out of 
 their way to gaze at the Procession, though that was not 
 much. Our New York Fire Department could beat it; so 
 could our Odd-Fellows. — Then the most perfect order was 
 preserved throughout ; everything was done in season and 
 without botching ; no accident occurred to mar the festi- 
 vity, and the general feeling was one of hearty satisfaction. 
 If it were a new thing to see a Queen, Court and aristo- 
 cracy engaged in doing marked honor to Industry, they 
 certainly performed gracefully the parts allotted them, and 
 with none of the awkwardness or blundering which novel 
 situations are expected to excuse. But was the play well 
 cast? 
 
 " The Sovereign in a monarchy is of course always in 
 order : to be honored for doing his whole duty ; to be 
 honored more signally if he does more than his duty. 
 Prince Albert's sphere as the Sovereign's consort is very 
 limited, and he shows rare sense and prudence in never 
 evincing a desire to overstep it. I think few men live who 
 could hold his neutral and hampered position and retain so 
 entirely the sincere respect and esteem of the British 
 Nation. His labors in promoting this Exhibition began 
 early and have been arduous, persistent and effective. 
 
OPENING OF THE FAIR. 21 
 
 Any Inauguration of the Fair in which he did not promi- 
 nently figure would have done him injustice. The Queen 
 appears to be personally popular in a more direct and 
 positive sense. I cannot remember that any one act of 
 her public life has ever been condemned by the public 
 sentiment of the Country. Almost every body here 
 appears to esteem it a condescension for her to open the 
 Exhibition as though it were a Parliament, and with far 
 more of personal exertion and heartiness on her part. 
 And while I must regard her vocation as one rather 
 behind the intelligence of this age and likely to go out of 
 fashion at no distant day, yet I am sure that change will 
 not come through her fault. I was glad to see her in the 
 pageant to-day, and hope she enjoyed it while ministering 
 to the enjoyment of others. 
 
 But let us reverse the glass for a moment. The ludicrous, 
 the dissonant, the incongruous, are not excluded from the 
 Exhibition : they cannot be excluded from any complete 
 picture of its Opening. The Queen, we will say, was ' 
 here by Right Divine, by right of Womanhood, by Univer- 
 sal Suffrage — any how you please. The ceremonial could 
 not have spared her. But in inaugurating the first grand 
 cosmopolitan Olympiad of Industry, ought not Industry to 
 have had some representation, some vital recognition, in her 
 share of the pageant ? If the Queen had come in state to 
 the Horse-Guards to review the elite of her military 
 forces, no one would doubt that "the Duke" should figure 
 in the foreground, with a brilliant staff of Generals and 
 Colonels surrounding him. So, if she were proceeding to 
 open Parliament, her fitting attendants would be Ministers 
 and Councillors of State. But what have her " Gentleman 
 Usher of Sword and State," "Lords in Waiting," "Master 
 of the Horse," " Earl Marshal," " Groom of the Stole," 
 "Master of the Buckhounds," and such uncouth fossils, to 
 do with a grand Exhibition of the fruits of Industry? 
 What, in their official capacity, have these and theirs ever 
 
22 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 had to do with Industry unless to burden it, or with its 
 Products but to consume or destroy them ? The " Mis- 
 tress of the Robes '' would be in place if she ever fashioned 
 any robes, even for the Queen ; so would the " Ladies of 
 the Bedchamber " if they did anything with beds except 
 to sleep in them. As the fact is, their presence only served 
 to strengthen the presumption that not merely their offices 
 but that of Royalty itself is an anachronism, and all should 
 have deceased with the era to which they properly 
 belonged. It was well indeed that Paxton should have a 
 proud place in the procession ; but he held it in no repre- 
 sentative capacity ; he was there not in behalf of 
 Architecture but of the Crystal Palace. To have rendered 
 the pageant expressive, congruous, and really a tribute to 
 Industry, the posts of honor next the Queen's person 
 should have been confided on this occasion to the children 
 of Watt, of Arkwright and their compeers (Napoleon's 
 real conquerors ;) while instead of Grandees and Foreign 
 Embassadors, the heirs of Fitch, of Fulton, of Jacquard, 
 of Whitney, of Daguerre, &:c., with the discoverers, 
 inventors, architects and engineers to whom the world is 
 primarily indebted for Canals, Railroads, Steamships, 
 Electric Telegraphs, &c., &c., should have been specially 
 invited to swell the Royal cortege. To pass over all these, 
 and summon instead the descendants of some dozen lucky 
 Norman robbers, none of whom ever contemplated the 
 personal doing of any real work as even a remote possibility, 
 and any of whom would feel insulted by a report that 
 his father or grandfather invented the Steam Engine or 
 Spinning Jenny, is not the fittest way to honor Industry. 
 The Queen's Horticulturists, Gardeners, Carpenters, Uphol- 
 sterers, Milliners, &:c., would have been far more in place 
 in the procession than her " gold stick, " " silver stick, " and 
 kindred absurdities. 
 
 • And yet, empty and blundering as the conception of this 
 pageant may seem and is, there is nevertheless marrow 
 
OPENING OF THE FAIR. 23 
 
 and hope in it. " The world does move, '' O Galileo ! 
 carrying onward even those who forced you to deny the 
 truth you had demonstrated ! We may well say that these 
 gentlemen in ribbons and stars cannot truly honor Labor 
 while they would deem its performance by their own sons 
 a degradation ; but the grandfathers of these Dukes and 
 Barons would have deemed themselves as much dishonored 
 by uniting in this Royal ovation to gingham weavers and 
 boiler-makers as these men would by being compelled to 
 weave the cloth and forge the iron themselves. Patience, 
 impetuous souls ! the better day dawns, though the morn- 
 ing air is chilly. We shall be able to elect something else 
 than Generals to the Presidency before this century is out, 
 and the Right of every man to live by Labor — conse- 
 quently, to a place where he may live, on the sole 
 condition that he is willing to labor — stands high on the 
 general orders, and must soon be up for National and 
 universal discussion. The Earls and Dukes of a not 
 distant day will train their sons in schools of Agriculture, 
 Architecture, Chemistry, Mineralogy, &c., inspiring each 
 to win fame and rank for himself by signal and brilliant 
 usefulness, instead of resting upon and wearing out the 
 fame won by some ancestor on the battle-field of the old 
 barbarian time. Even To-Day's hollow pageant is an 
 augury of this. It is Browning, I think, who says, 
 
 " All men become good creatures, hut so slow." 
 
 Let us, taking heart from the reflection that we live in the 
 age of the Locomotive and the Telegraph, cheerfully press 
 onward ! 
 
 We will consider the Fair opened. 
 
 I shall venture no especial criticisms as yet — first because 
 the Exhibition is not ready for it ; next because I am in the 
 same predicament. A few general observations must close 
 this letter. 
 
 Immense as the quantity of goods ofiered for exhibition is, 
 
24 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 it is not equal to the enormous capacity of the building, to 
 which Castle Garden is but a dog-kennel. [I do hope we 
 may have a Crystal Palace of hke proportions in New- 
 York within two years ; it would be of inestimable worth 
 as a study to our young architects, builders and artisans. 
 If such an edifice were constructed in some fit locality to 
 be leased out in portions, under proper regulations, for 
 stores, I believe it would pay handsomely. Each store 
 might be separated from those next it by partitions of iron 
 and glass ; the fronts might be made of movable plates of 
 glass or left entirely open ; the entire building being opened 
 at eight in the morning, closed at eight at night, and care- 
 fully watched at all times.] True, many things are yet to 
 be received, and some already in the building remain in 
 the boxes ; still, I think there will be some nakedness, even 
 a week hence. The opportunity for seeing every thing, 
 judging every thing, is all the better for this, and indeed is 
 unexampled. 
 
 The display from different countries is very unequal, 
 even in proportion : Old England is of course here in her 
 might ; France has a vast collection, especially of articles 
 appealing to taste or fancy ; but Germany and the rest of 
 the Continent have less than I expected to see ; and the 
 show from the United States disappoints many by its 
 alleged meagerness. I do not view it in the same light, 
 nor regret, with a New- York merchant whom I met in the 
 Fair to-day, that Congress did not appropriate $100,000 to 
 secure a full and commanding exhibition of American 
 products at this Fair. I do not see how any tangible and 
 adequate benefit to the Nation would have resulted from 
 such a dubious disposition of National funds. In the first 
 place, our great Agricultural staples — at least, all such as 
 find markets abroad — are already accessible and well known 
 here. Bales of Cotton, casks of Hams or other Meats, 
 barrels of Flour or Resin, hogsheads of Tobacco, &c., 
 might have been heaped up here as high as St. Paul's steeple 
 
OPENING OF THE FAIR. 25 
 
 ■ — to what end ? Europeans already know that we produce 
 these staples in abundance and perfection, and when they 
 want them they buy of us. I doubt whether cumbering 
 the Fair with them would have either promoted the 
 National interest or exalted the National reputation. It 
 would have served rather to deepen the impression, 
 already too general both at home and abroad, that we are 
 a rude, clumsy people, inhabiting a broad, fertile domain, 
 affording great incitements to the most slovenly descrip- 
 tion of Agriculture, and that it is our policy to stick to 
 that, and let alone the nicer processes of Art, which 
 require dexterity and delicacy of workmanship. We 
 must outgrow this error. 
 
 Our Manufacturers are in many departments grossly de- 
 ficient, in others inferior to the best rival productions of 
 Europe. In Silks and Linens, we have nothing now to 
 show ; I trust the case will be bravely altered within a 
 few years. In broad cloths, we are behind and going behind, 
 but in Satinets, Flannels, (woolen) Shawls, De Laines, 
 Ginghams, Drills and most plain Cottons, we are produ- 
 cing as effectively as our rivals, and in many departments 
 gaining upon them. But few of these are goods which make 
 much show in a Fair ; three cases of Parisian gewgaws will 
 outshine in an exhibition a million dollars' worth of admir- 
 able and cheap Muslins, Drills, Flannels, &c. And be- 
 side, our Manufacturers, who find themselves met at 
 every turn, and often supplanted at their own doors by 
 showy fabrics from abroad, are shy of calling attention in 
 Europe to the few articles which, by the help of valuable 
 American inventions, they are able to make and sell at a 
 profit. I know this consideration has kept some goods and 
 more machinery at home which would otherwise have been 
 here. The manufacturers are here or are coming, to see 
 what knowledge or skill they can pick up, but they are not 
 so ready to tell all they know. They think the odds in 
 favor of those who work against them backed by the cheap 
 
26 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 Labor and abundant Capital of Europe, are quite suffi- 
 cient already. 
 
 Still, there are some Yankee Notions that I wish had been 
 sent over. I think our Cut Nails, our Pins, our Wood 
 Screws, &c. should have been represented. India Rubber 
 is abundant here. But I have seen no Gutta Percha, and 
 our New- York Company (Hudson Manufacturing) might 
 have put a new wrinkle on John Bull's forehead by send- 
 ing over an assorted case of their fabrics. The Brass and kin- 
 dred fabrics of Waterbury (Conn.) ought not to have come 
 up missing, and a set of samples of the " Flint Enameled 
 Ware" of Vermont, I should have been proud of for Ver- 
 mont's sake. A light Jersey wago*n, a Yankee ox-cart, and 
 two or three sets of American Farming Implements, would 
 have been exactly in play here. Our Sythes, Cradles, 
 Hoes, Rakes, Axes, Sowing, Reaping, Threshing and 
 Winnowing machines, &c., &c., are a long distance ahead 
 of the British — so the best judges say ; and where their 
 machines are good they cost too much ever to come into 
 general use. There is a pretty good set of Yankee Ploughs 
 here, and they are likely to do good. I believe Connecticut 
 Clocks and Maine (North Wayne). Axes are also well re- 
 presented. But either Rochester, Syracuse, or Albany could 
 have beaten the whole show in Farming Tools generalh^ 
 yl^ Yet there are many good things in the American de- 
 partment. In Daguerreotypes, it seems to be conceded 
 that we beat the world, when excellence and cheapness 
 are both considered — at all events, England is no where 
 in comparison — and our Daguerreotypists make a great 
 show here. — New-Jersey Zinc, Lake Superior Copper, 
 Adirondack Iron and Steel, are well represented either 
 by ores or fabrics, and I believe California Gold is to be. — 
 But I am speaking on the strength of a very hasty exami- 
 nation. I shall continue in attendance from day to day 
 and hope to glean from the show some ideas that may be 
 found or made useful. 
 
OPENING OF THE FAIR. 27 
 
 P. S. — The Official Catalogue of the Fair is just issued. 
 It has been got up in great haste, and must necessarily be 
 imperfect, but it extends to 320 double-column octavo 
 pages on brevier type (not counting advertisements) and 
 is sold for a shilling — (24 cents). Some conception of 
 the extent of the Fair may be obtained from the follow- 
 ing hasty summary of a portion of the contents, showing 
 the number of Exhibitors in certain departments, as 
 classified in the Official Catalogue, viz : 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Coal, Slate, Grindstone, Limestone, Granite, &c. (outside the building), 44 
 
 Mining and Mineral Products (inside), 366 
 
 Chemical and Pharmaceutical Products, ..--.- 103 
 
 Substances used as Food, 133 
 
 Vegetable and Animal Substances used in Manufactures, - - - 94 
 Machines for Direct Use, including Carriages, Railway and Marine Me- 
 chanism, ----------- 339 
 
 Manufacturing Machines and Tools, ------- 225 
 
 Civil Engineering and Building Contrivances, - . . . . 177 
 
 Naval Architecture, Guns, Weapons, &c. 260 
 
 Agricultural and Horticultural Machines and Implements, - - - 287 
 
 Philosopliical, Musical, Horological and Surgical Instruments, - - 535 
 
 Total, so far, 2563 y 
 
 The foregoing occupy but 55 of the 300 pages devoted 
 expressly to the Catalogue, so that the whole number of 
 Exhibitors cannot be less than Ten Thousand, and is 
 probably nearer Fifteen Thousand ; and as two articles 
 from each would be a low estimate>|^ think the number of"l 
 distinct articles already on exhibition cannot fall below 
 Thirty Thousand, counting all of any class which may be 
 entered by a single exhibitor as one article. Great Bri- 
 tain fills 136 pages of the Catalogue; her Colonies and 
 Foreign possessions 48 more ; Austria 16 ; Belgium 8, 
 China 2, Denmark 1, Egypt 2j, France and Algiers 35 , 
 Prussia and the ZoU Verein States 19 ; Bavaria 2, Saxony 
 5, Wirtemburg 2, Hesse, Nassau and Luxemburg 3, 
 Greece 1, Hamburgh 1, Holland 2, Portugal 3 J ; Madeira 
 
28 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 1, Papal State J, Russia 5, Sardinia 1^, Spain 5, Sweden 
 and Norway 1, Switzerland 5, Tunis 2^, Tuscany 2, 
 United States 8^. So the United States stands fifth on the 
 list of contributing Countries, ranking next after Great 
 Britain herself, France, Austria, and Prussian Germany, 
 and far ahead of Holland and Switzerland, which have 
 long been held up as triumphant examples of Industrial 
 progress and thrift under Free Trade ; and these, with all 
 the countries which show more than we do, are close at 
 hand, while our country is on the average more than 
 4,000 miles off. — I am confirmed in my view that the 
 cavils at the meagerness of our contribution are not well 
 grounded. 
 
III. 
 
 THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 
 
 London, Thursday, May 6th, 1851. 
 
 " The World's Fair," as we Americans have been 
 accustomed to call it, has now been open five days, but is 
 not yet in complete order, nor anything like it. The 
 sound of the saw and the hammer salutes the visiter from 
 every side, and I think not less than five hundred carpen- 
 ters and other artisans are busy in the building to-day. 
 The week will probably close before the fixtures will have 
 all been put up and the articles duly arranged for exhibi- 
 tion. As yet, a great many remain in their transportation 
 boxes, while others are covered with canvas, though many 
 more have been put in order within the last two days. 
 Through the great center aisle very little remains unac- 
 complished ; but on the sides, in the galleries, and in the 
 department of British Machinery, there is yet work to do 
 which another week will hardly see concluded. Mean- 
 time, the throng of visiters is immense, though the unex- 
 ampled extent of the People's Palace prevents any crush 
 or inconvenience. I think there cannot have been less 
 than Ten Thousand visiters in the building to-day. 
 
 Of course, any attempt to specify, or to set forth the 
 merits or defects of particular articles, must here be futile. 
 Such a universe of materials, inventions and fabrics de- 
 fies that mode of treatment. But I will endeavor to give 
 some general idea of the Exhibition. 
 
 If you enter the building at the East, you are in the 
 
30 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 midst of the American contributions, to which a great 
 space has been allotted, which they meagerly fill. Pass- 
 ing westward down the aisle, our next neighbor is Russia, 
 who had not an eighth of our space allotted to her, and 
 has filled that little far less thoroughly and creditably 
 than we have. It is said that the greater part of the 
 Russian articles intended for the Fair are yet ice-bound 
 in the Baltic. France, Austria, Switzerland, Prussia and 
 other German States succeed her ; the French contribu- 
 tions being equal (I think) in value, if not in extent and 
 variety, to those of all the rest of the Continent. Bo- 
 hemia has sent some admirable Glassware ; Austria a suit 
 of apartments thoroughly and sumptuously furnished, 
 which wins much regard and some admiration. There 
 is of course a great array of tasteful design and exqui- 
 site workmanship from France, though I do not just now 
 call to mind any article of transcendent merit. 
 
 The main aisle is very wide, forming a broad pro- 
 menade on each side with a collection of Sculpture, 
 Statuary, Casts, &c. &c. between them. Foremost among 
 these is Powers's Greek Slave, never seen to better 
 advantage ; and I should say there are from fifty to a 
 hundred other works of Art — mainly in Marble or Bronze. 
 — Some of them have great merit. Having passed down 
 this avenue several hundred feet, you reach the Transept, 
 where the great diamond " Koh-i-Noor " (Mountain of 
 Light) with other royal contributions, have place. Here, 
 in the exact center of the Exhibition, is a beautiful 
 Fountain (nearly all glass but the water,) which has 
 rarely been excelled in design or effect. The fluid is 
 projected to a height of some thirty feet, falling thence 
 into a succession of regularly enlarging glass basins, and 
 finally reaching in streams and spray the reservoir below. 
 A hundred feet or more on either side stand two stately, 
 graceful trees, entirely included in the building, whose 
 roof of glass rises clear above them, seeming a nearer 
 
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 31 
 
 sky. These trees (elms, 1 believe) are fuller and fresher 
 in leaf than those outside, having been shielded from the 
 chilling air and warmed by the genial roof Nature's con- 
 tribution to the Great Exhibition is certainly a very 
 admirable one, and fairly entitles her to a first-class 
 Medal. 
 
 The other half of the main aisle is externally a duplicate 
 of that already described, but is somewhat differently 
 filled. This is the British end of the Exhibition, containing 
 far more in quantity than all the rest put together. The 
 finest and costliest fabrics are ranged on either side of this 
 end of the grand aisle. 
 
 The show of Colonial products is not vast but compre- 
 hensive, giving a vivid idea of the wide extent and various 
 climates of Britain's dependencies. Corn, Wheat, &c., 
 from the Canadas; Sugar and Coffee from the West Indies; 
 fine Wood from Australia; Rice, Cotton, &c., from India; 
 with the diversified products of Asia, Africa and America, 
 fill this department. Manufactured textile fabrics from 
 Sydney, from India, and from Upper Canada, are here very 
 near each other ; while Minerals, Woods, &c., from every 
 land and every clime are nearly in contact. I apprehend 
 John Bull, whatever else he may learn, will not be taught 
 meekness by this Exhibition. 
 
 The Mineral department of the British display is situated 
 on the south side. I think it can hardly be less than five 
 hundred feet long by over one hundred wide, and it is 
 doubtless the most complete ever thus set before the public. 
 Here are shown every variety and condition of Coal, and 
 of Iron, Copper, Lead, Tin, &c. Of Gold there is little, 
 and of Silver, Zinc, Quicksilver, &c., not a great deal. 
 But not only are the Ores of the metals first named varied 
 and abundant, with Native Copper, Silver, &c., but the 
 metals are also shown in every stage of their progress, 
 from the rude elements just wrenched from the earth to 
 the most refined and perfect bars or ignots. This depart- 
 
32 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 ment will richly reward the study of the mineralogists, pre- 
 sent and future. 
 
 Directly opposite, on the North side of the British half 
 of the main avenue, is the British exhibition of Machinery, 
 occupying even more space than the Minerals. I never saw 
 one-fourth as much Machinery together before ; I do not 
 expect ever to see so much again. Almost every thing 
 that a Briton has ever invented, improved or patented in 
 the way of Machinery is here brought together. The 
 great Cylinder Press on which The Times is printed (not 
 the individual, but the kind) may here be seen in operation ; 
 the cylinders revolve horizontally as ours do vertically ; 
 and though something is gained in security by the British 
 press, more must be lost in speed. Hoe's last has not yet 
 been equaled on this island. But in Spinning, Weaving, 
 and the subsidiary arts there are some things here, to me 
 novelties, which our manufacturers must borrow or sur- 
 pass ; though I doubt whether spinning, on the whole, is 
 effected with less labor in Great Britain than in the United 
 States. There are many recent improvements here, but 
 I observe none of absorbing interest. However, I have 
 much yet to see and more to^comprehend in this depart- 
 ment. I saw one loom weaving Lace of a width which 
 seemed at least three yards ; a Pump that would throw 
 very nearly water enough to run a grist-mill, &c. &lc. I 
 think the American genius is quicker, more wide-awake, 
 more fertile than the British ; I think that if our manufac- 
 tures were as extensive and firmly established as the 
 British, we should invent and improve machinery much 
 faster than they do ; but I do not wish to deny that this is 
 quite a considerable country. 
 
 Wednesday, May 7—4 P. M. 
 
 I have just returned from another and my seventh daily 
 visit to the Great Exhibition. I believe J have thus far 
 been among the most industrious visitors, and yet I have 
 
THE GREAT £XHIBITION.^ 33 
 
 not yet even glanced at one-half the articles exhibited, 
 while I have only glanced at most of those I have seen. 
 Of course, I am in no condition to pronounce judgments, 
 and any opinion I may express must be taken subject to 
 future revisal and modification. 
 
 I know well that so large and diversified a show of 
 Machinery could not be made up in the United States as 
 is here presented in behalf of British Invention ; yet I think 
 a strictly American Fair might be got up which would 
 evince more originality of creation or design. If I am 
 wrong in this, I shall cheerfull}^ say so when convinced 
 of it. Many of these machines are very good of their kind 
 without involving any novel principle or important adapta- 
 tion. With regard to Flax-Dressing, for example, I find 
 less here than I had hoped to see ; and though what I have 
 seen appears to do its work well and with commendai^e 
 economy of material, I think there are more efficient and 
 rapid Flax-Dressers in the United States than are con- 
 tained in this Exhibition. I have not yet examined the 
 machinery for Spinning and Weaving the dressed Flax 
 fiber, but am glad to see that it is in operation. The re- 
 port that the experiments iif'SBlax-Cotton have " failed" does 
 not in the least discourage me. Who ever heard of a great 
 economical discovery or invention that had not been re- 
 peatedly pronounced a failure before it ultimately and in- 
 dubitably succeeded ? 
 
 I found one promising invention in the British depart- 
 ment to-day, viz : Henley's Magnetic Telegraph, or rather, 
 the generator of its power. The magnet, I was assured, 
 did not require nor consume any substance whatever, but 
 generated its electricity spontaneously, and in equal mea- 
 sure in all varieties of weather, so that the wildest storm 
 of lightning, hail, snow or rain makes no difference in the 
 working of the Telegraph. If such be the fact, the inven- 
 tion is one of great merit and value, and must be speedily 
 adopted in our country, where the liability of Telegraphs 
 
 3 
 
34 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 to be interrupted by storms is a crying evil. I trust it is 
 now near its end. 
 
 Switzerland has a very fine show of Fabrics in the 
 Fair — I think more in proportion to her numbers than any 
 other Foreign Nation. Of Silks she displays a great 
 amount, and they are mainly of excellent quality. She 
 shows Shawls, Ginghams, Woolens, &c., beside, as well as 
 Watches and Jewelry; but her Silk is her best point. 
 The Chinese, Australian, Egyptian and Mexican contribu- 
 tions are quite interesting, but they suggest little or nothing, 
 unless it be the stolidity of their contrivers. 
 *^> I see that Punch this week reiterates The Times' s slurs 
 at the meagerness and poverty of the American contribu- 
 tion. This is meanly invidious and undeserved. The 
 inventors, artisans and other producers of our Country who 
 did not see fit to incur the heavy expense of sending their 
 most valuable products to a fair held three to five thousand 
 miles away are unaflfected by this studied disparagement, 
 and those who have sent certainly do not deserve it. They 
 are in no manner responsible for the setting apart for 
 American contributions of more space than they fill ; they 
 have rather deserved consideration and kind treatment on 
 the part of the London Press. Beside, the value of their 
 contributions is not at all gauged by the space they fill nor 
 by the impression they make on the wondering gaze ; 
 articles of great merit and utility often making no figure 
 at all compared with a case of figured silks or mantel 
 ornaments which answer no purpose here but the owner's. 
 And when it is considered that the manufacturers of 
 France, Germany and Switzerland, as well as England, 
 are here displaying their wares and fabrics before the eyes 
 of thousands and tens of thousands of their customers — that 
 their cases in the Crystal Palace are in fact so many 
 gigantic advertisements, read and admired by myriads of 
 merchants and other buyers from all parts of the world, 
 the unfairness of the comparison instituted by the London 
 
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 35 
 
 Press becomes apparent. Our exhibitors can derive no 
 such advantage from the Fair — certainly not to any such 
 extent. The " Bay State Mills," for example, has a good 
 display of Shawls here, hardly surpassed, considering 
 quality and price, by any other ; yet nobody but Ameri- 
 cans will thereby be tempted to give them orders ; while 
 a British, Scotch, French or Swiss shawl-manufacturer 
 exhibiting just such a case, is morally certain of gaining 
 customers thereby in all parts of the world. But enough 
 on this head. 
 
 I may add that many Americans have been deterred 
 from sending by an impression that nothing would be 
 admitted that was not sent out in the St. Lawrence, or at 
 all events unless received early in April. But articles are 
 still acceptable, at least in our department ; and I venture 
 to say that any invention, model, machine or fabric of 
 decided merit which may reach our Commissioner free 
 of charge before the end of June will have a place assigned 
 it, although it will probably be too late to have a chance / 
 for the prizes. 
 
 These are to be mainly Medals of the finest Bronze, to 
 cost 825, $12 and $5 respectively. Probably about one 
 thousand of the first class, two thousand of the second and 
 five thousand of the third will be distributed. But they 
 are not to be given for different grades of excellence in 
 the same field of exertion, but for radically diverse merits. 
 The first class will be mainly if not wholly given for 
 Inventions, Discoveries or Original Designs of rare 
 excellence ; the second class for novel applications or 
 combinations of principles already known so as to produce 
 articles of signal utility, cheapness or beauty ; the third class 
 will be given for decided excellence of quality or workman- 
 ship without regard to originality. By this course, it is 
 hoped that personal heart-burnings and invidious rival- 
 ries among exhibitors may to a great extent be avoided. 
 
 I cannot close without a word of acknowledgment to 
 
36 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 our Embassador, Hon. Abbott Lawrence, for the interest 
 he has taken and the labor he has cheerfully performed 
 in order that our Country should be creditably repre- 
 sented in this Exhibition. For many months, the entire 
 burthen of correspondence, &c., fell on his shoulders ; 
 and I doubt whether the Fair will have cost him less 
 than five thousand dollars when it closes. That he 
 has exerted himself in every way in behalf of his 
 countrymen attending the Exhibition is no more than all 
 who knew him anticipated ; and his convenient location, 
 his wide acquaintance and marked popularity here have 
 enabled him to do a great deal. Every American voice is 
 loud in his praise. 
 
 I walked through a good part of the galleries of the 
 Crystal Palace this morning, with attention divided between 
 the costly and dazzling wares and fabrics around me and 
 the grand panorama below. Ten thousand men and 
 women were moving from case to case, from one theme 
 of admiration to another, in that magnificent temple of 
 Art, so vast in its proportions that these thousands no 
 where crowded or jostled each other ; and as many more 
 might have gazed and enjoyed in like manner without 
 incommoding these in the least. And these added thou- 
 sands will come, when the Palace, which is still a labora- 
 tory or workshop, shall have become what it aims to be, 
 and when the charge for daily admission shall have been 
 still farther reduced from five shillings (sterling) to one. 
 Then will the artisans, the cultivators, the laborers, not 
 of London only, but to a considerable extent of Great 
 Britain, flock hither by tens of thousands to gaze on this 
 marvellous achievement of Human Genius, Skill, Taste, 
 and Industry, and be strengthened in heart and hope by 
 its contemplation. And as they observe and rejoice over 
 these trophies of Labor's might and beneficence, shall they 
 not also perceive foreshadowed here that fairer, grander, 
 gladder Future for them and theirs, whereof this show is a 
 
THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 37 
 
 prelude and a prediction — wherein Labor shall build, 
 replenish and adorn mansions as stately, as graceful, as 
 commodious as this, not for others' delight and wonder, 
 but for its own use and enjoyment — for the life-long homes 
 of the builders, their wives and their children, who shall 
 find within its walls not Subsistence merely, but Educa- 
 tion, Refinement, Mental Culture, Employment and 
 seasonable Pastime as well ? Such is the vista which this 
 edifice with its contents opens and brightens before me. 
 Heaven hasten the day when it shall be no longer a 
 prospect but a benignant and sure realization ! ^ 
 
IV. 
 ENGLAND— HAMPTON COURT. 
 
 London, Tuesday, May 6, 1851. 
 
 I HAVE seen little yet of England, and do not choose to 
 deal in generalities with regard to it until my ignorance 
 has lost something of its density. Liverpool impressed me 
 unfavorably, but I scarcely saw it. The working class 
 seemed exceedingly ill dressed, stolid, abject and hopeless. 
 Extortion and beggary appeared very prevalent. 1 must 
 look over that city again if I have time. 
 
 We came up to London by the " Trent Valley Railroad," 
 through Crewe, Rugby, Tamworth, &c., avoiding all the 
 great towns and traversing (I am told) one of the finest 
 Agricultural districts of England. The distance is two 
 hundred miles. The Railroads we traveled in no place 
 cross a road or street on its own level, but are invariably 
 carried under or over each highway, no matter at what 
 cost ; the face of the country is generally level ; hills are 
 visible at intervals, but nothing fairly entitled to the desig- 
 nation of mountain. I was assured that very little of the 
 land I saw could be bought for $300, while much of it is 
 held at $500 or more per acre. Of course it is good land, 
 well cultivated, and very productive. Vegetation was 
 probably more advanced here than in Westchester Co. 
 N. Y., or Morris Co. N. J., though not in every respect. 
 I estimated that two-thirds of the land I saw was in Grass, 
 one-sixth in Wheat, and the residue devoted to Gardens, 
 Trees, Oats or Barley, &;c. There are few or no forests, 
 
ENGLAND HAMPTON COURT. 89 
 
 properly so called, but many copses, fringes and clumps 
 of wood and shrubbery, which agreeably diversify the 
 prospect as we are whirled rapidly along. Still, nearly 
 all the wooded grounds I saw looked meager and scanty, 
 as though trees grew less luxuriantly here than with us, or 
 (more probably) the best are cut out and sold as fast as 
 they arrive at maturity. Friends at home ! I charge you 
 to spare, preserve and cherish some portion of your primi- 
 tive forests ; for when these are cut away I apprehend 
 they will not easily be replaced, A second growth of trees 
 is better than none ; but it cannot rival the unconscious 
 magnificence and stately grace of the Red Man's lost hunt- 
 ing grounds, at least for many generations. Traversing 
 this comparatively treeless region carried my thoughts 
 back to the glorious magnificence and beauty of the still 
 unscathed forests of Western New- York, Ohio, and a good 
 part of Michigan, which I had long ago rejoiced in, but 
 which I never before prized so highly. Some portions of 
 these fast faUing monuments of other days ought to be 
 rescued by public forecast from the pioneer's, the wood- 
 man's merciless axe, and preserved for the admiration and 
 enjoyment of future ages. Rochester, Buffalo, Erie, Cleve- 
 land, Toledo, Detroit, &c., should each purchase for pre- 
 servation a tract of one to five hundred acres of the best 
 forest land still accessible (say within ten miles of their 
 respective centers), and gradually convert it into walks, 
 drives, arbors, &c., for the recreation and solace of their 
 citizens through all succeeding time. Should a portion be 
 needed for cemetery or other utilitarian purposes, it may 
 be set off when wanted ; and ultimately a railroad will 
 afford the poor the means of going thither and returning 
 at a small expense. If something of this sort is ever to be 
 done, it cannot be done too soon ; for the forests are an- 
 nually disappearing and the price of wood near our cities 
 and business towns rapidly rising. 
 
 1 meant to have remarked ere this the scarcity of Fruit 
 
40 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 throughout this region. I think there are fewer fruit-trees 
 in sight on the two hundred miles of railway between 
 Liverpool and London, than on the forty miles of Harlem 
 Railroad directly north of White Plains. I presume from 
 various indications that the Apple and Peach do not thrive 
 here ; and I judge that the English make less account of 
 Fruit than we do, though we use it too sparingly and fit- 
 fully. If their climate is unfavorable to its abundant and 
 perfect production, they have more excuse than we for 
 their neglect of one of Heaven's choicest bounties. 
 
 The approach to London from the West by the Trent 
 Valley Railroad is unlike anything else in my experience. 
 Usually, your proximity to a great city is indicated by a 
 succession of villages and hamlets which may be desig- 
 nated as more or less shabby miniatures of the metropolis 
 they surround. The City may be radiant with palaces, 
 but its satellites are sure to be made up in good part of 
 rookeries and hovels. But we were still passing through 
 a highly cultivated and not over-peopled rural district, 
 when lo ! there gleamed on our sight an array of stately, 
 graceful mansions, the seeming abodes of Art, Taste and 
 Abundance ; we doubted that this could be London ; but 
 in the course of a few moments some two or three miles 
 of it rose upon the vision, and we could doubt no longer. 
 Soon our road, which had avoided the costly contact as 
 long as possible, took a shear to the right, and charged 
 boldly upon this grand array of masonry, and in an instant 
 we were passing under some blocks of stately edifices and 
 between others like them. Some mile or two of this 
 brought us to the " Euston-square Station,'' where our 
 Railroad terminates, and we were in London. Of course, 
 this is not " the City," specially so called, or ancient Lon- 
 don, but a modern and well-built addition, distinguished 
 as Camden-town. We were about three miles from the 
 Bank, Post-Office, St. Paul's Church, &c., situated in the 
 heart of the City proper, though nearer the East end of it. 
 
ENGLAND HAMPTON COURT. 41 
 
 I shall not attempt to speak directly of London. The 
 subject is too vast, and my knowledge of it too raw and 
 scanty. I choose rather to give some account of an ex- 
 cursion I have made to the royal palace at Hampton 
 Court, situated fifteen miles West of the City, where the 
 Thames, which runs through the grounds adjacent, has 
 shrunk to the size of the Mohawk at Schenectady, and I 
 think even less. A very small steamboat sometimes runs 
 up as high as this point, but not regularly, and for all prac- 
 tical purposes the navigation terminates at Richmond, four 
 or five miles below. 
 
 Leaving the City by Temple Bar, you pass through the 
 Strand, Charing Cross, the Hay-market, Pall Mall and 
 part of Regent-street into Piccadilly, where you take an 
 omnibus at " the White Horse Cellar " (I give these names 
 because they will be familiar to many if not most Ame- 
 rican readers), and proceed down Piccadilly, passing St. 
 James's Park on the left, Hyde Park and Kensington 
 Gardens on the right, and so by Kensington Road to a 
 fine suspension bridge over the Thames ; you cross, and 
 have passed westerly out of London. You traverse some 
 two miles of very rich gardens, meadows, &c., and thence 
 through the village of Barnes, composed mainly of some 
 two or three hundred of the oldest, shabbiest tumble-down 
 apologies for human habitations that I ever saw so close 
 together. Thence you proceed through a rich, thoroughly 
 cultivated garden district, containing several fine country 
 seats, to Richmond, a smart, showy village ten miles 
 above London, and a popular resort for holiday pleasure- 
 seekers from the great city, whether by steamboat, rail- 
 way, omnibus or private conveyance. Here is a fleet of 
 rowboats kept for hire, while " the Star and Garter " inn 
 has a wide reputation for dinners, and the scene from its 
 second-story bow window is pronounced one of the finest 
 in the kingdom. It certainly does not compare with that 
 from the Catskill Mountain House,and many others in our 
 
42 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 State, but it is a good thing in another way — a lovely 
 blending of wood, water and sky, with gardens, edifices 
 and other pleasing evidences of man's handiwork. Pope's 
 residence at Twickenham, and Walpole's Strawberry Hill 
 are near Richmond. 
 
 Proceeding, we drove through a portion of Bushy Park, 
 the royal residence of the late Queen Dowager Adelaide, 
 widow of William IV., who here manages, having house, 
 grounds, &c. thrown in, to support existence on an allow- 
 ance of only $500,000 a year. The Park is a noble one, 
 about half covered with ancient, stately trees, among 
 which large herds of tame, portly deer are seen quietly 
 feeding. A mile or two further brought us to the grounds 
 and palace of Hampton Court, the end and aim of our 
 journey. 
 
 This palace was built by the famous Cardinal Wolsey, 
 so long the proud, powerful, avaricious and corrupt fa- 
 vorite of Henry VIII. Wolsey commenced it in 1515. 
 Being larger and more splendid than any royal palace 
 then in being, its erection was played upon by rival 
 courtiers to excite the King to envy and jealousy of his 
 Premier — whereupon Wolsey gave it outright to the mo- 
 narch, who gave him the manor of Richmond in requital. 
 Wolsey's disgrace, downfall and death soon followed ; but 
 I leave their portrayal to Hume and Shakspeare. This 
 palace became a favorite residence of Henry VIII. Ed- 
 ward VI. was born here ; Queen Mary spent her honey- 
 moon here, after her marriage with Philip of Spain ; 
 Queen Elizabeth held many great festivals here ; James 
 I. lived and Queen Anne his wife died here ; Charles I. 
 retired here first from the Plague, and afterward to escape 
 the just resentment of London in the time of the Great 
 Rebellion, After his capture, he was imprisoned here. 
 Cromwell saw one daughter married and another die dur- 
 ing his residence in this palace. William III., Queen 
 Anne, George I. and George II. occasionally resided here ; 
 
ENGLAND— HAMPTON COURT. 43 
 
 but it has not been a regal residence since the death of 
 the latter. Yet the grounds are still admirably kept ; the 
 shrubbery, park, fish-pond, &c. are quite attractive ; while 
 a famous grape-vine, 83 years old, bears some 1,100 
 pounds per annum of the choicest '* Black Hamburghs," 
 which are reserved for the royal table, and (being under 
 glass) are said to keep fresh and sweet on the vine till 
 February. A fine avenue of trees leads down to the 
 Thames, and the grounds are gay with the flowers of the 
 season. The Park is very large, and the location one of 
 the healthiest in the kingdom. 
 
 Hampton Court Palace, though surrounded b}^ guards 
 and other appurtenances of Royalty, is only inhabited by 
 decayed servants of the Court, impoverished and broken- 
 down scions of the Aristocracy, &c. to whom the royal 
 generosity proffers a subsistence within its walls. I sup- 
 pose about two-thirds of it are thus occupied, while the 
 residue is thrown open at certain hours to the public. I 
 spent two hours in wandering through this portion, con- 
 sisting of thirty-four rooms, mainly attractive by reason 
 of the Paintings and other works of Art displayed on 
 their walls. As a whole, the collection is by no means 
 good, the best having been gradually abstracted to adorn 
 those Palaces which Royalty still condescends to inhabit, 
 while worse and worst are removed from those and depo- 
 sited here; yet it was interesting to me to gaze at 
 undoubted originals by Raphael, Titian, Poussin, Rem- 
 brandt, Teniers, Albert Durer, Leonardo da Vinci, Tinto- 
 retto, Kneller, Lely, &c., though not their master-pieces. 
 The whole number of pictures, &c. here exhibited is 
 something over One Thousand, probably five-sixths Por- 
 traits. Some of these have a strong Historical interest 
 apart from their artistic merit. Loyola, Queen Elizabeth, 
 Anne Boleyn, Admiral Benbow, William IIL, Mary Queen 
 of Scots, Mary de Medicis, Louis XIV., are a few among 
 scores of this character. The Cartoons of Raphael and 
 
44 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 some beautifully, richly stained glass windows are also to 
 be seen. The bed-rooms of William III., Queen Anne, 
 and I think other sovereigns, retain the beds as they were 
 left ; but little other furniture remains, the mirrors ex- 
 cepted. I think Americans who have a day to spare in 
 London may spend it agreeably in visiting this Palace, 
 especially as British Royal Residences and galleries are 
 reputed not very accessible to common people. At this 
 one, every reasonable facility is afforded, and no gratui- 
 ties are solicited or expected by those in attendance. I 
 should prefer a day for such a jaunt on which there are 
 fewer squalls of hail, snow and rain than we encountered 
 — which in May can hardly be deemed unreasonable — but 
 if no better can be found, take such as may come and 
 make the best of it. This Palace is a good deal larger on 
 the ground than our Capitol — larger than the Astor House, 
 but, being less lofty, contains (I should judge) fewer 
 rooms than that capacious structure. It is built mainly of 
 brick, and if it has great Architectural merits I fail to 
 discern them. 
 
 Counsel to the Sea-Going. 
 
 London, Tuesday, May 6th, 1851. 
 
 I desire to address a few words of advice to persons 
 about to cross the Atlantic or any other ocean for the first 
 time. I think those who follow my counsel will have 
 reason to thank me. 
 
 I. Begin by providing yourself with a pair of stout, well- 
 made thick boots — the coarser and firmer the better. Have 
 them large enough to admit two pair of thick, warm stock- 
 ings, yet sit easily on the feet. Put them on before you 
 leave home, and never take them off during the voyage 
 except when you turn in to sleep. 
 
 II. Take a good supply of flannels and old woolen clothes. 
 
ADVICE TO THE SEA-GOING. 45 
 
 and especially an overcoat that has seen service and is not 
 afraid of seeing more. Should you come on board as if 
 just out of a band-box, you will forget all your dandyism 
 before your first turn of sea-sickness is over, and w^ill go 
 ashore with your clothes spoiled by the salt spray and your 
 own careless lounging in all manner of places and posi- 
 tions. Put on nothing during the voyage that would sell 
 for five dollars. 
 
 III. Endure your first day of sea-sickness in your berth ; 
 after that, if you cannot go on deck whenever the day is 
 fair, get yourself carried there. You may be sick still — 
 the chance is two to one that you will be ; but if you are 
 to recover at all while on the heaving surge this is the way. 
 
 IV. Move about as much as possible ; think as little as 
 you can of your sickness ; but interest yourself in what- 
 ever (except vomiting) may be going forward — the run of 
 the ship, the management of her sails, &c. &c. Keep 
 clear of all sedentary games, as a general rule ; they may 
 help you to kill a few hours, but will increase your head- 
 ache afterward. Talk more than you read ; and determine 
 to walk smartly at least two hours every fair day, and one 
 hour any how. 
 
 V. As to eating, you are safe against excess so long as 
 you are sick ; and if you have bad weather and a rough 
 sea, that will be pretty nearly all the way. I couldn't ad- 
 vise you, though ever so well, to eat the regular four times 
 per day ; though my young friend who constantly took^t^e 
 hearty meals seemed to thrive on that regimen. In the 
 matter of drink, if you can stick to water, do so ; I could 
 not, nor could I find any palatable substitute. Try Con- 
 gress Water, Seidlitz, any thing to keep clear of Wines 
 and Spirits. If there were some portable, healthful and 
 palatable acid beverage devoid of Alcohol, it would be a 
 blessed thing at sea. 
 
 VI. Finally, rise early if you can ; be cheerful, obliging, 
 and determined to see the sunny side of everything where- 
 
46 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 of a sunny side can be discovered or imagined ; and bear 
 ever in mind tiiat each day is wearing off a good portion 
 of the distance which withholds you from your destina- 
 tion. The best point of a voyage by steam is its brevity ; 
 wherefore, I pray you, Mr. Darius Davidson, to hurry up 
 that new steamer or screamer that is to cross the Atlantic 
 in a week. I shall want to be getting home next August 
 or September. 
 
 VII. Don't bother yourself to procure British money at 
 any such rate as $4 90 for sovereigns, which was ruling 
 when I came away. Bring American coin rather than 
 pay over $4 86. You can easily obtain British gold here 
 in exchange for American, and I have heard of no higher 
 rate than $4 87. 
 
 VIII. Whatever may be wise at other seasons, never 
 think of stopping at a London hotel this summer unless you 
 happen to own the Bank of England. If you know any 
 one here who takes boarders or lets rooms at reasonable 
 rates, go directly to him ; if not, drive at once to the house 
 of Mr. John Chapman, American Bookseller, 142 Strand, 
 and he will either find you rooms or direct you to some 
 one else who will. 
 
 IX. If the day of your embarkation be fair, take a long, 
 earnest gaze at the sun, so that you will know him again 
 when you return. They have something they call the 
 sun over here which they show occasionally, but it looks 
 more like a boiled turnip than it does like its American 
 namesake. Yet they cheer us with the assurance that 
 there will be real sunshine here by-and-by. So mote 
 it be! 
 
THE FUTURE OF LABOR— DAY-BREAK. 
 
 London, Friday, May 9, 1851. 
 
 I HAVE spent the forenoon of to-day in examining a por- 
 tion of the Model Lodging-Houses, Bathing and Washing 
 estabh'shments and Cooperative Labor Associations already 
 in operation in this Great Metropolis. My companions 
 were Mr. Vansittart Neale, a gentleman who has usefully 
 devoted much time and effort to the Elevation of Labor, 
 and M. Cordonnaye, the actuary or chosen director of an 
 Association of Cabinet-Makers in Paris, who are exhibit- 
 ors of their own products in the Great Exposition, which 
 explains their chief's presence in London. We were in 
 no case expected, and enjoyed the fairest opportunity to 
 see everything as it really is. The beds were in some 
 of the lodging-houses unmade, but we were everywhere 
 cheerfully and promptly shown through the rooms, and 
 our inquiries frankly and clearly responded to. I propose 
 to give a brief and candid account of what we saw and 
 heard. 
 
 Our first visit was paid to the original or primitive 
 Model Lodging-House, situated in Charles-st. in the heart 
 of St. Giles's. The neighborhood is not inviting, but has 
 been worse than it is ; the building (having been fitted up 
 when no man with a dollar to spare had any faith in the 
 project) is an old-fashioned dwelling-house, not very con- 
 siderably modified. This attempt to put the new wine 
 into old bottles has had the usual result. True, the sleep- 
 
48 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 ing-rooms are somewhat ventilated, but not sufficiently so ; 
 the beds are quite too abundant, and no screen divides 
 those in the same room from each other. Yet these lodg- 
 ings are a decided improvement on those provided for the 
 same class for the same price in private lodging-houses. 
 The charge is 4d. (eight cents) per night, and I believe 2^. 
 (50 cents) per week, for which is given water, towels, 
 room and fire for washing and cooking, and a small cup- 
 board or safe wherein to keep provisions. Eighty-two 
 beds are made up in this house, and the keeper assured us 
 that she seldom had a spare one through the night. I could 
 not in conscience praise her beds for cleanliness, but it is 
 now near the close of the week and her lodgers do not 
 come to her out of band-boxes. — Only men are lodged here. 
 The concern pays handsomely. 
 
 We next visited a Working Association of Piano Forte 
 Makers, not far from Drury Lane. These men were not 
 long since working for an employer on the old plan, when 
 he failed, threw them all out of employment, and deprived 
 a portion of them of the savings of past years of frugal 
 industry, which they had permitted to lie in his hands. 
 Thus left destitute, they formed a Working Association, 
 designated their own chiefs, settled their rules of partner- 
 ship ; and here stepped in several able " Promoters" of the 
 cause of Industrial Organization of Labor, and lent them 
 at five per cent, the amount of capital required to buy out 
 the old concern — viz : $3,500. They have since (about 
 six weeks) been hard at work, having an arrangement for 
 the sale at a low rate of all the Pianos they can make. 
 The associates are fifteen in number, all working " by the 
 piece," except the foreman and business man, who receive 
 #12 each per week ; the others earn from $8 to $11 each 
 weekly. I see nothing likely to defeat and destroy this 
 enterprise, unless it should lose the market for its pro- 
 ducts. 
 
 We went thence to a second Model Lodging House, 
 
- THE FUTURE OF LABOR. 49 
 
 situated near Tottenham Court Road. This was founded 
 subsequently to that already described, its building was 
 constructed expressly for it, and each lodger has a separate 
 apartment, though its division walls do not reach the ceil- 
 ing overhead. Half the lodgers have each a separate win- 
 dow, which they can open and close at pleasure, in addi- 
 tion to the general provision for ventilation. In addition 
 to the wash-room, kitchen, dining-tables, &c., provided in 
 the older concern, there is a small but good library, a large 
 conversation room, and warm baths on demand for a penny 
 each. The charge is 2s. 4d. (58 cents) per week; the 
 number of beds is 104, and they are always full, with 
 numerous applications ahead at all times for the first vacant 
 bed. Not a single case of Cholera occuri^ed here in 1849, 
 though dead bodies were taken out of the neighboring alley 
 (Church-lane) six or eight in a day. So much for the 
 blasphemy of terming the Cholera, with like scourges, the 
 work of an "inscrutable Providence." The like exemption 
 from Cholera was enjoyed by the two or three other Model 
 Lodging-Houses then in London. Their comparative 
 cleanliness, and the coolness in summer caused by the 
 great thickness of their walls, conduce greatly to this free- 
 dom from contagion. 
 
 The third and last of the Model Lodging-Houses we 
 visited was even more interesting, in that it was designed 
 and constructed expressly to be occupied by Families, of 
 which it accommodates forty-eight, and has never a vacant 
 room. The building is of course a large one, very sub- 
 stantially constructed on three sides of an open court 
 paved with asphaltum and used for drying clothes and as 
 a children's play-ground. All the suits of apartments on 
 each floor are connected by a corridor running around the 
 inside (or back) of the building, and the several suits 
 consist of two rooms or three with entry, closets, (fee, 
 according to the needs of the applicant. That which we 
 more particularly examined consisted of three apartments 
 
50 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 (two of them bed-rooms) with the appendages already 
 indicated. Here lived a workman with his wife and six 
 young children from two to twelve years of age. Their 
 rent is 6s. ($1 50 per week, or $78 per annum) ; and I am 
 confident that equal accommodations in the old way 
 cannot be obtained in an equally central and commodious 
 portion of London or New York for double the money. 
 Suits of two rooms only, for smaller families, cost but $1 
 to $1 25 per week, according to size and eligibility. The 
 concern is provided with a Bath-Room, Wash-Room, 
 Oven, &c., for the use of which no extra charge is made. 
 The building is very substantial and well constructed, is 
 fire-proof, and cost about $40,000. The ground for it was 
 leased of the Duke of Bedford for 99 years at $250 per 
 annum. The money to construct it was mostly raised by 
 subscription — the Queen leading off with $1,500 ; which 
 the Queen Dowager and two Royal Duchesses doubled ; 
 then came sundry Dukes, Earls, and other notables with 
 $500 each, followed by a long list of smaller and smaller 
 subscriptions. But this money was given to the " Society 
 for Bettering the Condition of the Laboring Classes," to 
 enable them to try an experiment ; and that experiment 
 has triumphantly succeeded. All those I have described, 
 as well as one for single women only near Hatton Gar- 
 den, and one for families and for aged women near 
 Bagnigge Wells, which I have not yet found time to 
 visit, are constantly and thoroughly filled, and hundreds 
 are eager for admittance who cannot be accommodated ; 
 the inmates are comparatively cleanly, healthy and com- 
 fortable ; and the plan pays. This is the great point. It is 
 very easy to build edifices by subscription in which as 
 many as J;hey will accommodate may have very satisfac- 
 tory lodgings ; but even in England, where Public Charity 
 is most munificent, it is impossible to build such dwellings 
 for all from the contributions of Philanthropy; and to 
 provide for a hundredth part, while the residue are left as 
 
THE FUTURE OF LABOR. 51 
 
 they were, is of very dubious utility. The comfort of the 
 few will increase the discontent and wretchedness of the 
 many. But only demonstrate that building capacious, 
 commodious and every way eligible dwellings for the Poor 
 is a safe and fair investment, and that their rents may be 
 essentially reduced thereby while their comfort is promoted, 
 and a very great step has been made in the world's 
 progress — one which will not be receded from. 
 
 I saw in the house last described a newly invented Brick 
 (new at least to me) which struck me favorably. It is so 
 molded as to be hollow in the centre, whereby the trans- 
 mission of moisture through a wall composed of this brick 
 is prevented, and the dampness often complained of in 
 brick houses precluded. The brick is larger than those 
 usually made, and one side is wedge-shaped. 
 
 We went from the house above described to the first 
 constructed Bathing and Washing establishment, George-st. 
 Euston-square. In the Washing department there are 
 tubs, &c., for one hundred and twenty washers, and they 
 are never out of use while the concern is open — that is 
 from 9 A. M. to 7 p. m. There is in a separate Drying 
 Room an apparatus for freeing the washed clothes from 
 water (instead of Wringing) by whirling them very 
 rapidly in a machine, whereby the water is thrown out of 
 them by centrifugal force or attraction. Thence the 
 clothes, somewhat damp, are placed in hot-air closets and 
 speedily dried ; after which they pass into the Ironing- 
 room and are finished. The charge here is 4 cents for two 
 hours in the Washing-room and 2 cents for two hours in 
 the Ironing-room, which is calculated to be time enough 
 for doing the washing of an average family. Everything 
 but soap is supplied. The building is not capacious 
 enough for the number seeking to use it, and is to be 
 speedily enlarged. I believe that the charges are too 
 small, as I understand that the concern merely supports 
 itself without paying any interest on the capital which 
 created it. 
 
62 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 The Female part of the Bathing establishment is in this 
 part of the building, but that for men is entered from 
 another street. Each has Hot and Vapor Baths of the 
 first class for 12 cents ; second class of these or first-class 
 cold baths for 8 cents ; and so down to cold water baths 
 for 2 cents or hot ditto for 4 cents each. I think these, 
 notwithstanding their cheapness, are not very extensively — 
 at least not regularly — patronized. The first class are 
 well fitted up and contain everything that need be desired ; 
 the others are more naked, but well worth their cost. 
 Cold and tepid Plunge Baths are proffered at 6 and 12 
 cents respectively. 
 
 I must break off" here abruptly, for the mail threatens to 
 close. 
 
VI. 
 BRITISH PROGRESS. 
 
 London, Thursday, May 15, 1851. 
 
 Apart from the Great Exhibition, this is a season of in- 
 tellectual activity in London. Parliament is (languidly) 
 in session ; the Aristocracy are in town ; the Queen is 
 lavishly dispensing the magnificent hospitalities of Royalty 
 to those of the privileged caste who are invited to share 
 them ; and the several Religious and Philanthropic So- 
 cieties, whether of the City or the Kingdom, are generally 
 holding their Anniversaries, keeping Exeter Hall in blast 
 almost night and day. I propose to give a first hasty 
 glance at intellectual and general progress in Great Britain, 
 leaving the subject to be more fully and thoroughly treated 
 after I shall have made myself more conversant with the 
 facts in the case. 
 
 A spirit of active and generous philanthropy is widely 
 prevalent in this country. While the British pay more 
 in taxes for the support of Priests and Paupers than any 
 other people on earth, they at the same time give more for 
 Religious and Philanthropic purposes. Their munificence 
 is not always well guided ; but on the whole very much is 
 accomplished by it in the way of diffusing Christianity 
 and diminishing Human Misery. But I will speak more 
 specifically. 
 
 The Religious Anniversaries have mainly been held, 
 but few or none of them are reported — indeed, they are 
 scarcely alluded to — in the Daily press, whose vaunted 
 
54 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 superiority over American journals in the matter of Re- 
 porting amounts practically to this — that the debates in 
 Parliament are here reported verbatim, and again presented 
 in a condensed form- under the Editorial head of each 
 paper, while scarcely anything else (beside Court doings) 
 is reported at all. I am sure this is consistent neither with 
 reason nor with the public taste — that if the Parliamentary 
 debates were condensed one-half, and the space so saved 
 devoted to reports of the most interesting Public Meetings, 
 Lectures, &c., after the New- York fashion, the popular 
 interest in the daily papers would become wider and 
 deeper, and their usefulness as aids to General Education 
 would be largely increased. To a great majority of the 
 Yeading class, even here, political discussions — and espe- 
 cially of questions so trite and so unimportant as those 
 which mainly engross the attention of Parliament — are of 
 quite subordinate interest ; and I think less than one reader 
 in four ever peruses any more of these debates than is 
 given in the Editorial synopsis, leaving the verbatim report 
 a sheer waste of costly print and paper. — I beheve, how- 
 ever, that in the aggregate, the collections of the last year 
 for Religious purposes have just about equaled the average 
 of the preceding two or three years ; some Societies having 
 received less, others more. I think the public interest in 
 comprehensive Religious and Philanthropic efforts does not 
 diminish. 
 
 For Popular Education, there is much doing in this 
 Country, but in a disjointed, expensive, inefficient manner. 
 Insteadof one all-pervading, straight-forward. State-direct- 
 ed system, there are three or four in operation, necessarily 
 conflicting with and damaging each other. And yet a 
 vast majority really desire the Education of All, and are 
 willing to pay for it. John Bull is good at paying taxes, 
 wherein he has had large experience; and if he grumbles 
 a little now and then at their amount as oppressive, it is 
 only because he takes pleasure in grumbling, and this 
 
BRITISH PROGRESS. 55 
 
 seems to afford him a good excuse for it. He would not 
 be deprived of it if he could : witness the discussions of 
 the Income Tax, which every body denounces while no 
 one justifies it abstractly ; and yet it is always upheld, and I 
 presume always will be. If the question could now be put 
 to a direct vote, even of the tax-payers alone — " Shall or 
 shall not a system of Common School Education for the 
 United Kingdoms be maintained by a National Tax ?" — I 
 beheve Free Schools would be triumphant. Even if such 
 a system were matured, put in operation, and to be sus- 
 tained by Voluntary Contributions alone or left to perish, 
 1 should not despair of the result. 
 
 But there is a lion in the path, in the shape of the 
 Priesthood of the Established Church, who insist that the 
 children shall be indoctrinated in the dogmas of their creed, 
 or there shall be no State system of Common Schools; 
 and, behind these, stand the Roman Catholic Clergy, who 
 virtually make a similar demand with regard to the child- 
 ren of Catholics. The unreasonableness, as well as the 
 ruinous effects of these demands, is already palpable on 
 our side of the Atlantic. If, when our City was meditat- 
 ing the Croton Water Works, the Episcopal and Catholic 
 Priesthood had each insisted that those works should be 
 consecrated by their own Hierarchy and by none other, 
 or, in default of this, we should have no water- works at all, 
 the case would be substantially parallel to this. Or if 
 there were in some city a hundred children, whose parents 
 were of diverse creeds, all blind with cataract, whom it 
 was practicable to cure altogether, but not separately, and 
 these rival Priesthoods were respectively to insist — " They 
 shall be taught our Creed and Catechism, and no other, 
 while the operation is going on, or there shall be no 
 operation and no cure," that case would not be materially 
 diverse from this. In vain does the advocate of Light say 
 to them, " Pray, let us give the children the inestimable 
 blessing of sight, and then you may teach your creed and 
 
56 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 catechism to all whom you can persuade to learn them/' 
 they will have the closed eyes opened according to Loyola 
 or to Laud, or not opened at all ! Do they not provoke us 
 to say that their insisting on an impossible, a suicidal con- 
 dition, is but a cloak, a blind, a fetch, and that their real 
 object is to keep the multitude in darkness ? I am thank- 
 ful that we have few clergymen in America who manifest 
 a spirit akin to that which to this day deprives half the 
 children of these Kingdoms of any considerable school 
 education whatever. 
 
 I think nothing unsusceptible of mathematical demon- 
 stration, can be clearer than the imperative necessity of 
 Universal Education, as a matter simply of Public Eco- 
 nomy. In these densely peopled islands, where service is 
 cheap, and where many persons qualified to teach are 
 maintaining a precarious struggle for subsistence, a system 
 of General Education need not cost half so much as in the 
 United States, while wealth is so concentrated that taxes 
 bear less hardly here, in proportion to their amount, than 
 with us. Every dollar judiciously spent on the education 
 of poor children, would be more than saved in the diminu- 
 tion of the annual cost of pauperism and crime, while the 
 intellectual and industrial capacity of the people would 
 be vastly increased by it. I do not see how even Clerical 
 bigotry, formidable as it deplorably is, can long resist this 
 consideration among a people so thrifty and saving, as are 
 in the main the wielders of political power in this country. 
 
 Political Reforms move slowly here. Mr. Hume's 
 motion for Household Suffrage, Vote by Ballot, Triennial 
 Parliaments, &c. was denied a consideration, night before 
 last, by the concerted absence from the House of nearly 
 all the members — only twenty-one appearing when forty 
 (out of over six hundred) are required to constitute a quo- 
 rum. So the subject lost its place as a set motion, and 
 probably will not come up again this Session. The Minis- 
 try opposed its consideration now, promising themselves to 
 
BRITISH PROGRESS. 67 
 
 bring forward a measure for the Extension of the Fran- 
 chise next Session, when it is very unlikely that they will 
 be in a position to bring forward anything. It seems to 
 me that the current sets strongly against their continuance 
 in office, and that, between the hearty Reformers on one 
 side and the out-spoken Conservatives on the other, they 
 must soon surrender their semblance of power. Still, they 
 are skilful in playing off one extreme against another, and 
 may thus endure or be endured a year longer; but the 
 probability is against this. To my mind, it seems clear 
 that their retirement is essential to the prosecution of 
 Liberal Reforms. So long as they remain in power, they 
 will do, in the way of the People's Enfranchisement, as 
 near nought as possible. 
 
 ( " Nothing could live 
 
 Twixt that and silence.") 
 
 Their successors, the avowed Conservatives, will of 
 course do nothing ; but they cannot hold power long in the 
 Britain of to-day ; and whoever shall succeed them must 
 come in on a popular tide and on the strength of pledges 
 to specific and comprehensive Reforms which cannot well 
 be evaded. Slow work, say you ? Well, there is no quick- 
 er practicable. When the Tories shall have been in once 
 more and gone out again, there will be another great for- 
 ward movement like the Reform Bill, and I think not till 
 then, unless the Continent shall meantime be convulsed by 
 the throes of a general Revolution. 
 
 I should like to see a chance for the defeat of that most 
 absurd of all Political stupidities, the Ecclesiastical Titles 
 Assumption Bill, but I do not. Persecution for Faith's 
 sake is most abhorrent, yet sincerity and zeal may render 
 it respectable ; but this bill has not one redeeming feature. 
 While it insults the Catholics, it is perfectly certain to 
 increase their numbers and power ; and it will do this with- 
 out inflicting on them the least substantial injury. Cardi- 
 
58 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 nal Wiseman will be the local head of the Catholic Church 
 in England, whether he is legally forbidden to be styled 
 " Archbishop of Westminster" or not, and so of the Irish 
 Catholic prelates. The obstacles which the ministerial 
 bill attempts to throw in the way of bequests to the Catho- 
 lic Bishops as such, will be easily evaded; these Bishops 
 will exercise every function of the Episcopate whether this 
 Bill shall pass or fail : and their moral power will be greatly 
 increased by its passage. But the Ministry, which has found 
 the general support of the Catholics, and especially of the 
 Irish Catholic Members, very opportune at certain critical 
 junctures, will henceforth miss that support — in fact, it has 
 already been transformed into a most virulent and deadly 
 hostihty. Rural England was hostile to the ministry be- 
 fore, on account of the depressing effect of Free Trade on 
 the agricultural interest ; and now Ireland is turned against 
 them by their own act — an act which belies the professions 
 of Toleration in matters of Faith which have given them a 
 great hold of the sympathies of the best men in the country 
 throughout the last half century. I do not see how they 
 can ride out the storm which they by this bill have aroused. 
 The cause of Temperance — of Total Abstinence from 
 all that can intoxicate — is here about twenty years behind 
 its present position in the United States. I think there 
 are not more absolute drunkards here than in our Ameri- 
 can cities, but the habit of drinking for drink's sake is all 
 but universal. The Aristocracy drink almost to a man ; 
 so do the Middle Class ; so do the Clergy ; so alas ! do the 
 Women ! There is less of Ardent Spirits imbibed than 
 with us ; but Wines are much cheaper and in very general 
 use among the well-off; while the consumption of Ale, 
 Beer, Porter, &c. (mainly by the Poor) is enormous. Only 
 think of £5,000,000 or Twenty -Five Millions of Dollars, 
 paid into the Treasury in a single year by the People of 
 these Islands as Malt-Tax alone, while the other ingre- 
 dients used in the manufacture of Malt Liquors probably 
 
BRITISH PROGRESS. 59 
 
 swell the aggregate to Thirty Millions of Dollars. If we 
 suppose this to be a little more than one-third of the 
 ultimate cost of these Liquors to the consumers, that cost 
 cannot be less than One Hundred Millions of Dollars per 
 annum ! — a sum amply sufficient, if rightly expended, to 
 banish Pauperism and Destitution for ever from the Bri- 
 tish Isles. And yet the poor trudge wearily on, loaded to 
 the earth with exactions and burdens of every kind, yet 
 stupifying their brains, emptying their pockets and ruining 
 their constitutions with these poisonous, brutalizing liquors ! 
 I see no hope for them short of a System of Popular Edu- 
 cation which shall raise them mentally above their pre- 
 sent low condition, followed by a few years of systematic, 
 energetic, omnipresent Temperance Agitation. A slow 
 work this, but is there any quicker that will be effective ? 
 The Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge would greatly 
 contribute to the Education of the Poor, but that Reform 
 has yet to be struggled for. 
 
 Of Social Reform in England, the most satisfactory 
 agency at present is the Society for improving the Dwell- 
 ings of the Poor. This Society has the patronage of the 
 Queen, is presided over (I believe) by her husband, and is 
 liberally patronized by the better portion of the Aristo- 
 cracy and the higher order of the Clergy. These, aided 
 by wealthy or philanthropic citizens, have contributed 
 generously, and have done a good work, even though they 
 should stop where they are. The work would not, could 
 not stop with them. They have already proved that good, 
 substantial, cleanly, wholesome, tight-roofed, well ventilated 
 dwellings for the Poor are absolutely cheaper than any 
 other, so that Shylock himself might invest his fortune in 
 the construction of such with the moral certainty of 
 receiving a large income therefrom, while at the same 
 time rescuing the needy from wretchedness, disease, bru- 
 talization and vice. Shall not New- York, and all her 
 sister cities, profit by the lesson ? 
 
60 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 Of the correlative doings of the organized Promoters 
 of Working Men's Associations, Cooperative Stores, &c., I 
 would not be justified in speaking so confidently, at least 
 until I shall have observed more closely. My present im- 
 pression is that they are both far less mature in their 
 operations, and that, as they demand of the Laboring 
 Class more confidence in themselves and each other, than, 
 unhappily, prevails as yet, they are destined to years of 
 struggle and chequered fortunes before they will have 
 achieved even the measure of success which the Model 
 Lodging and the Bathing and Washing Houses have 
 already achieved. Still, I have not yet visited the strong- 
 est and most hopeful of the Working Men's Associations. 
 
 I spent last evening with the friends of Robert Owen, 
 who celebrated his 80th birthday by a dinner at the Cran- 
 bourne Hotel. Among those present were Thornton 
 Hunt, son of Leigh Hunt, and one of the Editors of " The 
 Leader;" Gen. Houg, an exile from Germany from Free- 
 dom's sake ; Mr. Fleming, Editor of the Chartist " North- 
 ern Star ;" Mons. D'Arusmont and his daughter, who is 
 the daughter also of Frances Wright. Mr. Owen was of 
 course present, and spoke quite at length in reiteration 
 and enforcement of the leading ideas wherewith he has so 
 long endeavored to impress the world respecting the ab- 
 solute omnipotence of circumstances in shaping the Hu- 
 man Character, the impossibility of believing or disbeliev- 
 ing save as one must, &c. &c. Mr. Owen has scarcely 
 looked younger or heartier at any time these ten years ; he 
 did not seem a shade older than when I last before met 
 him, at least three years ago. And not many young men 
 are more buoyant in spirit, more sanguine as to the imme- 
 diate future, more genial in temper, more unconquerable 
 in resolution, than he is. I cannot see many things as he 
 does ; it seems to me that he is stone blind on the side of 
 Faith in the Invisible, and exaggerates the truths he per- 
 ceives until they almost become falsehoods ; but I love his 
 
BRITISH PROGRESS. 61 
 
 ^unny, benevolent nature, I admire his unwearied exertions 
 or what he deems the good of Humanity ; and, believing 
 mth the great Apostle to the Gentiles, that " Now abide 
 l^'aith, Hope, Charity : these three ; but the greatest of these 
 -s Charity," I consider him practically a better Christian 
 ;han half those who, professing to be such, believe more 
 md do less. I trust his life may be long spared, and his sun 
 beam cloudless and rosy to the last. 
 
VII. 
 LONDON— NEW- YORK. 
 
 London, Monday, May 15, 1851. 
 
 I HAVE now been fifteen days in this magnificent Babel, 
 but so much engrossed with the Exhibition that I have 
 seen far less of the town than I otherwise should. Of the 
 City proper (in the center) I know a little ; and I have 
 made my way thence out into the open country on the 
 North and on the West respectively, but toward the South 
 lies a wilderness of buildings which I have not yet ex- 
 plored ; while Eastward the metropolitan districts stretch 
 further than I have ever been. The south side of Hyde 
 Park and the main line of communication thence with the 
 City proper is the only part of London with which I can 
 claim any real acquaintance. Yet, on the strength of 
 what little I do know, I propose to say something of Lon- 
 don as it strikes a stranger ; and in so doing I shall gene- 
 rally refer to New- York as a standard of comparison, so as 
 to render my remarks more lucid to a great portion of their 
 readers. 
 
 The Buildings here are generally superior to those of 
 our City — more substantial, of better materials, and more 
 tasteful. There are, I think, as miserable rookeries here 
 as anywhere ; but they are exceptions ; while most of the 
 houses are built solidly, faithfully, and with a thickness of 
 walls which would be considered sheer waste in our City. 
 Among the materials most extensively used is a fine white 
 
LONDON NEW-YORK. 63 
 
 marble* of a peculiarly soft, creamy appearance, which 
 looks admirably until blackened by smoke and time. Re- 
 gent-street and several of the aristocratic quarters west 
 of it are in good part built of this marble ; but one of the 
 finest, freshest specimens of it is St. George's Hospital, 
 Piccadilly, which to my eye is among the most tasteful edi- 
 fices in London. If (as 1 apprehend) St. Paul's Church, 
 Somerset House, and the similarly smoke-stained dwellings 
 around Finsbury Oval were built of this same marble, 
 then the murky skies of London have much to answer 
 for. 
 
 Throughout the Western and Northern sections of the 
 Metropolis, the dwellings are far less crowded than is usual 
 in the corresponding or up-town portion of New- York, are 
 more diverse in plan, color and finish, and better provided 
 with court-yards, shrubbery, &c. In the matter of Build- 
 ing generally, I think our City would profit by a study of 
 London, especially if our lot-owners, builders, (fee, would 
 be satisfied with London rates of interest on their respec- 
 tive investments. I think four per cent, is considered a 
 tolerable and five a satisfactory interest on money securely 
 invested in houses in London. 
 
 By the way : the apostles of Sanitary Reform here 
 are anticipating very great benefits from the use of the 
 Hollow Brick just coming into fashion. I am assured by 
 a leading member of the Sanitary Commission that the 
 hollow brick cost much less than the solid ones, and are a 
 perfect protection against the dampness so generally ex- 
 perienced in brick houses, and often so prejudicial to 
 health. That there is a great saving in the cost of their 
 transportation is easily seen ; and, as they are usually made 
 much larger then the solid brick, they can be laid up much 
 faster. I think Dr. Southwood Smith assured me that the 
 saving in the first cost of the brickwork of a house is one- 
 
 * It seems that this plain marble is but an imitation — a stone or brick wall 
 covered with a compositioji, which gives it a smooth and creamy appearance. 
 
64 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 third; if that is a mistake, the error is one of misappre- 
 hension on my part. The hollow brick is a far less perfect 
 conductor of heat and cold than the solid one ; consequent- 
 ly, a house built of the former is much cooler in Summer 
 and warmer in Winter. It is confidently and reasonably 
 hoped here that very signal improvements, in the dwellings 
 especially of the Poor, are to be secured by means of this 
 invention. Prince Albert has caused two Model Cottages 
 of this material to be erected at his cost in Hyde Park near 
 the Great Exhibition in order to attract general attention 
 to the subject. 
 
 The Streets of London are generally better paved, clean- 
 er and better lighted than those of New- York. Instead 
 of our round or cobble stone, the material mainly used for 
 paving here is a hard flint rock, split and dressed into 
 uniform pieces about the size of two bricks united by their 
 edges, so as to form a surface of some eight inches square 
 with a thickness of two inches. This of course wears 
 much more evenly and lasts longer than cobble-stone pave- 
 ments. I do not know that we could easily procure an 
 equally serviceable material, even if we were willing ta 
 pay for it. One reason of the greater cleanness of the 
 streets here is the more universal prevalence of sewerage ; 
 another is the positive value of street-offal here for fer- 
 tilizing purposes. And as Gas is supplied here to citizens 
 at 4s. 6d. (81 10) per thousand feet, while the good people 
 of New- York must bend to the necessity of paying $3 50, 
 or more than thrice as much for the like quantity, certainly 
 of no better quality, it is but reasonable to infer that the 
 Londoners can afford to light their streets better than the 
 New-Yorkers. 
 
 But there are other aspects in which our streets have a 
 decided superiority. There are half a dozen streets and 
 places here having the same name, and only distinguished 
 by appending the name of a neighboring street, as " St. 
 James-place, St. James-st.," to distinguish it from several 
 
LONDON NEW-YORK. 65 
 
 other St. James-places, and so on. This subjects strangers 
 to great loss of time and vexation of spirit. I have not 
 yet delivered half the letters of introduction which were 
 given me at home to friends of the writers in this city, and 
 can't guess when I shall do it. Then the numbering of the 
 streets is absurdly vicious — generally 1, 2, 3, 4, &c., up 
 one side and down the other side, so that 320 will be 
 opposite 140, and 412 opposite 1, and so throughout. Of 
 course, if any street so numbered is extended beyond its 
 original Hmit, the result is inextricable confusion. But the 
 Londoners seem not to have caught the idea of numbering 
 by lots at all, but to have numbei'ed only the houses that 
 actually existed when the numbering was undertaken ; so 
 that, if a street happened to be numbered when only half 
 built up, every house erected afterward serves to render 
 confusion worse confounded. On this account I spent an 
 hour and a half a few evenings since in fruitless endeavors 
 to find William and Mary Howitt, though I knew they 
 lived at No. 28 Upper Avenue Road, which is less than half 
 a mile long. I found Nos. 27, 29, 30, and 31, and finally found 
 28 also, but in another part of the street, with a No. 5 near 
 it on one side and No. 16 ditto on the other — and this in a 
 street quite recently opened. I think New- York has 
 nothing equal to this in perplexing absurdity. 
 
 The Police here is more omnipresent and seems more 
 efficient than ours. I think the use of a common and 
 conspicuous uniform has a good effect. No one can here 
 pretend that he defied or resisted a policeman in ignorance 
 of his official character. The London police appears to 
 be quite numerous, is admirably organized, and seems to 
 be perfectly docile to its superiors. Always to obey and 
 never to ask the reason of a command, is the rule here ; 
 it certainly has its advantages, but is not well suited to the 
 genius of our people. 
 
 The Hotels of London are decidedly inferior to those 
 of New- York. I do not mean by this that every comfort 
 
 4* 
 
66 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 and reasonable luxury may not be obtained in the London 
 inns for money enough, but simply that the same style of 
 living costs more in this city than in ours. I think $5 per 
 day would be a fair estimate for the cost of living (servants' 
 fees included) as well in a London hotel as you may live 
 in a first-class TSew-York hotel for half that sum. One 
 main cause of this disparity is the smallness of the inns 
 here. A majority of them cannot accommodate more 
 than twenty to forty guests comfortably ; I think there are 
 not four in the entire Metropolis that could find room for 
 one hundred each. Of course, the expense of management, 
 supervision, attendance, &c., in small establishments is 
 proportionably much greater than in large ones, and the 
 English habit of eating fitfully solus instead of at a common 
 hour and table increases the inevitable cost. Considering 
 the National habits, it might be hazardous to arect and 
 open such a hotel as the Astor, Irving or New- York in 
 this city ; but if it were once well done, and the experiment 
 fairly maintained for three years, it could not fail to work 
 a revolution. Wines (I understand) cost not more than 
 half as much here, in the average, as they do in New- 
 York. 
 
 In Cabs and other Carriages for Hire, London is ahead 
 of New- York. The number here is immense ; they are 
 of many varieties, some of them better calculated for fine 
 weather than any of ours ; while the legal rates of fare are 
 more moderate and not so outrageously exceeded. While 
 the average New- York demand is fully double the legal 
 fare, the London cabman seldom asks more than fifty per 
 cent, above what the law allows him ; and this (by 
 Americans, at least) is considered quite reasonable and 
 cheerfully paid. If our New- York Jehus could only be 
 made to realize that they keep their carriages empty by 
 their exorbitant charges, and really double-lock their 
 pockets against the quarters that citizens would gladly 
 pour into them, I think a reform might be hoped for. 
 
LONDON NEW-YORK. 67 
 
 The Omnibnses of London are very numerous and 
 well governed, but I prefer those of New- York. The 
 charges are higher here, though still reasonable ; but the 
 genius of this people is not so well adapted to the Omnibus 
 system as ours is. For example : an Omnibus (the last 
 for the night) was coming down from the North toward 
 Charing Cross the other evening, when a lady asked to be 
 taken up. The stage was full ; the law forbids the taking 
 of more than twelve passengers inside ; a remonstrance 
 was instantly raised by one or more of the passengers 
 against taking her ; and she was left to plod her weary way 
 as she could. I think that could not have happened in 
 New- York. In another instance, a stage-full of passengers 
 started eastward from Hyde Park, one of the women 
 having a basket of unwashed clothes on her knee. It was 
 certainly inconvenient, and not absolutely inoffensive ; but 
 the hints, the complaints, the slurs, the sneers, with which 
 the poor woman was annoyed and tortured throughout — 
 from persons certainly well-dressed and whom I should 
 otherwise have considered well-bred — were a complete 
 surprise to me. In vain did the poor woman explain that 
 she was not permitted to deposit her basket on the roof 
 of the stage, as it was raining ; the growls and witticisms 
 at her expense continued, and women were foremost in 
 this rudeness. I doubt that a woman was ever exposed to 
 the Hke in New- York, unless she was suspected of having 
 Ethiopian blood in her veins. 
 
 The Parks, Squares and Public Gardens of London 
 beat us clean out of sight. The Battery is very good, but 
 it is not Hyde Park ; Hoboken was delightful ; Kensing- 
 ton Gardens are and ever will remain so. Our City ought 
 to have made provision, twenty years ago, for a series of 
 Parks and Gardens extending quite across the island 
 somewhere between Thirtieth and Fiftieth streets. It is 
 now too late for that ; but all that can be should be done 
 immediately to secure breathing-space and grounds for 
 
68 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 healthful recreation to the MilUons who will ultimately 
 inhabit New- York. True, the Bay, the North and East 
 Rivers, will always serve as lungs to our City, but these 
 of themselves will not suffice. Where is or where is to be 
 the Public Garden of New York ? where the attractive 
 walks and pleasure-grounds of the crowded denizens of the 
 Eastern Wards ? These must be provided, and the work 
 cannot be commenced too soon. 
 
VIII. 
 THE EXHIBITION. 
 
 London, Wednesday, May 21, 1851. 
 
 " All the world " — that is to say, some scores of thou- 
 sands who would otherwise be in London — are off to-day 
 to the Epsom Races, this being the " Derby Day," a great 
 holiday here. Our Juries at the Fair generally respect it, 
 and I suppose I ought to have gone, since the opportunity 
 afforded for seeing out-door " life " in England may not 
 occur to me again. As, however, I have very much to 
 do at home, and do not care one button which of twenty 
 or thirty colts can run fastest, I stay away ; and the 
 murky, leaden English skies conspire to justify my choice. 
 I understand the regulations at these races are superior 
 and ensure perfect order ; but Gambling, Intoxication and 
 Licentiousness — to say nothing of SwindHng and Rob- 
 bery — always did regard a horse-race with signal favor 
 and delight, and probably always will. Other things being 
 equal, I prefer that their delight and mine should not ex- 
 actly coincide. 
 
 I am away from the Exhibition to-day for the second 
 time since it opened ; yet I understand that, in spite of 
 the immense number gone to Epsom (perhaps in conse- 
 quence of the general presumption that few would be left 
 to attend), the throng is as great as ever. Yesterday 
 there were so many in the edifice that the Juries which 
 kept together often found themselves impeded by the 
 eddying tide of Humanity ; and yet there have been no 
 
70 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 admissions paid for with so little as one dollar each. Next 
 Monday the charge comes down to one shilling (24 cents). 
 and it is already evident that extraordinary measures must 
 be taken to preserve the Exhibition from choking up. I 
 presume it will be decreed that no more than Forty, Fifty 
 or at most Sixty Thousand single admissions shall be sold 
 in one day, and that each apartment, lane or avenue in 
 the building shall be entered from one prescribed end only 
 and vacated from the other. The necessity for some such 
 regulation is obviously imperative. 
 
 The immense pecuniary success of the Exhibition is of 
 course assured. I presume the Commissioners will be able 
 to pay all fair charges upon them, and very nearly, if 
 not quite, clear the Crystal Palace from the proceeds, over 
 815,000 having been taken yesterday, and an average of 
 more than $10,000 per day since the commencement. If 
 we estimate the receipts of May inclusive at $400,000 
 only, and those of June and July, at $150,000 each, the 
 total proceeds will, on the 1st of August, have reached 
 $700,000 — a larger sum than was ever before realized in a 
 like period by any Exhibition whatever. But then no 
 other was ever comparable to this in extent, variety or 
 magnificence. For example : a single London house has 
 One Million Dollars' worth ot the most superb Plate and 
 Jewelry in the Exhibition, in a by no means unfavorable 
 position ; yet I had spent the better portion of five days 
 there, roaming and gazing at will, before I saw this lot. 
 There are three Diamonds exhibited which are worth, 
 according to the standard method of computing the value 
 of Diamonds, at least Thirty millions of Dollars, and 
 probably could be sold in a week for Twenty Millions ; I 
 have seen but one of them as yet, and that stands so con- 
 spicuously in the center of the Exhibition that few who 
 enter can help seeing it. And there are several miles of 
 cases and lots of costly wares and fabrics exposed here, a 
 good share of which are quite as attractive as the great 
 
THE EXHIBITION. 71 
 
 Diamonds, and intrinsically far more valuable. Is there 
 cause for wonder, then, that the Exhibition is daily thronged 
 by tens of thousands, even at the present high prices ? 
 
 Yet very much of this immediate and indisputable suc- 
 cess is due to the personal influence and example of the 
 Queen. Had she not seen fit to open the display in 
 person, and with unusual and imposing formalities, there 
 would have been no considerable attendance on that 
 occasion ; and nothing less than her repeated and almost 
 daily visits since, reaching the building a little past nine 
 in the morning (sometimes after being engrossed with one 
 of her State Balls or other festivities till long after mid- 
 night), could have secured so general and constant an 
 attendance of the Aristocratic and Fashionable classes. 
 No American who has not been in Europe can conceive 
 the extent of Royal influence in this direction. What the 
 Queen does every one who aspires to Social consideration 
 makes haste to imitate if possible. This personal defer- 
 ence is often carried to an extent quite inconsistent with 
 her comfort and freedom, as I have observed in the Crys- 
 tal Palace ; where, though I have never crowded near 
 enough to recognize her, I have often seen a throng block- 
 ading the approaches to the apartment or avenue in which 
 she and her cortege were examining the articles exhibited, 
 and there (being kept back from a nearer approach by the 
 Police) they have stood gaping and staring till she left, 
 often for half an hour. This may be intense loyalty, but 
 ft is dubious civility. Even on Saturday mornings, when 
 none but the Royal visiters are admitted till noon, and 
 only Jurors, Police and those Exhibitors whose wares or 
 fabrics she purposes that day to inspect are allowed to be 
 present, I have noted similar though smaller crowds 
 facing the Police at the points of nearest approach to her. 
 At such times, her desire to be left to herself is clearly 
 proclaimed, and this gazing by the half hour amounts to 
 positive rudeness. 
 
72 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 I remarked the other evening to Charles Lane that, 
 while I did not doubt the sincerity of the Queen's interest 
 in the articles exhibited, I thought there was some purpose 
 in these continual and protracted visits — that, for Eng- 
 land's sake and that of her husband, whose personal stake 
 in the undertaking was so great, she had resolved that it 
 should not fail if she could help it — and she knew how to 
 help it. Lane assentingly but more happily observed : 
 " Yes : though she seems to be standing on this side of 
 the counter, she is perhaps really standing on ilie other.'' 
 — As I regard such Exhibitions as among the very best 
 pursuits to which Royalty can addict itself, I should not 
 give utterance to this presumption if I did not esteem it 
 creditable to Victoria both as a Briton and a Queen. And 
 it is very plain that her conduct in the premises is daily, 
 among her subjects, diffusing and deepening her popu- 
 larity. 
 
 DINNER AT RICHMOND. 
 
 The London Commissioners gave a great Dinner at 
 Richmond, yesterday, to the foreign Commissioners in 
 attendance on the Exhibition : Lord Ashburton presiding, 
 flanked by Foreign Ministers and Nobles. The feast was 
 of course superb ; the speaking generally fair ; the Music 
 abundant and faultless. Good songs were capitally given 
 by eminent vocalists, well sustained by instruments, between 
 the several toasts with their responses — a fashion which 
 I suggest for adoption in our own country, especially with 
 the condition that the Speeches be shortened to give time 
 for the Songs. At this dinner, no Speech exceeded fifteen 
 minutes in duration but that of Baron Dupin, which may 
 have consumed half an hour, but in every other respect 
 was admirable. The Englishmen who spoke were Lords 
 Ashburton and Granville, Messrs. Grace and Paxton ; of the 
 Foreigners, Messrs. Dupin (France), Van de Weyer 
 
DINNER AT RICHMOND. 73 
 
 (Belgian Charg6), Von Viebhan (Prussian), and myself. 
 Lord Ashburton spoke with great good sense and good 
 feeling, but without fluency. Lord Granville's remarks 
 were admirable in matter but also defective in manner. 
 Barons Van de Weyer and Dupin were very happy. The 
 contrast in felicity of expression between the British and 
 the Continental speakers was very striking, though the 
 latter had no advantage in other respects. 
 
 I went there at the pressing request of Lord Ashburton, 
 who had desired that an American should propose the 
 health of Mr. Paxton, the designer of the Crystal Palace, 
 and Mr. Riddle, our Commissioner, had designated me for 
 the service ; so I spoke about five minutes, and my remarks 
 were most kindly received by the entire company ; yet 
 The Times of to-day, in its report of the festival, suppress- 
 es not merely what I said, but the sentiment I offered and 
 even my name, merely stating that " Mr. Paxton was then 
 toasted and replied as follows." The Daily News does 
 likewise, only it says Mr. Paxton's health was proposed by 
 a Mr. Wedding (a Prussian who sat near me). I state 
 these facts to expose the falsehood of the boast lately made 
 by The Times in its championship of dear newspapers like 
 the British against cheap ones like the American that "In 
 this country fidelity in newspaper reporting is a religion, 
 and its dictates are never disregarded," &c. The pains taken 
 to suppress not merely what I said but its substance, and 
 even my name, while inserting Mr. Paxton's response, 
 refutes the Pharisaic assumption of The Times so happily 
 that I could not let it pass. — Nay, I am willing to brave the 
 imputation of egotism by appending a faithful transcript 
 of what I did say on that occasion, that the reader may 
 guess why The Times deemed its suppression advisa- 
 ble : 
 
 After Baron Dupin had concluded, 
 
 Horace Greeley, being next called upon by the chair, 
 arose and said ; 
 
74 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 " In my own land, my lords and gentlemen, where Nature is still so rugged 
 and unconquered, where Population is yet so scanty and the demands for 
 human exertion are so various and urgent, it is but natural that we should 
 render marked honor to Labor, and especially to those who by invention or 
 discovery contribute to shorten the processes and increase the efficiency of In- 
 dustry. It is but natural, therefore, that this grand conception of a comparison 
 of the state of Industry in all Nations, by means of a World's Exhibition, 
 should there have been received and canvassed with a lively and general 
 interest — an interest which is not measured by the extent of our contributions 
 Ours is still one of the youngest of Nations, with few large accumulations of 
 the fruits of manufacturing activity or artistic skill, and these so generally 
 needed for use that we were not likely to send them three thousand miles 
 away, merely for show. It is none the less certain that the progress of this 
 great Exhibition from its original conception to that perfect realization which 
 we here commemorate, has been watched and discussed not more earnestly 
 throughout the saloons of Europe, than by the smith's forge and the mechanic's 
 bench in America. Especially the hopes and fears alternately predominant on 
 this side with respect to the edifice required for this Exhibition — the doubts as 
 to the practicability of erecting one sufficiently capacious and commodious to 
 contain and display the contributions of the whole world — the apprehension 
 that it could not be rendered impei-vious to water — the confident assertions that 
 it could not be completed in season for opening the Exhibition on the first of 
 May as promised — all found an echo on our shores ; and now the tidings that 
 all these doubts have been dispelled, these difficulties removed, will have been 
 hailed there with unmingled satisfaction. 
 
 " I trust, gentlemen, that among the ultimate fruits of this Exhibition we 
 are to reckon a wider and deeper appreciation of the worth of Labor, and 
 especially of those * Captains of Industry' by whose conceptions and achieve- 
 ments our Race is so rapidly borne onward in its progress to a loftier and 
 more benignant destiny. We shall not be likely to appreciate less fully the 
 merits of the wise Statesman, by whose measures a People's thrift and happi- 
 ness are promoted — of the brave Soldier who joyfully pours out his blood in 
 defense of the rights or in vindication of the honor of his Country — of the 
 Sacred Teacher by whose precepts and example our steps are guided in the 
 pathway to heaven — if we render fit honor also to those ' Captains of Industry' 
 w^hose tearless victories redden no river and whose conquering march is un- 
 marked by the tears of the widow and the cries of the orphan. I give you, 
 therefore, 
 
 " The Health of Joseph Paxton, Esq., Designer of the Crystal Palace — 
 Honor to him whose genius does honor to Industry and to Man \" 
 
 If the reader shall discern in the above (which is as 
 nearly literal as may be — I having only recollection to de- 
 pend on) the reason why The Times saw fit to suppress 
 not merely the remarks, but the words of the toast and 
 the name of the proposer, I shall be satisfied ; though I 
 think the exposure of that journal's argument for dear 
 newspapers as preferable to cheap ones, on the ground 
 that the former always gave fair and accurate reports of 
 
EXHIBITION ITEMS, 75 
 
 public meetings while the latter never did, is worth the 
 space I have given to this matter. I am very sure that 
 if my remarks had been deemed discreditable to myself or 
 my country, they would have been fully reported in The 
 Times. 
 
 EXHIBITION ITEMS. 
 
 The Queen and Prince Albert spent an hour in the 
 American department a few mornings since, and appeared 
 to regard the articles there displayed with deep interest. 
 Prince Albert (who is esteemed here not merely a man of 
 sterling good sense, but thoroughly versed in mechanics 
 and manufactures) expressed much surprise at the variety 
 of our contributions and the utility and excellence of many 
 of them. I mention this because there are some Ameri- 
 cans here who declare themselves ashamed of their country 
 because of the meagerness of its share in the Exhibition. 
 I do not suppose their country will deem it worth while to 
 return the compliment ; but I should have been far more 
 ashamed of the prodigahty and want of sense evinced in 
 sending an indiscriminate profusion of American products 
 here than I am of the actual state of the case. It is true, 
 as I have already stated, that we are deficient in some 
 things which might have been sent here with advantage 
 to the contributors and with credit to the country ; but for 
 Americans to send here articles of luxury and fashion to 
 be exhibited in competition with all the choicest wares 
 and fabrics of Europe, which must have beaten them if 
 only by the force of mere quantity alone, would have 
 evinced a want of sense and consideration which I trust is 
 not our National characteristic. If I ever do feel ashamed 
 in the American department, it is on observing a pair of 
 very well shaped and exquisitely finished oars, labeled, " A 
 Present for the Prince of Wales," or something of the sort. 
 Spare me the necessity of blushing for what we have there, 
 and I am safe enough from shame on account of our defi- 
 ciencies. 
 
76 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 Mr. A. C. Hobbs, of the lock-making concern of Day 
 & Newell, has improved his leisure here in picking a six- 
 tumbler Bank Lock of Mr. Chubb, the great English lock- 
 smith, and he now gives notice that he can pick any of 
 Chubb's locks, or any other based on similar principles, as 
 he is willing to demonstrate in any fair trial. I trust he 
 will have a chance. 
 
 The Queen quits the Exhibition for a time this week, 
 and retires to her house on the Isle of Wight, where she 
 will spend some days in private with her family. I pre- 
 sume the Aristocracy will generally follow her example, so 
 far as the Exhibition is concerned, leaving it to the poorer 
 class, to whom five shillings is a consideration. Absurd 
 speculations are rife as to what "the mob" will do in such 
 a building — whether they will evacuate it quietly and 
 promptly at night — whether there will not be a rush made 
 at the diamonds and other precious stones by bands of 
 thieves secretly confederated for plunder, &c. &c. I do 
 not remember that like apprehensions were ever entertained 
 in our country ; but faith in Man abstractly is weak here, 
 while faith in the Police, the Horse-Guards and the Gal- 
 lows, is strong.-— There are always two hundred soldiers 
 and three hundred policemen in the building while it is 
 open to the public ; and in case of any attempt at robbery, 
 every outlet would (by means of the Telegraph) be closed 
 and guarded within a few seconds, while hundreds if not 
 thousands of soldiers are at all times within call. But they 
 will not be needed. 
 
IX. 
 
 SIGHTS IN LONDON. 
 
 London, Friday, May 23, 1851. 
 I HAVE been much occupied, through the last fortnight, 
 and shall be for some ten days more, with the Great Ex- 
 hibition, in fulfillment of the duties of a Juror therein. 
 The number of Americans here (not exhibitors) who can 
 and will devote the time required for this service is so 
 small that none can well be excused ; and the fairness 
 evinced by the Royal Commissioners in offering to place 
 as many foreigners (named by the Commissioners of their 
 respective countries) as Britons on the several Juries well 
 deserves to be met in a corresponding spirit. I did not, 
 therefore, feel at liberty to decline the post of Juror, to 
 which I had been assigned before my arrival, though it 
 involves much labor and care, and will keep me here 
 somewhat longer than I had intended to stay. On the 
 other hand, it has opened to me sources of information and 
 facilities for observation which I could not, in a brief visit 
 to a land of strangers, have otherwise hoped to enjoy. I 
 spend each secular day at the Exhibition — generally from 
 10 to 3 o'clock — and have my evenings for other pursuits 
 and thoughts. I propose here to jot down a few of the 
 notes on London I have made since the sailing of the last 
 steamship. 
 
 WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 
 
 I attended Divine worship in this celebrated edifice last 
 Sunday morning. Situated near the Houses of Parlia- 
 
78 <3LANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 ment, the Royal Palaces of Buckingham and St. James, 
 and in the most aristocratic quarter of the city, its external 
 appearance is less imposing than I had expected, and what 
 I saw of its interior did not particularly impress me. 
 Lofty ceilings, stained windows, and a barbaric profusion 
 of carving, groining and all manner of costly contrivances 
 for absorbing money and labor, made on me the impression 
 of waste rather than taste, seeming to give form and 
 substance to the orator's simile of " the contortions of the 
 sibyl without her inspiration." A better acquaintance 
 with the edifice, or with the principles of architecture, 
 might serve to correct this hasty judgment ; but surely 
 Westminster Abbey ought to afford a place of worship 
 equal in capacity, fitness and convenience to a modern 
 church edifice costing $50,000, and surely it does not. I 
 think there is no one of the ten best churches in New 
 York which is not superior to the Abbey for this purpose. 
 I supposed myself acquainted with all the approved 
 renderings of the Episcopal morning service, but when the 
 clergyman who officiated at the Abbey began to twang 
 out " Dearly beloved brethren," &c., in a nasal, drawling 
 semi-chant, I was taken completely aback. It sounded as 
 though some graceless Friar Tuck had wormed himself 
 into the desk and was endeavoring, under the pretense of 
 reading the service, to caricature as broadly as possible the 
 alleged peculiarity of Methodistic pulpit enunciation 
 superimposed upon the regular Yankee drawl. As the 
 service proceeded, I became more accustomed and more 
 reconciled to this mode of utterance, but never enough so 
 to like it, nor even the responses, which were given in the 
 same way, but much better. After I came away, I was 
 informed that this semi-chant is termed intoning, and is 
 said to be a revival of an ancient method of rendering the 
 church service. If such be the fact, I can only say that 
 in my poor judgment that revival was an unwise and 
 unfortunate one. 
 
RAGGED SCHOOLS'. 79 
 
 The Service was very long — more than two hours — the 
 Music excellent — the congregation large — the Sermon, so 
 far as I could judge, had nothing bad in it. Yet there was 
 an Eleventh-Century air about the whole which strength- 
 ened my conviction that the Anglican Church will very 
 soon be potentially summoned to take her stand distinctly 
 on the side either of Romanism or of Protestantism, and 
 that the summons will shake not the Church only but the 
 Realm to its centre. 
 
 RAGGED SCHOOLS 
 
 In the evening I attended the Ragged School situated 
 in Carter's-field Lane, near the Cattle-Market in Smithfield 
 [where John Rogers was burned at the stake by Catholics, 
 as Catholics had been burned by Protestants before him. 
 The honest, candid history of Persecution for Faith's sake, 
 has never yet been written ; whenever it shall be, it must 
 cause many ears to tingle]. 
 
 It was something past 7 o'clock when we reached the 
 rough old building, in a filthy, poverty-stricken quarter, 
 which has been rudely fitted up for the Ragged School — 
 one of the first, I believe, that was attempted. I should 
 say there were about four hundred pupils on its benches, 
 with about forty teachers ; the pupils were at least two- 
 thirds males from five to twenty years old, with a dozen or 
 more adults. The girls were a hundred or so, mainly from 
 three to ten years of age ; but in a separate and upper 
 apartment ascending out of the main room, there were 
 some forty adult women, with teachers exclusively of their 
 own sex. The teachers were of various grades of capacity ; 
 but, as all teach without pay and under circumstances 
 which forbid the idea of any other than philanthropic or 
 religious attractiveness in the duty, they are all deserving 
 of praise. The teaching is confined, I believe, to rudi- 
 mental instruction in reading and spelling, and to historic, 
 
80 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 theologic and moral lessons from the Bible. As the doors 
 are open, and every one who sees fit comes in, stays so 
 long as he or she pleases, and then goes out, there is much 
 confusion and bustle at times, but on the whole a satis- 
 factory degree of order is preserved, and considerable, 
 though very unequal, progress made by the pupils. 
 
 But such faces ! such garments! such daguerreotypes of 
 the superlative of human wretchedness and degradation ! 
 These pupils were gathered from among the outcasts of 
 London — those who have no family ties, no homes, no 
 education, no religious training, but were born to wander 
 about the docks, picking up a chance job now and then, 
 out acquiring no skill, no settled vocation, often compelled 
 to steal or starve, and finally trained to regard the shelter- 
 ed, well fed, and respected majority as their natural oppres- 
 sors and their natural prey. Of this large class of vagrants, 
 amounting in this city to thousands. Theft and (for the 
 females) Harlotry, whenever the cost of a loaf of bread 
 or a night's lodging could be procured by either, were as 
 matter-of-course resorts for a livelihood as privateering, 
 campaigning, distilling or (till recently) slave-trading was 
 to many respected and well-to-do champions of order and 
 Conservatism throughout Christendom. And the outcasts 
 have ten times the excuse for their moral blindness and 
 their social misdeeds that their well-fed competitors in 
 iniquity ever had. They have simply regarded the world as 
 their oyster and tried to open its hard shells as they best 
 could, not indicating thereby a special love of oysters but 
 a craving appetite for food of some kind. It was oyster or 
 nothing with them. And in the course of life thus forced 
 upon them, the males who survived the period of infancy 
 may have averaged twenty-five years of wretched, debased, 
 brutal existence, while the females, of more delicate frame 
 and subjected to additional evils, have usually died much 
 younger. But the gallows, the charity hospitals, the prisons. 
 the work-houses (refuges denied to the healthy and the un- 
 
RAGGED SCHOOLS, 81 
 
 convicted), with the unfenced kennels and hiding-places of 
 the destitute during inclement weather, generally saw the 
 earthly end of them all by the time that men in better 
 circumstances have usually attained their prime. And all 
 this has been going on unresisted and almost unnoticed for 
 countless generations, in the very shadows of hundreds of 
 church steeples, and in a city which pays millions of 
 dollars annually for the support of Gospel ministrations. 
 The chief impression made on me by the spectacle here 
 presented was one of intense sadness and self-reproach. I 
 deeply realised that I had hitherto said toolittle, done too lit- 
 tle, dared too little, sacrificed too little, to awaken attention 
 to the infernal wrongs and abuses v^hich are inherent in the 
 very structure and constitution, the nature and essence, of 
 civilised Society as it now exists throughout Christendom. 
 Of what avail are alms-giving, and individual benevolence, 
 and even the offices of Religion, in the presence of evil so 
 gigantic and so inwoven with the very framework of 
 Society ? There have been here in all recent times chari- 
 table men, good men, enough to have saved Sodom, but not 
 enough to save Society from the condemnation of driving 
 this outcast race before it hke sheep to the slaughter, as its 
 members pressed on in pursuit of their several schemes of 
 pleasure, riches or ambition, looking up to God for His 
 approbation on their benevolence as they tossed a penny 
 to some miserable beggar after they had stolen ^the earth 
 from under his feet. How long shall this endure ? 
 
 The School was dismissed, and every one requested to 
 leave who did not choose to attend the prayer-meeting. 
 No effort was made to induce any to stay — the contrary 
 rather. I was surprised to see that three-fourths (I think) 
 staid ; though this was partly explained afterwards by the 
 fact that by staying they had hopes of a night's lodging here 
 and none elsewhere. That prayer-meeting was the most 
 impressive and salutary religious service I have attended 
 for many years. Four or five prayers were made by 
 
82 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 different teachers in succession — all chaste, appropriate, 
 excellent, fervent, affecting. A Hymn was sung before 
 and after each by the congregation — and well sung. Brief 
 and cogent addresses were made by the superintendent 
 and (I believe) an American visitor. Then the School 
 was dismissed, and the pupils who had tickets permitting 
 them to sleep in the dormitory below filed off in regular 
 order to their several berths. The residue left the 
 premises. We visiters were next permitted to go down 
 and see those who staid — of course only the ladies being 
 allowed to look into the apartment of the women. O the 
 sadness of that sight ! There in the men's room were 
 perhaps a hundred men and boys, sitting up in their rags in 
 little compartments of naked boards, each about half-way 
 between a bread-tray and a hog-trough, which, planted 
 close to each other, were to be their resting-places for the 
 night, as they had been for several previous nights. And 
 this is a very recent and very blessed addition to the 
 School, made by the munificence of some noble woman, 
 who gave $500 expressly to fit up some kind of a sleeping- 
 room, so that those who had attended the School should 
 not all be turned out (as a part still necessarily are) 
 to wander or lie all night in the always cold, damp streets. 
 There are not many hogs in America who are not better 
 lodged than these poor human brethren and sisters, who 
 now united, at the suggestion of the superintendent, in 
 a hymn of praise to God for all His mercies. Doubtless, 
 many did so with an eye to the shelter and hope of food 
 (for each one who is permitted to stay here has a bath and 
 six ounces of bread allowed him in the morning) ; yet 
 when I contrasted this with the more formal and stately 
 w^orship I had attended at Westminster Abbey in the 
 morning, the preponderance was decidedly not in favor 
 of the latter. 
 
 It seemed to me a profanation — an insult heaped on 
 injury — an unjustifiable prying into the saddest secrets 
 
RAGGED SCHOOLS. 83 
 
 of the great prison-house of human woe — for us visiters to 
 be standing here ; and, though I apologised for it with 
 a sovereign, which grain of sand will, I am sure, be wisely 
 applied to the mitigation of this mountain of misery, 
 I was yet in haste to be gone. Yet I leaned over the rail 
 and made some inquir}^ of a ragged and forlorn youth 
 of nineteen or twenty who sat next us in his trough, wait- 
 ing for our departure before he lay down to such rest 
 as that place could afford him. He replied that he had 
 no parents nor friends who could help him — had never 
 been taught any trade — always did any work he could 
 get — sometimes earned sixpence to a shilling per day 
 by odd jobs, but could get no work lately — had no money, 
 of course — and had eaten nothing that day but the six 
 ounces of bread given him on rising here in the morning 
 — and had only the like six ounces in prospect between 
 him and starvation. That hundreds so situated should 
 unite with seeming fervor in praise to God shames the 
 more polished devotion of the favored and comfortable ; 
 and if these famishing, hopeless outcasts were to pilfer 
 every day of their lives (as most of them did, and perhaps 
 some of them still do), I should pity even more than I 
 blamed them. 
 
 The next night gave me a clearer idea of 
 
 BRITISH ANTI-SLAVERY. 
 
 The Annual meeting of the British and Foreign Anti- 
 Slavery Society was held on Monday evening, in Free- 
 masons' Hall — a very fine one. There were about One 
 Thousand persons present — perhaps less, certainly not 
 more. I think Joseph Sturge, Esq., was Chairman, but I 
 did not arrive till after the organization, and did not learn 
 the officers' names. At all events, Mr. Sturge had pre- 
 sented the great practical question to the Meeting — 
 "What can we Britons do to hasten the overthrow of 
 
84 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 Slavery?" — and Rev. H. H. Garnett (colored) of our 
 State was speaking upon it when I entered. He named 
 me commendingly to the audience, and the Chairman 
 thereupon invited me to exchange my back seat for one 
 on the platform, which I took. Mr. Garnett proceeded to 
 commend the course of British action against Slavery 
 which is popular here, and had already been shadowed 
 forth in the set resolves afterward read to the meeting. 
 The British were told that they could most effectually 
 war against Slavery by refusing the courtesies of social 
 intercourse to slaveholders — by refusing to hear or recog- 
 nise pro-slavery clergymen — by refusing to consume the 
 products of Slave Labor, &c. Another colored American 
 — a Rev. Mr. Crummill, if I have his name right, — 
 followed in the same vein, but urged more especially the 
 duty of aiding the Free Colored population of the United- 
 States to educate and intellectually develop their children. 
 Mr. S. M. Peto, M. p. followed in confirmation of the 
 views already expressed by Mr. Garnett, insisting that he 
 could not as a Christian treat the slaveholder otherwise 
 than as a tyrant and robber. And then a very witty negro 
 from Boston (Rev. Mr. Heuston, I understood his name), 
 spoke quite at length in unmeasured glorification of Great 
 Britain, as the land of true freedom and equality, where 
 simple Manhood is respected without regard to Color, and 
 where alone he had ever been treated by all as a man and 
 a brother. 
 
 By this time I was very ready to accept the Chairman's 
 invitation to say a few words. For, Avhile all that the 
 speakers had uttered with regard to Slavery was true 
 enough, it was most manifest that, whatever effect the 
 course of action they urged might have in America, it 
 could have no other than a baneful influence on the cause 
 of Political Reform in this country. True, it did not 
 always say in so many words that the Social and Political 
 institutions of Great Britain are perfect, but it never inti- 
 
BRITISH ANTI-SLAVERY. 85 
 
 mated the contrary, while it generally implied and often 
 distinctly affirmed this. The effect, therefore, of such 
 inculcations, is not only to stimulate and aggravate the 
 Phariseeism to which all men are naturally addicted, but 
 actually to impede and arrest the progress of Reform in 
 this Country by implying that nothing here needs reforming. 
 And as this doctrine of " Stand by thyself for I am holier 
 than thou," was of course received with general applause by 
 a British audience, the vices of speaker and hearer reacted 
 on each other ; and, judging from the specimens I had 
 that evening, I must regard American, and especially 
 Afric-American lecturers against Slavery in this country 
 as among the most effective upholders of all the enormous 
 Political abuses and wrongs which are here so prevalent. 
 
 When the stand was accorded me, therefore, I pro- 
 ceeded, not by any means to apologize for American Sla- 
 very, not to suggest the natural obstacles to its extinction, 
 but to point out, as freely as the audience would bear, 
 some modes of effective hostility to it in addition to those 
 already commended. Premising the fact that Slavery in 
 America now justifies itself mainly on the grounds that 
 the class who live by rude manual toil always are and 
 must be degraded and ill-requited — that there is more de- 
 basement and wretchedness on their part in the Free States 
 and in Great Britain itself than there is in the Slave States 
 —and that, moreover. Free laborers will not work in tro- 
 pical climates, so that these must be cultivated by slaves 
 or not at all — I suggested and briefly urged on British 
 Abolitionists the following course of action : 
 
 1. Energetic and systematic exertions to increase the 
 reward of Labor and the comfort and consideration of the 
 depressed Laboring Class here at home ; and to diffuse and 
 cherish respect for Man as Man, without regard to class, 
 color or vocation. 
 
 2. Determined efforts for the eradication of those Social 
 evils and miseries here which are appealed to and relied 
 
 5 
 
86 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 on by slaveholders and their champions everywhere as 
 justifying the continuance of Slavery ; And 
 
 3. The colonization of our Slave States by thousands 
 of intelligent, moral, industrious Free Laborers, who will 
 silently and practically dispel the wide-spread delusion 
 which affirms that the Southern States must be cultivated 
 and their great staples produced by Slave Labor or not 
 at all. 
 
 I think I did not speak more than fifteen minutes, and I 
 was heard patiently to the end, but my remarks were re- 
 ceived with no such " thunders of applause" as had been 
 accorded to the more politic efforts of the colored gentle- 
 men. There was in fact repeatedly evinced a prevalent 
 apprehension that I would say something which it would 
 be incumbent on the audience to resent ; but I did not. 
 And I have a faint hope that some of the remarks thus 
 called forth will be remembered and reflected on. I am 
 sure there is great need of it, and that denunciations of 
 Slavery addressed by London to Charleston and Mobile 
 will be far more effective after the extreme of destitution 
 and misery uncovered by the Ragged Schools shall have 
 been banished forever from this island — nay, after the great 
 body of those who here denounce Slavery so unsparingly 
 shall have earnestly, unselfishly, thoroughly tried so to 
 banish it. 
 
POLITICAL ECONOMY, AS STUDIED AT THE 
 WORLD'S EXHIBITION. 
 
 London, Tuesday, May 27, 1851. 
 
 To say, as some do, that the English hate the Americans, 
 is to do the former injustice. Even if we leave out of the 
 account the British millions who subsist by rude manual 
 toil, and who certainly regard our country, so far as they 
 think of it at all, with an emotion very different from ha- 
 tred, there is evinced by the more fortunate classes a very 
 general though not unqualified admiration of the rapidity 
 of our progress, the vastness of our resources, and the ex- 
 traordinary physical energy developed in our brief, impe- 
 tuous career. Dense as is the ignorance which widely 
 prevails in Europe with regard to American history and 
 geography, it is still very generally understood that we 
 were, only seventy years since, but Three Millions of wide- 
 ly scattered Colonists, doubtfully contending, on a narrow 
 belt of partially cleared sea-coast, with the mother country 
 on one side and the savages on the other, for a Political 
 existence ; and that now we are a nation of Twenty-three 
 Millions, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific and 
 from the cane-producing Tropic to the shores of Lake 
 Superior where snow lies half the year — from Nantucket 
 and the Chesapeake to the affluents of Hudson's Bay and 
 the spacious harbors and sheltered roadsteads of Nootka 
 Sound. And this vast extent of country, the Briton re- 
 marks with pride, we have not merely overrun, as the 
 
88 GLANCES AT EOROPE. 
 
 Spanish so rapidly traversed South America, but have 
 really appropriated and in good degree assimilated, so that 
 the far shores of the Pacific, which have but for three or 
 four years felt the tread of the Anglo-American, are now 
 dotted w^ith energetic and thriving marts of Commerce, 
 into whose lap gold mines are pouring their lavish trea- 
 sures, while a profusion of steamers, ships and smaller water- 
 craft link them closely with each other, with the Atlantic 
 States and the Old World, while their numerous daily 
 journals are aiding to diffuse the English language through 
 the isles of the immense Pacific, and their "merchant 
 princes" are coolly discussing the advantages of establish- 
 ing a direct communication by lines of steamships with 
 China and opening the wealth of Japan to the commerce 
 of the civilized world. All this is marked with something 
 of w^onder but more of pride by the ruling classes in Great 
 Britain — the pride of a father v/hose son has beaten him 
 and run away, but who nevertheless hears with interest 
 and gratification that the unfilial reprobate is conquering 
 fame and fortune, and who with beaming eye observes to 
 a neighbor, '' A wild boy that of mine, sir, but blood will 
 tell !" If the United States were attacked by any powder 
 or alliance strong enough to threaten their subjugation, the 
 sympathy felt for them in these islands would be intense 
 and all but universal. 
 
 And yet there is another side of the picture, which in 
 fairness must also be presented. The favored classes in 
 Great Britain, while they heartily admire the American 
 energy and its fruits, do and must nevertheless dread the 
 contagion of our example ; and this dread must increase 
 and be diffused as the rapidly increasing power, population 
 and wealth of our country commend it more and more to 
 the attention of the world. While we w^ere some sixty 
 days distant, and heard of mainly in connection with In- 
 dian fights or massacres, fatal steamboat explosions or in- 
 solvent banks, this contagion w^as not imminent and did 
 
POLITICAL ECONOMY. 89 
 
 not seriously alarm ; but, now that New- York is but ten 
 days from London, and New-Orleans (by Telegraph) 
 scarcely more, the case is bravely altered, and it becomes 
 daily more and more palpable that the United States and 
 Great Britain cannot both remain as they are. If we in 
 America can have a succession of capable and reputable 
 Chief Magistrates for £5,000 a year, of Chief Justices for 
 £1,000, and of Cabinets at a gross cost of less than £lO,- 
 000, it is manifest that John Bull, who, loyal as he is, has 
 a strong instinct of thrift and a pride in getting the worth 
 of his money, will not long be content to pay a hundred 
 times as much for his Chief Executive and ten times as 
 much for his Judiciary and Ministry as we do. It is a 
 question, therefore, of the deepest practical interest to the 
 British Nation whether the Americans do really enjoy the 
 advantages of peace, order and security for the rights of 
 person and property through instrumentalities so cheap, 
 and so dependent on moral force only, as those devised 
 and established by Washington and his compatriots. If 
 we have these with a Civil List of less than £1,000,000 
 sterling, an Army of less than Ten Thousand men, and a 
 Navy (why won't it die and get decently buried ?) of a 
 dozen or two active vessels, why should John tax and 
 sweat himself as he does to maintain a Political establish- 
 ment which costs him over $150,000,000 a year beside the 
 interest on his enormous National Debt ? If we, without 
 any Church endowed by law, have as ample and widely 
 diffused provision for Divine worship and Religious instruc- 
 tion as he has, why should he pay tithes to endow Lord 
 Bishops with incomes of £10,000 to £80,000 per annum ? — 
 These and similar questions are beginning to be widely 
 pondered here : they refuse to be longer drowned by the 
 blare of trumpets and the resonant melody of " God save 
 the Queen !" I know nobody who objects to that last 
 quoted sentiment, but there are many here, and the num- 
 ber is increasing, who think there is an urgent and prac- 
 
90 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 tical need of salvation also for the People — salvation from 
 heavy exactions, unjust burthens and galling distinctions. 
 And, as the interest of the Many in the reform of abuses 
 and the removal of impositions becomes daily more obvious 
 and palpable, so does the instinctive grasp of the Few to 
 keep what they have and get what they can become 
 likewise more muscular and positive. And this instinct 
 absolutely demands a perversion or suppression of the 
 truth with regard to America — with regard especially to 
 the prevalence of order, justice and tranquillity within 
 her borders. And not this only : it is important to this 
 class that it be made to appear that, while RepubHcan 
 institutions may possibly answer for a time in a rude 
 and semi-barbarous community of scattered grain-growers 
 and herdsmen, they are utterly incompatible with a 
 dense population, with general refinement, the upbuilding 
 of Manufactures and the prevalence of the arts of civilized 
 life. 
 
 Here, then, is the cue to the cry so early and generally 
 raised, so often and invidiously renewed by the London 
 daily press, of surprise at the meagerness of our country's 
 share in the Great Exhibition. Had any other young 
 nation of Twenty Millions, located three to five thousand 
 miles off, sent a collection so large and so creditable to its 
 industrial proficiency and inventive power, it would have 
 been warmly commended by these same journals ; but it is 
 deemed desirable to make an impression on the public 
 mind of Europe adverse to American skill and attainment 
 in the Arts, and hence these representations and sneers. 
 
 Yet, gentlemen ! what would you have ? For years you 
 have been devoting your energies to the task of convincing 
 our people that they should be content to grow Food and 
 Cotton and send them hither in exchange for Wares and 
 Fabrics, especially those of the finer and costlier varieties. 
 You have written reams of essays intended to prove that 
 this course of Industry and Trade is dictated by Nature, 
 
POLITICAL ECONOMY. 91 
 
 by Providence, by Public good ; and that only narrow and 
 short-sighted selfishness would seek to overrule it. Well : 
 here are American samples of all the staples you say our 
 Country ought to produce and be content with, in unde- 
 niable abundance and excellence — Cotton, Wool, Wheat, 
 Flour, Indian Corn, Hams, Beef, &c., &c., yet these you 
 run over with a glance of cool contempt, and say we have 
 nothing in the Exhibition ! Is this kind or politic treat- 
 ment of the supporters of your policy in the States ? If a 
 seeming approximation to your Utopia should subject them 
 to such compliments, what may they expect from its 
 perfect consummation ? Let all our States become as 
 purely i'fgricultural as the Carolinas or the lower valley 
 of the Mississippi, and what would then be your estima- 
 tion of us ? If a half-way obedience to your counsels 
 exposes us to such disparagement, what might we fairly 
 expect from a thorough submission ? 
 
 The vital truth, everywhere demonstrable, is nowhere 
 so palpable as here — that a diversification of Industrial 
 pursuits is essential not onl}^ to the prosperity and thrift, 
 but also to the education and intellectual activity of a 
 People. A community v/hich witnesses from year to year 
 the processes of Agricultural labor only, lacks a stimulus 
 to mental cultivation of inestimable value. If Europe were 
 to say to America, "Sit still, and we will send you from 
 year to year all the Wares and Fabrics you need for 
 nothing, on the simple condition that you will not attempt 
 to produce any yourselves," it would be most unwise and 
 suicidal to accept the offer. For we need not more the 
 Wares and Fabrics than the skill which fashions and the 
 taste which beautifies them. We need that multiform 
 capacity and facility of hand and brain which only 
 experience in the Arts can bestow and diffuse. The 
 National Industry is the People's University ; to confine 
 it to a few and those the ruder branches is to stunt and 
 stagnate the popular mind — is to arrest the march of 
 
92 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 improvement in Agriculture itself. Hence, nearly or quite 
 all the modern improvements in Cultivation have been 
 made in immediate proximity to a dense Manufacturing 
 population ; hence Belgium is now a garden, while Ireland 
 (except the manufacturing North) is to a great extent 
 stagnant and decaying. Other causes doubtless conspire, 
 as in England contrasted with Italy and Spain, to produce 
 these results, but they do not unsettle the general truth 
 that Industry advances through a symmetric and many- 
 sided development or does not advance at all. 
 
 We have yet much to learn in the Arts, but the first 
 lesson of all is a well-founded confidence in our own 
 artisans, our own capacities, with a patriotic resolution to 
 encourage the former and develop the latter. And this 
 confidence is abundantly justified even by what is exhibited 
 here. While our show of products is much less than it 
 might and less even than it should have been, those who 
 have really studied it draw thence hope and courage. No 
 other nation exhibits within a similar compass so great a 
 diversity of excellence — no other exhibits so large a pro- 
 portion of inventions and valuable improvements. Even 
 in the vast apartment devoted to British Machinery, the 
 number and importance of the American inventions 
 exhibited (some of them adapted to new uses or improved 
 upon in this country ; others merely incorporated with 
 British improvements), is very striking. I doubt whether 
 England during the last half century has borrowed so many 
 inventions from all the world beside — I am sure she has 
 not from all except France — as she has from the United 
 States. And yet we are blessed with the presence of 
 sundry Americans here who, without having examined our 
 contributions, without knowing anything more about thena 
 than they have gleaned from The Times and Punch, aided 
 by a hurried walk through the department, are busily 
 proclaiming that this show makes them ashamed of their 
 country! 
 
POLITICAL ECONOMY. 93 
 
 Here is the great source of our weakness — a want of pro- 
 per pride in and devotion to our own Industrial interests. 
 Every sort of patriotism is abundant in America but that 
 which is most essential — that which aids to develop and 
 strengthen the Nation's productive energies. No other 
 people buy Foreign fabrics extensively in preference to 
 the equally cheap and more substantial products of their 
 own looms, yet ours do it habitually. I had testimony after 
 testimony from American merchants on the voyage over, 
 as well as before and since, that foreign fabrics habitually 
 sell in our markets for ten to twenty per cent, more than 
 is asked for equally good American products, while thou- 
 sands of pieces of the latter are readily sold on the strength 
 of fabricated Foreign marks at prices which they would 
 not command to customers who would not buy them, if their 
 origin were known. This is certainly disgraceful to the 
 seller — what is it to the buyer ? The mercantile interest 
 naturally leans toward the more distant production — the 
 margin for profit is larger where an article is brought 
 across an ocean, while the cost of a home made article is 
 so notorious that there is little chance of putting on a 
 large profit. Give American producers the prices now 
 readily paid throughout our country for Foreign fabrics 
 and they will grow rich by manufacturing articles in no 
 respect inferior to the former. But with only a share of 
 the American market, and this mainly for the coarsest and 
 cheapest goods, while the purchasers of the more costly 
 and fanciful, on which the larger profits are made, must 
 have " Fabrique de Paris'' or some such label affixed to 
 render them current, our manufacturers have no fair 
 chance. While fools could be found to buy "Cashmere 
 Shawls," costing fifty to a hundred dollars, for five hundred 
 to a thousand, under the absurd delusion that they came from 
 Eastern Asia, the fabrication and the profits were Euro- 
 pean ; let an American begin to make just such Shawls and 
 the secret is out, so the price sinks at once to the neigh- 
 s' 
 
94 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 borhood of the cost of production. So with De Laines, 
 Counterpanes, Brussels Carpetings and fabrics generally ; 
 and yet Americans will talk as though the encouragement 
 given by protective Duties to home Manufacturers were 
 given at the expense of our consumers. Vainly are they 
 challenged from day to day to name one single article 
 whereof the production has been transplanted from Europe 
 to America through Protection, which has not thereby been 
 materially cheapened to the American consumer ; it suits 
 them better to assume that the duty is a tax on the con- 
 sumer than to examine the case and admit the truth. But 
 delusion cannot be eternal. 
 
 That our Country would at some future day work its way 
 gradually out of its present semi-Colonial dependence on 
 European tastes, European fashions, European fabrication, 
 even though all Legislative encouragement were withheld, 
 I firmly believe. The genius, the activity, the energy, the 
 enterprise of our people conspire to assure it. So the thief, 
 the burglar, the forger, are certain to suffer for their misdeeds 
 though all the penalties of human laws were repealed, and 
 yet I consider state prisons and houses of correction salutary 
 if not indispensable. It is difficult for even an ingenious and 
 inventive race to make improvements in an art or process 
 which has no existence among them. Whitney's Cotton-Gin 
 presupposed the growth of Cotton ; Fulton's steamboat the 
 existence of internal commerce and navigation ; without 
 Lowell, Bigelow might have invented a new trap for musk- 
 rats but not looms for weaving Carpets, Ginghams, Coach- 
 Lace, &c. I deeply feel that our Country owes to man- 
 kind the duty of so sustaining her Manufacturing Industry 
 that further and more signal triumphs of her inventive 
 genius may yet be evolved and realised, not merely in 
 the domain of Fabrics but in that of Wares and Metals 
 also, and especially in that of the chief metal. Iron. Had 
 Iron enjoyed for twenty years such a measure of Protec- 
 tion among us as Plain Cottons obtained from 1816 through 
 
POLITICAL ECONOMY. 95 
 
 Mr. Calhoun's minimum of six cents per square yard, we 
 should, in all probability, have been producing Iron by this 
 time as cheaply as drills and sheetings — that is, as cheaply 
 (quality considered) as any nation on the globe — as cheaply 
 as we produce School-Books, Newspapers, and nearly 
 every article whereof the American maker is shielded by 
 circumstances from Foreign competition. Had the Tariff 
 of 1842 but stood unaltered till this time, who believes 
 that even the greenest and silliest American could have 
 fancied himself blushing for the meagerness of his country's 
 share in the Great Exhibition? 
 
XI. 
 ROYAL SUNSHINE. 
 
 London, Thursday, May 29, 1851. 
 
 I HAVE now been four weeks in this metropolis, and, 
 though confined throughout nearly every day to the Crys- 
 tal Palace, I have enjoyed large and various opportunities 
 for studying the English People. I have made acquaint- 
 ances in all ranks, from dukes to beggars — all ranks, I 
 should say, but that which is esteemed the highest. I have 
 of course seen the Royal family repeatedly at the Exhibi- 
 tion, which is open at all hours to Jurors, and the Queen 
 times her visits so as to be there mainly while it is closed 
 to the public. But I have barely seen her party, as I passed 
 it with a double row of gazers interposed, all eager to catch 
 the sunlight of Majesty, appearing to care little how much 
 she might be annoyed or they abased by their unseemly 
 gaping. I hope no Americans contributed to swell these 
 groups, but after what I have seen here I am by no means 
 sure of it. 
 
 A young countrywoman who has not yet been long 
 enough in Europe to forget what it cost our forefathers to 
 be rid of all this, but who had in her own case adequate 
 reasons for desiring a presentation at Court, gave me some 
 days since a graphic account of the ceremonial, which I 
 wish I had committed to paper while it was freshly re- 
 membered. It is of course understood that every one pre- 
 sented to her Majesty must appear in full dress — that of 
 gentlemen (not Military) being a Court suit alike costly, 
 
ROYAL SUNSHINE. 97 
 
 fantastic and utterly useless elsewhere, while ladies are 
 expected to appear in rich [O^ British silk (Free Trade 
 notwithstanding) with a train three yards long (perhaps 
 it is only three feet), with plumes, &:c. Thus equipped, 
 they proceed to the Palace, where at the appointed hour 
 the Queen makes her appearance, with her family by her 
 side and backed by a double row of maids of honor, at- 
 tendants, &c. Each palpitating aspirant to the honor of 
 presentation awaits his or her turn standing, and may 
 thus wait two hours. The Foreign Embassadors have 
 precedence in presenting ; others follow ; in due season 
 your name is called out ; you pass before the Royal pre- 
 sence, make your bow or courtesy, receive the faint sug- 
 gestion of a response, and pass along and away to make' 
 room for the next customer. Unless you belong essentially 
 to the Diplomatic circle (being presented by an Embassa- 
 dor will not answer), you are not allowed to remain and 
 see those behind you take the plunge, but must hasten 
 forthwith from the presence. And, as ordinary Humanity 
 has but one aspect in w^hich it is fit to be gazed on by Royal 
 eyes, you must contrive to quit the presence with your 
 face constantly turned toward it. Now this need not be 
 difficult for those in masculine attire, but to the wearers 
 of the rich Spitalfields silks and trains aforesaid, even 
 though the trains be but three feet long instead of three 
 yards, the evolution must require no moderate share of 
 feminine tact and dexterity. It is consoling to hear that 
 all manage to accompHsh it, by dint of severe training 
 through the week preceding the event ; though some are 
 so frightened when the awful moment arrives that their 
 ghastly visages and tottering frames evince how narrowly 
 they escape swooning. The fact that it is over in a mo- 
 ment serves materially to mitigate the torture ! 
 
 " What ridiculous formalities ! — What absurd require- 
 ments !" exclaims Brother Jonathan. No, sir ! You are 
 judging without knowledge or without consideration. 
 
98 GLANCES AT EtJROi'E. 
 
 These and kindred formalities, considered apart, may be 
 ludicrous, but, regarded as portions of a system, they are 
 essential. In a country where everything gravitates so 
 intensely toward the Throne, there must be impediments 
 to presentation at Court, if the Sovereign is to enjoy any 
 leisure, peace, comfort, or even time for the most pressing 
 pubHc duties. There is and should be no absolute barrier 
 to the presentation of any well-bred, well-behaved person, 
 whether subject or foreigner ; and, if it were as easy as 
 visiting the Exhibition, the Queen would be required to 
 hold a drawing-room every day, and devote the whole of 
 it to unmeaning and useless introductions. As the matter 
 is actually managed, those who have any good reason for 
 it undergo the ceremony, with many who have none ; while 
 the great majority are content with the knowledge that 
 they might he admitted to the august presence if they 
 chose to incur the bother and expense. Those who che- 
 rish a moth -like reverence for Royalty indulge it at their 
 own cost and to the advantage of Trade ; weavers, cos- 
 tumers and shop-keepers are very glad to pocket the money 
 which the presentee must disburse ; and even those ladies 
 w^ho have the entree, and so attend half a dozen drawing- 
 rooms per annum, are expected to appear at each in a 
 new dress — thus the interests of the shop are never lost 
 sight of. These Court formalities, Brother J., are not ab- 
 surd — very far from it. They are rational, politic, benefi- 
 cent, indispensable. Whether it is wise or unwise for your 
 young folks to subject themselves to the inevitable expense 
 and vexation for the sake of standing a few feet nearer a 
 ( Queen, is another affair altogether. When I contrast these 
 / presentations with the freedom and ease (except when 
 ! there is a jam) of our Presidential receptions — when I re- 
 I member that any whole dress is good enough for the White 
 House, and any honest man or woman (with some not so 
 honest) may go up on a levee night and be introduced to 
 the President and his lady, saunter through the rooms, 
 
ROYAL SUNSHINE. 99 
 
 converse with friends and pass in review half the notables 
 of the Nation — I deeply realize the superiority of Repub- 
 licanism to Royalty, but without seeking to put the new 
 wine into old bottles. The forms appropriate to our sim- 
 pler institutions would be utterly unsuitable here — nay, 
 they would be found impossible. 
 
 The Queen left London last week for her private re- 
 sidence on the Isle of Wight, I supposed for weeks ; 
 but she was back in the Exhibition early on Tuesday 
 morning, and has since been holding a Drawing-Room, 
 giving Dinners, a Concert, &c. with her accustomed 
 activity. She seems resolved to make the Exhibition 
 Summer an agreeable one for the Foreigners in attendance, 
 many of whom are included in her invitations. As the 
 " shilling days " opened meagerly on Monday, to the 
 disappointment (perhaps because) of the general apprehen- 
 sion of a crush, and as the numbers thronging thither have 
 rapidly increased ever since, the Queen's renewed counte- 
 nance receives a good share of the credit, and her condes- 
 cension in coming on a " shilling day " is duly commended. 
 It is already plain enough that the attendance consequent 
 on the cheap admission is destined to be enormous. To- 
 day over Fifty Thousand paid their shilling each, over six 
 thousand per hour — to say nothing of the thousands who 
 came in on season tickets, or as exhibitors, jurors, &c. 
 The money taken at the doors to-day must have exceeded 
 812,000, though no "excursion trains" have yet come in 
 from the Country. These will begin to pour in next week, 
 by which time it is to be hoped that the Juries will have 
 completed their examinations if not their awards ; for they 
 will have scanty elbow-room afterward except at early 
 hours in the morning. I presume there will be Fifty 
 Thousand admissions paid for during each of the four 
 " shilling days," of next week. Fridays henceforth the 
 admission is to be 2s. 6d. (60 cents), and Saturdays 5s. 
 ($1 20), and many believe the Palace will be as crowded 
 on these as on other days. I doubt. 
 
100 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 THE LITERARY GUILD. 
 
 " The Guild of Literature and Art " will have already 
 been heard of in America. It is an undertaking of several 
 fortunate authors and their friends to make some provision 
 for their unsuccessful brethren — for those who had the 
 bad luck to be born before their time, as well as those who 
 would apparently have done better by decHning to be born 
 at all. The world overflows with writers who would fain 
 transmute their thoughts into bread, and lacking the 
 opportunity, have a slim chance for any bread at all, even 
 the coarsest. No other class has less worldly wisdom, less 
 practical thrift ; no other suffers more keenly from " the 
 slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," than unlucky 
 authors. If anything can be done to mitigate the severity 
 of their fate, and especially if their more favored brethren 
 can do it, there ought to be but one opinion as to its 
 propriety. 
 
 And yet I fear the issue of this project. The world is 
 scourged by legions of drones and adventurers who have 
 taken to Literature as in another age they would have 
 taken to the highway — to procure an easy livelihood. 
 They write because they are too lazy to work, or because 
 they would scorn to live on the meager product of manual 
 toil. Of Genius, they have mainly the eccentricities — 
 that is to say, a strong addiction to late hours, hot suppers 
 and a profusion of gin and water, though they are not 
 particular about the water. What Authorship needs above 
 all things is purification from this Falstaff's regiment, who 
 should be taught some branch of honest industry and 
 obliged to earn their living by it. So far, therefore, am I 
 from regretting that every one who wishes cannot rush 
 into print, and joining in the general execration of pub- 
 Hshers for their insensibility to unacknowledged merit, that 
 I wish no man could have his book printed until he had 
 
THE LITERARY GUILD. 101 
 
 earned the cost thereof by bona fide labor, and that no one 
 could live by Authorship until after he had practically de- 
 monstrated both his ability and willingness to earn his 
 living in a different way. I greatly fear the proposed 
 " Guild," even under the wisest regulations, will do as 
 much harm as good, by aggravating the prevalent tendency 
 toward Authorship among thousands who never asked 
 whether the world is likely to profit by their lucubrations, 
 but only whether they may hope to profit by them. If the 
 " Guild " should tend to increase the number of aspirants 
 to the honors and rewards of Authorship, it will incite 
 more misery than it is likely to overcome. 
 
 However, this is an attempt to mend the fortunes of 
 unlucky British Authors ; and as we Americans habitually 
 steal the productions of British Authorship, and deliberate- 
 ly refuse them that protection to which all producers are 
 justly entitled, I feel myself fairly indebted to the class, by 
 the amount of my reading of their works to which Copy- 
 right in America is denied. I meant to have attended 
 the first dramatic entertainment given at Devonshire 
 House in aid of this enterprise, but I did not apply for 
 a ticket (price £5) till too late ; so 1 took care to be in 
 season for next time — that is, Tuesday evening of this 
 week. 
 
 The play (as before) was " Not so Bad as We Seem, or 
 Many Sides to a Character," written expressly in aid of 
 the " Guild " by Bulwer, and performed at the town man- 
 sion of the Duke of Devonshire, one of the most wealthy 
 and popular of the British nobility. On the former evening 
 the Queen and Royal Family attended, with some scores 
 of the Nobility ; this time there was a sprinkling of 
 Duchesses, &c., but Commoners largely preponderated, 
 and the hour of commencing was changed from 9 to 1\ 
 p. M. The apartment devoted to the performance is a 
 very fine one, and the whole mansion, though common- 
 place enough in its exterior, is fitted up with a wealth of 
 
102 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 carving, gilding, sculpture, &c., which can hardly be 
 imagined. The scenes were painted expressly in aid of 
 the "Guild," and admirably done. The Duke's private 
 band played before and between the acts, and nothing had 
 been spared on his part to render the entertainment a 
 pleasant one. Every seat was filled, and, at $10 each and 
 no expenses out, a handsome sum must have been realized 
 in aid of the benevolent enterprise. 
 
 The male performers, as is well understood, are all Lite- 
 rary amateurs ; the ladies alone being actresses by profes- 
 sion. Charles Dickens had the principal character — that 
 of a profligate though sound-hearted young Lord — and he 
 played it very fairly. But stateliness sits ill upon him, and 
 incomparably his best scene was one wherein he appears 
 in disguise as a bookseller tempting the virtue of a poverty- 
 stricken author. Douglas Jerrold was for the nonce a 
 young Mr. Softhead, and seemed quite at home in the 
 character. It was better played than Dickens's. The 
 residue were indifferently good — or rather, indifferently 
 bad — and on the whole the performance was indebted for 
 its main interest to the personal character of the per- 
 formers. I was not sorry when it was concluded. 
 
 After, a brief interval for refreshments, liberally proffered, 
 a comic afterpiece, " Mr. Nightingale's Diary," was given 
 with far greater spirit. Dickens personated the principal 
 character — or rather, the four or five principal characters 
 — for the life of the piece is sustained by his appearance 
 successively as a lawyer, a servant, a vigorous and active 
 gentleman relieved of his distempers by water-cure, a 
 feeble invalid, &c., &c. It is long since I saw much acting 
 of any account, but this seemed to me perfect ; and I am 
 sure the raw material of a capital comedian was put to a 
 better use when Charles Dickens took to authorship. The 
 other characters were fairly presented, and the play heartily 
 enjoyed throughout. 
 
 The curtain fell about half an hour past midnight amidst 
 
THE fishmongers' DINNER. 103 
 
 tumultuous and protracted applause. The company then 
 mainly repaired to the supper room, where a tempting dis- 
 play of luxuries and dainties was provided for them by the 
 munificence of their noble host. I did not venture to par- 
 take at that hour, but those who did would be quite unlikely 
 to repent of it — till morning. Thence they were gradually 
 moving off to another superb apartment, where the violins 
 were beginning to give note of coming melody, to which 
 flying feet were eager to respond ; but I thought one 
 o'clock in the morning quite late enough for retiring, and 
 so came away before the first set was made up. I do not 
 doubt the dancing was maintained with spirit till broad 
 daylight. 
 
 THE fishmongers' DINNER. 
 
 A sumptuous entertainment was given on Wednesday 
 (last) evening by the " Ancient and Honorable Company of 
 Fishmongers" — this being their regular annual festival. 
 The Fishmongers' is among the oldest and wealthiest of the 
 Guilds of London, having 'acquired, by bequest or other- 
 wise, real estate which has been largely enhanced in value 
 by the city's extension. Originally an association of actual 
 fishmongers for mutual service as well as the cultivation 
 of good fellowship, it has been gradually transformed by 
 Time's changes until now no single dealer in fish (I under- 
 stood) stands enrolled among its living members, and no 
 fish is seen within the precincts of its stately Hall save on 
 feast-days like this. Still, as its rents are ample, its privi- 
 leges valuable, its charities bounteous, its dinners superla- 
 tive, its cellars stored with ancient wines, and its leaning 
 decided toward modern ideas, its roll of members is well 
 filled. Most of them are city men extensively engaged in 
 business, two or three of the City's Members of Parliament 
 being among them. There were perhaps a dozen Members 
 present, including Lord Palmerston, Foreign Secretary of 
 
104 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 State, and Joseph Hume, the world-known Economist. 
 The chah' was filled by " Sir John Easthope, Prime Warden." 
 The chairmen of the several Juries at the Exhibition were 
 among the guests. 
 
 Having recently described the Dinner to the Foreign 
 Commissioners at Richmond, I can dispatch this more 
 summarily, only noting what struck me as novel. Suffice 
 it that the company, three hundred strong, was duly seated, 
 grace said, the dinner served, and more than two hours 
 devoted to its consumption. It v/as now ten o'clock, and 
 Lord Palmerston, who was expected to speak and reputed 
 to be rarely gifted with fluency, was obliged to leave for 
 the Queen's Concert. Up to this time, no man had been 
 plied with more than a dozen kinds of wine, each (I pre- 
 sume) very good, but altogether (I should suppose) calcu- 
 lated to remind the drinker of liis head on rising in the 
 morning. The cloth was now removed and after-grace 
 sung by a choir, for even with two prayers this sort of 
 omnivorous feasting at night is not quite healthy. I trust 
 there is no presumption involved in the invocation of a 
 blessing on such indulgences, yet I could imagine that an 
 omission of one of the prayers might be excused if half the 
 dinner were omitted also. 
 
 But the eatables were removed, silence restored, and 
 three enormous flagons, apparently of pure gold, placed on 
 the table near its head. The herald or toast-master now 
 loudly made proclamation : " My Lord Viscount Ebrington, 
 my Lord de Mauley, Baron Charles Dupin (&c. &:c., re- 
 citing the names and titles of all the guests), the honorable 
 Prime Warden, the junior Wardens and members of the 
 ancient and honorable Company of Fishmongers bid you 
 welcome to their hospitable board, and in token thereof 
 beg leave to drink your healths" — whereupon the Prime- 
 Warden rose, bowing courteously to his right-hand neigh- 
 bor (who rose also), and proceeded to drink his health, 
 wiping with his napkin the rim of the flagon, and passing 
 
THE fishmongers' DINNER. 105 
 
 it to the neighbor aforesaid, who in turn bowed and drank 
 to his next neighbor and passed the wine in like manner, 
 and so the flagons made the circuit of the tables. Then 
 the festive board was re-covered with decanters, and the 
 intellectual enjoyments of the evening commenced, the 
 vinous not being intermitted. 
 
 The toasts were, " The Queen," " Prince Albert and 
 the Royal Family," " The Foreign Commissioners to the 
 World's Exhibition," " The Royal Commissioners," " The 
 Army and Navy," " The House of Lords," *' The House 
 of Commons," " The Health of the Prime Warden," " Civil 
 and Religious Liberty," " The Ministry," " The Bank of 
 England," &c. The responsive speeches were made by 
 Baron Dupin for the Foreign Commissioners, Earl Gran- 
 ville for the Royal ditto. Lord de Mauley for the Peers, 
 Viscount Ebrington for the Commons, Gen. Sir Hugh de 
 Lacy Evans for the Army, Solicitor General Wood (in the 
 absence of Lord Palmerston) for the Ministry, the Deputy- 
 Governor in behalf of the Governor of the Bank of 
 England, Dr. Lushington in response to Civil and Re- 
 ligious Liberty, and so on. When Baron Dupin rose to 
 respond for the Foreign Commissioners, they all rose and 
 stood while he spoke, and so in turn with the Royal 
 Commissioners, Members of the House of Commons, &c. 
 Earl Granville's was the most amusing, Dr. Lushington's 
 the most valuable speech of the evening. It briefly glanced 
 at past struggles in modern times for the extension of 
 Freedom in England, and hinted at similar struggles to 
 come, pointing especially to Law Reform. Dr. L. is a 
 very earnest speaker, and has won a high rank at the Bar 
 and in public confidence. 
 
 I was more interested, however, in the remarks of Mr. 
 Sergeant Talfourd, author of " Ion," and of Sir James 
 Brooke, "Rajah of Sarawak " (Borneo, E. I.), who spoke 
 at a late hour in reply to a personal allusion. I do not 
 mean that Mr. Talfourd's remarks especially impressed 
 
106 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 me, for they did not, but I was glad of this opportunity of 
 hearing him. The Rajah is a younger and more vivacious 
 man than I had fancied him, rather ornate in manner, and 
 spoke (unlike an Englishman) with more fluency than 
 force, in self-vindication against the current charge of 
 needless cruelty in the destruction of a nest of pirates in 
 the vicinity of his Oriental dominions. From reading, I 
 had formed the opinion that he is doing a good work for 
 Civilization and Humanity in Borneo, but this speech did 
 not strengthen my conviction. 
 
 Farther details would only be tedious. Enough that the 
 Fishmongers' Dinner ended at midnight, when all quietly 
 and steadily departed. In " the good old days," I presume 
 a considerable proportion both of hosts and guests would 
 by this time have been under the table. Let us rejoice 
 over whatever improvement has been made in social 
 habits and manners, and labor to extend it. 
 
XII. 
 THE FLAX-COTTON REVOLUTION. 
 
 London, Wednesday, June 4, 1851. 
 
 Although I have not yet found time for a careful and 
 thorough examination of the machinery and processes 
 recently invented or adopted in Europe for the manufacture 
 of cheap fabrics from Flax, I have seen enough to assure 
 me of their value and importance. I have been disappointed 
 only with regard to machinery for Flax-Dressing, which 
 seems, on a casual inspection, to be far less efficient than 
 the best on our side of the Atlantic, especially that patented 
 of late in Missouri and Kentucky. That in operation in 
 the British Machinery department of the Exhibition does 
 its work faultlessly, except that it turns out the product 
 too slowly. I roughly estimate that our Western machines 
 are at least twice as efficient. 
 
 M. Claussen is here, and has kindly explained to me 
 his processes and shown me their products. He is no 
 inventor of Flax-dressing Machinery at all, and claims 
 nothing in that line. In dressing, he adopts and uses the 
 best machines he can find, and I think is destined to receive 
 important aid from American inventions. What he claims 
 is mainly the discovery of a cheap chemical solvent of the 
 Flax fiber, whereby its coarseness and harshness are 
 removed and the fineness and softness of Cotton induced 
 in their stead. This he has accomplished. Some of his 
 Flax-Cotton is scarcely distinguishable from the Sea 
 Island staple, while to other samples he has given the 
 character of Wool very nearly. I can imagine no reason 
 
108 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 why this Cotton should not be spun and woven as easily 
 as any other. The staple may be rendered of any desired 
 length, though the usual average is about two inches. It 
 is as white as any Cotton, being made so by an easy and 
 cheap bleaching process, M. Claussen's process in lieu of 
 Rotting requires but three hours for its completion. It 
 takes the Flax as it came from the field, only somewhat 
 dryer and with the seed beaten off, and renders it thoroughly 
 fit for breaking. The plant is allowed to ripen before it is 
 harvested, so that the seed is all saved, while the tedious- 
 ness and injury to the fiber, not to speak of the unwhole- 
 someness, of the old-fashioned Rotting processes are 
 entirely obviated. Where warmth is desirable in the 
 fabrics contemplated, the staple is made to resemble Wool 
 quite closely. Specimens dyed red, blue, yellow, &:c., are 
 exhibited, to show how readily and satisfactorily the Flax- 
 Cotton takes any color that may be desired. Beside these 
 lie rolls of Flannels, Feltings, and almost every variety of 
 plain textures, fabricated wholly or in good part from Flax 
 as prepared for Spinning under M. Claussen's patent, 
 proving the adaptation of this fiber to almost every use 
 now subserved by either Cotton or Wool. The mixtures 
 of Cotton and Flax, Flax-Cotton and Wool, are excellent 
 and serviceable fabrics. 
 
 The main question still remains to be considered — will 
 it pay ? Flax may be grown almost anywhere — two or 
 three crops a year of it in some climates — a crop of it 
 equal to three times the present annual product of Cotton, 
 Flax and Wool all combined could easily be produced 
 even next year. But unless cheaper fabrics, all things 
 considered, can be produced from Flax-Cotton than from 
 the Mississippi staple, this fact is of little worth. On this 
 vital point I must of course rely on testimony, and M. 
 Claussen's is as follows : 
 
 He says the Flax-straw, or the ripe, dry plant as it comes 
 from the field, with the seed taken off, may be grown even 
 
FLAX-COTTON. 109 
 
 here for $10 per tun, but he will concede its cost for the 
 present to be $15 per tun, delivered, as it is necessary that 
 hberal inducements shall be given for its extensive cultiva- 
 tion. Six tuns of the straw or flax in the bundle will 
 yield one tun of dressed and clean fiber, the cost of dressing 
 which by his methods, so as to make it Flax Cotton, is $35 
 per tun. (Our superior Western machinery ought con- 
 siderably to reduce this.) The total cost of the Flax-Cot- 
 ton, therefore, will be $125 per tun or six cents per pound, 
 while Flax-straw as it comes from the field is worth $15 
 per tun; should this come down to $10 per tun, the cost 
 of the fiber will be reduced to $95 per tun, or less than 
 five cents per pound. At that rate, good " field-hands " 
 must be rather slow of sale for Cotton-planting at $1,000 
 each, or even $700. 
 
 Is there any doubt that Flax-straw may be profitably 
 grown in the United States for $15 or even $10 per tun ? 
 Consider that Flax has been extensively grown for years, 
 even in our own State, for the seed only, the straw being 
 thrown out to rot and being a positive nuisance to the 
 grower. Now the seed is morally certain to command, 
 for two or three years at least, a higher price than hitherto, 
 because of the increased growth and extended use of the 
 fiber. Let no farmer who has Flax growing be tempted 
 to sell the seed by contract or otherwise for the present ; 
 let none be given over to the tender mercies of oil-mills. 
 We shall need all that is grown this year for sowing next 
 Spring, and it is morally certain to bear a high price even 
 this Fall. The sagacious should caution their less watch- 
 ful neighbors on this point. I shall be disappointed if a 
 bushel of Flax-seed be not worth two bushels of Wheat in 
 most parts of our Country next May. 
 
 Our ensuing Agricultural Fairs, State and local, should 
 be improved for the diffusion of knowledge and the attain- 
 ment of concert and mutual understanding with regard to 
 the Flax-Culture. For the present, at any rate, few 
 
110 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 farmers can afford or will choose to incur the expense of 
 the heavy machinery required to break and roughly dress 
 their flax, so as to divest it of four-fifths of its bulk and 
 leave the fiber in a state for easy transportation to the 
 central points at w^hich Flax-Cotton machinery may be put 
 in operation. If the Flax-strav\^ has to be hauled fifty or 
 sixty miles over country roads to find a purchaser or 
 breaking-machine, the cost of such transportation will 
 nearly eat up the proceeds. If the farmers of any town- 
 ship can be assured beforehand that suitable machinery 
 will next Summer be put up within a few miles of them, 
 and a market there created for their Flax, its growth will 
 be greatly extended. And if intelligent, energetic, respon- 
 sible men will now turn their thoughts toward the procuring 
 and setting up of the best Flax-breaking machinery (not 
 for fully dressing but merely for separating the fibre from 
 the bulk of the woody substance it incloses) they may 
 proceed to^ make contracts with their neighboring farmers 
 for Flax-straw to be delivered in the Autumn of next year 
 on terms highly advantageous to both parties. The Flax 
 thus roughly dressed may be transported even a hundred 
 miles to market at a moderate cost, and there can be no 
 reasonable doubt of its commanding a good price. M. 
 Claussen assures me that he could now buy and profitably 
 use almost any quantity of such Flax if it were to be had. 
 The only reason (he says) why there are not now any 
 number of spindles and looms running on Flax-Cotton is 
 the want of the raw material. (His patent is hardly yet 
 three months old.) Taking dressed and hetcheled Flax, 
 worth seven to nine cents per pound, and transforming it 
 into Flax-Cotton while Cotton is no higher than at present, 
 would not pay. 
 
 Of course, there will be disappointments, mistakes, un- 
 foreseen difficulties, disasters, in Flax-growing and the 
 consequent fabrications hereafter as heretofore. I do not 
 presume that every man who now rushes into Flax will 
 
FLAX-COTTON. Ill 
 
 make his fortune ; I presume many will incur losses. I 
 counsel and urge the fullest inquiry, the most careful 
 calculations, preHminary to any decisive action. But that 
 such inquiry will lead to very extensive Flax-sowing next 
 year, — to the erection of Flax-breaking machinery at a 
 thousand points where none such have ever yet existed — 
 and ultimately to the firm establishment of new and most 
 important branches of industry, I cannot doubt. Our own 
 country is better situated than any other to take the lead 
 in the Flax-business ; her abundance of cheap, fertile soil 
 and of cheap seed, the intelligence of her producers, the 
 general diffusion of water or steam power, and our present 
 superiority in Flax-breaking machiner}^ all point to this 
 result. It will be unfortunate ahke for our credit and our 
 prosperity if we indolently or heedlessly suffer other nations 
 to take the lead in it. 
 
 P. S. — M. Claussen has also a Circular Loom in the 
 Exhibition, wherein Bagging, Hosiery, &c., may be woven 
 without a seam or anything like one. This loom may be 
 operated by a very light hand-power (of course, steam or 
 water is cheaper), and it does its work rapidly and fault- 
 lessly. I mention this only as proof of his inventive 
 genius, and to corroborate the favorable impression he 
 made on me. I have seen nothing more ingenious in the 
 immense department devoted to British Machinery than 
 this loom. 
 
 I understand that overtures have been made to M. 
 Claussen for the purchase of his American patent, but as 
 yet without definite result. This, however, is not material. 
 Whether the patent is sold or held, there will next year be 
 parties ready to buy roughly dressed Flax to work up 
 under it, and it is preparation to grow such Flax that I am 
 urging. I believe nothing more important or more 
 auspicious to our Farming Interest has occurred for years 
 than this discovery by M. Claussen. He made it in Brazil, 
 while engaged in the growth of Cotton. It will not super- 
 
112 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 sede Cotton, but it will render it no longer indispensable 
 by providing a substitute equally cheap, equally service- 
 able, and which may be grown almost everywhere. This 
 cannot be realized too soon. 
 
XIII. 
 LEAVING THE EXHIBITION. 
 
 London, Friday, June 6, 1851. 
 
 The great " Exposition " (as the French more accurate- 
 ly term it) has now been more than five weeks open, and 
 is nearly complete. You may wander for miles through 
 its richly fringed avenues without hearing the sound of 
 saw or hammer, except in the space allotted to Russia, 
 which is now boarded up on all sides, and in which some 
 twenty or thirty men are at work erecting stands, unpack- 
 ing and arranging fabrics, &c. I visited it yesterday, and 
 inferred that the work is pushed night and day, since a 
 part of the workmen were asleep (under canvas) at 2 
 o'clock. This apartment promises to be most attractive 
 when opened to the public. Its contents will not be 
 numerous, but among them are very large and showy 
 manufactures of Porcelain, Bronze, &c., and tables of the 
 finest Malachite, a single piece weighing (I think) nearly 
 or quite half a tun. Not half the wares are yet displayed, 
 but " Russia " will be the center of attraction for some 
 days after it is thrown open. 
 
 The Exhibition has become a steady, business-like 
 concern. The four " shilling days " of each week are 
 improved and enjoyed by the common people, who quietly 
 put to shame the speculation of the Aristocratic oracles as 
 to their probable behavior in such a magazine of wealth 
 and splendor — whether they might not make a general 
 rush on the precious stones, plate and other valuables here 
 
114 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 staring them in the face,, with often but a single poUceman 
 in sight — whether they might not refuse to leave at the 
 hour of closing, &c., &c. The gates are surrounded a 
 little before ten in the morning by a gathering, deepening 
 crowd, but all friendly and peaceable ; and when they 
 open at the stroke of the clock, a dense column pours 
 in through each aperture, each paying his shilling as he 
 passes (no tickets being used and no change given — 
 the holders of season, jurors' and exhibitors' tickets have 
 separate entrances), and all proceeding as smoothly as 
 swiftly. Within half an hour, ten thousand shillings will 
 have thus been taken : within the next hour, ten thousand 
 more; thence the admissions fall off; but the number 
 ranges pretty regularly from Forty to Fifty Thousand per 
 day, making the daily receipts from 810,000 to $12,000. 
 Yesterday was a great Race Day at Ascot, attended by 
 the Queen and Royal Family, as also by most of the 
 habitual idlers, with a multitude beside (and a miserably 
 raw, rainy, chilly day they had of it, with very poor 
 racing), yet I should say that the attendance at the Exhi- 
 bition was greater than ever before. Certainly not less 
 than fifty thousand shillings, or $12,000, can have been 
 taken. For hours, the Grand Avenue, which is nearly or 
 quite half a mile long and at least thirty feet wide, was so 
 filled with the moving mass that no vacant spaces could be 
 seen from any position commanding an extensive prospect, 
 though small ones were occasionally discoverable while 
 threading the mazes of the throng. The visiters were 
 constantly turning off into one or another department 
 according to their several tastes; but their places were as 
 constantly supplied either by new-comers or by those who, 
 having completed their examinations in one department, 
 were hastening to another, or looking for one especially 
 attractive. Turn into whatever corner you might, there 
 were clusters of deeply interested gazers, intent on making 
 the most of their day and their shilling, while in the 
 
LEAVING THE EXHIBITION. 115 
 
 quieter nooks from 1 to 3 o'clock might be seen families or 
 parties eating the lunch which, with a prophetic foresight 
 of the miserable quality and exorbitant price of the viands 
 served to you in the spacious Refreshment Saloons, they 
 had wisely brought from home. But these saloons were 
 also crowded from an early to a late hour, as they are almost 
 every day, and I presume the concern which paid a high 
 price for the exclusive privilege of ministering to the 
 physical appetites within the Crystal Palace will make 
 a fortune by it, though the interdiction of Wines and 
 Liquors must prove a serious drawback. It must try the 
 patience of some of the visiters to do without their beer 
 or ale from morning to night ; and if you leave the build- 
 ing on any prete'xt, your shilling is gone. Every actual 
 need of the day is provided for inside, even to the washing 
 of face and hands (price 2d.), But Night falls, and the 
 gigantic hive is deserted and closed, leaving its fairy halls, 
 its infinite wealth, its wondrous achievements, whether of 
 Nature or of Art, to darkness and silence. Of course, a 
 watch is kept, and, under pressing and peculiar circum- 
 stances, work has been permitted ; but the treasures here 
 collected must be guarded with scrupulous vigilance. If 
 a fire should consume the Crystal Palace, the inevitable 
 loss must exceed One Hundred Millions of Dollars, even 
 supposing that a few of the most precious articles should 
 be snatched from the swift destruction. Ten minutes 
 without wind, or five with it, would suffice to wrap 
 the whole immense magazine in flames, and not a hun- 
 dredth part of the value of building and contents would 
 remain at the close of another hour. 
 
 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 The Exhibition is destined to contribute immensely to 
 the Industrial and Practical Education of the British Peo^ 
 pie. The cheap Excursion Trains from the Country have 
 
116 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 hardly commenced running yet ; but it is certain that a 
 large proportion of the mechanics, artisans and appren- 
 tices of the manufacturing towns and districts will spend 
 one or two days each in the Palace before it closes. 
 Superficial as such a view of its contents must be, it will 
 have important results. Each artisan will naturally be led 
 to compare the products of his own trade with those in 
 the same line from other Nations, especially the most suc- 
 cessful, and will be stimulated to discern and master the 
 point wherein his own and his neighbor's efforts have 
 hitherto comparatively failed. Of a million vv^ho come ta 
 gaze, only an hundred thousand may come with any clear 
 idea of profiting by the show, and but half af those suc- 
 ceed in carrying back more wisdom than they brought 
 here ; yet even those are quite an army; and fifty thousand 
 skilled artisans or sharp-eyed apprentices viewing such an 
 Exposition aright and going home to ponder and dream 
 upon it, cannot fail of w^arking out great triumphs. The 
 British mind is more fertile in improvement than in al> 
 solute invention, as is here demonstrated, especially in the 
 department of Machinery ; and the simple adaptation of 
 the forces now attained, the principles established, the 
 machines already invented, to all the beneficent uses of 
 which they are capable, would speedily transform the In- 
 dustrial and Social condition of mankind. I am perfectly 
 satisfied, for example, that Boots and Shoes may be cut 
 out and made up by machinery with less than one-fourth 
 the labor now required — that this wouM require no abso- 
 lutely new inventions, but only an adaptation of those 
 already well known. So in other departments of Industry. 
 There is no reason for continuing to sew plain seams on 
 thick cloth by hand, when machinery can do the work 
 even better and twenty times as fast. I shall be disap- 
 pointed if this Exhibition be not speedily followed by im- 
 mense advances in Labor-Saving Machinery, especially iii 
 this country. 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 117 
 
 But out of the domain of* Industry, British Progress in 
 Popular Education is halting and partial. And the chief 
 obstacle is not a want of means, nor even niggardliness ; 
 for the Nation is wealthy, sagacious and public-spirited. I 
 think the influential classes generally, or at least very ex- 
 tensively, realize that a well managed system of Common 
 Schools, supported by taxation on Property, would save 
 more in diminishing the burthen of Pauperism than it 
 would cost. I believe the Ministry feel this. And yet 
 Mr. Fox's motion looking to such a system was voted 
 down in the House of Commons by some three to one, 
 the Ministry and their reliable supporters vieing with 
 the Tories in opposing it ! So the Nation is thrown 
 back on the wretched shift of Voluntaryism, or Instruction 
 for the poor and ignorant children to be provided, directed 
 and paid for by their poor, ignorant and often vicious 
 parents, with such help and guidance as self-constituted 
 casual associations may see fit to give them. The result 
 is and will be what it ever has been and must be — the 
 virtual denial of Education to a great share of the rising 
 generation. 
 
 For this suicidal crime, I hold the Episcopal and Roman 
 Catholic Priesthoods mainly responsible, but especially 
 the former. If they would only stand out of the way, a 
 system of efficient Common Schools for the whole Nation 
 might be speedily established. But they will not permit it. 
 By insisting that no Nationally directed and supported 
 system shall be put in operation which does not recognize 
 and affirm the tenets of their respective creeds, they ren- 
 der the adoption of any such system impossible. They 
 see this ; they know it ; they mean it. And nothing moves 
 me to indignation quicker than their stereotyped cant of 
 " Godless education," " teaching infidelity," " knowledge 
 worthless or dangerous without Religion," &c. &c. Why, 
 Sirs, it is very true that the People need Religious as well 
 as purely Intellectual culture, but the former has been 
 
 6* 
 
118 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 already provided for. You clergymen of the Established 
 Church have been richly endowed and beneficed expressly 
 for this work — why dont you do it ? Why do you stand 
 here darkening and stopping the gateway of secular in- 
 struction with a self-condemning assumption that your own 
 duties have been and are criminally neglected, and that 
 therefore others shall likewise remain unperformed ? 
 Teach the children as much Religion as you can; very 
 few of you ever lack pupils when you give your hearts to 
 the work ; and if they prove less apt or less capable learn- 
 ers because they have been taught reading, writing, gram- 
 mar, geography and arithmetic in secular schools, it argues 
 some defect in your theology or its teachers. If you really 
 wanted the children taught Religious truth, you would be 
 right glad to have them taught letters and other rudimen- 
 tal lessons elsewhere, so as to be fitted to apprehend and 
 retain your inculcations. It should suffice for the con- 
 demnation of all Established Churches ever more, that the 
 State-paid Priesthood of Great Britain is to-day the chief 
 impediment to a system of Common Schools throughout 
 the British Isles. 
 
 The Catholic Clergy have more excuse. They, too 
 unite in the impracticable requirement that the dogmas of 
 their Church shall be taught in the schools attended by 
 Catholic children, when they ought to teach them these 
 dogmas out of School-hours, and be content that no an- 
 tagonist dogmas are taught in the secular Schools. But 
 they receive nothing from the State, and have good reason 
 to regard it as hostile to their faith, therefore to suspect 
 its purposes and watch narrowly its movements. If they 
 would only take care to have a good system of Common 
 School Education established and efficiently sustained in 
 Spain, Portugal, Italy, Mexico, and other Countries where- 
 in they are the conscience-keepers of the great majority 
 and practically omnipotent in the sphere of moral and 
 social effort, I could better excuse their unfortunate atti- 
 
TOWN GOSSIP. 119 
 
 tude here. As it is, the difference between them and 
 their State-paid rivals here seems one of position rather 
 than of principle. And, in spite of either or both, this 
 generation will yet see Common Schools free and univer- 
 sal throughout this realm. But even a year seems long to 
 wait for it. 
 
 TOWN GOSSIP. 
 
 Preparations are on foot for a grand banquet at Bir- 
 mingham to the Royal Commissioners, the Foreign Com- 
 missioners and the Jurors at the Exhibition, to take place 
 on or about the 16th. This is to be followed by one still. 
 more magnificent given by the Mayor and Council of 
 London, which the Queen is expected to attend. The 
 East India Company give one to-morrow evening, but 1 
 hope then to be in France, as I intend to leave for Paris to- 
 morrow. The advertisements promise to put us " through 
 in eleven hours" by the quickest and dearest route. Others 
 take twice as many. 
 
 Miss Catharine Hayes, a Vocalist of European reputa- 
 tion, who sang the last winter mainly in Rome, means to 
 visit America in September. She is here ranked very high 
 in her profession, and profoundly esteemed and respected 
 in private life. I have heard her but once, having had but 
 two evenings' leisure for public entertainments since I 
 came here. There is but one Jenny Lind, but Miss Hayes 
 need not shrink from a comparison with any other singer. 
 She is very highly commended by the best Musical critics 
 of London. I cannot doubt that America will ratify their 
 judgment. 
 
 We have had tolerably fair, pleasant weather for son)e 
 time until the last two days, when clouds, chilly winds and 
 occasional rain have returned. The " oldest inhabitant" 
 don't remember just such weather at this season — as he 
 probably observed last June. I shall gladly leave it for 
 dryer air and brighter skies. 
 
XIV. 
 LONDON TO PARIS. 
 
 Paris, Monday, June 9, 1851. 
 
 I LEFT London Bridge at 11|- on Saturday for this City, 
 via South-Eastern Railway to Dover, Steamboat to Calais 
 and Railroad again to Paris. This is the dearest and 
 quickest route between the two capitals, and its advertise- 
 ments promised for $13| to take us "Through in Eleven 
 Hours," which was a lie, as is quite usual with such 
 promises. We came on quite rapidly to Dover — a very 
 mean, old town — but there lost about an hour in the 
 transfer of our baggage to the steamboat, which was one 
 of those long, black, narrow scow contrivances, about 
 equal to a buttonwood " dug-out," which England appears 
 to delight in. They would not be tolerated as ferry-boats 
 on any of our Western rivers, yet they are made to 
 answer for the conveyance of Mails and Passengers across 
 an arm of the sea on the most important route in Europe. 
 In this wretched concern, which was too insignificant to 
 be slow, we went cobbling and wriggling across the Chan- 
 nel (27 miles) in something less than two hours, often one 
 gunwale nearly under water and the other ten or twelve 
 feet above it, with no room under deck for half our 
 passengers, and the spray frequently dashing over those 
 above it, three fourths of the whole number deadly sick 
 (this individual of course included), when with a decent 
 boat the passage might be regularly made, in spite of such 
 a smartish breeze as we encountered, in comparative com- 
 
LONDON TO PARIS* 121 
 
 fort. Perhaps we felt glad enough on reaching the shore 
 to pay for this needless misery, and I readily believe that 
 an hour or two of sea-sickness may be harshly wholesome, 
 yet I do think that a good boat on such a route might well 
 be afforded and cannot reputably be withheld. That part 
 of England through which we passed on this route is much 
 like that I have already described on the other side of 
 London. The face of the country is very moderately 
 undulating ; there is a fair proportion of trees and shrub- 
 bery, though no considerable forest that I noticed ; 
 perhaps an eighth of the land may be sowed with Wheat, 
 but Grass is the general staple. I should say three fourths 
 of all the land in sight from this railway is covered with 
 it, while very little is planted or devoted to gardening after 
 the few miles next to London. Hops engross considerable 
 attention, and I presume pay well, being demanded by the 
 national addiction to beer drinking. Still, Grass, Cattle 
 and Sheep are the Staples ; and these require so much 
 less human labor per acre than Grain and Vegetables that 
 I cannot see how the rural, laboring population can find 
 adequate employment or subsistence. It looks as though 
 the gradual substitution of Grass for Grain since the repeal 
 of the Corn-laws must deprive a large portion of the best 
 British peasantry of work, compelling them to emigrate to 
 America or Australia for a subsistence. Such emigration 
 is already very active, and must increase if the present 
 low prices of Breadstuffs prove permanent. 
 
 I was again disappointed in seeing so little attention to 
 Fruit Culture. I know this is not the Fruit region of 
 England, but the destitution of fruit trees is quite 
 universal. Since it is plain that an acre of choice Apple 
 trees will yield at least a hundred bushels of palatable food, 
 with little labor, and grass enough beside to pay for all the 
 care it requires, I cannot see why Fruit is so neglected. 
 The peach, I hear, does poorly throughout the kingdoms, 
 requiring extra shelter and sunshine, yet yielding indifferent 
 
122 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 fruit in return, which is reason enough for neglecting it ; 
 but the Apple is hardier, and does well in other localities no 
 more genial than this. I think it has been unwisely slighted. 
 
 An important and profitable business, I think, might be 
 built up in our country in the production of Dried Fruits, 
 especially peaches, and their exportation to Europe, or at 
 any rate to England. I was among those who "sat at 
 good men's feasts," both rich and poor (the men, not the 
 feasts), during the six weeks I was in England, yet I can- 
 not remember that Dried Apples or Peaches were ever an 
 element of the repast, though Gooseberries, Rhubarb, Rai- 
 sins, Currants, &c., are abundantly resorted to. If some 
 American of adequate capital and capacity would embark 
 in the growth and curing of Apples, Peaches, &c., expressly 
 for the English market, drying them perfectly, preparing 
 them with scrupulous neatness, and putting them up in 
 clean wooden boxes of twenty-five, fifty and one hundred 
 pounds, I think he might do well by it. For such a pur- 
 pose, cheap lands and cheap labor (that of aged persons 
 and young children) might be made available, while in 
 years of bountiful Peach harvests, like the last, even New- 
 Jersey and Delaware could be drawn upon for an extra 
 supply. The miscellaneous exportation of any Dried 
 Fruits that might happen to be on the market would pro- 
 bably involve loss, because time and expenditure are 
 required to make these products known to the great 
 majority of British consumers, and assure them that the 
 article offered them has been prepared with scrupulous 
 cleanliness. With proper exertion and outlay, I believe 
 an advantageous market might thus be opened for several 
 Millions' worth of American products of which little or 
 nothing is now known in Europe. 
 
 We were detained a long hour in Calais — a queer old 
 town, with little trade and only a historical importance — 
 although our baggage was not examined there, but sealed 
 up for custom-house scrutiny at Paris. They made a few 
 
LONDON TO PARIS. 123 
 
 dollars out of us by charging for extra baggage, one of 
 them out of me, though my trunk contained only clothing 
 and three or four books. Small business this for a Rail- 
 road, though it will do in stage transportation. Our pass- 
 ports were scrutinized — mine not very thoroughly — we 
 (the green ones) obtained an execrable dinner for 37j 
 cents, and changed some sovereigns for French silver at 
 a shave which was not atrocious. Finally, we were all 
 let go. 
 
 The face of the country inland from Calais is flat and 
 marshy — more like Holland, as we conceive it, than like 
 England or France. Of course, the railroad avoids the 
 higher ground, but I did not see a cliff nor steep acclivity 
 until darkness closed us in, though some moderate hills 
 were visible from time to time, mainly on the right. Here, 
 too, as across the Channel, Grass largely predominated, 
 but I think there was a greater breadth of Wheat. I saw 
 very few Fruit-trees, though much more growing Timber 
 than I had expected, from the representations 1 had read 
 of the treeless nakedness of the French soil. I think trees 
 are as abundant for fifty miles southward from Calais as 
 in any part of England, but they are mainly Elms and 
 Willows, scarcely an orchard anywhere, and of course no 
 vineyards, for the Grape loves a more Southern sun. The 
 cultivation is scarcely equal to the English, though not 
 strikingly inferior, and the evidences of a minute sub- 
 division of the soil are often palpable. Fences are very 
 rare, save along the sides of the railway; ditches serve 
 their purpose near Calais, and nothing at all answers after- 
 ward. I presume wood becomes much scarcer as we 
 approach Paris, but darkness forbade observation. 
 
 By the terms of the enticing advertisement, we should 
 have been here at 10|- P. M., but, though we met with 
 none other than the ordinary detentions, it was half-past 
 two on Sunday morning when we actually reached the 
 station at the barrier of the city. Here commenced the 
 
124 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 custom-house search, and I must say it was conducted 
 with perfect propriety and commendable energy, though 
 with determined rigor. Our trunks and vaUses were all 
 arranged on a long table according to the numbers affixed 
 to them respectively at Calais, and each, being opened 
 by its owner, was searched in its turn, and immediately 
 surrendered, if found " all right." I had been required to pay 
 smartly on my books at Liverpool, though nobody could 
 have suspected that they were for any other than my own 
 use ; so I left most of them at London and had no difficulty 
 here. [One unlucky wight, who had pieces of linen in his 
 trunk, had to see them taken out and put safely away for 
 farther consideration.] I did not at first comprehend that 
 the number on my trunk, standing out fair before me in 
 honest, unequivocal Arabic figures, could possibly mean 
 anything but "fifty-two," but a friend cautioned me in 
 season that those figures spelled " cinquante-deux," or 
 phonetically " sank-on-du" to the officer, and I made my 
 first attempt at mouthing French accordingly, and suc- 
 ceeded in making myself intelligible. 
 
 It was fair daylight when we left the railway station for 
 our various destinations. Mine was the " Hotel Choiseul," 
 Rue St. Honore, which had been warmly commended to 
 me, and where I managed to stop pro tern, though there 
 was not an unoccupied bed in the house. Paris, by the 
 way, is quite full — scarcely a room to be had in any popular 
 hotel, and, where any is to be found, the price is very high 
 or the accommodations quite humble. London, on the 
 contrary, where the keepers of hotels and lodging-houses 
 had been induced to expect a grand crush, and had aggra- 
 vated their prices accordingly, is comparatively empty. 
 Thousands after thousands go there, but few remain for 
 any time ; consequently the hotels make what money is 
 spent, while the boarding and lodging-houses are often 
 tenantless. Many sharp landladies have driven away their 
 old lodgers to the Country or the Continent by exorbitant 
 
THE MADELEINE. 125 
 
 charges, in the hope of extorting many times as much 
 from visiters to the Exhibition ; and have thus far been 
 bitterly disappointed. I presume it will be so to the end. 
 Sixty thousand people are as many as the Crystal Palace 
 will comfortably hold, in addition to its wares and their 
 attendants, and these make no impression on the vast 
 capacity of London, while they go away as soon as they 
 have satisfied their curiosity and ceased to attend the Fair, 
 giving place to others, who require no more room than 
 they did. I suspect theirs are not the only calculations 
 which will be disappointed by the ultimate issues of the 
 World's Exhibition. 
 
 THE MADELEINE. 
 
 My first day in Paris was Sunday, so, after breakfast, I 
 repaired to the famous modern Church of the Madeleine, 
 reputed one of the finest in Europe. This was the day of 
 Pentecost, and fitly commemorated by the Church. The 
 spacious edifice was filled in every part, though at least a 
 thousand went out at the close of the earlier service, before 
 the attendance was fullest. 
 
 I think I was never in a place of worship so gorgeous 
 as this. Over the main altar there is a magnificent picture 
 on the largest scale, purporting to represent the Progress 
 of Civilization from Christ's day to Bonaparte's, Napoleon 
 being the central figure in the foreground, while the Savi- 
 our and the Virgin Mary occupy a similar position in the 
 rear. In every part, the Church is very richly and I pre- 
 sume tastefully 'Drnamented. 
 
 I did not comprehend the service, and cannot intelligibly 
 describe it. The bowings and genuflexions, the swinging 
 of censers and ringing of bells, the frequent appearance 
 and disappearance of a band of gorgeously dressed priests 
 or assistants bearing what looked like spears, were " inex- 
 plicable dumb show" to me, and most of them unlike any- 
 
126 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 thing I remember to have seen in American Catholic 
 Churches. Tiie music was generally fine, especially that 
 of a chorus of young boys, and the general bearing of the 
 people in attendance, that of reverence and interest. 
 
 " Peace be with all, whate'er their varying creeds. 
 With all who send up holy thoughts on high." 
 
 But I could not bring myself to like the continual circu- 
 lation of several officials throughout almost the entire 
 service, collecting rents for seats (they were let very cheap), 
 and begging money for " the Poor of the Church ;" as a 
 stout, gross, absurdly overdressed herald who preceded the 
 collectors loudly proclaimed. I think this collection should 
 have been taken before or after the Mass. There was no 
 sermon up to one o'clock, when I left, with nearly all the 
 audience, though there may have been one afterward. 
 
XV. 
 THE FUTURE OF FRANCE. 
 
 Paris, Wednesday, June 11, 1851. 
 
 " Will the French Republic withstand the assaults of 
 its enemies ?" is a question of primary importance with 
 regard to the Political Future, not of France only but of 
 Europe, and more remotely of the world. Even fettered 
 and stifled as the Republic now is — a shorn and blind 
 Samson in the toils of the Philistines — it is still a potent 
 fact, and its very name is a " word of fear" to the grand 
 conspiracy of despots and owls who are intent on pushing 
 Europe back at the point of the bayonet into the debase- 
 ment and thick darkness of the Feudal Ages. It is the 
 French Republic which disturbs with nightmare visions 
 the slumbers of the Russian Autocrat, and urges him to 
 summon convocations of his vassal- Kings at Olmutz and 
 at Warsaw, — it is the overthrow of the French Republic, 
 whether by open assault or by sinister stratagem, which 
 engrosses the attention of those and kindred convocations 
 throughout Europe. " Put out the light, and then put out 
 the light," is the general aspiration ; and the fact that the 
 actual Republic is reasonably moderate, peaceful, unag- 
 gressive, so far from disarming their hostility, only inflames 
 it. Haman can never feel safe in his exaltation so long 
 as Mordecai the Jew is seen sitting at the king's gate; 
 and if France is to be a Republic, the Royalties and 
 Aristocracies of Europe would far sooner see her bloody, 
 
128 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 turbulent, desolating and intent on conquest than tranquil 
 and inoffensive. A Republic absolutely ruled by Danton, 
 Marat and Robespierre would be far less appalling in the 
 eyes of the Privileged, Luxurious and Idle Classes of Europe 
 than one peacefully pursuing its career under the guidance 
 of Cavaignac, De Tocqueville or Lamartine. 
 
 While in England, I could not but smile at the delusions 
 propagated by the Press and readily credited as well as 
 diffused by the fortunate classes with regard to the deplo- 
 rable condition of France and the absolute necessity ex- 
 isting for some radical change in her Government. " O 
 yes, you get along very well with a Republic in the United 
 States, where you had cheap lands, a vast and fertile wil- 
 derness, common schools and a general reverence for Re- 
 ligion and Order to begin with ; but just look at France \" 
 — such was and is a very general line of argument. If the 
 French had been equally divisible into felons, bankrupts, 
 paupers and lunatics, their hopeless state could hardly have 
 been referred to more compassionately. All this time 
 France was substantially as tranquil as England herself, 
 and decidedly more prosperous, though annoyed and im- 
 peded by the incessant plottings of traitors in her councils 
 and other exalted stations to resubject her to kingly sway. 
 A thrifty, provident, frugal artisan may often seem less 
 wealthy and prosperous than his dashing, squandering, 
 lavish neighbor. France may not display so much plate 
 on the sideboards of her landlords and bankers as England 
 does ; but every day adds to her ability to display it. 
 While Great Britain and the United States have under- 
 taken to vie with each other in Free Trade, France holds 
 fast to the principle of Protection, with scarcely a division 
 in her Councils on the subject ; and she is consequently 
 amassing in silence the wealth created by other Nations. 
 The Californian digs gold, which mainly comes to New- 
 York in payment for goods ; but on that gold England has 
 a mortgage running fast to maturity, for the goods were in 
 
THE FUTURE OP FRANCE. 129 
 
 part bought of her and we owe her for Millions' worth be- 
 side. But France has a similar mortgage on it for the 
 Grain supplied to England to feed the fabricators of the 
 goods, and it has hardly reached the Bank of England be- 
 fore it is OR its way to Paris. A great share of the golden 
 harvests of the tributaries of the Sacramento and San Joa- 
 quin now find their resting-place here. 
 
 " But what," asks a Say-Bastiat economist, " if they do ? 
 Is n't all Commerce an exchange of equivalents ? Must 
 we not buy in order to sell ? Isn't Gold a commodity like 
 any other ? If our Imports exceed our Exports, doesn't 
 that prove that we are obtaining more for our Exports than 
 their estimated value ?" &c. &,c. &c. 
 
 No, Sir ! commerce is not always an exchange of genu- 
 ine equivalents. The savage tribe w^hich sells its hunting 
 grounds and its ancestors' graves for a few barrels of fire- 
 water, whereby its members are debauched, diseased, ren- 
 dered insanely furious, and set to cutting each other's 
 throats, receives no real equivalent for what it parts with. 
 Nor is it well for ever so civilized a people to be selling 
 its Specie and mortgaging its Lands and Houses for Silks, 
 Liquors, Laces, Wines, Spices, &c. — trading off the essen- 
 tial and imperishable for the factitious and transitory — 
 and so eating itself out of house and home. The farmer 
 who drinks up his farm at the cross-roads tavern may 
 have obtained " more for his exports" (of produce from his 
 farm), than they were worth in the market — at least, it 
 would seem so from the fact that he has run over head 
 and ears in debt — but he has certainly done a pernicious, 
 a losing business. So does any Nation which buys more 
 wares and fabrics than its exports will pay for, and finds 
 itself in debt at the year's end for imports that it has 
 eaten, drunk or worn out. The thrifty household is the 
 true model of the Nation. And, thus tested, France, in 
 spite of her enormous, locust-like Army and other relics of 
 past follies which the National mind is outgrowing though 
 
130 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 the Nation's rulers still cling to them, is this day one of 
 the most prosperous countries on earth. 
 
 But when I hear the aristocratic plotters talk of the 
 necessity of a Revision of the Constitution in order to 
 restore to France tranquillity and prosperity, I am moved 
 not to mirth but to indignation. For these plotters and 
 their schemes are themselves the causes of the mischiefs 
 they affect to deplore and the dangers they pretend to be 
 bent on averting. Whatever is now feverish and ominous 
 in French Politics grows directly out of two great wrongs 
 — the first positive and accomplished — the law of the 31st 
 May, whereby Three Millions of Electors were disfran- 
 chised — the other contingent and meditated — the over- 
 throw of the Republic. All the agitation, the apprehension, 
 the uncertainty, and the consequent derangement of Indus- 
 try, through the last year, have grown out of these mis- 
 deeds, done and purposed, of the Aristocratic party. In 
 the sacred name of Order, they have fomented discord and 
 anarchy ; invoking Peace, they have stirred up hatred and 
 bitterness. Whatever the Social Democracy might have 
 done, had they been in the ascendant or under other 
 supposable circumstances, the fact is that theirs has been 
 actually the cause of Order, of Conservatism, of Tran- 
 quillity and the Constitution. Had they proved recreant 
 to their faith and trust, France would ere this have been 
 plunged into convulsions through the mutual jealousies 
 and hostilities of the factions who vaunt themselves collec- 
 tively the party of Order ; they have been withheld from 
 cutting each other's throats by the calm, determined, 
 watchful, intrepid attitude of the calumniated Democracy. 
 
 The law of the 31st May still stands on the statute-book, 
 and I apprehend is destined to remain (though many who 
 are better informed are sanguine that it will be repealed 
 before the next Presidential Election), but the Republic 
 will endure and its Constitution cannot be overthrown. 
 All the Bourbonists, Orleanists, and Bonapartists in the 
 
THE FUTURE OF FRANCE. 131 
 
 Assembly combined are insufficient to change the Consti- 
 tution legally ; and if a bare majority sufficed for that 
 purpose (instead of three-fourths), they could not to-day 
 command a working majority for any practical measure 
 of Revision. It is easy to club their votes and vaguely 
 declare some change necessary — but what change ? A 
 Bourbon Restoration ? An Orleans Middle-Class Royalty ? 
 A Napoleonic Empire ? For no one of these can a majority 
 even of this Reactionist Assembly be obtained. What, 
 then, is their chance with the People ? 
 
 As to the signing of Petitions for Revision, that is easily 
 understood. The Prefect, the Mayor, &c., of a locaHty 
 readily procure the signatures of all the Government 
 employes and hangers-on, who constitute an immense 
 army in France ; the great manufacturers circulate the 
 petitions among their workmen, and most of them sign, 
 not choosing to risk their masters' displeasure for a mere 
 name more or less to an unmeaning paper. But the plotters 
 know perfectly well that the People are not for Revision 
 in their' sense of the word ; if they did not fear this, they 
 would restore Universal vSuffrage. By clinging with 
 desperate tenacity to the Restrictive law of May 31st, 
 they virtually confess that their hopes of success involve 
 the continued exclusion of Three Millions of adult French- 
 men from the Registry of Voters. When they prate, 
 therefore, of the people's desire for Revision, the Republi- 
 can retort is ready and conclusive — " Repeal the law of 
 May 31st, and we can then tell what the people really 
 desire. But so long as you maintain that law, you confess 
 that you dare not abide the verdict of the whole People. 
 You appeal to a Jury which you have packed — one whose 
 right to try this question we utterly deny. Restore Uni- 
 versal Suffrage, and we can then tell what the People 
 really do wish and demand ; but until you do this, we 
 shall resist every attempt to change the Constitution even 
 by so much as a hair." Who can doubt that this is right ? 
 
132 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 " Therefore, Representatives of the People, deliberate in 
 peace," pithily says Changarnier, after proving to his own 
 satisfaction that the army will not level their arms against 
 the Assembly in support of a Napoleonic usurpation. So 
 the friends of Republican France throughout the world 
 may give thanks and take courage. The darkness is dis- 
 persing ; the skies of the future are red with the coming 
 day. Time is on the popular side, and every hour's endur- 
 ance adds strength to the Republic. It cannot be legally 
 subverted ; and should Force and Usurpation be attempted, 
 its champions will not shrink from the encounter nor dread 
 the issue. For well they know that the mind and heart 
 of the People are on their side — that the French who earn 
 their bread and are not ashamed to be seen shouldering 
 a musket, so far as they have any opinion at all, are all for 
 the Republic — that France comprises a Bonapartist clique, 
 an Orleanist class, a Royalist party, and a Republican 
 Nation. The clique is composed of the personal intimates 
 of Louis Napoleon and certain Military officers, mainly 
 relics of the Empire ; the class includes a good part of the 
 lucky Parisian shop-keepers and Government employes 
 during the reign of Louis Philippe ; the party embraces 
 the remnants of the anti-Revolutionary Aristocracy, most 
 of the influential Priesthood, and a small section of the 
 rural Peasantry ; all these combined may number Four 
 Millions, leaving Thirty Millions for the Nation. Such is 
 France in 1851 ; and, being such, the subversion of the 
 Republic, whether by foreign assault or domestic treason, 
 is hardly possible. An open attack by the Autocrat and 
 his minions would certainly consolidate it ; a prolongation 
 of Louis Napoleon's power (no longer probable) would 
 have the same effect. Four years more of tranquil though 
 nominal Republicanism would only render a return to 
 Monarchy more difficult ; wherefore the Royalist party 
 will never assent to it, and without their aid the project 
 has no chance. To obtain that aid, " the Prince" must 
 
THE FUTURE OF FRANCE. 133 
 
 secretly swear that after four years more he will turn 
 France over to Henry V. ; this promise only the last 
 extreme of desperation could extort from him, and then to 
 no purpose, since he could not fulfill it and the Legitimists 
 could not trust him. And thus, alike by its own strength 
 and by its enemies' divisions, the safety of the Republic 
 is assured. 
 
XVI. 
 
 PARIS, SOCIAL AND MORAL. 
 
 Paris, Thursday, June 12, 1851. 
 
 A GREAT Capital like this is not seen in a few days ; I 
 have not yet seen a quarter of it. The general magnitude 
 of the houses (usually built around a small quadrangular 
 court near the street, whence the court is entered by a 
 gate or arched passage) is readily remarked ; also the 
 minute subdivisions of Shop-keeping, many if not most 
 sellers confining their attention to a single fabric, so that 
 their " stores " and stocks of goods* are small ; also, the 
 general gregariousness or social aptitudes of the people. 
 I lodge in a house once famous as " Frascati's," the most 
 celebrated gaming-house in Europe ; it stands on the 
 corner of the Rue Richelieu with the Boulevards 
 ( " Italian " in one direction and " Montmartre " in the 
 other). My windows overlook the Boulevards for a con- 
 siderable distance ; and there are many of the most 
 fashionable shops, " restaurants," " caf^s," &c. in the city. 
 No one in New- York would think of ordering his bottle of 
 wine or his ices at a fashionable resort in Broadway and 
 sitting down at a table placed on the sidewalk to discuss 
 his refection leisurely, just out of the ever-passing throng ; 
 yet here it is so common as to seem the rule rather than 
 the exception. Hundreds sit thus within sight of my 
 windows every evening ; dozens do likewise during the 
 day. The Frenchman's pleasures are all social : to eat, 
 drink or spend the evening alone would be a weariness to 
 
PARIS SOCIAL AND MORAL. 135 
 
 him : he reads his newspaper in the thoroughfare or the 
 public gardens : he talks more in one day than an English- 
 man in three : the theaters, balls, concerts, &c. which 
 to the islander aflbrd occasional recreation are to him 
 a nightly necessity : he would be lonely and miserable 
 without them. Nowhere is Amusement more systemati- 
 cally, sedulously sought than in Paris ; nowhere is it more 
 abundant or accessible. For boys just escaped from school 
 or paternal restraint, intent on enjoyment and untroubled 
 by conscience or forecast, this must be a rare city. Its 
 people, as a community, have signal good qualities and 
 grave defects : they are intelligent, vivacious, courteous, 
 obliging, generous and humane ; eager to enjoy, but willing 
 that all the world should enjoy with them ; while at the 
 same time they are impulsive, fickle, sensual and irreverent. 
 Paris is the Paradise of the Senses ; a focus of Enjoyment, 
 not of Happiness. Nowhere are Youth and its capacities 
 more prodigally lavished ; nowhere is Old Age less happy 
 or less respected. Paris has tens of thousands who would 
 eagerly pour out their hearts' blood for Liberty and Human 
 Progress, but no class or clan who ever thought of deny- 
 ing themselves Wine and kindred stimulants in order that 
 the Masses should be rendered worthier of Liberty and 
 thus better fitted to preserve and enjoy it. Such notions 
 as Total Abstinence from All that can Intoxicate are 
 absolutely unheard of by the majority of Parisians, and 
 incomprehensible or ridiculous to those who have heard 
 of them. The barest necessaries of life are very cheap 
 here ; many support existence quite endurably on a franc 
 (18f cents) a day ; but of the rude Laboring Class few 
 can really afford the comforts and proprieties of an order- 
 ly family life, and the privation is very lightly regretted. 
 The testimony is uniform that Marriage is scarcely re- 
 garded as even a remote possibility by any one ol' the 
 poor girls of Paris who live by work : to be for a season 
 the mistress of a man of wealth, or one who can support 
 
136 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 her in luxury and idleness, is the summit of her ambition. 
 The very terms " grisette " and " lorette " by which young, 
 women unblest with wealth or social rank are commonly 
 designated, involve the idea of demoralization — no man 
 would apply them to one whom he respected and of whose 
 good opinion he was solicitous. In no other nominally 
 Christian city is the proportion of the unmarried so great 
 as here : nowhere else do families so quickly decay ; no- 
 where else is the proportion of births out of wedlock so ap- 
 palling. The Poor of London are less comfortable as a 
 class than those of Paris — that is, they suffer more from 
 lack of employment, and their wages are lower in view of 
 the relative cost of living ; but Philanthropy is far more 
 active there than here, and far more is done to assuage the 
 tide of human woe. Ten public meetings in furtherance 
 of Educational, Philanthropic and Religious enterprises 
 are held in the British Metropolis to one in this, and 
 the number interested in such undertakings there, as con- 
 trasted with that in this city, has an equal preponderance. 
 I shall not attempt to strike a balance between the good 
 and evil prevailing respectively in the two Capitals of 
 Western Europe : the reader may do that for himself. 
 
 SIGHTS OF PARIS. 
 
 The first object of interest I saw in Paris was the 
 Column of Napoleon in the Place Vendome, as I rattled 
 by it in the gray dawn of the morning of my arrival. 
 This gigantic Column, as is well known, was formed of 
 cannon taken by the Great Captain in the several victories- 
 which irradiated his earlier career, and was constructed 
 while he was Emperor of France and virtually of the 
 Continent. His Statue crowns the pyramid ; it was pull- 
 ed down while the Allied Armies occupied Paris, and a re- 
 solute attempt was made to prostrate the Column also, but 
 it was too firmly rooted. The Statue was not replaced till 
 
THE FRENCH OPERA. 137 
 
 after the Revolution of 1830. The Place Vendome is 
 small, surrounded by high houses, and the stately Column 
 seems dwarfed by them. But for its historic interest, and 
 especially that of the material employed in its construction, 
 I should not regard it very highly. 
 
 Far better placed, as well as more majestic and every 
 way interesting, is the Obelisk of Luxor, which for thou- 
 sands of years had overshadowed the banks of the Nile 
 until presented to France by the late Pacha of Egypt, and 
 transported thence to the Place de la Concorde, near the 
 Garden of the Tuileries. I have seen nothing in Europe 
 which impressed me like this magnificent shaft, covered as 
 it is with mysterious inscriptions which have braved the 
 winds and rains of four thousand years, yet seem as fresh 
 and clear as though chiseled but yesterday. The removal 
 entire of this bulk of many thousand tuns from Egypt to 
 Paris is one of the most marvelous achievements of human 
 genius, and Paris has for me no single attraction to match 
 the Obelisk of Luxor. 
 
 The Tuileries strikes me as an irregular mass of 
 buildings with little pretensions to Architectural beauty or 
 effect. It has great capacity, and nothing more. The 
 Louvre is much finer, yet still not remarkable, but its 
 wealth of Paintings by the Great Masters of all time 
 surprised as well as delighted me. I never saw anything 
 at all comparable to it. But of this another time. 
 
 THE FRENCH OPERA. 
 
 Paris, Monday, June 9, 1851. 
 
 Having the evening on my hands, I have spent a good 
 share of it at the Opera, of which France is proud, and to 
 the support of which her Government directly and liberally 
 contributes. It is not only a National institution, but a 
 National trait, and as such I visited it. 
 
 The house is very spacious, admirably planned, superbly 
 
138 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 fitted up, and every way adapted to its purpose ; the charges 
 moderate ; the audience large and well dressed ; the officers 
 and attendants up to their business, and everything orderly 
 and quiet. The play was Scribe's ''L'Enfant Prodigue" (The 
 Prodigal Son), which in England they soften into "Azael the 
 Prodigal," but here no such euphemism is requisite, and 
 indeed I doubt that half who witness it suspect that the 
 idea is taken from the Scriptures. The idea, however, is 
 all that is so borrowed. There were no great singers 
 included in the cast for this evening, not even Alboni who 
 remains here, while most of her compeers are in London. I 
 am a poor judge, but I should say the music is not remarkable. 
 
 This is a drama of Action and of Spectacle, however, 
 to which the Music is subordinate. Such a medley of 
 drinking and praying, dancing and devotion, idol- worship 
 and Delilah-craft, I had not before encountered. At least 
 three hundred performers were at once on the stage. The 
 dancing-girls engaged were not less than one hundred in 
 number, apparently all between fourteen and eighteen 
 years of age, generally good-looking, and with that aspect 
 of innocence and freshness to which the Stage is so fatal. 
 The most agile and eminent among them was a Miss 
 Plunkett, said to be an American, with a face of consider- 
 able beauty and a winning, joyous manner. I should say 
 that half the action of the piece, nearly half the time, and 
 more than half the attention of the audience, were 
 engrossed by these dancing demoiselles. 
 
 France is the cradle and home of the Ballet. In other 
 lands it is an exotic, here a natural outgrowth and ex- 
 pression of the National mind. Of the spirit which 
 conceived it, here is the abode and the Opera Frangais the 
 temple ; and here it has exerted its natural and unobstructed 
 influence on the manners and morals of a People. If you 
 would comprehend the Englishman, follow him to his 
 fireside ; if a Frenchman, join him at the Opera and con- 
 template him during the performance of the Ballet. 
 
THE FRENCH OPERA. 139 
 
 I am, though no practitioner, a lover of the Dance. 
 Restricted to proper hours and fit associates, I wish it were 
 far more general than it is. Health, grace, muscular 
 energy, even beauty, might be promoted by it. Why the 
 dancing of the Theater should be rendered disgusting, I 
 can not yet comprehend. The " poetry of motion," of 
 harmonious evolutions and the graceful movement of 
 ''twinkling feet," I think I appreciate. All these are 
 natural expressions of innocent gaiety and youthful 
 elasticity of spirits, whereof this world sees far too little. 
 I wish there were more of them. 
 
 But what grace, what sense, what witchery, there can 
 be, for instance, in a young girl's standing on one great 
 toe and raising the other foot to the altitude- of her head, I 
 cannot imagine. As an exhibition of muscular power, it is 
 disagreeable to me, because I know that the capacity for 
 it was acquired by severe and protracted efforts and at the 
 cost of much suffering. Why is it kept on the stage ? 
 Admit that it is not lascivious ; who will pretend that it is 
 essentially graceful ? I was glad to see that the more 
 extravagant distortions were not specially popular with the 
 audience — that nearly all the applause bestowed on those 
 ballet-feats which seem devised only to favor a liberal 
 display of the person came from the little knot of hired 
 ^' claqueurs " in the center of the pit. If there were many 
 who loved to witness, there were few so shameless as to 
 applaud. 
 
 If the Opera is ever to become an element of Social life 
 and enjoyment in New- York, I do trust that it may be 
 such a one as thoughtful men may take their daughters to 
 witness without apprehension or remorse. I do not know 
 whether the Opera we now have is or is not such a one ; 
 I know this is not. Its entire, palpable, urgent tendency, 
 is "earthly, sensual, devilish." In none was the instinct 
 of Purity ever strengthened by beholding it ; in many, it 
 must, in the nature of things, be weakened with each 
 
140 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 repetition of the spectacle. It is no marvel that the French 
 are reputed exceedingly reckless of the sanctions and 
 obligations of Marriage, if this is a part of their State- 
 supported education. 
 
 I came away at the close of the third act, leaving two 
 more to be performed. The play is transcendent in spec- 
 tacle, and has had a very great success here. 
 
XVII. 
 PARIS, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL. 
 
 Paris, Sunday, June 15, 1851. 
 I MARVEL at the obliquity of vision whereby any one is 
 enabled, standing in this metropolis, to anticipate the sub- 
 version of the Republic and the restoration of Monarchy. 
 Such prophets must belong essentially to that school which 
 teaches the omnipotence of paper Constitutions and dilates 
 with bristling hair on the appalling possibility that Wash- 
 ington, or Hamilton, or Franklin, might not have been 
 chosen to the Convention which framed our Federal Con- 
 stitution, and that Constitution consequently have remained 
 unperfected or unadopted. The true view I understand 
 to be that if the Constitution had thus failed to be con- 
 structed in '87 or adopted in '88, the necessity for it would 
 still have existed, growing daily more urgent and palpable, 
 so that Convention after Convention would from time to 
 time have been called, and sooner or later a Constitution 
 would have been elaborated and adopted ; and the longer 
 this consummation was delayed the stronger and more 
 controlling the Constitution ultimately formed would have 
 been. So with the French Republic. It is simply an ex- 
 pression of the intellectual convictions and social instincts 
 of the French People. You meet it on the Boulevards 
 and in the caf^s where the wealthy and luxurious most do 
 congregate ; your cabman and boot-black, though perfectly 
 civil and attentive, let you understand, if you have eyes, 
 that they are Republicans ; while in the quarters tenanted 
 
 1* 
 
142 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 or frequented only by the Artisan and the Laborer you 
 meet none but devotees of " the Republic Democratic and 
 Social." The contrast between the abject servility of the 
 Poor in London and their manner here cannot be realized 
 without actual observation. A hundred Princes or illus- 
 trious Dukes in Paris would not attract as much attention 
 as any one of them would in London. Democracy tri- 
 umphed in the drawing-rooms of Paris before it had erected 
 its first barricade in the streets ; and all subsequent efforts 
 in behalf of Monarchy here have produced and can pro- 
 duce only a fitful, spasmodic, unnatural life. If three Re- 
 volutions within a life-time, all in the same direction, have 
 not impressed this truth conclusively, another and another 
 lesson will be added. The French have great faults of 
 character which imperil the immediate fortunes of the 
 Republic but cannot affect its ultimate ascendency. Im- 
 pulsive and egotistic, they may seem willing to exchange 
 Liberty for Tranquillity or Security, but this will be a mo- 
 mentary caprice, soon past and forgotten. The Nation 
 can never more be other than Republican, though the pos- 
 sessors of power, controlling the Press, the Bureaux, the 
 Assembly and the Army, may fancy that their persona] 
 interests would be promoted by a less popular system, and 
 so be seen for a season following strange gods. This de- 
 lusion and apostacy will speedily pass, leaving only their 
 shame behind. 
 
 The immediate peril of the Republic is the Election of 
 May, '52, in view of the arbitrary disfranchisement of 
 nearly one-half the Democratic voters, the manacled con- 
 dition of the Press, the denial to. the People of the Right 
 of Meeting for deliberation and concert, and the betrayal 
 of all the enormous power and patronage of the State into 
 the hands of the Aristocratic party. If the Republicans 
 were to attempt holding a Convention to select a candi- 
 date for President, their meetings would be promptly sup- 
 pressed by the Police and the Bayonet. This may distract 
 
PARIS, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL. 143 
 
 and scatter them, though I trust it will not. Their Presi- 
 dential candidate will doubtless be designated by a Legis- 
 lative Caucus or meeting of Representatives in the Assem- 
 bly, simply because no fairer and fuller expression of the 
 party's preference would be tolerated. And if, passing 
 over the mob of Generals and of Politicians by trade, the 
 choice should fall on some modest and unambitious citizen, 
 who has earned a character by quiet probity and his bread 
 by honest labor, I shall hope to see his name at the head 
 of the poll in spite of the unconstitutional overthrow of 
 Universal Suffrage. After this, though the plurality should 
 fall short of a majority and the Assembly proceed to elect 
 Louis Napoleon or Changarnier, there need be no further 
 apprehension. 
 
 I hear, as from an official source, that there are now 
 Three Thousand Americans in Paris, most of them re- 
 siding here for months, if not for years. It gives me 
 pleasure to state that, contrary to what I have often 
 heard of the bearing of our countrymen in Europe, a large 
 majority of these, so far as I may judge from meeting a 
 good many and learning the sentiments of more, are 
 warmly and openly on the side of the Republic and op- 
 posed to the machinations of the motley host who seek its 
 overthrow. 
 
 The conviction of Charles Hugo, and his sentence to 
 six months' imprisonment, for simply writing a strong Edi- 
 torial in the Evenement in condemnation of Legal Killing, 
 is making a profound sensation here. I think it will has- 
 ten the downfall both of the Guillotine and the " party of 
 Order" which thus assumes the championship of that vene- 
 rated institution. The Times' Paris correspondent, I per- 
 ceive, takes up the tale of Hugo's article having been cal- 
 culated to expose the ministers of the law to popular 
 odium, and naively protests against a line of argument by 
 which " those who execute the law are stigmatized as ex- 
 ecutioners.'' I suppose we must call them executors here- 
 
144 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 after to obviate the hardship complained of. How singular 
 that those who glory in the deed should shrink indignantly 
 from the name ? 
 
 American attention will naturally be drawn to the re- 
 cent debate in the Assembly involving the principle of the 
 Higher Law. The subject was a bill reorganizing the 
 National Guard, with the intent of sifting it as clean as pos- 
 sible of the popular element, and thus rendering it either 
 a nullity, or an accomplice in the execution of the Monar- 
 chical conspiracies now brewing. It is but a few days 
 since Gen. Changarnier solemnly informed the Assembly, 
 in reply to President Bonaparte's covert menaces at Dijon, 
 that the army could not be made to level its muskets and 
 point its cannon at the Assembly : " Wherefore, Represen- 
 tatives of France, deliberate in Peace." Following logi- 
 cally in the same train, a " Red" saw fit to affirm that the 
 Army could not be brought to use its bayonets against the 
 People who should take up arms in defense of the Repub- 
 lic. No stick thrown into a hornets' nest ever excited 
 such commotion as this^remark did in the camp of " Or- 
 der." In the course of a violent and tumultuous debate, 
 it came out that Gen. Baraguay d'Hilliers, a leader on the 
 side of "Order," refused in 1848 to take the proffered 
 command of the troops fighting on the side of Order in the 
 deplorable street combats of June. This was excused on 
 the ground of his being a Representative as well as a 
 General! The Champions of "Order," having said all 
 they wished and allowed their opponents to say very little, 
 hastily shut down the gate, and refused to permit further 
 discussion. No matter : the truth has been formally pro- 
 claimed from the tribune that No one has a moral right to 
 do as a soldier that which it would he wrong for him to do 
 as a man — that, no matter what human rulers may decree, 
 every man owes a paramount obedience to the law of God, 
 and cannot excuse his violation of that law by producing 
 an order to do so from any functionary or potentate what- 
 
AMERICAN ART, <feC. 145 
 
 ever. The idea is a fruitful one. and France is now pon- 
 dering it. 
 
 I attended divine worship to-day at Notre Dame, which 
 seems to me not only the finest Church but the most 
 imposing edifice in Paris. The Pantheon may vie with 
 it, perhaps, but it has to my eye a naked and got-up look ; 
 it lacks adequate furnishing. Beside these two, nearly all 
 the public buildings of Paris strike me as lacking height in 
 proportion to their superficial dimensions. The Hotel de 
 Ville (City Hall) has a fine front, but seems no taller while 
 more extensive than our New- York City Hall, which 
 notoriously lacks another story. Even the Louvre, with 
 ample space and a rare position, which most of the Paris 
 edifices want, seems deficient in height. But Notre Dame, 
 on the contrary, towers proudly and gracefully, and I have 
 not seen its general effect surpassed. It reminded me of 
 Westminster Abbey, though it is less extensive. As a 
 place of worship it is infinitely superior to the Abbey, 
 which has the damp air and gloom of a dungeon, in each 
 most unlike Notre Dame. I trust no American visits 
 Paris without seeing this noble church, and on the Sabbath 
 if possible. 
 
 AMERICAN ART AND INDUSTRY BRITISH JOURNALISM. 
 
 Since I left London, The Times has contained two 
 Editorials on American contributions to the Great Exhi- 
 bition, which seem to require comment. These articles 
 are deprecatory and apologetic in their general tenor, 
 evincing a consciousness that the previous strictures of the 
 London Press on American Art had pushed disparagement 
 beyond the bounds of policy, and might serve to arouse a 
 spirit in the breasts of the people so invidiously and 
 persistently assailed. So our countryman are now told, 
 in substance, that they are rather clever fellows on the 
 whole, who have only made themselves ridiculous by 
 
146 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 attempting to do and to be what Nature had forbidden. 
 Nothing but our absurd pretensions could thus have 
 exposed us to the world's laughter. America might be 
 America with credit; she has broken down by under- 
 taking to be Europe also, &c., &c. 
 
 " It is the attempt, and not the deed, confounds me." 
 
 But what are the nature and extent of this American 
 audacity ? Our countrymen have undertaken to minister 
 to their own wants by the production of certain Wares 
 and Fabrics which they had formerly been content either 
 to do without or to buy from Europe. Being urgently 
 invited to do so, they have sent over some few of these 
 results of their art and skill to a grand exposition of the 
 World's Industry. Even if they were as bad as they are 
 represented, these products should be here ; since the 
 object of the Exhibition is not merely to set forth what is 
 best but to compare it with the inferior, and so indicate 
 the readiest mode of improving the latter. Russia, Turkey, 
 Egypt, Barbary, Persia, have sent hither their wares and 
 fabrics, which hundreds of thousands have examined with 
 eager and gratified interest — an interest as real as that 
 excited by the more perfect rival productions of Western 
 Europe, though of a different kind from that. No one has 
 thought of ridiculing these products of a more primitive 
 industry ; all have welcomed and been instructed by them. 
 And so ours would have been treated had they been in 
 fact the wretched affairs which the London Commercial 
 press has represented them. It is precisely because they 
 are quite otherwise that it has been deemed advisable 
 systematically to disparage them — to declare our Pianos 
 " gouty " structures — " mere wood and iron ;" our Calicoes 
 beneath the acceptance of a British servant-girl ; our 
 Farming Tools half a century behind their British rivals ; 
 our Hats " shocking bad," &c., &c., — all this, in the first 
 
AMERICAN ART, «feC. 147 
 
 months of the Exhibition, while the Jurors appointed to 
 judge and report upon the merits of rival fabrics were 
 making the requisite investigations. Their verdict is thus 
 substantially forestalled, and the millions who visit the 
 Exhibition are invited to look at the American depart- 
 ment merely to note the bad taste and incapacity therein 
 displayed, and learn to avoid them. 
 
 But the self-constituted arbiters who thus tell the 
 American people that Art is not their province — that they 
 should be content to grow Corn and Cotton, looking to 
 Europe for the satisfaction of their less urgent necessities, 
 their secondary wants — are they impartial advisers ? Are 
 they not palpably speaking in the interest of the rival 
 producers of Europe, alarmed by the rapid growth and 
 extension of American Art ? Would they have taken so 
 much trouble with us if American taste and skill were 
 really the miserable abortions they represent them ? 
 
 These indications of paternal care for American Indus- 
 try, in danger of being warped and misdirected, are not 
 quite novel. An English friend lately invited me to visit 
 him at his house in the neighborhood of Birmingham, 
 holding out as an inducement the opportunity of inspecting 
 the great Iron and Hardware manufactories in that 
 neighborhood. A moment afterward he recollected him- 
 self and said, " I am not quite sure that I could procure 
 you admittance to them, because the rule has been that 
 Americans were not to he admitted. Gentlemen taking 
 their friends to visit these works were asked, at the door, 
 'Is your friend an American?' and if the answer was 
 affirmative, he was not allowed to enter — but I think this 
 restriction has been generally abrogated." Here you see, 
 was a compassionate regard for American Industry, in 
 danger of being misled and deluded into unprofitable 
 employments, which neither The Times nor any of its 
 co-laborers has been able to more than humbly imitate. 
 
 To my mind, nothing can be more unjust than the 
 
148 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 intimation that, in attempting to supply her own wants 
 (or some of them) in the domain of Art and Manufacture, 
 America has rushed madly from her sphere and sought to 
 be Europe. She has already taught Europe many things 
 in the sphere of Invention, and is destined to teach her 
 many more ; and the fact that her Carriages are condemned 
 as too light and her Pianos as too heavy, her Reaping 
 Machines as "a cross between a treadmill and a flying 
 chariot," &c., &c., by critics very superficially acquainted 
 with their uses, and who have barely glanced at them in 
 passing, proves nothing but the rashness and hostility of 
 their contemners. From such unworthy disparagement I 
 appeal with confidence to the awards of the various Juries 
 appointed by the Royal Commissioners. They are com- 
 petent ; they have made the requisite examinations ; they 
 (though nearly all European and a majority of them 
 British) are honorable men, and will render an impartial 
 judgment. That judgment, I firmly believe, will demon- 
 strate that, in proportion to the extent of its contributions, 
 no other country has sent more articles to the Exhibition 
 by which the whole world may be instructed and benefited 
 than our own. 
 
XVIII. 
 THE PALACES OF FRANCE. 
 
 Paris, Monday, June 16, 1851. 
 
 France, now the most Democratic, was long the most 
 absolutely governed and the most loyally infatuated among 
 the great Nations of Europe. Her cure of the dust-lick- 
 ing distemper was Homoeopathic and somewhat slow, but it 
 seems to be thorough and abiding. Those who talk of the 
 National passion for that bloody phantom Glory — for 
 Battle and Conquest — speak of what was, rather than of 
 what is, and which, even in its palmiest days, was rather a 
 penchant of the Aristocratic caste than a characteristic of 
 the Nation. The Nobles of course loved War, for it was 
 their high road to Royal favor, to station and renown ; all 
 the spoils of victory enured to them, while nine-tenths of 
 its calamities fell on the heads of the Peasantry. But, 
 though all France rushed to arms in 1793 to defend 
 the National liberties and soil, yet Napoleon, in the zenith 
 of his power and glory, could only fill the racks of his 
 legions by the abhorred Conscription. The great body of 
 the People were even then averse to the din of the camp 
 and the clangor of battle : the years of unmixed disaster 
 and bitter humiliation which closed his Military career, 
 served to confirm and deepen their aversion to garments 
 rolled in blood ; and I am confident that there is at this 
 moment no Nation in Europe more essentially peaceful 
 than France. Her Millions profoundly sympathise with 
 their brethren of Germany, Italy and Hungary, groaning 
 
150 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 beneath the heavy yoke of the Autocrat and his vassals ; 
 but they reahze that the deliverance of Nations must 
 mainly be wrought out from within, and they would much 
 rather aid the subject Nations to recover their rights 
 by the influence of example and of a Free Press than by 
 casting the sword of Brennus into the scale where their 
 liberties and happiness hang balanced and weighed down 
 by the ambition and pride of their despots. The establish- 
 ment of the Democratic and Social Republic is the ap- 
 pointed end of war in Europe. It will not erase the 
 boundaries of Nations, but these boundaries will no longer 
 be overshadowed by confronted legions, and they will 
 be freed from the monster nuisance of Passports. Then 
 German, Frank, Briton, Italian, will vie with each other, as 
 now, in Letters, Arts and Products, but no longer in 
 the hideous work of defacing and desecrating the image of 
 God ; for Liberty will have enlightened and Fraternity 
 united them, and a permanent Congress of Nations will 
 adjust and dispose of all causes of difference which may 
 from time to time arise. — Freedom, Intelligence and Peace 
 are natural kindred : the ancient Republics were Military 
 and aggressive only because they tolerated and cherished 
 Human Slavery ; and it is this which recently fomented 
 hostilities between the two Republics of North America, 
 and now impotently threatens the internal peace of our 
 own. Liberty, if thorough and consistent, always did and 
 must inchne to Peace ; while Despotism, being founded in 
 and only maintainable by Force, inevitably fosters a mar- 
 tial spirit, organizes Standing Armies, and finds delight 
 and security in War. 
 
 These reflections have been recalled by my walks 
 through several of the late Royal (now National) Palaces 
 of France, the most striking monuments which endure of 
 long ages of absolute kingly sway. How many there are 
 of these Palaces 1 have forgotten or never knew; but I 
 recall the names of the Luxembourg, the Tuileries, the 
 
PALACES OF FRANCE. 151 
 
 Elis^e Bourbon, St. Germains, St. Cloud, Versailles, Meu- 
 don, and Rambouillet. These do not include the Palais 
 Royal, which was built by the Orleans branch of the 
 Bourbon family, nor any of the spacious edifices erected 
 for the several Ministers of State and for the transaction 
 of public business. The Palaces I have named were all 
 constructed from time to time to serve as residences for 
 the ten to thirty persons recognized as of the blood Royal, 
 who removed from one to the other as convenience or 
 whim may have suggested. They are generally very 
 spacious, probably averaging one to two hundred apart- 
 ments each, all constructed of the best materials and 
 furnished and adorned with the most lavish disregard of 
 cost. I roughly estimate the cost of these Palaces, if they 
 were now to be built and furnished in this style, at One 
 Hundred Millions of Dollars ; but the actual cost, in the 
 ruder infancy of the arts when most of them were erected, 
 was probably much more. Versailles alone cost some 
 Thirty Millions of Dollars at first, while enormous sums 
 have since been expended in perfecting and furnishing it. 
 It would be within the truth to say that France, from the 
 infancy of Louis XIV. to the expulsion of Louis Philippe, 
 has paid more as simple interest on the residences of her 
 monarchs and their families than the United States, with 
 a larger population and with far greater wealth than 
 France has averaged through that period, now pays for 
 the entire cost of the Legislative, Executive and Judicial 
 departments of her Government. All that we have paid 
 our Presidents from Washington inclusive, adding the cost 
 of the Presidential Mansion and all the furniture that has 
 from time to time been put into it, would not build and 
 furnish one wing of a single Royal Palace of France — 
 that of Versailles. 
 
 But the point to which I would more especially call 
 attention is that of the unwearied exertions of Royalty to 
 foster and inflame the passion for Military glory. I wan- 
 
152 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 dered for hours through the spacious and innumerable halls 
 of Versailles, in which Art and Nature seem to have been 
 taxed to the utmost to heap up prodigies of splendor. At 
 least one hundred of these rooms would each of itself be 
 deemed a marvel of sumptuous display anywhere else ; yet 
 here we passed over floors of the richest Mosaic and 
 through galleries of the finest and most elaborately wrought 
 Marble as if they had been but the roughest pavement or 
 the rudest plaster. The eye is fatigued, the mind bewil- 
 dered, by an almost endless succession of sumptuous 
 carving, gilding, painting, &lc., until the intervention of a 
 naked ante-room or stair-case becomes a positive relief to 
 both. And the ideas everywhere predominant are War 
 and its misnamed Glory. Here are vast, expensive paint- 
 ings purporting to represent innumerable Sieges and 
 Battles in which the French arms were engaged, many of 
 them so insignificant that the world has wisely forgotten 
 them, yet here preserved to inflame and poison the minds 
 of hot-blooded, unreflecting youth, impelling them to rush 
 into the manufacture of cripples and corpses under the 
 horrible delusion that needless, aimless Slaughter, if perpe- 
 trated by wholesale, can really be honorable and glorious. 
 These paintings, as a whole, are of moderate value as 
 works of Art, while their tendency is horrible and their 
 details to me revolting. Carriages shattered and over- 
 turned, animals transfixed by spear-thrusts and writhing in 
 speechless agony, men riddled by cannon-shot or pierced 
 by musket-balls and ghastly with coming death, such are 
 the spectacles which the more favored and fortunate of the 
 Gallic youth have been called for generations to admire 
 and enjoy. These battle-pieces have scarcely more His- 
 toric than Artistic value, since the names of at least half 
 of them might be transposed and the change be undetect- 
 ed by ninety-nine out of every hundred who see them. 
 If all the French battles were thus displayed, it might be 
 urged with plausibility that these galleries were historical 
 
PALACES OF FRANCE. 153 
 
 in their character ; but a full half of the story, that which 
 tells of French disaster and discomfiture — is utterly sup- 
 pressed. The Battles of Ptoiemais, of Ivry, of Fontenoy, 
 of Rivoli, of Austerlitz, &c., are here as imposing as paint 
 can make them, but never a whisper of Agincourt, Crecy, 
 Poictiers, Blenheim, or Ramillies, nor yet of Salamanca, of 
 Vittoria, of Leipsic, or Waterloo. Even the wretched 
 succession of forays which the French have for the last 
 twenty years been prosecuting in Algerine Africa here 
 shines resplendent, for Vernet has painted, by Louis 
 Philippe's order and at France's cost, a succession of battle- 
 pieces wherein French numbers and science are seen pre- 
 vailing over Arab barbarism and irregular valor in combats 
 whereof the very names have been wisely forgotten by 
 mankind, though they occurred but yesterday. One of 
 these is much the largest painting I ever saw, and is pro- 
 bably the largest in the world, and it seems to have been 
 got up merely to exhibit one of Louis Philippe's sons in 
 the thickest of the fray. Last of all, we have the '•' Capture 
 of Abd-el-Kader," as imposing as Vernet could make it, 
 but no whisper of the persistent perfidy wherewith he has 
 been retained for several years in bondage, in violation of 
 the express agreement of his captors. The whole collec- 
 tion is, in its general effect, delusive and mischievous, the 
 purpose being to exhibit War as always glorious and France 
 as uniformly triumphant. It is by means like these that 
 the business of shattering knee-joints and multiplying 
 orphans is kept in countenance. 
 
 Versailles is a striking monument of the selfish profli- 
 gacy of King-craft and the long-suffering patience of 
 Nations. Hundreds of thousands of laborers' children 
 must have gone hungry to their straw pallets in order that 
 their needy parents might pay the inexorable taxes levied 
 to build this Palace. Yet after all it has stood mainly 
 uninhabited ! Its immense extent and unequalled splendor 
 require an immeasurable profusion in its occupant, and the 
 
154 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 incomes even of kings are not absolutely without limit. So 
 Versailles, with six or eight other Royal Palaces in and around 
 Paris, has generally stood empty, entailing on the country 
 an enormous annual expense for its simple preservation. 
 And now, though France has outgrown Royalty, it knows 
 not what to do with its costly, spacious, glittering shells. 
 A single Palace (Rambouillet) standing furthest from Paris, 
 was converted (under Louis Philippe) into a gigantic store- 
 house for Wool, while its spacious Parks and Gardens were 
 wisely devoted to the breeding and sustenance of the 
 choicest Merino Sheep. The others mainly stand empty, 
 and how to dispose of them is a National perplexity. 
 Some of them may be converted into Hospitals, Insane 
 Retreats, &c., others into Libraries or Galleries of Art and 
 Science ; but Versailles is too far from Paris for aught but 
 a Retreat as aforesaid, and has cost so immense a sum that 
 any use which may be made of it will seem wasteful. I 
 presume it could not be sold as it stands for a tenth of its 
 actual cost. Perhaps it will be best, therefore, to convert 
 all the others into direct uses and preserve this for public 
 inspection as a perpetual memorial of the reckless prodi- 
 gality and all-devouring pomp of Kings, and as a warning 
 to Nations never again to entrust their destinies to men 
 who, from their very education and the influences sur- 
 rounding them through life, must be led to consider the 
 Toiling Millions as mainly created to pamper their appe- 
 tites, to gratify their pride, and to pave with their corpses 
 their road to extended dominion. 
 
 St. Cloud is a much smaller but more pleasantly situ- 
 ated, more tastefully furnished and decorated Palace, some 
 miles nearer than Versailles to Paris, and commanding an 
 admirable view of the city. The Luxembourg, situated 
 in the southern section of the city, is externally a chaste 
 and well-proportioned edifice, containing some fine pictures 
 by living artists, and surrounded by spacious and delightful 
 woods, shrubbery, &c., termed " the Gardens of theLuxem- 
 
PASSPORTS, ETC. 155 
 
 bourg." The Tuileries, in the heart of the city, near the 
 Seine, I have not seen internally, and the exterior seems 
 low, straggling, and every way unimposing. Its extent is 
 almost incredible by those who have not seen it — scarcely 
 less than that of Versailles. The Louvre is the finest 
 structure of all, and most worthily devoted. Its lower 
 story is filled with Sculptures of no considerable merit, 
 but its galleries contain more strikingly good Paintings 
 than I shall ever again see under one roof. I have spent 
 a good part of two days there, and mean to revisit it on 
 my return. 
 
 PASSPORTS, ETC. 
 
 If each American could spend three days on this con- 
 tinent, his love of Country and of Liberty could not fail 
 to be quickened and intensified, if only by an experience 
 of the enormity of the Passport nuisance. It has cost rae 
 precious hours already, not to speak of dollars, and is cer- 
 tain to cost many more of each. I have nearly concluded 
 to given up Germany on account of it, while Italy fairly 
 swarms with petty sovereignties and with Yankee Consuls, 
 the former afraid of their own black shadows, the latter in- 
 tent on their beloved two dollars each from every American 
 traveler. Such is the report I have of them, and I presume 
 the reality is equal to the foreshadowing. It is a shame 
 that Republican France stands far behind Aristocratic 
 Britain in this respect, but I trust the contrast will not en- 
 dure many more years. 
 
 Two Americans who arrived here last week caused 
 some perplexity to their landlord. Every man who lodges 
 a stranger here must see forthwith that he has a Passport 
 in good condition, in default of which said host is liable to 
 a penalty. Now, these Americans, when applied to, pro- 
 duced Passports in due form, but the professions set forth 
 therein were not transparent to the landlord's apprehen- 
 sion. One of them was duly designated in his Passport as 
 
156 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 a " Loafer," the other as a " Rowdy'' and they informed 
 hinci, on application, that, though these professions were 
 highly popular in America and extensively followed, they 
 knew no French synonyms into which they could be trans- 
 lated. The landlord, not content with the sign manual of 
 Daniel Webster, affirming that all was right, applied to an 
 American friend for a translation of the inexplicable pro- 
 fessions, but I am not sure that he has even yet been fully 
 enlightened with regard to them. 
 
 I am off to-day (1 hope) for Lyons and Italy. 
 
XIX. 
 FRANCE, CENTRAL AND EASTERN. 
 
 Lyons, Tuesday, June 17, 1851. 
 
 I CAME out of Paris through the spacious Boulevards,^ 
 which, under various second appellations, stretch eastward 
 from the Madeleine Church nearly to the barrier, and then 
 bend southward, near the beautiful column which marks 
 the site and commemorates the fall of the Bastile, so long 
 the chief dungeon wherein Despotism stifled Remonstrance 
 and tamed the spirit of Freedom. Liberty in France is 
 doomed yet to undergo many trials — nay, is now enduring 
 some of them — but it is not within the compass of proba- 
 bility that another Bastile should ever rear its head there, 
 nor that the absolute power and abject servitude which it 
 fitly symbolized should ever be known there hereafter. 
 Very near it on the south lies the famous Faubourg St. 
 Antoine, inhabited mainly by bold, free-souled working- 
 men, who have repeatedly evinced their choice to die free 
 rather than live slaves, and in whom the same spirit 
 lives and rules to-day. I trust that dire alternative will 
 never again be forced upon them, but if it should be there 
 is no Bastile so impregnable, no despotism so fortified by 
 prescription, and glorious recollections, and the blind de- 
 votion of loyalty, as those they have already leveled to the 
 earth. 
 
 * Boulevard means, I presume, rampart or fortified works (hence our Eng- 
 lish bulwark). The rampart was long ago removed, as the city outgrew it, 
 but the name is retained by the ample street which took its place. Our Battery 
 at New-York illustrates this origin of a name. 
 
 8 
 
158 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 The Paris Station of the Lyons Railway is at the east- 
 ern barrier of the City. I received here another lesson in* 
 French Railroad management. I first bought at the office 
 my ticket for Chalons on the Saone, which is the point to 
 which the road is now completed. The distance is 243 
 miles ; the fare (first-class) $7 50. But the display of my 
 ticket did not entitle me to enter the passengers' sitting- 
 room, much less to approach the cars. Though I had cut 
 down my baggage, by two radical retrenchments, to two 
 light carpet-bags, I could not take these with me, nor 
 would they pass without weighing. When weighed, I was 
 required to pay three or four sous (cents) for extra bag- 
 gage, though there is no stage-route in America on which 
 those bags would not have passed unchallenged and been 
 accounted a very moderate allowance. Now I was per- 
 mitted to enter the sacred precincts, but my friend, who 
 had spent the morning with me and come to see me off, 
 was inexorably shut out, and I had no choice but to bid 
 him a hasty adieu. Passing the entrance, I was shown 
 into the apartment for first-class passengers, while the 
 second-class were driven into a separate fold and the 
 third-class into another. Thus we waited fifteen minutes, 
 during which I satisfied myself that no other American 
 was going by this train, and but three or four English, and 
 of these the two with whom I scraped an acquaintance 
 were going only to Fontainbleau, a few miles from Paris. 
 They were required to take their places in a portion of the 
 train which was to stop at Fontainbleau, and so we moved 
 oflT. 
 
 The European Railway carriages, so far as I have yet 
 seen them, are more expensive and less convenient than 
 ours. Each is absolutely divided into apartments about 
 the size of a mail-coach, and calculated to hold eight per- 
 sons. The result is thirty-two seats where an American 
 car of equal length and weight would hold at least fifty, 
 and of the thirty-two passengers, one-half must inevitably 
 
FRANCE, CENTRAL AND EASTERN. 159 
 
 ride backward. I believe the second-class cars are more 
 sociable, and mean to make their acquaintance. I should 
 have done it this time, but for my desire to meet some one 
 with whom I could converse, and Americans and English- 
 men are apt to cling to the first-class places. My aim 
 was disappointed. My companions were all Frenchmen, 
 and, what was worse, all inveterate smokers. They kept 
 puff-puffing, through the day ; first all of them, then three, 
 two, and at all events one, till they all got out at Dijon 
 near nightfall ; when, before I had time to congratulate 
 myself on the atmospheric improvement, another French- 
 man got in, lit his cigar, and w^ent at it. All this was in 
 direct and flagrant violation of the rules posted up in the 
 car ; but when did a smoker ever care for law or decency ? 
 I will endeavor next time to find a seat in a car where 
 women are fellow-passengers, and see whether their pre- 
 sence is respected by the devotees of the noxious weed. 
 1 have but a faint hope of it. 
 
 The Railroad from Paris to Chalons passes through 
 a generally level region, watered by tributaries of the 
 Seine and of the Saone, with a range of gentle hills skirt- 
 ing the valleys, generally on the right and sometimes on 
 either hand. As in England, the track is never allowed 
 to cross a carriage-road on its own level, but is carried 
 either under or over each. The soil is usually fertile and 
 well cultivated, though not so skillfully and thoroughly as 
 that of England. There are places, however, in which the 
 cultivation could not easily be surpassed, but I should say 
 that the average product would not be more than two- 
 thirds that of England, acre for acre. There are very few 
 fences of any kind, save a slight one inclosing the Railway, 
 beyond which the country stretches away as far as the eye 
 can reach without a visible landmark, the crops of different 
 cultivators fairly touching each other and growing square 
 up to the narrow roads that traverse them. You will 
 see, for instance, first a strip of Grass, perhaps ten rods 
 
160 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 wide, and running back sixty or eighty rods from the Rail- 
 road ; then a narrower strip of Wheat ; then one of Grape- 
 Vines ; then one of Beans ; then one of Clover ; then Wheat 
 again, then Grass or Oats, and so on. I saw very little 
 Rye ; and if there were Potatoes or Indian Corn, they 
 were not up sufficiently high to be distinguished as we 
 sped by them. The work going forward was the later 
 Weeding with the earlier Hay-making, and I saw nearly 
 as many women as men working in the fields. The grow- 
 ing crops were generally kept pretty clear of weeds, and 
 the grass was most faithfully but very slowly cut. I think 
 one Yankee would mow over more ground in a day than 
 two Frenchmen, but he would cut less hay to the acre. 
 Of course, in a country devoid of fences and half covered 
 with small patches of grain, there could not be many cat- 
 tle : I saw no oxen, very few cows, and not many horses. 
 The hay-carts were generally drawn by asses, or by horses 
 so small as not to be easily distinguished from asses as we 
 whirled rapidly by. The wagons on the roads were gene- 
 rally drawn by small horses. I judge that the people are 
 generally industrious but not remarkably efficient, and that 
 the women do the larger half of the work, house-work 
 included. The hay-carts were wretchedly small, and the 
 implements used looked generally rude and primitive. 
 The dwellings are low, small, steep-roofed cottages, for 
 which a hundred dollars each would be a hberal offer. Of 
 course, I speak of the rural habitations ; those in the vil- 
 lages are better, though still mainly small, steep-roofed^ 
 poor, and huddled together in the most chaotic confusion. 
 The stalls and pastures for cattle were in the main only 
 visible to the eye of faith ; though cattle there must be and 
 are to do the ploughing and hauling. I suspect they are 
 seldom turned loose in summer, and that there is not a cow 
 to every third cottage. I think I did not see a yoke of oxen 
 throughout the day's ride of 243 miles. 
 
 I was again agreeably disappointed in the abundance of 
 
FRANCE, CENTRAL AND EASTERN. 161 
 
 Trees. Wood seems to be the peasants* sole reliance for 
 fuel, and trees are planted beside the roads, the streams, 
 the ditches, and often in rows or patches on some arable 
 portion of the peasants' narrow domain. This planting is 
 mainly confined to two varieties — the Lombardy Poplar 
 and what I took to be the Pollard, a species of Willow 
 which displays very Httle foliage, and is usually trimmed 
 up so as to have but a mere armfuU of leaves and branches 
 at the top of a trunk thirty to fifty feet high, and six to 
 twelve inches through. The Lombardy Poplar is in like 
 manner preferred, as giving a large amount of trunk to 
 little shade, the limbs rarely extending three feet from the 
 trunk, while the growth is rapid. Such are the means 
 employed to procure fuel and timber with the least possible 
 abstraction of soil from the uses of cultivation. There are 
 some side-hills so rocky and sterile as to defy human indus- 
 try, and these are given up to brush- wood, which I presume 
 is cut occasionally and bound into faggots for fuel. Some 
 of it may straggle up, if permitted, into trees, but I saw 
 little that would fairly justify the designation of Forest. 
 Of Fruit-trees, save in the villages, there is a deplorable 
 scarcity throughout. 
 
 We passed through few villages and no town of note but 
 Dijon, the capital of ancient Burgundy, where its Parlia- 
 ment was held and where its Dukes reigned and were 
 buried. Their palace still stands, though they have passed 
 away. Dijon is 200 miles from Paris, and has 25,000 
 inhabitants, with manufactures of Cotton, Woolen and 
 Silk. Here and henceforth the Vine is more extensively 
 cultivated than further Northward. 
 
 We reached Chalons on the Saone (there is another 
 Chalons on the Marne) before 9 P. M. or in about ten 
 hours from Paris. Here a steamboat was ready to take us 
 forthwith to Lyons, but French management was too much 
 for us. Our baggage was all taken from the car outside 
 and carried piece by piece into the d6p6t, where it was 
 
162 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 very carefully arranged in order according to the numbers 
 affixed to the several trunks, &c., in Paris. This consumed 
 the better part of half an hour, though half as many Yankees 
 as were fussing over it would have had it all distributed 
 to the owners inside of ten minutes. Then the holders of 
 the first three or four numbers were let into the baggage- 
 room, and when they were disposed of as many more were 
 let in, and so on. Each, as soon as he had secured his 
 baggage, was hustled into an omnibus destined for the boat. 
 I was among the first to get seated, but ours was the last 
 omnibus to start, and when the attempt was made, the 
 carriage was overloaded and wouldn't start! At last it 
 was set in motion, but stopped twice or thrice to let off 
 passengers and baggage at hotels, then to collect fare, and 
 at last, when we had got within a few rods of the landing, 
 we were cheered with the information that " Le bateau est 
 parti!" The French may have been better than this, but 
 its purport was unmistakable — the boat was gone, and we 
 were done. I had of course seen this trick played before, 
 but never so clumsily. There was no help for us, however, 
 and the amount of useless execration emitted was rather 
 moderate than otherwise. Our charioteers had taken good 
 care to obtain their pay for carrying us some time before, 
 and we suffered ourselves to be taken to our predestined 
 hotel in a frame of mind approaching Christian resignation. 
 In fact, when I had been shovv-n up to a nice bed-room, with 
 clean sheets and (for France) a fair supply of water, and 
 had taken time to reflect that there is no accommodation 
 for sleeping on any of these European river-boats, I was 
 rather glad we had been swindled than otherwise. So I 
 am still. But you may travel the same route in a hurry ; 
 so look out ! 
 
 We rose at 4 and made for the boat, determined not 
 to be caught twice in the same town. At five we bade 
 good-by to Chalons-sur-Saone (a pleasant town of 13,000 
 people), under a lowering sky which soon blessed the earth 
 
FRANCE, CENTRAL AND EASTERN. 163 
 
 with rain — a dubious blessing to a hundred people on a 
 steamboat with no deck above the guards and scarcely 
 room enough below for the female passengers. However, 
 the rain soon ceased and the sky gradually cleared, so that 
 since 9 o'clock the day has been sunny and delightful. 
 
 The distance from Chalons to Lyons by the Saone is 
 some 90 miles. The river is about the size of the 
 Connecticut from Greenfield to Hartford, but is sluggish 
 throughout, with very low banks until the last ten or 
 fifteen miles. After an intervale of half a mile to two 
 miles, the land rises gently on the right to an altitude of 
 some two to five hundred feet, the slope covered and 
 checkered the whole distance with vineyards, meadows, 
 woods, &c. The Poplar and the Pollard are still planted, 
 but the scale of cultivation is larger and the houses much 
 better than betvv^een Paris and Dijon. The intervale 
 (mainly in meadow) is much wider on the left bank, the 
 swell beyond it being in some places scarcely visible. The 
 scenery is greatly admired here, and as a whole may be 
 termed pretty, but cannot compare with that of the Hud- 
 son or Connecticut in boldness or grandeur. There are 
 some craggy hill-sides in the distance, but I have not yet 
 seen an indisputable mountain in France, though I have 
 passed nearly through it in a mainly southerly course for 
 over five hundred miles. 
 
 As we approach Lyons, the hills on either side come 
 nearer and finally shut in the river between two steep ac- 
 clivities, from which much building-stone has been quarried. 
 Elsewhere, these hill-sides are covered with tasteful country 
 residences of the retired or wealthy Lyonnais, surrounded 
 by gardens, arbors, shrubbery, &c. The general efiect is 
 good. At last, houses and quays begin to line and bridges 
 to span the river, and we halt beside one of the quays and 
 are in Lyons. 
 
XX. 
 LYONS TO TURIN. 
 
 Turin (Italy), June 20, 1851. 
 
 Lyons, though a French city, and the second in the Re- 
 pubUc, wears a sad, disheartened aspect. In '91 a strong- 
 hold of decaying Loyalty, it is to-day the very focus of 
 Democratic Socialism, being decidedly more " Red " than 
 Paris. — Here is concentrated the Sixth Military Division 
 of the French Army, under chiefs not chary of using the 
 sabre and bayonet, and with instructions to apply efficient 
 poultices of grape and canister on the first palpable ap- 
 pearance of local inflammation. Should Louis Napoleon 
 be enabled to override the Constitution and prolong his 
 sway, it is possible that, by the aid of the act of May 31st, 
 1850, whereby more than half the Artisans of France are 
 disfranchised, the spirit of Lyons may in time be subdued, 
 and partisans of " Order " substituted for her present So- 
 ciaHst Representatives in the Assembly ; but, should the 
 popular cause triumph in the ensuing Elections, I shall be 
 agreeably disappointed if that triumph is as temperately 
 and forbearingly enjoyed here as was that of February, 
 1848. 
 
 Lyons is now undergoing one of those periodical revul- 
 sions or depressions which are the necessary incidents of 
 the false system of Industry and Trade which the leaders 
 of Commercial opinion are bent on fortifying and extend- 
 ing. — Here, at the confluence of the Rhone and the Saone, 
 is concentrated a population of nearly 200,000 souls, half 
 of whom attempt to live by spinning, weaving and dyeing 
 
LYONS TO TURIN. 165 
 
 Silks, while the residue in good part busy themselves in 
 collecting and buying the raw material or in exporting and 
 selling the product. But it is not best for themselves nor 
 for mankind that 100,000 Silk- workers should be clustered 
 on any square mile or two of earth ; if they were distribut- 
 ed over the world's surface, in communities of five to fifty 
 thousand souls — if the raw Silk were grown in the various 
 countries wherein the fabrics are required, where the cli- 
 mate and soil do not forbid, and taken there to be manu- 
 factured where they do — the workers would have space, 
 air, activity, liberty, development, which are unattainable 
 while they are cooped within the walls of a single city. If 
 those Silk- weavers, for instance, whose fabrics are con- 
 sumed in the United States, were now located in Virginia, 
 Tennessee, Missouri, &c. instead of being mainly crowded 
 into Lyons, they would there obtain many of the necessa- 
 ries of life at half the prices they now give for them, while 
 the consumers of their fabrics would pay for them in good 
 part with Fruits, Vegetables, Fuel, &c. which, because of 
 their bulk or their perishable nature, they cannot now sell 
 at all, or can only sell at prices below the cost of produc- 
 tion. No matter if the Silks were held in money a fifth, a 
 fourth, or even a third higher than now, the great body of 
 our consumers would obtain them much cheaper, estimat- 
 ing the cost not in dollars but in days' labor. The work- 
 ers on both sides would be benefited, because they would 
 share between them at least three-fourths of the enormous 
 tax which Commerce now levies upon their Industry 
 through the sale and resale of its products, to distribute 
 among its importers, shippers, jobbers, retailers and lackeys 
 of infinite variety. The bringing together of Producer 
 and Consumer, where Nature has interposed no barrier, so 
 that their diverse needs may be supplied by direct inter- 
 change, or with the fewest possible intermediates, is the— 
 simple and only remedy for one of the chief scourges un- 
 der which Industry now suflTers throughout the world. 
 
 8* 
 
166 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 " Very true/' says Vapid/' " but this will regulate 
 itself." — Will it, indeed ? Be good enough to tell me how ! 
 All the potent individual agencies now affecting it are at- 
 tached by self-interest to the wrong side. The Capitalists, 
 the Employers, the Exporters, engaged in the Silk trade, all 
 own property in Lyons, and are naturally anxious that the 
 manufacture shall be more and more concentrated there. 
 The Shipper, the Importer, the Jobber of our own country, 
 has a like interest in keeping the point of production as dis- 
 tant from their customers as possible. Very often have I been 
 told by wholesale merchants, " We prei'er to sell Foreign 
 rather than Home-made fabrics, because the profit on the 
 former is usually much greater." This consideration is 
 active and omnipresent in Trade generally. The sole in- 
 terest subserved by Direct and Simple Exchanges is that 
 of Labor ; and this, though greatest of all, is unorganized, 
 inert, and individually impotent. These Silk- Weavers of 
 Lyons are no more capable of removing to Virginia or 
 Missouri and establishing their business there than the 
 Alps are of making an American tour. Our consumers of 
 Silks, acting as individuals, cannot bring them over and 
 establish them among us. But the gre-at body of consum- 
 ers, animated by Philanthropy and an enlightened Self-in- 
 terest, acting through their single efficient organism, the 
 State, can make it the interest of Capital and Capacity to 
 bring them over and plant them in the most eligible locali- 
 ties among us, and ought immediately and persistently to 
 do so. The inconveniences of such a policy are partial and 
 transitory, while its blessings are permanent and universal. 
 
 A RIDE ACROSS THE ALPS. 
 
 Railroads are excellent contrivances for dispatch and 
 economy ; Steamboats ditto, and better still for ease and 
 observation or reading ; Steamships are to be endured 
 when Necessity compels ; but an old-fashioned Coach-and- 
 
A RIDE ACROSS THE ALPS. 167 
 
 Four is by no means to be despised, even in this age of 
 Progress and Enlightenment. While I stay in Europe, I 
 wish to see as much land and to waste as little time on 
 blue water as possible. So I turned aside at Lyons from 
 the general stream of Italy-bound travellers — which flows 
 down the Rhone to Avignon and Marseilles, thence 
 embarking for Genoa and Leghorn, — and booked myself 
 for a ride across the Lower Alps by diligence to Turin. 
 And glad am I that my early resolve to do so was not 
 shaken. 
 
 The European, but more especially French, diligence 
 has often been described. Ours "consisted of a long car- 
 riage divided into the coupe or foremost apartment, directly 
 under the driver, and with an outlook on each side and in 
 front over the backs of the horses ; the middle apartment, 
 which is much like the interior of our ordinary stage- 
 coach ; and the rumble or rear apartment, calculated for 
 servants or other cheap travelers. Two-thirds of the roof 
 was covered with a tun or two of baggage and merchan- 
 dise ; and in front of this, behind and above the driver's 
 seat, is the banquette, a single seat across the top, 
 calculated to hold four persons, with a chaise top to be 
 thrown back in fine weather and a glass front to be let 
 down by night or in case of rain. I chose my seat here, 
 as affording the best possible view of the country. At 8 
 P. M. precisely, the driver cracked his whip, and four good 
 horses started our lumbering vehicle at a lively pace on 
 the road to Turin, some two hundred miles away in the 
 south-east. 
 
 The road from Lyons to the frontier is one of the best in 
 the world, and traverses a level, fertile, productive country. 
 I should say that Grass, Wheat and the Vine are the chief 
 staples. A row of trees adorns either side of the road 
 most of the way, not the trim, gaunt, limbless skeletons 
 which are preferred throughout Central France, but wide- 
 spreading, thrifty shade-trees, which 1 judged in the dark- 
 
168 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 ness to be mainly Black Walnut, with perhaps a sprinkling 
 of Chestnut, &c. Through this noble avenue, we rattled 
 on at a glorious pace, a row of small bells jingling from 
 each horse, and no change of teams consuming more than 
 two minutes, until we reached the little village on the 
 French side of the boundary between France and Savoy, 
 some fifty miles from Lyons. Here our Passports were 
 taken away for scrutiny and vise, and we were compelled 
 to wait from 2^ till 5 o'clock, as the Sardinian officers 
 of customs would not begin to examine our baggage till 
 the latter hour. At 5 we crossed the little, rapid river (a 
 tributary of the Rhone) which here divides the two coun- 
 tries, a French and a Sardinian sentinel standing at either 
 end of the bridge. We drove into the court of the 
 custom-house, dismounted, had our baggage taken off and 
 into the rude building, where half a dozen officers and 
 attendants soon appeared and went at it. They searched 
 rigidly, but promptly, carefully and like gentlemen. In 
 half an hour we were pronounced all right ; our diligence 
 was reloaded, and, our passports having been returned, we 
 rattled out of the village and on our way, in the sunshine 
 of as bright a June morning as I ever hope to enjoy. 
 
 France is a land of plains, and glades, and gentle acclivi- 
 ties; Savoy is a country of mountains. They rose before 
 and around us from the moment of our crossing the 
 boundary — grim, rugged and precipitous, they formed a 
 striking contrast to all of Europe I had hitherto seen. 
 Throughout the day and night following, we were rarely 
 or never out of sight of snow-covered peaks ; nay, I have 
 not yet lost sight of them, since they are distinctly visible 
 in the clear Italian atmosphere from the streets of this 
 sunny metropolis, at a distance of some thirty miles north. 
 Our route lay through Savoy for about a hundred miles, 
 and not one acre in thirty within sight of it can ever be 
 plowed. Yet the mountains are in good part composed of 
 limestone, so that the narrow, sheltered valleys are 
 
A EIDE ACROSS THE ALPS. 169 
 
 decidedly fertile ; and the Vine is often made to thrive on 
 the steep, rocky hill sides, where the plow could not be 
 forced below the surface, and where an ox could not keep 
 his footing. Every inch of ground that can be, is culti- 
 vated ; little patches of Wheat, or Grass, or Vines are got 
 in wherever there is a speck of soil, though no larger than 
 a cart-body ; and far up the sides of steep mountains, 
 wherever a spot is found so moderately inclined that soil 
 will lie on it, there Grass at least is grown. 
 
 Human Labor, in such a region, fully peopled, is very 
 cheap and not very efficient. The grape is the chief 
 staple and Wine must be the principal and probably is the 
 only export, at least one third of the arable soil being 
 devoted to the Vine. Wheat is pretty extensively sown 
 and is now heading very thriftily, but I suspect the 
 average size of the patches is not above a quarter of an 
 acre each. The Grass is good ; and not much of it cut 
 yet. Indian Corn and Potatoes are generally cultivated, 
 but in deplorable ignorance of their nature. At least four 
 times the proper quantity of seed is put in the ground, 
 neither Corn nor Potatoes being allowed more than 
 eighteen inches between the rows, making the labor of 
 cultivation very great and the chance of a good yield none 
 at all. 
 
 I think I saw quite as many women as men at work in 
 the fields throughout Savoy. A girl of fourteen driving a 
 yoke of oxen attached to a cart, walking barefoot beside 
 the team and plying the goadstick, while a boy of her own 
 age lay idly at length in the cart, is one of my liveliest 
 recollections of Savoyard ways. Nut-brown, unbonneted 
 women, hoeing corn with an implement between an adze 
 and a pick-axe (and not a bad implement, either, for so 
 rugged an unplowed soil), women driving hogs, cows, &c., 
 to or from market, we encountered at every turn. So 
 much hard, rough work and exposure are fatal to every 
 trace of beauty, and I do not remember to have seen a 
 
170 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 woman in Savoy even moderately good-looking, while 
 many were absolutely revolting. That this is not Nature's 
 fault is proved by the general aspect of the children, who, 
 though swarthy, have often good forms and features. 
 
 We drove down into Chambery, the capital of ancient 
 Savoy, about 9, a. m. This is a town of some fifteen 
 thousand inhabitants, pleasantly situated in the valley of 
 a much larger tributary of the Rhone than that we crossed 
 at the boundary, and with a breadth of arable soil of 
 perhaps two miles between the mountains. No where 
 else in Savoy did we traverse a valley even half a mile 
 wide for any distance. Here is an old ducal palace, with 
 fine spacious grounds, shrubbery, &c. The road from 
 Geneva and the Baths of Aix to Turin comes down this 
 valley and here intersects that from Lyons. We were 
 allowed twenty-five minutes for breakfast, which would 
 have been very well but that the time required for cooking 
 most of the breakfast had to come out of it. 
 
 There was enough and good enough to eat, and (as usual 
 throughout all this region) Wine in abundance without 
 charge, but Tea, Coffee or Chocolate must be ordered and 
 paid for extra. Even so, I was unable to obtain a cup of 
 Chocolate, the excuse being that there was not time to 
 make it. I did not understand, therefore, why I was 
 charged more than others for breakfast ; but to talk 
 English against French or Italian is to get a mile behind 
 in no time, so I pocketed the change offered me and came 
 away. On the coach, however, with an Englishman near 
 me who had traveled this way before and spoke French 
 and Italian, I ventured to expose my ignorance as follows : 
 
 " Neighbor, why was I charged three francs for break- 
 fast, and the rest of you but two and a half ?" 
 
 " Don't know — perhaps you had Tea or Coffee." 
 
 "No, Sir — don't drink either." 
 
 " Then perhaps you washed your face and hands." 
 
 " Well, it would be just like me." 
 
A RIDE ACROSS THE ALPS. 171 
 
 " O, then, that's it ! The half franc was for the basin 
 and towel." 
 
 " Ah, GUI, Old." So the milk in that cocoa-nut was 
 accounted for. 
 
 Our road, though winding constantly among mountains, 
 was by no means a rugged one. On the contrary, I was 
 surprised to find it so nearly level. Three or four times 
 during the day we came to a hard hill, and usually a yoke 
 of oxen, an extra horse or span, stood at the foot, ready to 
 hitch on and help us up. Of course, we were steadily 
 rising throughout, but so gradually and on so capital a road 
 as to offer little impediment to our progress. A better 
 road made of earth I never expect to see. Every mile 
 of it is plainly under constant supervision, and any defect 
 is instantly repaired. The only exception to its excellence 
 is caused by the villages, which occur at an average of ten 
 miles apart, and consist each of fifty to two hundred poor 
 dwellings, mainly of stone, huddled chaotically together 
 along the two sides of the road, which is twisted and 
 turned by them in every direction, and often crowded into 
 a width of not more than eight or ten feet. It is abso- 
 lutely impossible that two carriages should pass each 
 other in these narrow, crooked lanes, and dangerous for 
 even a pedestrian to stand outside of a house while the 
 diligence is threading one of these gorges. 
 
 There is no town except Chambery on the whole route 
 from Lyons to Turin ; but we passed about noon through 
 a village in which a Fair was proceeding. I did not 
 suspect that two thousand people could live within ten 
 miles of the spot ; yet I think fully two thousand were 
 here collected, with half as many cows, asses, hogs, &c., 
 which had been brought hither for sale, and about which 
 they were jabbering and gesticulating. Dealers in coarse 
 chip hats and a few kindred fabrics were also present ; but 
 it looked as if sellers were more abundant and eager than 
 buyers. It was only by great effort and by the most 
 
172 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 exemplary patience that our driver and guard were enabled 
 to clear the road so that we passed through without 
 inflicting any injury. 
 
 Wilder and narrower was the gorge, nearer and bleaker 
 rose the mountains, steeper and more palpable became the 
 ascent, keener and crisper grew the air, as the evening 
 fell upon us pursuing our devious way. The valleys were 
 not only insignificant but widely separated by tracts 
 through which the road had with difficulty and at much 
 expense been cut out of the mountain side without infring- 
 ing on the impetuous torrent that tumbled and foamed by 
 our side ; and even where little valleys or glens still 
 existed it was clear that Nature no longer responded with 
 alacrity and abundance to the summons of human industry. 
 The Vine no longer clung to the steep acclivities ; the 
 summer foliage of the lower valleys had given place to 
 dark evergreens where shrubbery could still find foot-hold 
 and sustenance. The snow no longer skulked timorously 
 behind the peaks of distant mountains, showing itself only 
 on their northern declivities, but stood out boldly, un-. 
 blenchingly on all sides, and seemed within a musket-shot 
 of our path. From slight depressions in the brows of the 
 overhanging cliflfs, streamlets leaped hundreds of feet in 
 silvery recklessness, falling in feathery foam by our side. 
 I think I saw half a dozen of these cascades within a 
 distance of three miles. 
 
 At length, near ten o'clock, we reached the foot of 
 Mount Cenis, where sinuosity of course could avail us no 
 further. We must now face the music. Our five tired 
 horses were exchanged for eight fresh ones, and we com- 
 menced the slow, laborious ascent of some six or eight 
 miles. Human habitations had already become scattered 
 and infrequent ; but we passed three or four in ascending 
 the mountain. Their inmates of course live upon the 
 travel, in one way or another, for Sterility is here the 
 inexorable law. Yet our ascent was not so steep as might 
 
A RIDE ACROSS THE ALPS. 173 
 
 be expected, being modified, when necessary, by zig-zags 
 from one direction or one side of the chasm we followed 
 to the other. The horses were stopped to breathe but 
 once only ; elsewhere for three hours or more they pursued 
 their firm, deliberate, decided, though slow advance. The 
 shrubbery dwindled as we ascended and at length disap- 
 peared, save in the sheltered gorges ; the snow came 
 nearer and spread over still larger spaces ; at length, it 
 lay in heavy beds or masses, half melted into ice, just by 
 the side of the road and on its edge, though I think there 
 was none actually under the wheels. Finally, a little 
 before one o'clock, we reached the summit, and the moon 
 from behind the neighboring cliff burst upon us fully two 
 hours high. Two or three houses stood here for the use 
 of travelers ; around them nothing but snow and the naked 
 planet. Before us lay the valley of the Po, the great plain 
 of Upper Italy. 
 
 Six of our horses were here detached and sent back to 
 the Savoy base of the mountain, while with the two 
 remaining we commenced our rapid and dashing descent. 
 Mount Cenis is decidedly steeper on this side than on the 
 other ; it is only surmounted by a succession of zig-zags so 
 near each other that I think we traveled three miles in 
 making a direct progress of one, during which we must 
 have descended some 1,500 feet. Daylight found us at the 
 foot with the level plain before us, and at 8 o'clock, a. m. 
 we were in Turin. 
 
XXI. 
 
 SARDINIA— ITALY— FREEDOM. 
 
 Genoa (Italy), June 22, 1851. 
 
 The Kingdom of Sardinia was formed, after the over- 
 throw of Napoleon, by the union of Genoa and its depen- 
 dencies, with the former Kingdom of Piedmont and Savoy 
 including the island of Sardinia, to whose long exiled Royal 
 house was restored a dominion thus extended. That 
 dominion has since stood unchanged, and may be roughly 
 said to embrace the North- Western fourth of Italy, includ- 
 ing Savoy, which belongs geographically to Switzerland, 
 but which forms a very strong barrier against invasion 
 from the side of France. Savoy is almost entirely watered 
 by tributaries of the Rhone, and so might be said to be- 
 long naturally to France rather than to Italy, regarding 
 the crests of the Alps as the proper line of demarcation 
 between them. Its trade, small at any rate, is of necessity 
 mainly with France ; very slightly, save on the immediate 
 sea-coast, with Genoa or Piedmont. Its language is French. 
 Though peopled nearly to the limit of its capacity, the 
 whole number of its inhabitants can hardly exceed Half 
 a Million, nine-tenths of its entire surface being covered 
 with sterile, intractable mountains. Savoy must always 
 be a poor country, with inconsiderable commerce or ma- 
 nufactures (for though its water-power is inexhaustible, 
 its means of communication must ever be among the worst), 
 and seems to have been created mainly as a barrier against 
 that guilty ambition which impels rulers and chieftains to 
 
SARDINIA ITALY FREEDOM. 175 
 
 covet and invade territories which reject and resist their 
 sway. Alas that the Providential design, though so palpa- 
 ble, should be so often disregarded ! Doubtless, the lives 
 lost from age to age by mere hardship, privation and ex- 
 posure, during the passage of invading armies through 
 Savoy, would outnumber the whole present population of 
 the country. 
 
 Descending the Alps to the east or south into Piedmont, 
 a new world lies around and before you. You have passed 
 in two hours from the Arctic circle to the Tropics — from 
 Lapland to Cuba. The snow-crested mountains are still 
 in sight, and seem in the clear atmosphere to be very 
 near you even when forty or fifty miles distant, but you 
 are traversing a spacious plain which slopes imperceptibly 
 to th« Po, and is matched by one nearly as level on the 
 other side. This great plain of upper Italy, with the Po 
 in its center, commences at the foot of the lower Alps 
 very near the Mediterranean, far west of Turin and of 
 Genoa, and stretches across the widest portion of the 
 peninsula till it is lost in the Adriatic. The western- half 
 of this great valley is Piedmont ; the eastern is Lombardy. 
 Its fertility and facility of cultivation are such that even 
 Italian unthrift and ignorance of Agriculture are unable 
 to destroy the former or nullify the latter. I never saw 
 better Wheat, Grass, and Barley, than in my journey of a 
 hundred miles across this noble valley of the Po, or Pied- 
 mont, and the Indian Corn, Potatoes, &c., are less pro- 
 mising only because of the amazing ignorance of their 
 requirements evinced by nine-tenths of the cultivators. In 
 the first place, the land is not plowed half deep enough; 
 next, most of it is seldom or never manured ; thirdly, it is 
 planted too late ; and fourthly, three or four times as much 
 seed is planted as should be. I should judge that twenty 
 seed potatoes, or kernels of corn, to each square yard is 
 about the average, while five of either is quite enough. 
 Then both, but especially Corn, are hilled up, sugar-loaf 
 
176 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 fashion, until the height of each hill is about equal to its 
 breadth at the base, so that two days' hot sun dries the 
 hill completely through, while there is no soil a foot from 
 each stalk for its roots to run in. From such perverse 
 cultivation, a good yield is impossible. There has been 
 no rain of consequence here for some weeks, whence 
 Wheat and Barley are ripening too rapidly, while Corn, 
 Potatoes and Vegetables suffer severely from drouth, when 
 with deeper plowing and rational culture everything would 
 have been verdant and flourishing. Yet this great plain in 
 some parts is and in most might be easily and bountifully 
 irrigated from the innumerable mountain streams which 
 traverse it on their way to the Po. I never saw another 
 region wherein a few Sub-soil Plows, with men qualified 
 to use them and to set forth the nature and advantages of 
 skillful cultivation generally, are so much wanted as in 
 Piedmont. 
 
 The Vine is of course extensively cultivated in Pied- 
 mont, as everywhere in Italy, but not so universally as in 
 the hilly, rocky region extending from the great valley to 
 this city (some thirty or forty miles). This has a warm 
 though a thin soil, which must be highly favorable to the 
 Vine to induce so exclusive a devotion to it. I think 
 half of the arable soil I saw between this and Arquata, 
 where the plain and (for tlve present) the Railroad stop 
 and the hills and the diligence begin, was devoted to th( 
 Grape ; while from the steeple of the Carignani Church 
 which I ascended last evening, the semi-circle of tower- 
 ing, receding hill-sides which invests Genoa landward 
 seems covered with the Vine, and even the Gardens 
 within the town are nearly given up to it. The Fig, the 
 Orange, the Almond, are also native here or in the 
 vicinity. 
 
 This kingdom is to-day, after France, the chief point 
 of interest in continental Europe for lovers of Human 
 Liberty. Three years ago, under the impulse of the gene- 
 
SARDINIA- ITALY— -FREEDOM. 177 
 
 r.il uprising of the Nations, its rulers entered upon a course 
 of policy in accordance with the wants and demands of the 
 age, and that policy is still adhered to, though meantime 
 the general aspect of affairs is sadly changed, and Sardinia 
 herself has experienced the sorest reverses. The weak, 
 unstable King whose ambition first conspired to throw her 
 into the current of the movement for the liberation of Italy, 
 has died defeated and broken-hearted, but his wiser son 
 and heir has taken his stand deliberately and firmly on the 
 liberal side, and cannot be driven from his course. His 
 policy, as proclaimed in his memorable Speech from the 
 Throne on the assembling of the present Chambers, is "to 
 rear Free Institutions in the midst of surrounding ruins." 
 A popular Assembly, in which the Ministry have seats, 
 directs and supervises the National Policy, which is 
 avowedly and efficiently directed toward the vigorous pro- 
 secution of Reforms in every department. Absolute Free- 
 dom in matters of Religion has already been established, 
 and the long crushed and persecuted Vaudois or Waldenses 
 rejoice in the brighter day now opening before them. 
 Their simple worship is not only authorized and protected 
 in their narrow, secluded Alpine valleys, but it is openly 
 and regularly conducted also in Turin, the metropolis, 
 where they are now endeavoring to erect a temple which 
 shall fitly set forth the changed position of Protestantism 
 in Northern Italy. They are still few and poor, and will 
 apply to their brethren in America for pecuniary aid, which 
 I trust will be granted expressly on condition that the 
 church thus erected shall be open, when not otherwise 
 required, to any Protestant clergyman who produces ample 
 testimonials of his good standing with his own denomina- 
 tion at home. Such a church in Turin would be of incal- 
 culable service to the cause of Human Emancipation from 
 the shackles of Force, Prescription and Tradition through- 
 out Italy and the Eastern World. 
 
 The Freedom of the Press is established in this kingdom, 
 
178 GLANCES AT EUROPE, 
 
 yet no single journal of the Reactionist type is issued, 
 because there is no demand for one. The only division 
 of political sentiment is that which separates the more 
 impetuous Progressives, or avowed Democrats, from the 
 larger number (apparently) who believe it wiser and safer 
 to hold fast by King and Constitution, especially since the 
 Monarch is among the most zealous and active in the 
 cause of Progress and Reform. I think these are right, 
 though their opponents have ample justification in History, 
 even the most recent, for their distrust of the liberal pro- 
 fessions and seemings of Royalty. But were the King 
 and all his House to abdicate and leaye the country to- 
 morrow, I believe that would be a disastrous step for Sar- 
 dinia and for Human Liberty. For this kingdom is almost 
 walled in by enemies — Austria, Tuscany, Rome (alas !) 
 and Naples — all intensely hating it and seeking its down- 
 fall because of the Light and Hope which its policy and its 
 example are diffusing among the nations. With the Pope 
 it is directly at variance, on questions of contested juris- 
 diction deemed vital alike by the Spiritual and the Tem- 
 poral power ; and repeated efforts at adjustment have only 
 resulted in repeated failures. This feud is of itself a source 
 of weakness, since ninety-nine in every hundred of the 
 population are at least nominally Roman Catholic, and the 
 great mass of the Peasantry intensely so, while the Priest- 
 hood naturally side with the Ecclesiastical as against the 
 Political contestant. And behind Austria, notoriously 
 hostile to the present policy of Sardinia, stands the black, 
 colossal shadow of the Autocrat, with no power east of 
 the Rhine and the Adriatic able or willing to resist him, 
 and only waiting for an excuse to pour his legions over 
 the sunny plains of Southern Europe. A Democratic 
 Revolution in Sardinia, no matter how peacefully efTected, 
 would inevitably, while France is crippled as at present, 
 be the signal (as with Naples and Spain successively some 
 twenty- five to thirty years ago) for overwhelming invasion 
 
SARDINIA ITALY FREEDOM. 179 
 
 in the interest and by the forces of utter Despotism. Well 
 informed men believe that if the present King were to 
 abdicate to-morrow, he would immediately be chosen Pre- 
 sident by an immense majority of the People. 
 
 Yet there is an earnest, outspoken Democratic party in 
 Sardinia, and this city is its focus. Genoa, in fact, has 
 never been reconciled to the decree which arbitrarily 
 merged her political existence in that of the present King- 
 dom. She fondly cherishes the recollection of her ancient 
 opulence, power and glory, and remembers that in her day 
 of greatness she was the center and soul of a Republic. 
 Hence her Rev(5lutionary struggle in 1848 ; hence the 
 activity and boldness of her Republican propaganda now. 
 To see Italy a Federal Republic, whereof Piedmont, Savoy, 
 Genoa and Sardinia should be separate and sovereign 
 States, along with Venice, Lombardy, Tuscany, Rome, 
 Naples, &c., would best satisfy her essential aspirations. 
 
 Yet Genoa is clearly benefited by her present political 
 connection. From her lovely bay, she looks out over the 
 Mediterranean, Corsica, Sardinia, Africa and the Levant, 
 but has scarcely a glimpse of the continent of Italy. No 
 river bears its products to her expectant wharves ; only 
 the most insignificant mill-streams brawl idly down to her 
 harbor and the adjacent shore ; steep, naked mountains 
 rise abruptly behind her, scarcely allowing room for her 
 lofty edifices and narrow streets ; while from only a few 
 miles back the waters are hurrying to join the Po and be 
 borne away by that rapid, unnavigable stream to the 
 furthest limit of Italy. No commercial City was ever 
 more hardly dealt with by Nature on the land side than 
 Genoa ; no one ever stood more in need of intimate politi- 
 cal connections suggestive of and cemented by works of 
 Internal improvement. These she is now on the point 
 of securing. A very tolerable Railroad has already been 
 constructed from Turin to Arquata, some seventy miles 
 on the way to Genoa, and the remaining thirty odd miles 
 
180 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 are now under contract, to be completed in 1852. The 
 portion constructed was easy, while the residue is exceed- 
 ingly difficult, following the valleys of impetuous mountain 
 torrents, which to-day discharge each minute five gallons 
 and to-morrow five thousand hogsheads. These valleys 
 (or rather clefts) are quite commonly so narrow and their 
 sides so steep and rock-bound that the Railroad track has 
 to be raised several feet on solid masonry to preserve it 
 from being washed away by the floods which follow every 
 violent or protracted rain. Expensive arches to admit the 
 passage of the streams whenever crossed, and of the roads, 
 are also numerous, so that these thirty miles, in spite of 
 the abundance and cheapness of Labor here, will cost at 
 least Three Millions of Dollars. Yet the road will pay 
 when in full operation, and will prove a new day-spring 
 of prosperity to Genoa. From Turin, branches or feeders 
 will run to the Alps in various directions, benefiting that 
 city considerably, but Genoa infinitely more, since nine- 
 tenths of the produce even of Piedmont will run past 
 Turin, without unloading, to find purchasers and exporters 
 here. A coal-mine of promise has just been discovered at 
 Aosta, at the foot of the Alps, to which one of these 
 branches is to be constructed. Genoa is now jealous of 
 Turin's political ascendency, which is just as sensible as 
 would be jealousy of Albany on the part of New- York. 
 Even already, though it has not come near her, the Rail- 
 road is sensibly improving her trade and industry ; and 
 whenever it shall have reached her wharves every mile 
 added to its extent or to that of any of its branches will 
 add directly and largely to the commerce and wealth of 
 this city. In time this Road will connect with those 
 of France and Germany, by a tunnel through some one of 
 the Alps (Mount Cenis is now under consideration), but, 
 even without that, whenever it shall have reached the 
 immediate base of the Alps on this side and been responded 
 to by similar extensions of the French and Rhine-valley 
 
SARDINIA — -ITALY FREEDOM. 181 
 
 Railroads on the other, Genoa will supplant Marseilles 
 while continuing preferable to Trieste as the point of 
 embarkation for Cairo and Suez on the direct route from 
 England and Paris for India, China and Southern Asia 
 generally, and can only be superseded in that preeminence 
 by a railroad running hence or from Lake Maggiore and 
 Milan direct to Naples or Salerno — a work of whose con- 
 struction through so many petty and benighted principali- 
 ties there is no present probability. 
 
 Still, Sardinia has very much before her unaccomplish- 
 ed. She needs first of all things an efficient and compre- 
 hensive system of Popular Education. With the enormous 
 superabundance of Sixty Thousand Priests and other Ec- 
 clesiastics to a generally poor population of Four Millions, 
 she has not to-day five thousand teachers, good, bad and 
 indifferent, of elementary and secular knowledge. These 
 black-coated gentry fairly overshadow the land with their 
 shovel hats, so that Corn has no fair chance of sunshine. 
 The Churches of this City alone must have cost Ten 
 Millions of Dollars — for you cannot walk a hundred steps 
 without passing one ; and the wealth lavished in their con- 
 struction and adornment exceeds all belief — while all the 
 common school-houses in Genoa would not bring fifty 
 thousand dollars. The best minds of the country are now 
 pondering the urgent necessity of speedily establishing 
 a system of efficient Popular Education. 
 
 But the Nation is deeply in debt, and laboring under 
 heavy burdens. Its Industry is inefficient, its Commerce 
 meager, its Revenues slender, while the imminent peril of 
 Austrian invasion compels the keeping up of an Army of 
 Fifty Thousand effective men ready to take the field at a 
 moment's warming. But for the notorious and active 
 hostility of three-fourths of Continental Europe to the 
 liberal policy of its rulers, Sardinia might dispense with 
 three-fourths of this force and save its heavy cost for 
 Education and Internal Improvement. As things are, 
 
 9 
 
182 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 women must toil in the fields while Physical and Mental 
 Improvement must wait in order that the Nation may 
 sustain in virtual idleness Fifty Thousand Soldiers and 
 Sixty Thousand Priests. 
 
 Yet mighty are the blessings of Freedom, even under 
 the greatest disadvantages. Turin is now increasing in 
 Industry and Population with a rapidity unknown to its 
 former history. Looking only at the new buildings just 
 erected or now in progress, you might mistake it for an 
 American city. Unless checked by future wars, Turin 
 will double its population between 1850 and 1860. Genoa 
 has but recently and partially felt the new impulse, yet 
 even here the march of improvement is visible. Three 
 years more of peace will witness .the substitution for its 
 long period of stagnation and decay of an activity surpass- 
 ed by that of no city in Europe. 
 
 Turin is eligibly located and well built, most of the 
 houses being large, tall, and the walls of decided strength 
 and thickness ; but Genoa is even superior in most respects 
 if not in all. I never saw so many churches so admirably 
 constructed and so gorgeously, laboriously ornamented as 
 the half dozen I visited yesterday and this morning. My 
 guide says there are sixty churches in Genoa (a city about 
 the size of Boston, though with fewer houses and a much 
 smaller area than Brooklyn), and that they are nearly all 
 built and adorned with similar if not equal disregard of 
 cost. A modest, graceful monument to Christopher Co- 
 lumbus, the Genoese discoverer of America, was one of 
 the first structures that met my eye on entering the city, 
 and an eating-house in the square of the chief theater is 
 styled " Cafe Restaurant a I'lmmortel Chr. Columbo," or 
 something very near that. I never before saw so many 
 admirable specimens of costly and graceful architecture as 
 have arrested my attention in wandering through the 
 streets of Genoa. At least half the houses were construct- 
 ed for the private residences of '•' merchant princes " in 
 
SARDINIA ITALY FREEDOM. 183 
 
 the palaiy days of " Genoa the Superb," and their wealth 
 would seem to have been practically boundless. The 
 *' Hotel de Londres," in which I write, was originally a 
 convent, and no house in New- York can vie with it in the 
 massiveness of its walls, the hight of its ceilings, &c. My 
 bed-room, appropriately furnished, would shame almost 
 any American parlor or drawing-room. All around me 
 testifies of the greatness that has been ; who shall say that 
 it is not soon to return ? The narrow streets (very few 
 of them passable by carriages) and uneven ground-plot are 
 the chief drawbacks on this magnificence ; but the city 
 rises so regularly and gracefully from the harbor as to seem 
 like a glorious amphitheater, and the inequality, so weari- 
 some to the legs, is a beauty and a pleasure to the eye. It 
 gives, besides, opportunity for the finest Architectural 
 triumphs. The Carignani Church is approached by a 
 massive bridge thrown across a ravine, from which you 
 look down on the tops of seven-story houses, and I walked 
 this morning in a public garden which looks down into a 
 private one some sixty feet below it. The perpendicular 
 stone wall which separates these gardens is at least five 
 feet thick at the top, and must have cost an immense sum ; 
 but in fact the whole city has been three times completely 
 walled in, and the latest and most extensive of these walls 
 is still in good condition, and was successfully defended by 
 Massena in the siege of 1800, until Famine compelled him 
 to surrender. May that stand recorded to the end of 
 human history as the last siege of Genoa ! 
 
XXII. 
 
 [This letter, written and mailed at Leghorn on the 24th, 
 has never come to hand, having been entrusted to the 
 tender mercies of the French mail which was to leave 
 Leghorn next day by steamer for Marseilles, and thence 
 be taken, via Paris, to Havre, and by steamship to this 
 city. The wretched old apology for a steamship whereon 
 I had reached Leghorn (80 miles) in eighteen hours from 
 Genoa may not yet have completed her return passage 
 between those ports, though I think she has ; but whether 
 her officers know enough to receive and deliver a Mail- 
 bag is exceedingly doubtful. If they did, I see not how 
 my letter can have been stopped this side of Marseilles, I 
 remember that it did particular justice to French Govern- 
 ment steamships in the Mediterranean and to American 
 Consuls in Italy, showing how our traveling countrymen are 
 crucified between the worthlessness of the former and the 
 rapacity of the latter. Our Consuls may well rejoice that 
 said Letter XXII. comes up missing, and perhaps the 
 Tuscan Police has cause to join in their exultation. 
 
 This letter also gave some account of Leghorn, a well- 
 built modern city, the only port of Tuscany, situated on a 
 flat or marsh scarcely raised above the surface of the 
 Mediterranean, and containing some 80,000 inhabitants. 
 It has few or no antiquities, and not much to attract a 
 traveler's attention. 
 
 Some thirty miles inland in a north-easterly direction, is 
 Pisa, once a very wealthy and powerful emporium of 
 commerce, now a decaying inland town of no political 
 
PISA THE LEANING TOWER. 185 
 
 importance, with perhaps 30,000 inhabitants. It lies on 
 both sides of the Arno, several miles from the sea, and I 
 presume the river-bed has been considerably filled or 
 choked up by sediment and rains since the days of Pisa's 
 glory and power. Her wonderful Leaning Tower is 
 worthy of all the fame it has acquired. It is a beautiful 
 structure, though owing its dignity, doubtless, to some 
 defect in its foundation or construction. The Cathedral 
 of Pisa is a beautiful edifice, most gorgeous in its adorn- 
 ments, and with by far the finest galleries I ever saw. 
 Near these two structures is an extensive burial-place full 
 of sculptures and inscriptions in memory of the dead, some 
 of them 2500 years old, and thence reaching down to the 
 present day. Had I not extended my trip to Rome, I 
 should have brought home far more vivid and lasting 
 impressions of Pisa, which has nevertheless, an abiding 
 niche in my memory. 
 
 The day before my visit was the anniversary of the 
 Patron Saint of Pisa, which is celebrated every fourth 
 year with extraordinary pomp and festivity. This time, I 
 was informed, the fire-works exploded at the public charge, 
 in honor of this festival, cost over $100,000, though Pisa 
 cannot afford to sustain Free Common Schools, or make 
 any provision for the Education of her Children. Of 
 course, she can afford to die, or is certain to do it, whether 
 she can afford it or not. Pisa is located on a beautiful 
 and fertile plain, and is surrounded by gardens, with fruit 
 and ornamental trees ; but much of the soil between it and 
 Leghorn is the property of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, 
 who keeps it entirely in grass, affording subsistence to 
 extensive and beautiful herds of Cattle, whence he derives 
 a large income, being the chief milk-seller in his own 
 dominions. So, at least, I was informed.] 
 
XXIII, 
 FIRST DAY IN THE PAPAL STATES. 
 
 Rome, Thursday, June 26, 1851. 
 
 I LEFT Leghorn night before last in the French steamer 
 Languedoc, which could not obtain passengers in America, 
 but is accounted one of the best boats on the Mediterranean. 
 The fare to Civita Vecchia (125 miles) was 40 francs, but 
 4 added for dinner (without saying " By your leave") made 
 it $S 25. There were perhaps twenty-five passengers, main- 
 ly for Naples, but eight or ten for Civita Vecchia and Rome, 
 although it is everywhere said that " Nobody goes to Rome 
 at this season," meaning nobody that is anybody — none 
 who can afford to go when they would choose. The night 
 was fair ; the sea calm ; we left Leghorn at 6 (nominally 5) 
 and reached Civita Vecchia about 5 next morning ; but 
 were kept on board waiting the pleasure of the Police 
 until about 7, when we were graciously permitted to land, 
 our Passports having been previously sent on shore for 
 inspection. No steamboat in these waters is allowed to 
 come alongside of the wharf; so we paid a franc each for 
 being rowed ashore ; then as much more to the porters 
 who carried our baggage on their backs to the custom- 
 house, where a weary hour was spent in overhauling and 
 sealing it, so that it need not be overhauled again on enter- 
 ing the gate of Rome. For this service a trifle only was 
 exacted from each. Meantime a "commissionaire" had 
 gone after our Passports, for which we paid first the charge 
 of the Papal Police, which I think was about three francs ; 
 
FIRST DAY IN THE PAPAL STATES. 187 
 
 then for the vise of our several Consuls, we Americans a 
 dollar each, which (though but half what is charged by our 
 Consuls at other Italian ports) is more than is charged by 
 those of any other nation. Then came the charge of our 
 " commissionaire" for his services. We took breakfast ; 
 but that, though a severe, was not a protracted infliction ; 
 hired places in the Diligence (13 francs in the coupe, 10 in 
 the body of the stage), and at half-past 10 were to have 
 been on our way to Rome. But the start was rather late, 
 and on reaching the gates of that wretched village, which 
 seems to subsist mainly on such petty swindles as I have 
 hastily described, our Passports, which had been thrice 
 scrutinized that morning within sixty rods, had to run the 
 gauntlet again. I do not remember paying for this, but 
 while detained by it the ostlers from the stables of our 
 Dihgence were all upon us, clamoring for money. I think 
 they got little. But we changed horses thrice on the way 
 to Rome, and each postillion was down upon us for money, 
 and out of all patience with those passengers who attempted 
 to put him ofl* with copper. 
 
 Aside from those engaged in fleecing us as aforesaid, I 
 saw but three sorts of men in Civita Vecchia — or rather, 
 men pursuing three several avocations — those of Priests, 
 Soldiers and Beggars. Some united two of these callings. 
 A number of brown, bare-headed, wretched-looking women 
 were washing clothes in the hot sun of the sea-side, but I 
 saw no trace of masculine industry other than what I have 
 described. The place is said to contain 7,000 inhabitants, 
 but I think there is scarcely a garden outside its walls. 
 
 Half the way thence to Rome, the road runs along the 
 shore of the Mediterranean, through a naturally fertile and 
 beautiful champaign country, once densely peopled and 
 covered with elegant structures, the homes of intelligence, 
 refinement and luxury. Now there is not a garden, 
 scarcely a tree, and not above ten barns and thirty human 
 habitations in sight throughout the whole twenty-five miles. 
 
188 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 3uch utter desolation and waste, in a region so eligibly 
 situated, can with difficulty be realized without seeing it. 
 I should say it can hardly here be unhealthy, with the pure 
 Mediterranean directly on one side, the rugged hills but 
 two to five miles distant on the other, and the plain between 
 very much less marshy than the corresponding district of 
 New-Jersey stretching along the coast from New- York to 
 Perth Amboy. A few large herds of neat cattle are fed 
 on these plains, considerable grass is cut, and some sum- 
 mer grain ; but stables for post-horses at intervals of five 
 or six miles, with perhaps as many dilapidated stone dwell- 
 ings and a few wretched herdsmen's huts of straw or 
 rubbish, are all the structures in sight, save the bridges of 
 the noble "Via Aurelia" which we traversed, the ruins 
 of some of the stately edifices once so abundant here, and 
 the mile-stones. There is not even one tavern of the half 
 dozen pretenders to the name between Civita Vecchia and 
 Rome which would be considered tolerable in the least 
 civilized portion of Arkansas or Texas. 
 
 Half way to Rome, the road strikes off from the sea, 
 and there is henceforth more cultivation, more grain, better 
 crops (though all this land produces excellently both of 
 Wheat and Barley, and of Indian Corn also where the 
 cultivation is not utterly suicidal), but still there are very 
 few houses and those generally poor, the wretchedest cari- 
 catures of taverns on one of the great highways of the 
 world, no gardens nor other evidences of aspiration for 
 comfort and natural beauty, few and ragged trees, and 
 the very few inhabitants are so squalid, so abject, so 
 beggarly, that it seems a pity they were not fewer. And 
 this state continues, except that the grain-crops grow 
 larger and better, up to within a mile or two of the gates 
 of Rome, which thus seems another Palmyra in the Desert, 
 ouly that this is a desert of man's making. I presume the 
 twenty-five or thirty miles at this end is unhealthy, even 
 for natives, but it surely need not be so. All this Campagna, 
 
FIRST DAY IN THE PAPAL STATES. 189 
 
 with the more pestilent Pontine Marshes on the south, 
 which are now scourging Rome with their deadly malaria 
 and threaten to render it ultimately uninhabitable, were 
 once salubrious and delightful, and might readily be made 
 so again. If they were in England, Old or New, near a 
 city of the size of this, they would be trenched, dyked, 
 drained, and reconverted into gardens, orchards and model- 
 farms within two years, and covered with dwellings, man- 
 sions, country-seats, and a busy, energetic, thrifty popula- 
 tion before 1860. A tenth part of the energy and devotedness 
 displayed in the attempts to wrest Jerusalem from the 
 Infidels would rescue Rome from a fate not less appalling. 
 We ought by contract to have arrived here at half past 
 six last evening ; we actually reached the gates at half 
 past eight or a little later. There our Passports were 
 taken from us, and carried into the proper office ; but 
 word came back that all was not right ; we must go in 
 personally. We did so, and found that what was wanted 
 to make all right was money. There was not the smallest 
 pretext for this — no Barbary pirate ever had less — as we 
 were not to get our Passports, but must wait their approval 
 by a higher authority and then go and pay for it. We 
 submitted to the swindle, however, for we were tired, the 
 hour late, we had lodgings yet to seek, and the night-air 
 here is said to be very unwholesome for strangers. This 
 difficulty obviated, another presented itself. The Custom- 
 House stood on the other side of the street, and word 
 came that we were wanted there also, though our slender 
 carpet-bags had been regularly searched and sealed by the 
 Roman functionaries at Civita Vecchia expressly to obvi- 
 ate any pretext for scrutiny or delay here. No use — 
 money. By this time, change and patience were getting 
 scarce in our company. We tried to get off cheap ; but 
 it wouldn't do. Finally, rather than stay out till midnight 
 in the malaria, I put down a five-franc-piece, which was 
 accepted and we were let go. Still for form's sake, our 
 
 9* 
 
190 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 baggage was fumbled over, but not opened, and one or 
 two more heads looked in at the window for '' qualche 
 cosa," but we gave nothing, and soon got away. 
 
 We had paid thirteen francs each for a ride of fifty miles 
 over a capital road, where horses and feed are abundant, 
 and must be cheap ; but now our postillion came down 
 upon us for more money for taking us to a hotel ; and as 
 we could do no better, we agreed to give him four francs 
 to set down four of us (all the Americans and English he 
 had) at one hotel. He drove by the Diligence Office, how- 
 ever, and there three or four rough customers jumped 
 unbidden on the vehicle, and, when we reached our hotel, 
 made themselves busy with our little luggage, which we 
 would have thanked them to let alone. Having obtained 
 it, we settled with the postillion, who grumbled and scolded 
 though we paid him more than his four francs. Then 
 came the leader of our volunteer aids, to be paid for taking 
 down, the luggage. I had not a penny of change left, but 
 others of our company scraped their pockets of a handful 
 of coppers, which the "facchini" rejected with scorn, 
 throwing them after us up stairs (I hope they did not pick 
 them up afterwards), and I heard their imprecations until 
 I had reached my room, but a blessed ignorance of Italian 
 shielded me from any insult in the premises. Soon my 
 two light carpet-bags, which I was not allowed to carry, 
 came up with a fresh demand for porterage. " Don't you 
 belong to the hotel ?" " Yes." " Then vanish instantly !'* 
 I shut the door in his face, and let him growl to his heart's 
 content ; and thus closed my first day in the more especial 
 dominions of His Holiness Pius IX. 
 
XXIV. 
 THE ETERNAL CITY. 
 
 Rome, P'riday, June 27, 1851. 
 
 Rome is mighty even in her desolation. I knew the 
 world had nothing like her, and yet the impression she has 
 made on me, at the first view, is unexpectedly great. I 
 do not yet feel able to go wandering from one church, mu- 
 seum, picture or sculpture gallery to another, from morn- 
 ing till night, as others do : I need to pause and think. Of 
 course, I shall leave without seeing even a tenth part of 
 the objects of decided interest; but if I should thus be 
 enabled to carry away any clear and abiding impression 
 of a small part, I shall prefer this to a confused and foggy 
 perception of a greater multiplicity of details. 
 
 That single view of the Eternal City, from the tower 
 of the Capitol, is one that I almost wish I had given up the 
 first day to. The entire of Rome and its inhabited 
 suburbs lies so fully and fairly before the eye, with the 
 Seven Hills, the Coliseum, the Pantheon, the Obelisks, the 
 Pillars, the Vatican, the Castle of St. Angelo, the various 
 Triumphal Arches, the Churches, &c., &c., around you, 
 that it seems the best use that could be made of one day 
 to simply move from look-out to look-out in that old tower, 
 using the glass for a few moments and then pausing for 
 reflection. I have half a mind thus to spend one of my 
 three remaining days. True, the Coliseum will seem 
 vaster close at hand, but from no point can it be seen so 
 completely and clearly, in its immensity and its dilapida- 
 
192 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 tion combined, as from that. The Tarpeian Rock seems 
 an absurd fable — its fatal leap the daily sport of infants — 
 but in all ancient cities the same glaring discrepancy 
 between ancient and modern altitudes is presented, and 
 especially, we hear, at Jerusalem. The Seven Hills 
 whereon Rome was built are all distinguishable, visible to- 
 day ; but they are undoubtedly much lower than at first, 
 while all the intervening valleys have been filling up 
 through centuries. Monkish traditions say that what is 
 now the basement of the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul 
 (not the modern St. Peter's) was originally on the level 
 of the street, and this is quite probable : though I did not 
 so readily lubricate the stories I was told in that basement 
 to-day of St. Peter, Paul and Luke having tenanted this 
 basement, Paul having lived and preached here for the 
 first two years of his residence in Rome ; and when they 
 showed me the altar at which St. Paul was wont to mi- 
 nister, I stopped short and didn't try to believe any more. 
 But this soil is thickly sown with marvels and very 
 productive. 
 
 St. Peter's, or at least its Dome, was in sight through 
 the greater part of the last eleven or twelve miles of our 
 journey to the city ; from most other directions it is 
 doubtless visible at a much greater distance. I have of 
 course seen the immense structure afar off, as well as 
 glanced at it in passing by night ; but I am not yet prepar- 
 ed to comprehend its vast proportions. I mean to visit it 
 last before leaving Rome, so as to carry away as uncloud- 
 ed an impression of it as possible. 
 
 Of the three hundred and sixty-five Churches of Rome, 
 I have as yet visited but four, and may find time to see as 
 many more of the most noteworthy. They seem richer 
 in Sculpture, Porphyry, Mosaic, Carving, Tapestry, &c., 
 than anything elsewhere well can be ; but not equal 
 in Architecture to the finest Churches in Genoa, the 
 Cathedral at Pisa, and I thiak not externally to Notre 
 
THE ETERNAL CITY. 193 
 
 Dame at Paris. Indeed, though large portions of the 
 present Rome are very far from ruinous, and some of them 
 quite modern and fresh-looking, yet the general Architec- 
 ture of the city is decidedly inferior to that of Genoa, and 
 I should say even to that of Leghorn. In making this 
 comparison, I of course leave out of the account St. 
 Peter's and the Churches of both cities, and refer mainlv 
 to private architecture, in which Rome is not transcendent 
 — certainly not in Italy. The streets here are rather wide 
 for an Italian city, but would be deemed intolerably narrow 
 in America. 
 
 As to Sculpture and Painting, I am tempted to say that 
 if mankind were compelled to choose between the destruc- 
 tion of what is in Rome or that of all the rest in the 
 world, the former should be saved at the expense of the 
 latter. Adequate conception of the extent, the variety, 
 the excellence of the works of Art here heaped together 
 is impossible. If every house on Broadway were a gallery, 
 the whole six miles of them (counting both sides of the 
 street) might be filled from Rome with Pictures, Statues, 
 &c. of decided merit. 
 
 What little I have seen does not impress me with the 
 superiority of Ancient over Modern Art. Of course, if 
 you compare the dozen best things produced in twenty 
 centuries against a like number chosen from the produc- 
 tions of the last single century, you will show a superiority 
 on the part of the former ; but that decides nothing. The 
 Capitoline Venus is a paragon, but there is no collection 
 of ancient sculpture which will compare with the extensive 
 gallery of heads by Canova alone. When benignant Time 
 shall have done his appointed work of covering with the 
 pall of oblivion the worse nineteen twentieths of the pro- 
 ductions of the modern chisel, the genuine successes of the 
 Nineteenth Century will shine out clearer and brighter 
 than they now do. So, I trust, with Painting, though I do 
 not know what painter of our age to place on a perilous 
 
194 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 eminence with Canova as the champion or representative 
 of Modern as compared with Ancient Art. 
 
 It is well that there should be somewhere an Emporium 
 of the Fine Arts, yet not well that the heart should absorb 
 all the blood and leave the Hmbs destitute. I think Rome 
 has been grasping with regard to works of Art, and in 
 some instances unwisely so. For instance, in a single 
 private gallery I visited to-day, there were not less than 
 twenty decidedly good pictures by Anibal Caracci — pro- 
 bably twice as many as there are in all the world out of 
 Italy. That gallery would scarcely miss half of these, 
 which might be fully replaced by as many modern works 
 of equal merit, whereby the gallery and Rome would lose 
 nothing, while the world outside would decidedly gain. It 
 Rome would but consider herself under a sort of moral 
 responsibility to impart as well as receive, and would 
 liberally dispose of so many of her master-pieces as would 
 not at all impoverish her, buying in return such as could 
 be spared her from abroad, and would thus enrich her col- 
 lections by diversifying them, she would render the cause 
 of Art a signal service and earn the gratitude of mankind, 
 without the least prejudice to her own permanent well- 
 being. It is in her power to constitute herself the center 
 of an International Art-Union really worthy of the name 
 — to establish a World's Exhibition of Fine Arts unequal- 
 ed in character and beneficence. Is it too much to hope 
 that. she will realize or surpass this conception ? 
 
 These suggestions, impelled by what I have seen to-day, 
 are at all events much shorter than I could have made 
 any detailed account of my observations. I have no 
 qualifications for a critic in Art, and make no pretensions 
 to the character, even had my observations been less 
 hurried than they necessarily were. I write only for the 
 great multitude, as ill-instructed in this sphere as I cheer- 
 fully admit myself, and who yet are not unwilling to learn 
 what impression is made by the treasures of Rome on one 
 like themselves. 
 
THE COLISEUM. 195 
 
 THE COLISEUM. 
 
 Evening. 
 
 I spent the forenoon wandering through the endless halls 
 of the Vatican, so far as they were accessible to the public, 
 the more important galleries being only open on Monday, 
 and two or three of the very finest not at all. I fear this 
 restriction will deprive me of a sight of the Apollo Belvi- 
 dere, the Sistine Chapel, and one or two others of the 
 world's marvels. I know how ungracious it is to '-'look a 
 gift horse in the mouth," and yet, since these works exist 
 mainly to be seen, and as Rome derives so large a share 
 of her income from the strangers whom these works attract 
 to her, I must think it unwise to send any away regretting 
 that they were denied a sight of the Apollo or of some of 
 Raphael's master-pieces contained in the Vatican. I know 
 at what vast expense these works have been produced or 
 purchased, and, though all who visit Rome are made to 
 pay a great deal indirectly for the privileges they enjoy 
 here, yet I wish the Papal Government would frankly 
 exact, as I for one should most cheerfully pay, a fair price 
 for admission to the most admirable and unrivaled collec- 
 tions which are its property. W, for instance, it would 
 abolish all Passport vexations, encourage the opening of 
 Railroads, and stimulate the establishment of better lines 
 of Diligences, &c., so that traveling in the Papal States 
 would cease to be twice as dear and infinitely slower 
 than elsewhere in Italy, in France or Germany, and would 
 then charge each stranger visiting Rome on errands other 
 than religious something like five dollars for all that is to 
 be seen here, taking care to let him see it, and to cut off 
 all private importunities for services rendered in showing 
 them, the system would be a great improvement on the 
 present, and the number of strangers in Rome would be 
 rapidly doubled and quadrupled. There might be some 
 
196 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 calumny and misrepresentation, but these would very soon 
 be dispelled, and the world would understand that the 
 Papacy did not seek to make money out of its priceless 
 treasures, but simply to provide equitably and properly for 
 their preservation and due increase. Here, as we all see, 
 have immense sums been already spent by this Govern- 
 ment in excavating, preserving, and in some cases partially 
 restoring such decayed but inimitable structures as the 
 Coliseum, the Capitol, the various Triumphal Arches, the 
 Baths of Titus, Caracalla, &c., all of which labors and 
 expenditures we who visit Rome share the benefit, and it 
 is but the simplest justice that we should contribute to 
 defray the cost, especially when we know that every 
 dollar so paid would be expended in continuing these 
 excavations, &c., and in completing the galleries and 
 other modern structures which are already so peerless. 
 Rome is too commonly regarded as only a ruin, or, more 
 strictly, as deriving all its eminence from the Past, while 
 in fact it has more inestimable treasures, the product of 
 our own century, our own day, than any other city, and I 
 suspect nearly as many as all the rest of the world. Even 
 the Vatican is still unfinished ; workmen were busy in it 
 to-day, laying additional floors of variegated marble, 
 putting up new book-cases, &c., none of them restorations, 
 but all extensions of the Library, which, apart from the 
 value of its books and manuscripts, is a unique and masterly 
 exposition of ancient and modern Art. Here are single 
 Vases, Tables, Frescoes, &c., which would be the pride 
 of any other city : one large vase of Malachite, a present 
 to Pius IX. from the Russian Autocrat, and unequaled out 
 of Russia, if in the world. I should judge that three-fourths 
 of the Frescoes which nearly cover the walls and ceiling 
 of the fifteen or twenty large halls devoted to the Library 
 are less than two centuries old. This part of the Vatican 
 is approached through a magnificent corridor, probably 
 five hundred feet long, with an arched ceiling entirely 
 
THE COLISEUM. 197 
 
 inlaid with beautiful Mosaic, and the same is continued 
 through another gallery some two hundred feet long, 
 which leads at right angles from this to another wing of 
 the edifice ; but the corridor leading down this wing, and 
 facing that first named, has a naked, barren-looking ceiling, 
 evidently waiting to be similarly inlaid when time and 
 means shall permit. This is but a specimen of what is 
 purposed throughout ; and if the money which visitors 
 leave in Rome could, in some small part at least, be 
 devoted to these works, instead of being frittered away 
 vexatiously and uselessly on petty extortioners, official and 
 unofficial, the change would be a very great improvement. 
 It does seem a shame that, where so much is necessarily 
 expended, so little of it should be devoted to those still 
 progressing works, from which are derived all this instruc- 
 tion and intellectual enjoyment. 
 
 Here let me say one word in justice to the princely 
 families of Rome, whose palaces and immense collections 
 of Paintings and Sculptures are almost daily open to 
 strangers without charge, save the trifle that you choose 
 to give the attendant who shows you through them. I 
 looked for hours to-day through the ten spacious apart- 
 ments of the Palace of the Orsini family devoted to the 
 Fine Arts, as I had already done through that of the Doria 
 family, and shall to-morrow do through others, and doubt- 
 less might do through hundreds of others — all hospitably 
 open to every stranger on the simple condition that he 
 shall deport himself civilly and refrain from doing any 
 injury to the priceless treasures which are thus made his 
 own without the trouble even of taking care of them. I 
 know there are instances of like liberality elsewhere ; but 
 is it anywhere else the rule ? and is it in our country even 
 the exception ? What American ever thought of spending 
 half an immense fortune in the collection of magnificent 
 galleries of Pictures, Statues, &c., and then quietly opening 
 the whole to the public without expecting a word of com- 
 
198 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 pliment or acknowledgment in return? — without being 
 even personally known to those whom he thus bene- 
 fited ? We have something to learn of Rome in this 
 respect. Some of the English nobihty whom the Press 
 has shamed into following this munificent example have 
 done it so grudgingly as to deprive the concession of all 
 practical value. By requiring all who wish to visit their 
 galleries to make a formal written application for the 
 privilege, and await a written answer, they virtually restrict 
 the favor to persons of leisure, position and education. 
 But in Rome not even a card nor a name is required ; and 
 you walk into a strange private palace as if you belonged 
 there, lay down your stick or umbrella, and are shown 
 from hall to hall by an intelligent, courteous attendant, 
 study at will some of the best productions of Claude, 
 Raphael, Salvator Rosa, Poussin, Murillo, &c., pay two 
 shillings if you see fit, to the attendant, and are thanked 
 for it as if you were a patron ; going thence to another 
 such collection, and so for weeks, if you have time. If 
 wealth were always thus employed, it were a pity that 
 great fortunes are not more numerous. 
 
 But I purpose to speak of the Coliseum. I will assume 
 that most of my readers know that this was an immense 
 amphitheater, constructed in the days of Rome's imperial 
 greatness, used for gladiatorial combats of men with fero- 
 cious beasts and with each other, and calculated to afford 
 a view of the spectacle to about one hundred thousand 
 persons at once. The circuit of the building is over six- 
 teen hundred feet ; the arena in its center is about three 
 hundred and eighty by two hundred and eighty feet. 
 Most of the walls have fallen for perhaps half their height, 
 though some part of them still retain very nearly their 
 original altitude. In the darker ages, after this vast edi- 
 fice had fallen into ruin, its materials were carried away 
 by thousands and tens of thousands of tuns to build palaces 
 and churches, and one side of the exterior wall was actually 
 
THE COLISEUM. 199 
 
 for ages drawn upon as if it were a quarry. But in later 
 years the Papal Government has disbursed thousands upon 
 thousands in the uncovering and preservation of this stu- 
 pendous ruin, and with the amplest success. The fall of 
 its roof and a great portion of its walls had filled and buried 
 it with rubbish to a depth of some twenty to forty feet, all 
 of which has been taken away, so that the floor of the 
 interior is now the veritable sand whereon the combatants 
 fought and bled and rendered up their lives, while the forty 
 or fifty entrances for emperors, senators and people, and 
 even the underground passage for the introduction of the 
 wild beasts, with a part of their cages, are now palpable. 
 In some places, restorations have been made where they 
 were necessary to avert the danger of further dilapidation, 
 but as sparingly as possible ; and, though others think 
 differently, the Coliseum seems to me as majestic and 
 impressive in its utter desolation as it ever could have 
 been in its grandeur and glory. 
 
 We were fortunate in the hour of our visit. As we 
 slowly made the circuit of the edifice, a body of French 
 cavalry were exercising their horses along the eastern side 
 of it, while at a little distance, in the grove or garden at 
 the south, the quick rattle of the drum told of the evolu- 
 tions of infantry. At length the horsemen rode slowly 
 away to the southward, and our attention was drawn to 
 certain groups of Italians in the interior, who were slowly 
 marching and chanting. We entered, and were witnesses 
 of a strange, impressive ceremony. It is among the tradi- 
 tions of Rome that a great number of the early Christians 
 were compelled by their heathen persecutors to fight and 
 die here as gladiators as a punishment for their contuma- 
 cious, treasonable resistance to the " lower law " then in the 
 ascendant, which the high priests and circuit judges of 
 that day were wont in their sermons and charges to 
 demonstrate that every one was bound as a law-abiding 
 citizen to obey, no matter what might be his private, per- 
 
200 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 sonal convictions with regard to it. Since the Coliseum 
 has been cleared of rubbish, fourteen little oratories or 
 places of prayer have been cheaply constructed around its 
 inner circumference, and here at certain seasons prayers 
 are offered for the eternal bliss of the martyred Christians 
 of the Coliseum. These prayers were being offered on this 
 occasion. Some twenty or thirty men (priests or monks I 
 inferred), partly bareheaded, but as many with their heads 
 completely covered by hooded cloaks which left only two 
 small holes for the eyes, accompanied by a larger number 
 of women, marched slowly and sadly to one oratory, 
 chanting a prayer by the way, setting up their lighted 
 tapers by its semblance of an altar, kneeling and praying 
 for some minutes, then rising and proceeding to the next 
 oratory, and so on until they had repeated the service 
 before every one. They all seemed to be of the poorer 
 class, and I presume the ceremony is often repeated or the 
 participators would have been much more numerous. 
 The praying was fervent and I trust excellent, — as the 
 music decidedly was not; but the whole scene with the 
 setting sun shining redly through the shattered arches and 
 upon the ruined wall, with a few French soldiers standing 
 heedlessly by, was strangely picturesque and to me affect- 
 ing. I came away before it concluded, to avoid the damp 
 night-air ; but many chequered years and scenes of stirring 
 interest must intervene to efface from my memory that 
 sunset and those strange prayers in the Coliseum. 
 
XXV. 
 ST. PETER'S. 
 
 Rome, Saturday, Juno 29, 1851. 
 
 St. Peter's is the Niagara of edifices, having the same 
 relation to other master-pieces of human effort that the 
 great cataract bears to other terrestrial effects of Divine 
 power. In either case, the first view disappoints, because 
 the perfection of symmetry dims the consciousness of 
 magnitude, and the total absence of exaggeration in the 
 details forbids the conception of vastness in the aggregate. 
 In viewing London's St. Paul's, you have a realization of 
 bulk which St. Peter's does not give, yet St. Paul's is but 
 a wart beside St. Peter's. I do not know that the resem- 
 blance has been noticed by others, but the semi-circle of 
 gigantic yet admirably proportioned pillars which encloses 
 the grand square in front of St. Peter's reminds me vividly 
 of the general conformation of our great water-fall, while 
 the column or obehsk in the center of the square (which 
 column is a mistake, in my humble judgment, and should 
 be removed) has its parallel in the unsightly tower over- 
 looking the main cataract from the extreme point of 
 Goat Island. Eternal endurance and repose may be fitly 
 typified by the oceans and snow-crested mountains, but 
 power and energy find their best expressions in the cata- 
 ract and the dome. Time and Genius may produce other 
 structures as admirable in their own way and regarded in 
 connection with their uses ; but, viewed as a temple, 
 St. Peter's will ever stand unmatched and unapproachable. 
 
202 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 I chose the early morning for my first visit. The sky 
 was cloudless, as it mainly is here save in winter, but the 
 day was not yet warm, for the summer nights are cooler 
 here than in New-York, and the current English talk of 
 the excessive heat which prevails in Rome at this season 
 is calculated to deceive Americans. No one fails to realize 
 from the first the great beauty and admirable accessories 
 of this edifice, with the far-stretching but quite other than 
 lofty pile of the Vatican on its right and its own magnifi- 
 cent colonnade in front, but you do not feel that it is lofty, 
 nor spacious, nor anything but perfect. You ascend the 
 steps, and thus gain some idea of the immense proportions 
 prevailing throughout ; for the church seems scarcely at 
 all elevated above the square, and yet many are the steps 
 leading up to the doors. Crossing a grand porch w^ith an 
 arched roof of glorious mosaic, you find yourself in the 
 body of the edifice, which now seems large and lofty indeed, 
 but by no means unparalleled. But you walk on and on, 
 between opposing pillars the grandest the world ever saw, 
 the space at either side between any two pillars constitut- 
 ing a separate chapel with its gorgeous altar, its grand 
 pictures in mosaic, its sculptured saints and angels, each 
 of these chapels having a larger area than any church I 
 ever entered in America ; and by the time you have walked 
 slowly and observingly to the front of the main altar you 
 realize profoundly that Earth has nothing else to match 
 with St. Peter's. No matter though another church were 
 twice as large, and erected at a cost of twice the Thirty 
 Millions of dollars and fifty years expended upon this, 
 St. Peter's would still stand unrivaled. For every detail 
 is so marvellously symmetrical that no one is dwarfed, no 
 one challenges special attention. Of one hundred distinct 
 parts, any one by itself would command your profoundest 
 admiration, but everything around and beyond it is no less 
 excellent, and you soon cease to wonder and remain to 
 appreciate and enjoy. 
 
ST. Peter's. 203 
 
 I devoted most of the day to St. Peter's, seeing it under 
 many different aspects, but no other view of the interior 
 is equal to that presented in the stillness and comparative 
 solitude of the early morning. The presence of multitudes 
 does not cloud your consciousness of its immensity, for ten 
 thousand persons occupy no considerable portion of its 
 area and might very easily be present yet wholly invisible 
 to one who stood just inside the entrance and looked 
 searchingly through the body of the edifice to find them ; 
 but there are usually very few seats, and those for the 
 privileged, so that hundreds are constantly moving from 
 place to place through the day, which distracts attention 
 and mars the feeling of repose and delighted awe which 
 the naked structure is calculated to inspire. Go very early 
 some bright summer morning, if you would see St. Peter's 
 in its calm and stately grandeur. 
 
 I ascended to the roof, and thence to the summit of the 
 dome, but, apart from a profounder consciousness of the 
 vastness and admirable proportions of the edifice, this is 
 of little worth.* True, the entire city and its suburbs lie 
 clearly and fully beneath and around you ; but so they do 
 from the tower of the Capitol. Views from commanding 
 heights are obtained in almost every city. The ascent, 
 however, as far as the roof, is easier than any other I ever 
 found within a building. Instead of stairs, here is a circu- 
 lar road, more like the ascent of a mountain than a Church. 
 One single view is obtained, however, which richly com- 
 pensates for the fatigue of the ascent. It is that from the 
 interior of the dome down into the body of the Church 
 below. The Alps may present grander, but I never expect 
 to have another like this. 
 
 Here I had personal evidence of the mean, reckless 
 selfishness wherewith public edifices are regarded by too 
 many, and the absolute necessity of constant, omnipresent 
 watchfulness to preserve them from wanton dilapidation. 
 Five or six French soldiers had been permitted to ascend 
 
204 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 the dome just before I did, and came down nearly at the 
 same time with me. As I stood gazing down from this 
 point into the church below, two of these soldiers came in 
 on their way down, and one of them, looking around to see 
 that no one was present but a stranger, whipped the 
 bayonet he wore out of its sheath, forced the point into 
 the mosaic close behind as well as above us, pried out one 
 of the square pieces of agate or some such stone of which 
 that mosaic is composed, put it in his pocket and made off. 
 I had no idea that he would deface the edifice until the 
 moment he did it, and then hastily remonstrated, but of 
 course without avail. I looked at the wall on which he 
 operated, and found that two or three had preceded him 
 in the same work of paltry but most outrageous robbery. 
 Of course, each will boast of his exploit to his comrades 
 of kindred spirit, and they will be tempted to imitate it, 
 until the mischief done becomes sufficiently serious to 
 attract attention, and then Nobody will have a serious 
 reckoning to encounter. A few acts of unobserved rapine 
 as trifling as these may easily occasion some signal disas- 
 ter. In an edifice like this, there should be no point 
 accessible to visiters unwatched by a faithful guardian 
 even for one hour. 
 
 In the afternoon, I attended the Celebration of High 
 Mass, this being observed by the Catholic world as St. 
 Peter's Day, and the Pope himself officiating in the great 
 Cathedral. Not understanding the service, I could not 
 profit by it, and the spectacle impressed me unfavorably. 
 Such a multiplicity of spears and bayonets seem to me 
 strangely out of keeping in a place of worship ; if they 
 belong here, why not bring in a regiment of horse and a 
 park of artillei^y as well ? There is ample room for them 
 in St. Peter's, and the cavalry might charge and the can- 
 noniers fire a few volleys with little harm to the building, 
 and with great increase both to the numbers and interest 
 of the audience. I am not pretending to judge this for others, 
 
ST. Peter's. 205 
 
 but simply to state how it naturally strikes one educated in 
 the simple, sober observances of Puritan New-England. 
 1 have heard of Protestants being converted in Rome, but 
 it seems to me the very last place where the great body of 
 those educated in really Protestant ways would be likely 
 to undergo conversion. I have seen very much here to 
 admire, and there is doubtless many times more such that 
 I have not seen, but the radical antagonism of Catholic 
 and Protestant ideas, observances and tendencies never 
 before stood out in a light so clear and strong as that shed 
 upon it by a few days in Rome. I obtained admission 
 yesterday to the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, and saw 
 there, among the paintings in fresco, a representation of 
 the death of Admiral Coligny at the Massacre of St. Bar- 
 tholomew ; and if this were not intended to express appro- 
 val of that horrible massacre, I would like to know what 
 was meant by having it painted and placed there. 
 
 But to return to St. Peter's. The entrance of the grand 
 procession from the Vatican was a very slow process. In 
 its ranks were the Noble Guard, the Swiss Guard, the 
 Cardinals, and many other divisions, each in its own 
 imposing and picturesque costume. At length came the 
 Pope, seated in a magnificent chair on a raised platform 
 or palanquin, the whole borne on the shoulders of some 
 ten or twelve servitors. This was a capital arrangement 
 for us strangers, who wished a good view of His Holiness ; 
 but I am sure it was very disagreeable to him, and that he 
 would much rather have walked like the rest. He passed 
 into the church out of my sight, dismounted, and I (having 
 also entered) next saw him approach one of the altars on 
 the right, where he knelt and silently prayed for some 
 minutes. He was then borne onward to his throne at the 
 further end, and the service commenced. 
 
 The singing of the Mass was very good. The Pope's 
 reading I did not hear, nor was I near enough even to see 
 him, except fitfully. I think there were more than five 
 
206 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 thousand persons present, including a thousand priests and 
 a thousand soldiers. There would doubtless have been 
 many more, but for the fact that a smart shower occurred 
 just before and at the hour (5 o'clock), while no public 
 notice had been given that the Pope would officiate. 
 
 In the evening, St. Peter's and its accessories were illu- 
 minated — by far the most brilliant spectacle I ever saw. 
 All was dark and silent till, at the first stroke of the bell, 
 light flashed from a hundred thousand burners, and the 
 entire front of the Church and Dome, up to the very sum- 
 mit of the spire, was one magnificent galaxy, while the 
 double row of gigantic pillars or columns surrounding the 
 square was in like manner radiant with jets of flame. I 
 thought the architecture of St. Peter's Rome's greatest 
 glory when I had only seen it by daylight, yet it now 
 seemed more wondrous still. The bells rang sweetly and 
 stirringly throughout the evening, and there was a like 
 illumination on the summit of the Pincian Hill, while most 
 of the shops and dwellings displayed at least one row of 
 burning candles, and bonfires blazed brightly in the streets, 
 which were alive with moving, animated groups, while the 
 square of St. Peter's and the nearest bridges over the Tiber 
 were black with excited thousands. To-night we have fire- 
 works from the Pincian in honor of St. Peter, which would 
 be thought in New England an odd way of honoring an 
 Apostle, especially on Sunday evening ; but whether Rome 
 or Boston is right on this point is a question to be pon- 
 dered. 
 
 P. S. Monday. — I did not see the Fire- Works last 
 evening, but almost every one else in Rome did, and the 
 unanimous verdict pronounces them admirable — extraordi- 
 nary. Great preparations had been made, and the success 
 must have been perfect to win so general and hearty a 
 commendation. The display was ushered in by a rousing 
 salute of artillery ; but this was not needed to assemble in 
 and around the Piazza del Popolo all the population of 
 
ST. Peter's. 207 
 
 Rome that could be spared from their homes. The Piazza 
 is the great square of Rome, in front of the Pincian Hill, 
 whence the rockets, wheels, stars, serpents, &c., were let 
 off. The display was not concluded till after 10 o'clock. 
 
 This day I have devoted to famous private galleries of 
 Paintings and Sculpture, having been again disappointed 
 in attempting to gain a sight of the Apollo Belvidere and 
 Picture Gallery of the Vatican. The time for opening 
 these treasures to the public has lately been changed from 
 10 A. M. to noon, and they are only open regularly on 
 Mondays ; so that I was there a little before noon to be 
 ready ; but after waiting (with many others) a full hour, 
 in front of an inexorable gate, without being able to learn 
 why we were shut out or when the embargo would cease, 
 I grew weary of the uncertainty and waste of time, and 
 left. A little past 1 (I now understand), the gate was 
 opened, but too late for me, as I did not return, and leave 
 Rome for Florence to-morrow. Had the simplest notice 
 been given that such a delay would take place, or had the 
 officers at the gates been able to give any information, I 
 should have had different luck. " They manage these 
 things better in France." 
 
XXVI. 
 THE ROMANS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Rome, Monday, June 30, 1851, 
 
 The common people of Rome generally seem to me an 
 intelligent, vivacious race, and I can readily credit the 
 assurance of well-informed friends that they are mentally 
 superior to most other Italians. It may be deemed strange 
 that any other result should be thought possible, since the 
 very earth around them, with all it bears, is so vivified 
 with the spirit of Heroism, of Genius, and of whatever is 
 most memorable in History. But the legitimate influences 
 of Nature, of Art, and of Ancestry, are often overborne 
 by those of Institutions and Laws, as is now witnessed on 
 all the eastern and southern coasts of the Mediterranean^ 
 and I was rather disappointed in finding the present Romans 
 a race of fully average capacities, intellectual and physical. 
 A face indicating mental imbecility, or even low mediocri- 
 ty, is very rarely met in those streets where the greater 
 portion of the Rom.ans seem to work and live. The 
 women are brown, plain, bare-headed, and rather careless 
 of personal appearance, but ready at repartee, self-possess- 
 ed, energetic, with flashing eyes and countenances often 
 indicating a depth of emotion and character. I do not 
 think such pictures as abound in Rome could have been 
 painted where the women were common-place and unideal. 
 
 But all with Vvhom I can converse, and who are qualified 
 to speak by residence in the country, give unfavorable ac- 
 counts of the moral qualities of the Romans especially ; 
 
THE ROMANS OF TO-DAY. 209 
 
 and in these qualities I include Patriotism and all the civic 
 virtues. That Italians, and those of Rome especially, are 
 quite commonly sensual, selfish, indolent, fickle, dishonest, 
 vicious, is the general report of the foreigners residing 
 among them. Zealous Protestants w^ill readily account for 
 it by their Catholicism. My own prepossessions naturally 
 lead me to the conclusion that much of the religious 
 machinery in operation here is unfavorable to the develop- 
 ment of high moral character. Whatever the enlighten- 
 ed and good may mean by these observances, it does seem 
 to me that the ignorant and vulgar understand that the evil 
 consequences of pleasant sins may be cheaply avoided by a 
 liberal use of holy water, by bowings before the altar and re- 
 verent conformity to rituals and ceremonies. — This is cer- 
 tainly the great danger (in my sight) of the Catholic system, 
 that it may lead its votaries to esteem conformity to outward 
 and ceremonial requirements as essentially meritorious, and 
 in some sense an offset for violations of the moral law. Not 
 that this error is by any means confined to Catholics, for 
 Christendom is full of Protestants who, though ready enough 
 to proclaim that kissing the toe of St. Peter's statue is a poor 
 atonement for violating the Commandments, and Adoration 
 of the Virgin a very bad substitute for Chastity, do yet 
 themselves- prefer bad Christians to good Infidels, and 
 would hail with joy the conversion of India or China to 
 their creed, though it should involve no improvement of 
 character or life. I know every one believes that such 
 conversion would inevitably result in amendment of heart 
 and morals, but how many desire it mainly for that reason ? 
 How large a proportion of Protestants esteem it the great 
 end of Religion to make its votaries better husbands, 
 brothers, children, neighbors, kindred, citizens ? To my 
 Protestant eyes, it seems that the general error on this 
 point is more prevalent and more vital at Rome than else- 
 where ; and I have been trying to recollect, among all the 
 immensity of Paintings, Mosaic and Statuary I have seen 
 
210 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 here, representing St. Peter in Prison, St. Peter on the 
 Sea of Galilee, St. Peter heaUng the Cripple, St. Peter 
 raising the Dead, St. Peter receiving the Keys, St. Peter 
 suffering Martyrdom, &c. &c. (some of them many times 
 over), I have any where met with a representation of that 
 most remarkable and beneficent vision whereby the Apostle 
 was instructed from Heaven that " Of a truth, I perceive 
 that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he 
 that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted 
 with Him." I presume such a representation must exist 
 in a city where there are so many hundreds if not thou- 
 sands of pictures of St. Peter doing, receiving or suffer- 
 ing ; but this certainly is not a favorite subject here, or I 
 should have seen it many times depicted. Who knows a 
 Protestant city in which the aforesaid lesson given to 
 Peter has been adequately dwelt on and heeded ? 
 
 That the prevalence of Catholicism is not inconsistent 
 with general uprightness and purity of morals is demon- 
 strated in Ireland, in Switzerland, in Belgium, in the Tyrol, 
 and elsewhere. The testimony of the great body of 
 travelers and other observers with regard to the countries 
 just named, affirms the general prevalence therein of those 
 virtues which are the basis of the Family and the Church. 
 And yet, the acknowledged state of things here is a grave 
 fact which challenges inquiry and demands explanation. 
 In the very metropolis of Catholic Christendom, where 
 nearly all believe, and a great majority are at least cere- 
 monially devout — where many of the best intellects in the 
 Catholic communion have flourished and borne sway for 
 more than fifteen centuries, and with scarcely a divided 
 empire for the last thousand years — where Churches and 
 Priests have long been more abundant than on any other 
 spot of earth, and where Divine worship and Christian 
 ordinances are scarcely intermitted for an hour, but are 
 free and welcome to all, and are very generally attended — 
 what is the reason that corruption and degeneracy should 
 
THE ROMANS OF TO-DAY. 211 
 
 be so fearfully prevalent ? ' If only the enemies of Rome's 
 faith affirmed this degeneracy, we might fairly suppose it 
 invented or exaggerated ; but even the immediate Priest- 
 hood of this people, who may be presumed most unwilling 
 and unlikely to deny their virtues or magnify their vices, 
 declare them unfit to be trusted with power over their own 
 political destinies, and indeed incapable of self-government. 
 Such is the fundamental basis and essential justification of 
 the rule now maintained in Rome, under the protection of 
 foreign bayonets. This is a conquered city, virtually if 
 not nominally in a state of siege, without assignable period. 
 The Pope's guards are partly Swiss and partly native, that 
 is, chosen from the families of the Nobility; but the 
 " power behind the throne " is maintained by the thousands 
 of French soldiers who garrison the city, and the tens of 
 thousands of Austrian, Spanish and Neapolitan soldiers 
 who would be pushed here upon the first serious attempt 
 of the Romans to assert their right of self-government. 
 Thus, " Order reigns in Warsaw," while Democracy bites 
 its lip and bides its time. 
 
 Has Human Nature degenerated under Christian minis- 
 trations? There surely ivas a Roman people, some 
 twenty-odd centuries ago, who were capable of self-govern- 
 ment, and who maintained it long and creditably. Why 
 should it be otherwise with the Romans of to-day ? I do 
 not believe it is. They have great vices I admit, for all 
 testimony affirms it ; that they might somewhat abuse 
 Freedom I fear, for the blessed sunshine is painful and 
 perilous to eyes long used to the gloom of the dungeon. 
 But the experience of Freedom must tend to dispel the igno- 
 rance and correct the errors of its votaries, while Slavery 
 only leads from bad to worse. If ten centuries of such 
 rule as now prevails here have nowise qualified this people 
 for Self-Government, what rational hope is there that ten 
 more such would doit? If a reform is ever to be effected, 
 it cannot be commenced too soon. 
 
212 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 As to the actual government of Rome and her depen- 
 dencies, it could not well be worse. The rulers fully 
 understand that they are under no obligation to the 
 people for the power they exercise, nor for the submission 
 which it commands. The despotism which prevails is 
 unmodified even by the hereditary despot's natural desire 
 to secure the throne to his descendants by cultivating the 
 good will of his people. The Pope is nominally sovereign, 
 and all regard him as personally a pure and good man ; 
 but he exerts no actual power in the State, his time and 
 thoughts being wholly devoted to the various and compli- 
 cated cares of his vast Spiritual empire. Meantime, the 
 Reactionist influences so omnipotent with his predecessor, 
 but which were repressed for a time after the present 
 Pontiff's accession, have unchecked sway in the political 
 administration. The way the present rulers of Rome read 
 History is this — " Pius IX. came into power a Liberal and 
 a Reformer, and did all he could for the promotion of 
 Republican and Progressive ideas ; for all which his 
 recompense was the assassination of his Prime Minister, 
 and his own personal expulsion from his throne and terri- 
 tories — which is quite enough of Liberalism for one 
 generation ; we, at least, will have no more of it." And 
 they certainly live up to their resolution. It is currently 
 reported that there are now Seventeen Thousand political 
 prisoners confined here, but nobody who would tell can 
 know how many there are, and I presume this statement 
 is a gross exaggeration, significant only as an index of the 
 popular feeling. The essential fact is that there might he 
 Seventeen or Seventy Thousand thus imprisoned without 
 publicity, known accusation or trial, save at the conveni- 
 ence of those ordering their arrest ; and with no recognized 
 right of the arrested to Habeas Corpus or any kindred 
 process. Many of the best Romans of the age are in exile 
 for Liberty's sake. I was reliably informed at Turin that 
 there are at this time Three Hundred Thousand Political 
 
THE ROMANS OF TO-DAY. 213 
 
 Refugees in the Kingdom of Sardinia, nearly all, of course, 
 from the despotism of Lower Italy. Thus Europe is kept 
 tranquil by a system of terror, which is efficient w^iile the 
 spell holds ; but let it break at any point, and all will go 
 together. 
 
 The Cardinals are the actual directors of State affairs 
 here, and are popularly held responsible for all that is 
 disliked in the Government. They would be likely to fare 
 roughly in case of another revolution. They are privately 
 accused of flagrant immoralities, as men so powerful and 
 so unpopular would naturally be, whether with or without 
 cause. I know no facts that sustain the accusation. 
 
 A single newspaper is now published in Rome, but I 
 have heard it inquired for or mentioned but once since I 
 came here, and then by a Scotchman studying Italian. It 
 is ultra-despotic in its spirit, and would not be tolerated if 
 it were not. It is a small, coarsely printed sheet, in good 
 part devoted to Church news, giving great prominence to 
 the progress of conversion from the English to the Romish 
 communion. There are very few foreign journals taken 
 or read in the Roman States. Lynn or Poughkeepsie 
 probably, Newark or Hew-Haven certainly, buys and 
 reads more newspapers than the entire Three Millions of 
 People who inhabit the Papal States. I could not learn 
 to relish such a state of things. I have just paid $3 70 
 (more than half of it to our American Consul) for the 
 privilege of leaving the dominions of His Holiness, and 
 shall speedily profit by the gracious permission. 
 
 10^ 
 
XXVII. 
 CENTRAL ITALY— FLORENCE. 
 
 Bologna, July 6, 1851. 
 
 " See Naples and die !" says the proverb : but I am in 
 no hurry to *' shuffle off this mortal coil," and rather weary 
 of seeing. I think I should have found a few choice friends 
 in Naples, but my time is limited, and the traveling through 
 Southern Italy neither pleasant nor expeditious. Of Ve- 
 suvius in its milder moods I never had a high opinion ; 
 and, though I should have liked to tread the unburied 
 streets of Pompeii, yet Rome has nearly surfeited me with 
 ruins. So I shortened my tour in Italy by cutting off the 
 farther end of it, and turned my face obliquely homeward 
 from the Eternal City. What has the world to show of 
 by-gone glory and grandeur which she cannot at least 
 equal ? 
 
 Let no one be sanguine as to his good resolutions. I as 
 firmly resolved, when I first shook from my feet the dust 
 of Civita Vecchia, that I never again would enter its 
 gates, as I ever did to do or forbear any act whatever. 
 But, after a tedious and ineffectual attempt to make up a 
 party of Americans to come through from Rome to Flo- 
 rence direct, I was at last obliged to knock under. All 
 the seats by Diligence or Mail on that route were taken 
 ahead for a longer time than I could afford to wait ; and 
 offers to fill an extra coach if the proprietors would send 
 one were utterly unavailing. Such a thing as Enterprise 
 is utterly unknown south of Genoa, and the idea of any 
 
CENTRAL ITALY FLORENCE. 215 
 
 obligation on the part of proprietors of stage-lines to make 
 extra efforts to accommodate an extra number of passen- 
 gers is so queer that I doubt whether Italian could be 
 found to express it. So some dozen or more who would 
 gladly have gone through by land to Florence were driven 
 back upon Civita Vecchia and Leghorn — I among the 
 number. 
 
 Three of us left Rome in a private carriage at noon on 
 Tuesday the 1st, and reached Civita Vecchia at 10 minutes 
 past 9 p. M. — the inner gate having been closed at 9. One 
 of my companions was known and responsibly connected 
 at the port, and so was enabled to negotiate our admission, 
 though the process was a tedious one, and our carriage 
 had to be left in the outer court, or between the two walls. 
 Here I left it at 10 ; it may have been got in afterward. 
 We found all the rooms taken at the best Hotel (Orlandi), 
 and were driven to accept such as there were left. The 
 boat (Languedoc) was advertised to start for Leghorn at 
 7 next morning, by which time I succeeded in getting my 
 Passport cleared (for no steamboat in these waters will 
 give you a permit to embark until you have handed in 
 your Passport, duly cleared, at its office, as well as paid for 
 your passage) ; but the boat was coolly taking in water 
 long after its advertised hour, and did not start until half 
 past eight. 
 
 We had an unusually large number of passengers, about 
 one hundred and fifty, representing nearly every European 
 nation, with a goodly number of Americans ; the day was 
 cloudy and cool ; the wind light and propitious ; the sea 
 calm and smooth ; so that I doubt if there was ever a more 
 favorable passage. I was sick myself, a result of the night- 
 air of the Campagna, bad lodging and inability to obtain 
 a salt-water bath in the morning, by reason of the Pass- 
 port nuisance, but for which I should have been well and 
 hearty. We made Leghorn (120 miles) in about eleven 
 hoiM's, which is very good time for the Mediterranean. 
 
216 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 But reaching the harbor of Leghorn was one thing, getting 
 ashore quite another ; an hour or more elapsed before any 
 of us had permission to land. I was one of the two first 
 who got off, through the preconcerted interposition of a 
 powerful Leghorn friend who had procured a special permit 
 from the Police, and at whose hospitable mansion we pass- 
 ed the night. 1 was unwell throughout ; but an early bath 
 in the Mediterranean was the medicine I required, and 
 from the moment of taking it I began to recover. By 
 seasonable effort, I recovered my Passport from the Police 
 oiffce, duly vised, at 10 a. m. and left by Railroad for Flo- 
 rence at 10 J, reaching the capital of Tuscany (60 miles) 
 about 1 o'clock, p. m. 
 
 Florence (Italian Firenze) is pleasantly situated on both 
 sides of the Arno, some forty miles in a direct line from 
 its mouth. The river is here about the size of the Hudson 
 at Sandy Hill or the Mohawk at Canajoharie, but subject 
 to rapid swellings from rains in the Apennines above. One 
 such occurred the night I was there, though very little rain 
 fell at Florence. I was awakened in the night by the rush- 
 ing and roaring of its waters, my window having only a 
 street between it and the river, which subsided the next 
 day, without having done any material damage. 
 
 That day was the 4th of July, and I spent most of it, 
 under the guidance of friends resident at Florence, in look- 
 ing through the galleries devoted to Paintings and Statuary 
 in the two famous palaces of the reigning family and 
 in the Academy. Although the collections embrace the 
 Venus de Medicis and many admirable Paintings, I cannot 
 say that my expectations were fully realized. Ill health 
 may in part account for this ; my recent acquaintance 
 with the immense and multiform treasures of Art at Rome 
 may also help explain my obtuseness at Florence. And 
 yet I saw nothing in Rome with greater pleasure or profit 
 than I derived from the hour I spent in the studio of our 
 countryman Powers, whose fame is already world-\yde, 
 
CENTRAL ITALY— FLORENCE. 217 
 
 and who I trust is now rapidly acquiring that generous 
 competence which will enable him to spend the evening of 
 his days in ease and comfort in his native land. The 
 abundance of orders constantly pouring in upon him at his 
 own prices does not induce him to abandon nor postpone 
 his efforts in the ideal and more exalted sphere of his art, 
 but rather to redouble those efforts ; and it will yet be felt 
 that his " Greek Slave " and " Fisher Boy/' so widely ad- 
 mired, are not his loftiest achievements. I defy Antiquity 
 to surpass — I doubt its ability to rival — his " Proserpine " 
 and his " Psyche " with any models of the female head 
 that have come down to us ; and while I do not see how 
 they could be excelled in their own sphere, I feel that 
 Powers, unlike Alexander, has still realms to conquer, and 
 will fulfill his destiny. If for those who talk of America 
 quitting her proper sphere and seeking to be Europe when 
 she wanders into the domain of Art, we had no other 
 answer than Powers, that name would be conclusive. 
 
 Greenough is now absent from Florence. I met him at 
 Turin, on his way to America, on account (I casually 
 heard) of sickness in his family. But I obtained admission 
 to his studio in Florence, and saw there the unfinished 
 group on which he is employed by order of Congress, to 
 adorn one of the yet empty niches in the Capitol. His 
 execution is not yet sufficiently advanced to be judged, 
 but the design is happy and most expressive. 
 
 I saw something of three younger American Sculptors 
 now studying and working at Florence — Hart of Kentucky, 
 Galt of Virginia, and Rogers of New- York. (Ives is 
 absent — at Rome, 1 believe, though I did not meet him 
 there.) I believe all are preparing to do credit to their 
 country. Hart has been hindered by a loss of models at 
 sea from proceeding with the Statue of Henry Clay 
 which he is commissioned by the Ladies of Virginia to 
 fashion and construct ; but he is wisely devoting much of 
 his time to careful study and to the modeling of the Ideal 
 
218 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 before proceeding to commit himself irrevocably by the 
 great work which must fix his position among Sculptors 
 and make or mar his destiny. I have great confidence 
 that what he has already carefully and excellently done is 
 but a foretaste of what he is yet to achieve, and that his 
 seeming hesitation will prove the surest and truest effi- 
 ciency. 
 
 I think there are but few American painters in Florence. 
 I met none but Page, who is fully employed and expects 
 to spend some time in Italy. His health is better than 
 during his last year in New- York. 
 
 The strong necessity of moving on compelled me to tear 
 myself away from a pleasant party of Americans assembled 
 at dinner in Florence last evening to celebrate the 76th 
 Anniversary of American Independence, and take the 
 Diligence at 8 o'clock for this place on the road to Venice, 
 though no other American nor even an Englishman came 
 along. I have found by experience that I cannot await 
 the motions of others, nor can I find a party ready to take 
 post-horses and so travel at rational hours. The Diligence 
 or stage-coach traveling in Italy appears to be organized 
 on purpose to afford the least possible accommodation at 
 the most exorbitant cost. This city, for example, is 63 
 miles from Florence on the way to Padua and Venice, and 
 the Diligence leaves Florence for Bologna at no other hour 
 than 8 P. M. arriving here at 1|- o'clock next day ; fare 40 
 to 45 Tuscan pauls or $4.45 to 85. But when you reach 
 Bologna at mid-day, after an all-night ride, you find no 
 conveyance for any point beyond this until ten o'clock 
 next morning, so that you must wait here twenty-one 
 hours ; and the Dihgence might far better, so far as the 
 travelers' convenience and comfort is concerned, have 
 remained in Florence till an early hour in the morning, 
 making the passage over the Apennines by day and saving 
 their nights' rest. Three or four travelers may break over 
 
CENTRAL ITALY FLORENCE. 219 
 
 this absurd tyranny by taking post-horses ; a single one 
 has no choice but to submit. And, having reached 
 Bologna, I tried to gain time, or at least avoid another 
 night-ride, by taking a private carriage (veUurino) this 
 afternoon for Ferrara, thirty miles further on, sleep there 
 to-night, and catch a Diligence or Mail-Coach to-morrow 
 morning, so as to reach Padua in the evening : but no — 
 there is no coach out of Padua Venice-ward till 4 to- 
 morrow afternoon, and I should gain nothing but extra 
 fatigue and expense by taking a carriage to Ferrara, so I 
 give it up. I must make most of the journey from Ferrara 
 to Padua by night, and yet take as much time as though I 
 traveled only by day, — for I am in Italy. 
 
 The valley of the Arno, especially for some miles on 
 either side of Florence, is among the most fertile portions 
 of this prolific land, and is laboriously though not efficiently 
 cultivated. All the Grains grow luxuriantly throughout 
 Italy, though Indian Corn is so thickly planted and so 
 viciously cultivated that it has no chance to ear or fill 
 well. There is enough labor performed on the average to 
 insure sixty bushels of shelled grain to the acre, but the 
 actual yield will hardly exceed twenty-five. And I have 
 not had the first morsel of food prepared from this grain 
 offered me since I reached the shores of Europe. Wheat 
 is the favorite grain here, and, requiring less depth of soil 
 than Indian corn, and having been much longer cultivated 
 here, yields very fairly. Barley and Oats are grown, but 
 to a limited extent ; of Rye, still less. The Potato is 
 planted very sparingly south of Piedmont, and not so com- 
 monly there as in Savoy. The Vine is a universal favor- 
 ite, and rarely out of view, while it often seems to cover 
 half the ground in sight. But it is not grown here in close 
 hills as in France and around Cincinnati, but usually in 
 rows some twenty or thirty feet apart, and trained on trees 
 kept down to a hight of eight to twelve feet. Around 
 Rome, a species of Cane is grown wherewith to support 
 
220 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 the vines after the manner of bean-poles, which, after 
 serving a year or two in this capacity, is used for fuel, and 
 new stalks of cane replace those which have been enfeebled 
 by exposure and decay. The plan of training the vines 
 on dwarfed trees (which seems to me by far the most 
 natural) prevails here as well as on the other side of the 
 Apennines ; so that the vine-stalks are large and may be 
 hundreds of years old, instead of being (apparently) fresh 
 from the ground every year or two. The space between 
 the vine-rows is usually sown with Wheat, but sometimes 
 planted with Corn or laid down to Grass, and a moderate 
 crop realized. 
 
 Crossing the Apennines mainly in the night, they seemed 
 a little higher than the Green Mountains of Vermont, but 
 lacking the thrifty forests of which I apprehend the prox- 
 imity of Railroads is about to despoil that noble range. 
 But the Apennines, though cultivated wherever they can 
 be, are far more precipitous and sterile than their Ameri- 
 can counterpart, and seem to be in good degree composed 
 of a whitish clay or marl which every rain is washing 
 away, rendering the Arno after a storm one of the muddi- 
 est streams I ever saw. I presume, therefore, that the 
 Apennines are, as a whole, less lofty and difficult now than 
 they were in the days of Romulus, of Hannibal, or even 
 of Constantine. 
 
 We crossed the summit about daylight, and began 
 rapidly to descend, following down the course of one of 
 the streams which find the Adriatic together near the 
 mouth of the Po. At 5 A. M. we passed the boundary of 
 Tuscany and entered the Papal territory, so that our 
 baggage had to be all taken down and searched, and our 
 Passports re-scrutinized — two processes to which I am 
 becoming more accustomed than any live eel ever was to 
 being skinned. The time consumed was but an hour and 
 the pecuniary swindle trifling. But though the hour was 
 early and there were few habitations in sight, there soon 
 
CENTRAL ITALY FLORENCE. 221 
 
 gathered around us a swarm of most importunate beggars 
 — brown, withered old women spinning on distaffs held in 
 the hand (a process I fancied the world had outgrown), 
 and stopping every moment to hold out a dirty claw, with 
 a most disgusting grimace and whine — " For the love of 
 God, Signer" — with ditto old men, and children of various 
 sizes, the youngest who could walk seeming as apt at 
 beggary as their grandames who have followed it, " off 
 and on,'' for seventy or eighty years. If the ancient 
 Romans had equaled their living progeny in begging, they 
 need not have dared and suffered so much to achieve the 
 mastery of the world — they might have begged it, and 
 saved an infinity of needless slaughter. These people 
 have no proper pride, no manly shame, because they have 
 no hope. Untaught, unskilled in industry, owning nothing, 
 their government an absolute despotism, their labor only 
 required at certain seasons, and deemed amply rewarded 
 with a York shilling or eighteen pence per day, and them- 
 selves the virtual serfs of great landholders who live in 
 Rome or Bologna and whom they rarely or never see — is 
 it a wonder that they stoop to plead and whine for coppers 
 around every carriage that traverses their country ? That 
 they fare miserably, their scanty rags and pinched faces 
 sufficiently attest ; that they are indolent and improvident 
 I can very well believe : for when were uneducated, 
 unskilled, hopeless vassals anything else ? Italy, beauti- 
 ful, bounteous land ! is everywhere haggard with want 
 and wretchedness, but these seem nowhere so general and 
 chronic as in the Papal territories. Every political divi- 
 sion of Italy but this has at least some section of Railroad 
 in operation ; Rome, though in the heart of all and the 
 great focus of attraction for travelers, has not the first 
 mile and no prospect of any, though it would seem a good 
 speculation to build one if it were to be used only in trans- 
 porting hither the Foreign troops absolutely essential here 
 to keep the people quiet in their chains. " And this, too, 
 shall pass away !" 
 
XXVIII. 
 EASTERN ITALY— THE PO. 
 
 Venice, Tuesday, July 8. 
 
 I NEVER saw and cannot hope to see hereafter a region 
 more blessed by Nature than the great plain of Upper 
 Italy, whereof the Po is the life-blood. It is very fertile 
 and beautiful where I first traversed it near its head, from 
 the foot of Mount Cenis by Turin to Alessandria and 
 Novi, on my way down to Genoa ; yet it is richer and 
 lovelier still where I have just recrossed it from the foot 
 of the Apennines by Bologna, Ferrara, Rovigo and Padua 
 on my way from Florence to Venice. Irrigation, which 
 might easily be almost universal in Piedmont, seems there 
 but an occasional expedient, while here it is the breath of 
 life. From Bologna to Rovigo (and I presume on to 
 Padua, though there night and drowsiness prevented my 
 observing clearly), the whole country seems completely 
 intersected by Canals constructed in the palmier days of 
 Italy on purpose to distribute the fertilizing waters of the 
 Po and the Adige over the entire face of the country and 
 dispense them to every field and meadow. The great 
 highway generally runs along the bank of one of these 
 Canals, which are filled from the rivers when they have just 
 been raised by rains and are thus surcharged with fertiliz- 
 ing matter, and drawn off from day to day thereafter to 
 refresh and enrich the remarkably level plain they traverse. 
 Thus not only the plain and the glades lying nearer the 
 sources of the rivers, but the sterile, rugged crests of the 
 
EASTERN ITALY THE PO. 223 
 
 Alps and Apennines which enclose this great basin are 
 made to contribute evermore to the fruitfulness of its soil, 
 so that Despotism, Ignorance, Stolidity, Indolence and 
 Unthrift of all kinds vainly strive to render it other than 
 the Garden of Em^ope. The banks of the Canals and the 
 sides of the highways are generally lined with trees, rows 
 of which also traverse many if not most of the fields, so 
 that from certain points the whole country seems one 
 vast, low forest or "timbered opening'^ of Poplar, Willow, 
 Mulberry, Locust, &c. There are a few Oaks, more 
 Elms, and some species I did not recognize, and the Vine 
 through all this region is trained on dwarfed or shortened 
 trees, sometimes along the roadside, but oftener in rows 
 through one-fourth of the fields, while in a few instances it 
 is allowed thus to obtain an altitude of thirty or forty feet. 
 Of Fruit, I have seen only the Apricot and the Cherry in 
 abundance, but there are some Pears, while the Orange 
 and Lemon are very plentiful in the towns, though I think 
 they are generally brought from Naples and the Mediterra- 
 nean coast. But finer crops of Wheat, Grass, Hemp, &c., 
 can grow nowhere than throughout this country, while the 
 Indian Corn which is abundantly planted, would yield as 
 amply if the people knew how to cultivate it. Ohio has 
 no better soil nor climate for this grain. Of Potatoes or 
 other edible roots I have seen very little. Hemp is 
 extensively cultivated, and grows most luxuriantly. Man 
 is the only product of this prolific land which seems stunted 
 and shriveled. Were Italy once more a Nation, under one 
 wise and liberal government, with a single tariff, coinage, 
 mail-post, &c., a thorough system of common school 
 education, a small navy, but no passports, and a public 
 policy which looked to the fostering and diversifying of 
 her industry, she might easily sustain and enrich a popula- 
 tion of sixty millions. As it is, one-half of her twenty-five 
 millions are in rags, and are pinched by hunger, while 
 inhabiting the best wheat country in Europe, from which 
 
224 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 food is constantly and largely exported. There are at 
 least one hundred millions of dollars locked up in useless 
 decorations of churches, and not one common school-house 
 from 3avoy to Sicily. A little education, after a fashion, 
 is fitfully dispensed by certain religious and charitable 
 foundations, so that the child lucky enough to be an orphan 
 or illegitimate has a chance to be taught to read and 
 write ; but any such thing as a practical recognition of the 
 right to education, or as a public and general provision for 
 imparting it, is utterly unknown here. Grand and beauti- 
 ful structures are crowded in every city, and are crumbling 
 to dust on every side ; a single township dotted at proper 
 intervals with eight or ten school-houses would be worth 
 them all. With infinite water power, cheaper labor, and 
 cheaper food than almost any other country in the 
 civilized world, and millions of children at once naked and 
 idle because no one will employ them at even six-pence a 
 day, she has not one cotton or woolen factory that I have 
 yet seen, and can hardly have one at all, though her 
 mountains afford vast and excellent sheep-walks, and 
 Naples can grow cotton if she will. England and Germa- 
 ny manufacture nearly all the few fabrics of cotton or 
 wool worn here, because those who should lead, instruct, 
 and employ this people, are blind to their duty or recreant 
 to its obligations. Italy, once the light of the world, is 
 dying of aristocratic torpor and popular ignorance, whence 
 come indolence, superstition, and wide-spread demoraliza- 
 tion and misery. 
 
 Bologna is a walled city of Seventy Thousand inhabit- 
 ants, with about as much trade and business of all kinds 
 as an American village of ten to twenty thousand people. 
 I doubt that thirty persons per day are carried into or 
 brought out of it by all public conveyances whatever. It 
 is well built on narrow streets, like nearly all Italian cities, 
 and manifests considerable activity in the way of watching 
 gates and viseing Passports. Though in the Papal terri- 
 
EASTERN ITALY— THE PO. 225 
 
 tory, it is under Austrian guardianship; an Austrian 
 sentinel constantly paced the court-yard of the " Hotel 
 Brun " where I stopped. Though the second town in the 
 Pope's temporal dominions, strongly walled, it has no 
 Military strength, being commanded by a hill a short mile 
 south of it — the last hill I remember having seen till I 
 reached Venice and looked across over the lagoons to the 
 Euganian hills on the main land to south-west. The most 
 notable thing I saw in Bologna was an awning of sheeting 
 or calico spread over the centre of the main street on a 
 level with the roofs of the houses for a distance of half a 
 mile or so. I should distrust its standing a strong gust, 
 bui if it would, the idea is worth borrowing. 
 
 After a night-ride over the Apennines from Florence, 
 and a detention of twenty-one hours at Bologna, I did hope 
 that our next start would be " for good " — that there would 
 be no more halt till we reached Padua. But I did not yet 
 adequately appreciate Italian management. A Yankee 
 stage-coach running but once a day between two such 
 cities as Bologna and Ferrara would start at daylight and 
 so connect at the latter place as to set down its passengers 
 beside the Railroad in Padua (86 to 90 miles of the best 
 possible staging from Bologna) in the evening of the same 
 day. We left Bologna at 10 a. m., drove to Ferrara, 
 arrived there a little past 2 ; and then came a halt o^ four 
 hours — till six p. m. when the stage started for a night-trip 
 to Padua — none running during the day. But a Yankee 
 stage would have one man for manager, driver, &c., who 
 would very likely be the owner also of the horses and a 
 partner in the line ; we started from a grand office with 
 two book-keepers and a platoon of lackeys and baggage- 
 smashers, with a " guard " on the box, and two " postillions " 
 riding respectively the nigh horses of the two teams, there 
 being always three horses at the pole and sometimes three 
 on the lead also, at others only two. We had half a 
 dozen passengers to Ferrara ; for the rest of the way, I 
 
226 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 had this extensive traveling establishment to myself. I do 
 not think the average number of passengers on a corres- 
 ponding route in our country could be so few as twenty. 
 Such are some of the points of difference between America 
 and Italy. 
 
 We crossed the Po an hour after leaving Ferrara, and 
 here passed out of the Papal into the unequivocally Aus- 
 trian territory — the Kingdom of Venice and Lombardy. 
 There were of course soldiers on each side (though all of 
 a piece), police officers, a Passport scrutiny and a fresh 
 look into my carpet-bags, mainly (I understand) for To- 
 bacco ! When any tide-waiter finds more of that about 
 me than the chronic ill breeding of traveling smokers com- 
 pels me to carry in my clothes, he is welcome to confiscate 
 all I possess. But they found nothing here to cavil at, and 
 I passed on. 
 
 There is no town where we crossed the Po, only a small 
 village on either side, and we followed down the left bank 
 in a north-easterly direction for several miles without seeing 
 any considerable place. The river has here, as through 
 nearly its whole course, a strong, rapid current, and was 
 swollen and rendered turbid by recent rains. I judge that 
 its surface was decidedly above the level of the adjacent 
 country, which is protected from inundation (like the re- 
 gion of the Lower Mississippi) by strong embankments or 
 levees, at first natural doubtless — the product of the suc- 
 cessive overflows of centuries but subsequently strengthen- 
 ed and perfected by human labor. The force of the cur- 
 rent being strongest in the center of the river, there is 
 either stillness or an eddy near the banks, so that the sedi- 
 ment with which the current is charged tends constantly 
 to deposition on or against the banks. When the river 
 rises so as to overflow those banks, the downward current 
 is entirely unfelt there and the deposition becomes still 
 more rapid, the proportion of earthy matter to that of 
 water being much greater then than at other times. Thus 
 
EASTERN ITALY THE PO. 227 
 
 great, rapid rivers running through vast plains like these 
 gradually form levees in the course of many centuries, 
 their channels being defined and narrowed by their own 
 deposits until the surface of their waters, at least in times 
 of flood, is raised above the level of the surrounding coun- 
 try, often several feet. When the great swamps of Loui- 
 siana shall have been drained and cultivated for ages, they 
 too will doubtless be fertilized and irrigated by canals, as 
 the great plain traversed by the Po now is. And here too, 
 though the acres are generally well cared for, I saw tracts 
 of considerable extent which, from original defect or un- 
 skillful management, stand below the water level of the 
 country, and so are given over to flags, bogs and miasma, 
 when only a foot or two of elevation is needed to render 
 them salubrious and most productive. 
 
 There are many more good dwellings on this plain than 
 in the rural portion of Lower Italy. These are generally 
 built of brick, covered with stucco or cement and white- 
 washed, and, being nearly square in form, two stories high, 
 and without the long, sloping roofs common with us, are 
 rather symmetrical and graceful, in appearance. Their 
 roofs are tiled with a long, cylindrical brick, of which a 
 first course is laid with the hollow upward, and another 
 over the joints of this with the hollow down, conducting 
 the water into the troughs made by the former and so off 
 the house. The peasants' cottages are thatched with flags 
 or straw, jand often built of the latter material. Of barns 
 there are relatively few, most of the wheat being stacked 
 when harvested, and trodden out by oxen on floors under 
 the open sky. I have not seen a good harness nor a res- 
 pectable ox-yoke in Italy, most of the oxen having yokes 
 which a Berkshire hog of any pretensions to good breed- 
 ing would disdain to look through. These yokes merely 
 hold the meek animals together, having no adaptation 
 to draft, which is obtained by a cobbling filigree of ropes 
 around the head, bringing the heaviest of the work upon 
 
228 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 the horns ! The gear is a little better than this — as little 
 as you please — while for Carts and Waggons there are few 
 school-boys of twelve to fifteen in America who would not 
 beat the average of all 1 have seen in Italy. Their clum- 
 siness and stupidity are so atrocious that the owners do 
 well in employing asses to draw them : no man of feeling 
 or spirit could endure the horse-laughs they must extort 
 from any animal of tolerable sagacity. To see a stout, 
 two-handed man coming home with his donkey-load of fuel 
 from a distant shrubbery, half a day of the two having been 
 spent in getting as much as would make one good kitchen- 
 fire, is enough to try the patience of Job. 
 
 Although the Po must be navigable and has been navi- 
 gated by steamboats for many miles above this point, until 
 obstructed by rapids, yet nothing like a steamboat was 
 visible. The only craft I saw attempting to stem its current 
 was a rude sort of ark, like a wider canal -boat, drawn by 
 three horses traveling on a wide, irregular tow-path along 
 the levee or bank. 1 presume this path does not extend 
 many miles without meeting impediments. Quite a num- 
 ber of ruinous old rookeries were anchored in the river at 
 intervals, usually three to six abreast, which I found to be 
 grist-mills, propelled by the strong current, and receiving 
 their grain from the shore and returning the flour by means 
 of small boats. Our ferry-boat was impelled by what is 
 termed (I think) a " rope ferry " — a series of ropes and 
 boats made fast to some anchorage in the stream above, 
 and moving it vigorously and expeditiously from one bank 
 to the other by the mere force of the current. It is quite 
 evident that modern Italy did not originate this contrivance, 
 nor even the idea that a rapid river could be induced to 
 move a large boat obliquely up its stream as well as down it. 
 I should -say the Po is here rather more than half a mile wide. 
 
 Three hours later, we crossed in like manner at Rovigo 
 the Adige, a much smaller but still a large river, about the 
 size of the Connecticut at Hartford. It has its source 
 
EASTERN ITALY THE PO. 229 
 
 exclusively in the Tyrolean Alps, but for the last hundred 
 miles of its course runs parallel with the Po, through the 
 same plain, at a medium distance of about twenty miles, 
 and has the same general characteristics. It was quite 
 high and muddy when we crossed it. 
 
 As midnight drew on, I grew weary of gazing at the 
 same endless diversity of grain-fields, vineyards, rows of 
 trees, &c., though the bright moon was now shining, and, 
 shutting out the chill night-air, I disposed myself on my old 
 great-coat and softest carpet-bag for a drowse, having 
 ample room at my command if I could but have brought it 
 into a straight line. But the road was hard, the coach a 
 little the uneasiest I ever hardened my bones upon, and 
 my slumber was of a disturbed and dubious character, a 
 dim sense of physical discomfort shaping and coloring my 
 incoherent and fitful visions. For a time I fancied myself 
 held down on my back while some malevolent wretch 
 drenched the floor (and me) with filthy water : then I was 
 in a rude scuffle and came out third or fourth best, with 
 my clothes badly torn ; anon I had lost my hat in a strange 
 place and could not begin to find it ; and at last my clothes 
 w^ere full of grasshoppers and spiders who were beguiling 
 their leisure by biting and stinging me. The misery at 
 last became unbearable and I awoke. — But where ? I was 
 plainly in a tight, dark box, that needed more air : I soon 
 recollected that it was a stage-coach, wherein I had been 
 making my way from Ferrara to Padua. I threw open the 
 door and looked out. Horses, postillions and guard were 
 all gone : the moon, the fields, the road were gone : I was 
 in a close court-yard, alone with Night and Silence : but 
 where ? A church clock struck three ; but it was only 
 promised that we should reach Padua by four, and I, mak- 
 ing the usual discount on such promises, had set down five 
 as the probable hour of our arrival. I got out to take a 
 more deliberate survey, and the tall form and bright bayonet 
 of an Austrian sentinel, standing guard over the egress of 
 
 11 
 
230 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 the court-yard, were before me. To talk German was 
 beyond the sweep of my dizziest ambition, but an ItaHan 
 runner or porter instantly presented himself. From him I 
 made out that I was in Padua of ancient and learned re- 
 nown (Italian Padova), and that the first train for Venice 
 would not start for three hours yet. I followed him into a 
 convenient Cafe, which was all open and well lighted, 
 where I ordered a cup of chocolate and proceeded leisure- 
 ly to discuss it. When I had finished, the other guests 
 had all gone out, but daylight was coming in, and 1 began 
 to feel more at home. The Cafe tender was asleep in his 
 chair; the porter had gone off; the sentinel alone kept 
 awake on his post. Soon the welcome face of the coach- 
 guard, whom I had borne company from Bologna, appear- 
 ed ; I hailed him, obtained my baggage, hired a porter, and, 
 having nothing more to wait for, started at a little past 
 four for the Railroad station, nearly a mile distant ; taking 
 obsei'vations as I went. Arrived at the depot, I discharged 
 my porter, sat down and waited for the place to open, 
 with ample leisure for reflection. At six o'clock I felt once 
 more the welcome motion of a Railroad car, and at eight 
 was in Venice. 
 
XXIX. 
 
 VENICE. 
 
 Milan, Wednesday, July 9, 1851. 
 
 Venice ! Queen of the Adriatic ! " City of the Heart !" 
 how can I ever forget thee ? Brief, too brief was my halt 
 amid thy glorious structures, but such eras are measured 
 not by hours, but by sensations, and my first day in Venice 
 must ever hold its place among the most cherished recollec- 
 tions of my life. 
 
 Venice lies so absolutely and wholly on the water's 
 bosom that the landward approach to her is not imposing 
 and scarcely impressive. The view from the sea-side may 
 be somewhat better, but not much — not comparable to that 
 of Genoa from the Mediterranean. No part of the islets 
 upon and around which Venice was built having been 
 ever ten feet above the surface of the Adriatic, while the 
 adjacent mainland for miles is also just above the water 
 level, you do not see the city from any point of observa- 
 tion outside of it — only the distant outline of a low mass 
 of buildings perhaps two miles long, but which may not 
 be three blocks wide, for aught you can see. Formerly 
 two miles of shallow lagoon separated the city from the 
 land ; but this has been overcome by the heavy piling and 
 filling required for the Railroad which now connects 
 Venice with Verona, via Vicenza, and is to reach this 
 city via Brescia whenever the Austrian Government shall 
 be able to complete it. At present a noble enterprise, 
 through one of the richest, most populous and most pro- 
 
232 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 ductive Agricultural regions of the earth, and connecting 
 the Political with the Commercial metropolis of Austrian 
 Italy, is arrested when half-finished, entaiUng a heavy 
 annual charge on the Treasury for the interest of the sum 
 already expended, yet yielding little or no net revenue in 
 return, because of its imperfect condition. The wisdom 
 of this would be just equal to that of our ten years' halt 
 with the Erie Canal Enlargement, except for the fact that 
 the Austrians would borrow and complete if they could, 
 while New York has had no such excuse for her slothful 
 blunder. 
 
 The approach to Venice across the Lagoon is like that 
 of Boston across the Charles River marshes from the West, 
 though of course on a much grander scale. The embank- 
 ment or road-bed was commenced by gigantic piling, and 
 is very broad and substantial. You reach the station just 
 in the edge of the city, run the Passport gauntlet, and are 
 let out on the brink of a wide canal, where dozens of gon- 
 doliers are soliciting your custom. I engaged one, and 
 directed him (at a venture) to row me to the Hotel 
 I'Europe. This proved (like nearly or quite all the other 
 great Hotels) to be located on the same line or water-front 
 with the Ducal Palace, Church of St. Mark, and most of 
 the notabilities of modern Venice, with the inner harbor 
 and shipping just on the left and the Adriatic in plain sight 
 before us, only two or three Httle islets covered with build- 
 ings partially intervening. Of course, my first row was a 
 long one, quite through the city from west to east, includ- 
 ing innumerable turnings and windings. After this, whom- 
 soever may assert that the streets of Venice are dusty or 
 not well watered, I shall be able to contradict from personal 
 observation. 
 
 After outward renovation and breakfast, I hired a boat 
 for the day, and went in search of American friends — a 
 pursuit in which I was ultimately successful. With these 
 I visited the various council-rooms and galleries in the 
 
VENICE. 233 
 
 Ducal Palace, saw the " Lion's Mouth," descended into 
 the ancient dungeons, now tenantless, and crossed the 
 " Bridge of Sighs." These last are not open to the public, 
 but a silver key gives access to them. Thence we visited 
 the famous picture-gallery of the Manfrini Palace, and 
 after that the Academy, thus consuming the better part of 
 the day. 
 
 The works of Art in the Grand Palace did not, as a 
 whole, impress me strongly. Most of the larger ones are 
 historical illustrations of the glories of Venice ; the battle 
 of Lepanto ; the taking of Zara; the Pope and Venice 
 uniting against or triumphing over the Emperor, &c., &c. 
 Some of the most honorable achievements of Venice, 
 including her long and memorable defense of Candia (or 
 Crete) against the desperate and finally successful attacks 
 of the Turks, are not even hinted at. But these galleries 
 are palpably in a state of dilapidation and decay, which 
 implies that the Austrian masters of Venice, though they 
 cannot stoop to the meanness of demolishing or mutilating 
 the memorials of her ancient glories, will be glad to see 
 them silently and gradually perish. The whole Palace has 
 a dreary and by-gone aspect, seeming conscious that either 
 itself or the Austrian soldiers drilling in front of it must be 
 an anachronism — that both cannot belong to the same place 
 and time. 
 
 " The traitor clock forsakes the hours. 
 And pomts to tunes, O far away ! " 
 
 The paintings in the Manfrini Palace seem to me by 
 no means equal to those in the Orsini, Doria, and some 
 other private collections of Rome ; even of those extrava- 
 gantly praised by Lord Byron, I failed to perceive the 
 admirable qualities apparent to his more cultivated taste. 
 The collection in the Academy I thought much better, but 
 still far enough behind similar galleries in Rome. The 
 fact is, modern Italy is poverty-stricken in Art and Genius 
 
234 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 as well as in Industry, and lives upon the trophies and the 
 memory of her past greatness. I have not heard in all 
 this land the name of one living Italian mentioned as likely 
 to attain eminence in Painting, nor even in Sculpture. 
 
 Toward evening, my friend and I ascended the Campa- 
 nile or Bell-Tower of St. Mark's, some 330 feet high, and 
 had thence a glorious view of the city and its neighbor- 
 hood. From this tower, the houses might almost be 
 counted, though of the Canals which separate them only a 
 few of the largest are discerned. But the port, the ship- 
 ping outside, the gardens (naturally few and contracted), 
 the adjacent main-land, the Railroad embankment across 
 the Lagoon, the blue Euganian hills in the distance, &c., 
 &c., are all as palpable as Boston Harbor from Bunker 
 Hill Monument. Immediately beneath is the Place of St. 
 Mark, the Wall-street of Venice ; just beside you is the 
 old Palace and the famous Cathedral Church of St. Mark ; 
 to the north is the Armory, one of the largest and most 
 interesting in Europe ; while the dome of every Church 
 in Venice and all the windings of the Grand Canal are 
 distinctly visible. An Austrian steamship in the harbor 
 and an Austrian regiment marching from the north end 
 of the city into the grand square to take post there, com- 
 pleted the panorama. The sun setting in mild radiance 
 after a most lovely summer day, and the full moon shining 
 forth in all her luster, gave it a wondrous richness and 
 beauty of light and shadow. I was loth indeed to tear 
 myself away from its contemplation and commence the 
 tedious descent of the now darkened circular way up and 
 down the inside of the tower. 
 
 In the evening, we improved our gondoliers' time in 
 rowing leisurely from one point of interest to another. 
 Together we stood on the true Rialto — a magnificent (and 
 the only) bridge over the Grand Canal, in good part 
 covered with shops of one kind or another. Here a boy 
 was industriously and vociferously trying to sell a lot of 
 
VENICE. 235 
 
 cucumbers, which he had arranged in piles of three or four 
 each, and was crying " any pile for" some piece of money, 
 which I was informed was about half a Yankee cent. 
 Vegetables, and indeed provisions of all kinds, are very 
 cheap in Venice. I said this bridge is a grand one, as it 
 is ; but Venice is full of bridges across its innumerable 
 canals, and nearly all are of the best construction. Arches 
 more graceful in form, or better fitted to defy the assaults 
 of time, I have never seen. 
 
 We passed from the true to Shakspeare's Rialto — the 
 ancient Exchange of Venice, where its large Commercial 
 and Moneyed transactions took place prior to the last three 
 centuries. Here is seen the ancient Bank of Venice — the 
 first, I believe, established in the world ; here also the 
 " stone of shame" — an elevated post which each bankrupt 
 w^as compelled to take and hold for a certain time, exposed 
 to the derision of the confronting thousands. (Now-a-days 
 it is the bankrupt who flouts, and his too confiding credi- 
 tors who are jeered and laughed at.) This ancient focus 
 of the world's commerce is now abandoned to the sellers 
 of market vegetables, who were busily arranging their 
 cabbages, &c., for the next morning's trade when we 
 visited it. 
 
 Venice is full of deserted Palaces, which, though of 
 spacious dimensions and of the finest marble, may be 
 bought for less than the cost of an average brick house in 
 the upper part of New- York. The Duchess de Berri, 
 mother of the Bourbon Pretender to the throne of France, 
 has bought one of these and generally inhabits it; the 
 Rothschilds own another ; the dancer Taglioni, it is said, 
 owns four, and so on. Cheap as they are, they are a 
 poorer speculation than even corner lots in a lithographic 
 city of Nebraska or Oregon. 
 
 That evening in the gondola, with one old and two 
 newer friends, is marked with a wliite stone in my recol- 
 Jection. To bones aching with rough riding in Diligences 
 
236 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 by night as well as day, the soft cushions and gliding 
 motion of the boat were soothing and grateful as " spicy 
 gales from Araby the blest." The breeze from the Adriatic 
 was strong and refreshing after the fervid but not excessive 
 heat of the day, and the clear, mild moon seemed to invest 
 the mossy and crumbling palaces with a softened radiance 
 and spiritual beauty. Boats were passing on every side, 
 some with gay parties of three to six, others with but two 
 passengers, who did not seem to need the presence of more, 
 nor indeed to be conscious that any others existed. The 
 hum of earnest or glad voices here contrasted strongly 
 with silence and meditation there. Venice is a City of the 
 Past, and wears her faded yet queenly robes more grace- 
 fully by night than by day. 
 
 Yes, the Venice of to-day is only a reminiscence of 
 glories that were, but shall be never again. Wealth, 
 Luxury, Aristocracy ate out her soul ; then Bonaparte, 
 perfidious despot that he ever was, robbed her of her inde- 
 pendence ; finally the Holy Alhance of conquerors of 
 Bonaparte made his wrong the pretext for another, and 
 wholly gave her to her ancient enemy Austria, who greedily 
 snatched at the prey, though it was her assistance rendered 
 or proffered to Austria in 1798-9 which gave Napoleon 
 his pretext for crushing her. Her recent struggle for 
 independence, though fruitless, was respectable, and pro- 
 tracted beyond the verge of Hope ; and not even Royalist 
 mendacity has yet pretended that her revolt from Austria, 
 or her prolonged defence under bombardment and severe 
 privation was the work of foreigners. But the Croat again 
 lords it in her halls ; Trieste is stealing away her remnant 
 of trade ; and the Railroads which should regain or replace 
 it are postponed from year to year, and may never be 
 completed, or at least not until it is utterly too late. Weeds 
 gather around the marble steps of her palaces ; her towers 
 are all swerving from their original uprightness, and there 
 is neither energy nor means to arrest their fall. Nobody 
 
VENICE. 237 
 
 builds a new edifice within her precincts, and the old ones, 
 though of the most enduring materials and construction, 
 cannot eternally resist the relentless tooth of Time. Full of 
 interest as is everything in Venice, I do not remember to 
 have detected there the effectual working of a single idea of 
 the last century, save in the Railroad, which barely touches 
 without enlivening her, the solitary steamboat belonging 
 to Trieste, and two or three larger gondolas marked 
 " Omnibus" this or that, which appeared to be conveying 
 good loads of passengers from one end of the city to the 
 other for one-sixth or eighth of the price which the same 
 journey solus cost me. The Omnibus typifies Association 
 — the simple but grandly fruitful idea which is destined to 
 renovate the world of Industry and Production, substitut- 
 ing Abundance and Comfort for Penury and Misery. For 
 Man, I trust, this quickening word is yet seasonable ; for 
 Venice it is too late. It is far easier to found two new 
 cities than to restore one dead one. Fallen Queen of the 
 Adriatic ! a long and mournful Adieu ! 
 
XXX. 
 LOMBARDY. 
 
 Milan, Thursday, July 10, 1851. 
 LoMBARDY is of coui'se the richest and most productive 
 portion of Italy. Piedmont alone vies with her, and is 
 improving far more rapidly, but Lombardy has great 
 natural capacities peculiarly her own. Her soil, fertile 
 and easily tilled from the first, was long ago improved by 
 a system of irrigation which, probably from small and 
 casual beginnings, gradually overspread the whole table 
 land, embracing, beside that of the Adige, the broad valley 
 of the Po and the narrower intervals of its many tributa- 
 ries, which, rushing down from the gorges of the Alps on 
 the west and the north, are skillfully conducted so as to 
 refresh and fertilize the whole plain, and, finding their way 
 ultimately to the Po, are thence drawn again by new 
 canals to render like beneficence to the lower, flatter 
 intervals of Venezia and the Northern Papal States. No 
 where can be found a region capable of supporting a larger 
 population to the square mile than Lombardy. 
 
 American Agriculture has just two arts to learn from 
 Lombardy — Irrigation and Tree-Planting. Nearly all 
 our great intervales might be irrigated immensely to the 
 profit of their cultivators. Even where the vicinity of 
 mountains or other high grounds did not afford the facility 
 here taken advantage of, I am confident that many plains 
 as well as valleys might be profitably irrigated by lifting 
 water to the requisite height and thence distributing it 
 
LOMBARDY. 239 
 
 through little canals or ditches as here. Where a head of 
 water may be obtained to supply the requisite power, the 
 cost need not be considerable after the first outlay ; but, 
 even though steam-power should be requisite, in connection 
 with the admirable Pumping machinery of our day. Irriga- 
 tion would pay liberally in thousands of cases. Such 
 easily parched levels as those of New-Jersey and Long 
 Island would yield at least double their present product if 
 thoroughly irrigated from the turbid streams and marshy 
 ponds in their vicinity. Water itself is of course essential 
 to the growth of every plant, but the benefits of Irrigation 
 reach far beyond this. Of the fertilizing substances so 
 laboriously and necessarily applied to cultivating lands, at 
 least three times as great a proportion is carried off in 
 running water as is absorbed and exhausted by the crops 
 grown by their aid ; so that if Irrigation simply returned 
 to the land as much fertility as the rains carry off, it would, 
 with decent husbandry, increase in productiveness from 
 year to year. The valley of the Nile is one example 
 among many of what Irrigation, especially from rivers at 
 their highest stage, will do for the soil, in defiance of the 
 most ignorant, improvident and unskillful cultivation. 
 Such streams as the Raritan, the Passaic and most of the 
 New- Jersey rivers, annually squander upon the ocean an 
 amount of fertilizing matter adequate to the comfortable 
 subsistence of thousands. By calculation, association, 
 science, labor, most of this may be saved. One hundred 
 thousand of the poor immigrants annually arriving on our 
 shores ought to be employed for years, in New- Jersey 
 alone, in the construction of dams, canals, &c., adequate 
 to the complete irrigation of all the level or moderately 
 sloping lands in that State. Farms are cheaper there 
 to-day than in Iowa for purchasers who can pay for and 
 know how to use them. Long Island can be rendered 
 eminently fertile and productive by systematic and thorough 
 Irrigation ; otherwise I doubt that it ever will be. 
 
240 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 Much of Lombardy slopes very considerably toward the 
 Po, so that the water in the larger or distributing canals is 
 often used to run mills and supply other mechanical power. 
 It might be used also for Manufacturing if Manufactures 
 existed here, and nearly every farmer might have a horse- 
 power or so at command for domestic uses if he chose. 
 We passed yesterday the completely dry beds of what 
 seemed to be small rivers, their water having been entirely 
 drawn away into the irrigating canals on either side, while 
 on either hand there were grist-mills busily at work, and 
 had been for hundreds of years, grinding by water-power 
 where no stream naturally existed. If I mistake not, there 
 are many such in this city, and in nearly all the cities and 
 villages of Lombardy. If our farmers would only investi- 
 gate this matter of Irrigation as thoroughly as its importance 
 deserves, they would find that they have neglected mines 
 of wealth all around them more extensive and far more 
 reliable than those of California. One man alone may not 
 always be able to irrigate his farm except at too great a 
 cost ; but let the subject be commended to general 
 attention, and the expense would be vastly diminished. 
 Ten thousand farms together, embracing a whole valley, 
 may often be irrigated for less than the cost of supplying 
 a hundred of them separately. I trust our Agricultural 
 papers will agitate this improvement. 
 
 As to Tree-Planting, there can be no excuse for neglect- 
 ing it, for no man needs his neighbor's cooperation to 
 render it economical or effective. We in America have 
 been recklessly destroying trees quite long enough ; it is 
 high time that we began systematically to reproduce them. 
 There is scarcely a farm of fifty acres or over in any but 
 the very newest States that might not be increased in 
 value $1,000 by ^100 judiciously expended in Tree- 
 Planting, and a little care to protect the young trees from 
 premature destruction. All road-sides, steep hill-sides, 
 ravines and rocky places should be planted with Oak, 
 
LOMBARDY. 241 
 
 Hickory, Chestnut, Pine, Locust, &c., at once, and many 
 a farm would, after a few years, yield 8100 worth of 
 Timber annually, without subtracting $10 from the crops 
 otherwise depended on. By planting Locust, or some 
 other fast-growing tree, alternately with Oak, Hickory, 
 ifec, the former would be ready for use or sale by the time 
 the latter needed the whole ground. Utility, beauty, 
 comfort, profit, all combine to urge immediate and exten- 
 sive Tree-Planting ; shall it not be commenced ? 
 
 Here in Lombardy there is absolutely no farm, however 
 small, without its rows of Mulberry, Poplar, Walnut, Cherry, 
 &c., overshadowing its canals, brooks, roads, &c., and 
 traversing its fields in all directions. The Vine is very 
 generally trained on a low tree, like one of our Plum or 
 small Cherry trees, so that, viewed at a distance or a point 
 near the ground, the country would seem one vast forest, 
 with an undergrowth mainly of Wheat and Indian Corn. 
 Potatoes, Barley, Rye, &c., are grown, but none of them 
 extensively, nor is much of the soil devoted to Grass. 
 There are no forests, properly so called, but a few rocky 
 hill-sides, which occur at intervals, mainly about half way 
 from Venice to Milan, are covered with shrubbery which 
 would probably grow to trees if permitted. Wheat and 
 all Summer Grains are very good ; so is the Grass ; so the 
 Indian Corn will be where it is not prevented by the vicious 
 crowding of the plants and sugar-loaf hoeing of which I 
 have frequently spoken. I judge that Italy altogether, 
 with an enormous area planted, will realize less than half 
 tiie yield she would have from the same acres with judi- 
 cious cultivation. With Potatoes, nearly the same mistake 
 is made, but the area planted with these is not one-tenth 
 that of Corn and the blunder far less vital. 
 
 This ought to be the richest country in the world, yet 
 its people and their dwellings do not look as if it were so. 
 I have seen a greater number of Soldiers and Beggars in 
 passing through it than of nien at work ; and nearly all 
 
242 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 work out-doors here who work at all. The dwellings are 
 generally shabby, while Barns are scarce, and Cattle are 
 treading out the newly harvested wheat under the blue 
 sky. New houses ajid other signs of improvement are 
 rare, and the people dispirited. And this is the garden of 
 sunny, delicious Italy ! 
 
 THE ITALIANS. 
 
 I leave Italy with a less sanguine hope of her speedy 
 liberation than I brought into it. The day of her regene- 
 ration must come, but the obstacles are many and for- 
 midable. Most palpable among these is an insane spirit 
 of local jealousy and rivalry only paralleled by the " Cork- 
 onian" and "Far-down" feud among the Irish. Genoa is 
 jealous of Turin ; Turin of Milan ; Florence of Leghorn ; 
 and so on. If Italy were a Free Republic to-day, there 
 would be a fierce quarrel, and I fear a division, on the 
 question of locating its metropolis. Rome would consider 
 herself the natural and prescriptive capital ; Naples would 
 urge her accessible position, unrivaled beauty and ascend- 
 ency in population ; Florence her central and healthful 
 location ; Genoa her extensive commerce and unshaken 
 devotion to Republican Freedom, &c., &c. And I should 
 hardly be surprised to see some of these, chagrined by an 
 adverse decision, leaguing with foreign despots to restore 
 the sway of the stronger by way of avenging their fancied 
 wrongs ! 
 
 And it is too true that ages of subjugation have demo- 
 ralized, to a fearful extent, the Italian People. Those who 
 would rather beg, or extort, or pander to others' vices, 
 than honestly work for a living, will never do anything for 
 Freedom ; and such are deplorably abundant in Italy. 
 Then, like most nations debased by ages of Slavery, these 
 people have little faith in each other. The proverb that 
 ** No Italian has two friends" is of Italian origin. Every 
 one fears that his confederate may prove a traitor, and if 
 
THE ITALIANS. 243 
 
 one is heard openly cursing the Government as oppressive 
 and intolerable in a caf6 or other public resort, though the 
 sentiment is heartily responded to, the utterer is suspected 
 and avoided as a Police stool-pigeon and spy. Such 
 mutual distrust necessarily creates or accompanies a lack 
 of moral courage. There are brave and noble Italians, 
 but the majority are neither brave nor noble. There were 
 gallant spirits who joyfully poured out their blood for 
 Freedom in 1848-9, but nine-tenths of those who wished 
 well to the Liberal cause took precious good care to keep 
 their carcases out of the reach of Austrian or French 
 bullets. Even in Rome, where, next to Venice, the most 
 creditable resistance was made to Despotism, the greater 
 part of the actual fighting was done by Italians indeed, but 
 refugees from Lombardy, Tuscany and other parts of Italy. 
 Had the Romans who heartily desired the maintenance 
 of the Republic shown their faith by their works, Naples 
 would have been promptly revolutionized and the French 
 driven back to their ships. On this point, I have the testi- 
 mony of eye-witnesses of diverse sentiments and of unim- 
 peachable character. Rome is heartily Republican to-day ; 
 but I doubt whether three effective regiments could be 
 raised from her large native population to fight a single 
 fair battle which was to decide the fate of Italy. So with 
 the whole country except Piedmont, and perhaps Genoa 
 and Venice. I wish the fact were otherwise ; but there 
 can be no use in disguising or mis-stating it. Italy is not 
 merely enslaved but debased, and not till after years of 
 Freedom will the mass of her people evince consistently 
 the spirit or the bearing of Freemen. She must be freed 
 through the progress of Liberal ideas in France and Ger- 
 many-:— not by her own inherent energies. Not till her 
 masses have learned to look more coolly down the throats 
 of loaded and hostile cannon in fair daylight and be a little 
 less handy with their knives in' the dark, can they be relied 
 on to do anything for the general cause of Freedom. 
 
244 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 THE AUSTRIANS. 
 
 I have not been able to dislike the Austrians personally. 
 Their simple presence in Italy is a grievous wrong and 
 mischief, since, so long as they hold the Italians in subjec- 
 tion, the latter can hardly begin the education which is to 
 fit them for Freedom. Yet it is none the less true that the 
 portion of Italy unequivocally Austrian is better governed 
 and enjoys, not more Liberty, for there is none in either, 
 but a milder form of Slavery, than that which prevails in 
 Naples, Rome, Tuscany, and the paltrier native despotisms. 
 I can now understand, though I by no means concur in, 
 the wish of a quasi Liberal friend who prays that Austria 
 may just take possession of the whole Peninsula, and 
 abolish the dozen diverse Tariffs, Coinages, Mails, Armies, 
 Courts, &c. &c., which now scourge this natural Paradise. 
 He thinks that such an absorption only can prepare Italy 
 for Liberty and true Unity ; I, on the contrary, fear that 
 it would fix her in a more hopeless Slavery. Yet it 
 certainly would render the country more agreeable to 
 strangers, whether sojourners or mere travelers. 
 
 The Austrian soldiers, regarded as mere fighting ma- 
 chines, are certainly well got up. They are palpably the 
 superiors, moral and physical, of the French who garrison 
 Rome, and they are less heartily detested by the People 
 whom they are here to hold in subjection. Their discipline 
 is admirable, but their natural disposition is likewise quiet 
 and inoffensive. I have not heard of a case of any one 
 being personally insulted by an Austrian since I have been 
 in Italy. — Knowing themselves to be intensely disliked in 
 Italy and yet its uncontrolled masters, it would seem but 
 natural that they should evince something of bravado and 
 haughtiness, but I have observed or heard of nothing of 
 the kind. In fact, the bearing of the Austrians, whether 
 officers or soldiers, has seemed to evince a quiet conscious- 
 
LEAVING ITALY. 245 
 
 ness of strength, and to say, in the least offensive manner 
 possible — "We are masters here by virtue of our good 
 swords — if you dispute the right, look w^ell that you have 
 a sharper weapon and a vigorous arm to wield it !" To a 
 rule which thus answers all remonstrances against its ex- 
 istence by a quiet telling off of its ranks and a faultless 
 marching of its determined columns, what further argument 
 can be opposed but that of bayonet to bayonet ? I really 
 cannot see how the despot-governed, Press-shackled, une- 
 ducated Nations are ever to be liberated under the guid- 
 ance of Peace Societies and their World's Conventions ; 
 and, horrible as all War is and ever must be, I deem a few 
 battles a lesser evil than the perpetuity of such mental and 
 physical bondage as is now endured by Twenty Millions 
 of Italians. When the Peace Society shall have persuad- 
 ed the Emperor Nicholas or Francis-Joseph to disband his 
 armies and rely for the support of his government on its 
 intrinsic justice and inherent moral force, I shall be ready 
 to enter its ranks ; but while Despotism, Fraud and Wrong 
 are triumphantly upheld by Force, I do not see how Free- 
 dom, Justice and Progress can safely disclaim and repudiate 
 the only weapons that tyrants fear — the only arguments 
 they regard. 
 
 LEAVING ITALY. 
 
 I have not been long in Italy, yet I have gone over 
 a good share of its surface, and seen nearly all that I much 
 desired to see, except Naples and its vicinity, with the 
 Papal territory on the Perugia route from Rome to Flo- 
 rence. I should have liked more time in Genoa, Rome, 
 Florence and Venice ; but sight-seeing was never a pas- 
 sion with me, and I soon tire of wandering from ruin 
 to ruin, church to church, and gallery to gallery. Yet 
 when I stop gazing the next impulse is to move on ; for if 
 I have time to rest anywhere, why not at home ? Hotel life 
 
246 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 among total strangers was never agreeable to me — (was it 
 to any one ?) — and 1 do not like that of Italy so well as I 
 at first thought I should. The attendance is well enough, 
 and as to food, I make a point of never quarreling with 
 that I have ; though meals far simpler than those served at 
 the regular hotel dinners here would suit me much better. 
 The charges in general are quite reasonable, though I have 
 paid one or two absurd bills. It was at first right pleasant 
 to lodge in what was once a palace, and I still deem a 
 large, high, airy sleeping-room, such as we seldom have in 
 American hotels, but are common here, a genuine luxury. 
 But when with such rooms you have doors that don't shut 
 so as to stay, windows that won't open, locks that won't 
 hold, bolts that won't slide and fleas that won't — ah ! worit 
 they bite ! — the case is somewhat altered. I should not 
 like to end my days in Italy. 
 
 As to the People, if I shall seem to have spoken of them 
 disparagingly, it has not been unkindly. I cherish an 
 earnest desire for their well-being. They do not need 
 flattery, and do not, as a body, deserve praise. Of what are 
 sometimes called the " better classes " (though I believe they 
 are here no better), I have seen little, and have not spoken 
 specially. Of the great majority who, here, as everywhere, 
 must exert themselves to live, whether by working, or beg- 
 ging, or petty swindling, I have seen something, and of 
 these certain leading characteristics are quite unmistakable. 
 An Italian Picture-Gal lery seems to me a pretty fair type 
 of the Italian mind and character. The habitual com- 
 mingling of the awful with the paltry — the sacred and the 
 sensual — Madonna and Circe^Christ on the Cross and 
 Venus in the Bath — which is exhibited in all the Italian 
 galleries, seems an expression of the National genius. Am 
 I wrong in the feeling that the perpetual (and often 
 execrable) representation of such awful scenes as the 
 Crucifixion is calculated first to shock but ultimately to 
 weaken the religious sentiment ? Of the hundreds of 
 
LEAVING ITALY. 247 
 
 pictures of the infant Jesus I have seen in Italy, there are 
 not five v^hich did not strike me as utterly unworthy of 
 the subject, allowing that it ought to be represented at all. 
 " Men of Athens !" said the straight-forward Paul, " I per- 
 ceive that in all things ye are too superstitious." I think 
 the Italians, quite apart from what is essential to their 
 creed, have this very failing, and that it exerts a debilitat- 
 ing influence on their National character. They need to 
 be cured of it, as well as of the vices I have already indi- 
 cated, in order that their magnificent country may resume 
 its proper place among great and powerful Nations. I 
 trust 1 am not warring on the faith of their Church, when 
 I urge that " To do justice and judgment is more accep- 
 table to the Lord than sacrifice " — that no man can be 
 truly devout who is not strictly upright and manly — and 
 that one living purpose of diffusive, practical well-doing, is 
 more precious in the sight of Heaven, than the bones of 
 all the dead Saints in Christendom. 
 Farewell, trampled, soul-crushed Italy ! 
 
XXXI. 
 
 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 Lucerne, July 12, 1851. 
 I LEFT Milan at 5 o'clock, on the morning of the 10th, 
 via Railroad to Como, at the foot of the Lake of like name, 
 which we reached in an hour and a half, thence taking the 
 Swiss Government Diligence for this place, via the pass 
 of St. Gothard. Even before reaching Como (only some 
 twenty miles from Milan), the spurs of the Alps had begun 
 to gather around us, and the little Lake itself is completely 
 embosomed by them. Barely skirting its southern border, 
 we crossed the Swiss frontier and bade adieu to the Pass- 
 port swindle for a season, crossed a ridge into the valley of 
 Lake Lugano, which we skirted for two-thirds its length, 
 crossing it by a fine stone bridge near its center. (All the 
 Swiss lakes I have seen are very narrow for a good part 
 of their length, of a greenish blue color, derived from the 
 mountain snows, very irregular in their form, being shut 
 in, narrowed and distorted by the bold cliffs which crowd 
 them on one side or on both, often reducing them lo a 
 crooked strait, resembling the passage of the Highlands by 
 the Hudson.) Threading the narrow streets of the 
 pleasant village of Lugano, we struck boldly up the hill to 
 the east, and over it into the valley of the little river 
 Ticino, which we reached at Bellinzona, a smart town of 
 some five to ten thousand inhabitants, and followed the river 
 thence to its source in the eternal snows of Mount St. 
 Gothard. All this is, I believe, in the Canton of Ticino, in 
 
SWITZERLAND. 249 
 
 which Italian is the common language, and of which 
 Bellinzona is the chief town. 
 
 Although in Switzerland, shut in by steep mountains, 
 often snow-crowned, which leave it an average width of 
 less than half a mile, this valley is Italian in many of its 
 natural characteristics. For two-thirds of its length, 
 Wheat, Indian Corn and the Vine are the chief objects of 
 attention, and every little patch of level ground, save the 
 rocky bed of the impetuous mountain torrent, is laboriously, 
 carefully cultivated. Such mere scraps of earth do not 
 admit of efficient husbandry, but are made to produce 
 liberally by dint of patient effort. I should judge that a 
 peck of corn is about the average product of a day's work 
 through all this region. There is some pasturage, mainly 
 on the less abrupt declivities far up the mountains, but not 
 one acre in fifty of the Canton yields aught but it may be 
 a little fuel for the sustenance of man. Nature is here a 
 rugged mother, exacting incessant toil of her children as 
 the price of the most frugal subsistence ; bat under such 
 skies, in the presence of so much magnificence, and in a 
 land of equality and freedom, mere life is worth working 
 for, and the condition is accepted with a hearty alacrity. 
 Men and w^omen work together, and almost equally, in the 
 fields ; and here, where the necessity is so palpably of 
 Nature's creation, not Man's, the spectacle is far less 
 revolting than on the fertile plains of Piedmont or Lom- 
 bardy. The little patch of Wheat is so carefully reaped 
 that scarcely a grain is left, and children bear the sheaves 
 on their backs to the allotted shelter, while mothers and 
 maidens are digging up the soil with the spade, and often 
 pulling up the stubble with their hands, preparatory to 
 another crop. Switzerland could not afford to be a King- 
 dom, — the expense of a Court and Royal Family would 
 famish half her people. Yet everywhere are the signs of 
 frugal thrift and homely content. I met only two beggars 
 in that long day's ride through sterile Switzerland, while 
 
250 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 in a similar ride through the fertile plains of Italy I should 
 have encountered hundreds, though there each day's labor 
 produces as much as three days' do here. If the Swiss 
 only could live at home, by the utmost industry and 
 economy, I think they w^ould very seldom be found else- 
 where ; but in truth the land has long been peopled to the 
 extent of its capacity for subsisting, and the stead}^ increase 
 which their pure morals and simple habits ensure must 
 drive off thousands in search of the bread of honest toil. 
 Hence their presence elsewhere, in spite of their passionate 
 attachment to their free native hills. 
 
 Most of the dwellings through all this region are built 
 of stone — those of the poor very rudely, of the roughest 
 boulders, commonly laid up with little or no mortar. The 
 roofs are often of split stone. The houses of the more 
 fortunate class are generally of hewn or at least toler*^' 
 square-edged stone, laid up in mortar, often plastc rod • 
 whitened on the outside, so as to present a 
 appearance. Barns are few, and generally of s. 
 The Vine is quite extensively cultivated, and often ^ 
 
 on a rude frame-work of stakes and poles, so as com^.ietely 
 to cover the ground and forbid all other cultivation. Else- 
 where it is trained to stakes — rarely to dwarf trees as in 
 Italy. The Mulberry holds its ground for tv/o-thirds of 
 the way up the valley, giving out a little after the Vine 
 and before Indian Corn does so. Wheat gives place to 
 Rye about the same time, and the Potato, at first compara- 
 tively rare, becomes universal. As the Mulberry gives 
 out the Chestnut comes in, and flourishes nobly for some 
 ten or twenty miles about midway from Bellinzona to 
 Airolo. I suspect, from the evident care taken of it, that 
 its product is considerably relied on for food. Finally, as 
 we gradually ascend, this also disappears, leaving Rye and 
 the Potato to struggle a while longer, until at Airolo, at 
 the foot of St. Gothard, where we stopped at 10 o'clock 
 for the night, though the valley forks and is consequently 
 
SWITZERLAND. 251 
 
 of some width, there remain only a few slender potato- 
 stalks, in shivering expectation of untimely frost, a patch 
 or two of headless oats, with grass on the slopes, still 
 tender and green from the lately sheltering snows, and a 
 dwarfish hemlock clinging to the steep acclivities and hid- 
 ing from the fierce winds in the deep ravines which run 
 up the mountains. Snow is in sight on every side, and 
 seems but a mile or so distant. Yet here are two petty 
 villages and thirty or forty scattered dwellings, vv^hose 
 inhabitants keep as many small cows and goats as they 
 can find grass for, and for the rest must live mainly by 
 serving in the hotels, or as postillions, road-makers, &c. 
 Yet no hand was held out to me in beggary at or around 
 Airolo. 
 
 ST. GOTHARD. 
 
 We did not start till after 9 next morning, and mean- 
 time some more Diligences had come up, so that we formed 
 a procession of one large and heavy, followed by three 
 smaller and more fit carriages, when we moved out of the 
 little village, and-, leaving the larger branch of our creek, 
 now a scanty mill-stream at best, to bend away to the left, 
 we followed the smaller and charged boldly up the moun- 
 tain. The ascent is of course made by zig-zags, no other 
 mode being practicable for carriages, so that, when we 
 had traveled three toilsome miles, Airolo still lay in sight, 
 hardly a mile below us. I judge the whole ascent, which 
 with a light carriage and three hard-driven horses occupied 
 two hours and a half, was about eight miles, though a 
 straight line might have taken us to the summit in three 
 miles. The rise in this distance must have been near five 
 thousand feet. 
 
 For a time, the Hemlocks held on, but at length they 
 gave up, before we reached any snow, and only a little 
 weak young Grass, — nourished rather by the perpetual 
 
252 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 mists or rains than by the cold, sour earth which clung to 
 the less precipitous rocks, — remained to keep us company. 
 Soon the snow began to appear beside us, at first timidly, 
 on the north side of cliffs, and in deep chasms, where it 
 was doubtless drifted to the depth of thirty feet during the 
 Winter, and has been gradually thawing out since May. 
 At length it stood forth unabashed beside our road, often 
 a solid mass six or seven feet thick, on either side of the 
 narrow pass which had been cut and worn through it for 
 and by the passage of travelers. Meantime, the drizzling 
 rain, which had commenced soon after we started, had 
 changed to a spitting, watery sleet, and at length to snow, 
 a little before we reached the summit of the pass, where 
 we found a young Nova Zembla. An extensive cloud- 
 manufactory was in full blast all around us, shutting out 
 from view even the nearest cliffs, while the snow and wind 
 — I being on the outside and somewhat wet already — 
 made our short halt there anything but comfortable. The 
 ground was covered with snow to an average depth of two 
 or three feet ; the brooks ran over beds of ice and under 
 large heaps of drifted and frozen snow, and all was sullen 
 and cheerless. Here were the sources (in part) of the Po 
 and of the Rhine, but I was rather in haste to bid the 
 former good-bye. 
 
 We reduced our three-hofse establishment to two, and 
 began to descend the Rhineward zig-zags at a rattling 
 pace, our driver (and all the drivers) hurrying all the way. 
 We reached the first village (where there was considerable 
 Grass again, and some Hemlock, but scarcely any attempts 
 at cultivation), in fifty minutes, and I think the distance 
 was nearly five miles. " Jehu, the son of Nimshi," could 
 not have done the distance in five minutes less. 
 
 We changed horses and drivers at this village, but pro- 
 ceeded at a similar pace down through the most hideous 
 chasm for the next two or three miles that I ever saw. I 
 doubt whether a night-mare ever beat it. The descent of 
 
ST. GOTHARD. 253 
 
 the stream must have been fully 1,500 feet to the mile for 
 a good part of this distance, while the mountains rose 
 naked and almost perpendicular on each side from its very- 
 bed to bights of one to two thousand feet, without a shrub, 
 and hardly a resting-place even for snow. Down this 
 chasm our road wound, first on one side of the rivulet, then 
 on the other, crossing by narrow stone bridges, often at 
 the sharpest angle with the road, making zig-zags wherever 
 space could be found or made for them, now passing 
 through a tunnel cut through the solid rock, and then 
 under a long archway built over it to protect it from 
 avalanches at the crossing of a raving cataract down the 
 mountain side. And still the staving pace at which w^e 
 started was kept up by those on the lead, and imitated by 
 the boy driving our carriage, which was hindmost of all. 
 I was just thinking that, though every one should know his 
 own business best, yet if 1 were to drive down a steep 
 mountain in that way I should expect to break my neck, 
 and suspect I deserved it, when, as we turned a sharp 
 zig-zag on a steep grade at a stiff trot, our carriage tilted, 
 and over she went in a twinkling. 
 
 Our horses behaved admirably, which in an upset is 
 always half the battle. Had they started, the Diligence 
 managers could only have rendered a Flemish account of 
 that load. As it was, they stopped, and the driver, barely 
 scratched, had them in hand in a minute. 
 
 I was on the box-seat with him, and fell under him, 
 catching a bad sprain of the left wrist, on which J came 
 down, which disables that hand for a few days — nothing 
 broken and no great harm done — only a few liberal rents 
 and trifling bruises. But I should judge that our heads lay 
 about three feet from the side of the road, which was a 
 precipice of not more than twenty feet, but the rocks 
 below looked particularly jagged and uninviting. 
 
 Our four inside passengers had been a good deal mixed 
 up, in the concussion, but soon began to emerge seriatim 
 
 12 
 
254 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 from the side door which in the fall came uppermost — only 
 one of them much hurt, and he by a bruise or gash on the 
 head nowise dangerous. Each, as his or her head pro- 
 truded through the aperture, began to "let in" on the 
 driver, whose real fault was that of following bad exam- 
 ples. I was a little riled at first myself, but the second 
 and last lady who came out put me in excellent humor. 
 She was not hurt, but had her new silk umbrella broken 
 square in two, and she flashed the pieces before the delin- 
 quent's eyes and reeled off" the High Dutch to him with 
 vehement volubility. I wished I could have understood 
 her more precisely. Though not more than eighteen, she 
 developed a tongue that would have done credit to forty. 
 
 The drivers ahead stopped and came back, helped right 
 the stage, and each took a shy at the unlucky charioteer, 
 though in fact they w^ere as much in fault as he, only more 
 fortunate. I suspected before that this trotting down 
 zig-zags was not the thing, and now I know it, and shall 
 remember it, at least for one week. And I have given 
 this tedious detail to urge and embolden others to remon- 
 strate against it. The vice is universal — at least it was 
 just as bad at Mount Cenis as here, and here were four 
 carriages all going at the same reckless pace. The truth 
 is, it is not safe to trot down such mountains and hardly 
 to ride down them at all. We passed scores of places 
 where any such unavoidable accident as the breaking of 
 a reach or a hold-back must have sent the whole concern 
 over a precipice where all that reached the bottom would 
 hardly be worth picking up. Who has a right to risk his 
 life in this fool-hardy manner ? 
 
 The next time I cross the Alps, I will take my seat for 
 the stopping-place at the nearer foot, and thence walk 
 leisurely over, with a long staff and a water-proof coat, 
 sending on my baggage by the coach to the hotel on the 
 other side. If I can get an hour's start, I can (by straight- 
 ening the zig-zags) nearly double it going up ; if not, I will 
 
ST. GOTHARD. 255 
 
 wait on the other side for the next stage. If it were not 
 for the cowardly fear of being thought timid, there would 
 be more care used in such matters. Hitherto, I have not 
 given the subject much consideration, but I turn over a 
 new leaf from the date of this adventure. 
 
 We came down the rest of the mountain more carefully, 
 though still a great deal too fast. A girl of tv/elve or 
 thirteen breaking stone by the road-side in a lonely place 
 was among the note-worthy features of the wilder upper 
 region. Trees, Potato-patches, Grain-fields were welcome 
 sights as we neared them successively, though the Vine 
 and the Chestnut did not and Indian Corn barely did 
 reappear on this side, which is much colder than the other 
 and grows little but Grass. At the foot of the pass, the 
 valley v/idened a little, though still with steep, snow-capped 
 cliffs crowding it on either side. Five hours from the 
 summit and less than two from the base, we reached the 
 pretty town of Altorf, having perhaps five thousand 
 inhabitants, with a mile width of valley and grassy slopes 
 on the surrounding mountains. A few minutes more brought 
 lis to the petty port of Fluellen on Lake Lucerne, where a 
 little steamboat was v/aiting to bring us to this city. I 
 would not just then have traded off that steamboat for 
 several square miles of snow-capped sublimity. 
 
 Lake Lucerne is a mere cleft in the mountains, narrow 
 and most irregular in form, with square cliffs like our Pali- 
 sades, only many times higher, rising sheer out of its depths 
 and hardly a stone's throw apart. Mount Pilatte and The 
 Rhigi are the most celebrated of those seen from its breast 
 After making two or three short turns among the bights, 
 it finally opens to a width of some miles on a softer scene, 
 with green pastures and pleasant woods sweeping down 
 the hills nearly or quite to its verge. Lucerne City lies 
 at or near its outlet, and seems a pleasant place, though I 
 have had no time to spend upon it, as I arrived at 8|- P. M. 
 too weary even to write if I had been able to sleep. I 
 leave for Basle by Diligence at eight this morning. 
 
XXXII. 
 LUCERNE TO BASLE. 
 
 Basle, July 13, 185 L 
 Very striking is the contrast between all of Switzerland 
 I had traversed, before reaching Lucerne, and the route 
 thence to this place. From Como to the middle of Lake 
 Lucerne is something over a hundred miles, and in all 
 that distance there was never so much as one-tenth of the 
 land in sight that could, by any possibility, be cultivated. 
 The narrow valleys, when not too narrow, were arable and 
 generally fertile ; but they were shut in on every side by 
 dizzy precipices, by lofty mountains, often snow-crowned, 
 and either wholly barren or with only a few shrubs and 
 stunted trees clinging to their clefts and inequalities, 
 because nothing else could cling there. A fortieth part of 
 these mountain sides may have been so moderately steep 
 that soil could gather and lie on them, in which case they 
 yielded fair pasturage for cattle, or at least for goats : but 
 nine-tenths of their superficies were utterly unproductive 
 and inhospitable. On the mountain-tops, indeed, there is 
 son^times a level space, but the snow generally monopo- 
 lizes that. Such is Switzerland from the Italian frontier, 
 where I crossed it, to the immediate vicinity of Lucerne. 
 
 Here all is changed. A small but beautiful river 
 debouches from the lake at its west end, and the town is 
 grouped around this outlet. But mountains here there are 
 none — nothing but rich glades and gently swelling hills, 
 covered with the most bounteous harvest, through which 
 
LUCERNE TO BASLE. 257 
 
 the high road runs north-easterly some sixty miles to Basle 
 on the Rhine in the north-east corner of Switzerland, with 
 Germany (Baden) on the east and France on the north. 
 A single ridge, indeed, on this route presents a ragged cliff 
 or two and some heights dignified with the title of moun- 
 tains, which seem a joke to one who has just spent two 
 days among the Alps. 
 
 Grass is the chief staple of this fertile region, but Wheat 
 is abundantly grown and is just beginning to ripen, promis- 
 ing a noble yield. Potatoes also are extensively planted, 
 and I never saw a more vigorous growth. Rye, Oats and 
 Barley do well, but are little cultivated. Of Indian Corn 
 there is none, and the Vine, which had given out on the 
 Itahan side some twenty miles below the foot of St. 
 Gothard, does not come in again till we are close to the 
 Rhine. But in its stead they have the Apple in profusion 
 — I think more Apple-trees between Lucerne and the 
 Rhine, than I had seen in all Europe before — and they 
 seem very thrifty, though this year's yield of fruit will be 
 light. There are some other trees planted, and many 
 small, thrifty forests, such as 1 had hardly seen before on 
 the Continent. These increase as we approach the Rhine. 
 There is hardly a fence throughout, and generous crops of 
 Wheat, Potatoes, Rye, Grass, Oats, &c., are growing close 
 up to the beaten road on either side. I don't exactly see 
 how Cattle are driven through such a country, having 
 passed no drove since crossing Mount St. Gothard. 
 
 The dwellings are generally large, low structures, with 
 sloping, overhanging roofs, indicating thrift and comfort. 
 Sometimes the first story, or at least the basement, is of 
 hewn-stone, but the greater part of the structure is nearly 
 always of wood. The barns are spacious, and built much j 
 like the houses. I have passed through no other part of 
 Europe evincing such general thrift and comfort as this 
 quarter of Switzerland, and Basle, already a well built 
 city, is rapidly improving. When the Railroad line from 
 
258 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 Paris to Strasburg is completed, the French capital will be 
 but little more than twenty-four hours from Basle, while 
 the Baden line, down the German side of the Rhine, 
 already connects this city easily with all Germany, and is 
 certain of rapid and indefinite extension. Basle, though 
 quite a town in Caesar's day, is renewing her youth. 
 
 THE SWISS. 
 
 I am leaving Switzerland, after four days only of obser- 
 vation therein ; but during those days I have traversed the 
 country from its southern to its north-eastern extremity, 
 passing through six of the Cantons and along the skirts of 
 another, resting respectively at Airolo, Lucerne, and Basle, 
 and meeting many hundreds of the people on the way, 
 beside seeing thousands in the towns and at work in their 
 fields. This is naturally a very poor country, with for the 
 most part a sterile soil — or rather, naked, precipitous rocks, 
 irreclaimably devoid of soil — where, if anywhere, the poor 
 peasantry would be justified in asking charity of the stran- 
 gers who come to gaze at and enjoy their stupendous but 
 most inhospitable mountains — and yet I have not seen one 
 beggar to a hundred hearty workers, while in fertile, boun- 
 teous, sunny Italy, the preponderance was clearly the other 
 way. And, though very palpably a stranger, and specially 
 exposed by my ignorance of the languages spoken here to 
 imposition, no one has attempted to cheat me from the 
 moment of my entering the Republic till this, while in 
 Italy every day and almost every hour was marked by its 
 peculiar extortions. Every where I have found kindness 
 and truth written on the faces and evinced in the acts of 
 this people, while in Italy rapacity and knavery are the 
 order of the day. How does a monarchist explain this 
 broad discrepancy ? Mountains alone will not do, for the 
 Italians of the Apennines and the Abruzzi are notoriously 
 very much like those of the Campagna and of the Val 
 
THE SWISS. 259 
 
 d'Arno ; nor will the zealot's ready suggestion of diverse 
 Faiths suffice, for my route has lain almost exclusively 
 through the Catholic portion of this country. Ticino, Uri, 
 Lucerne, etc., are intensely, unanimously Catholic ; the 
 very roadsides are dotted with little shrines, enriched with 
 the rudest possible pictures of the Virgin and Child, the 
 Crucifixion, &c., and I think I did not pass a Protestant 
 church or village till I was within thirty mjles of this 
 place. Nearly all the Swiss I have seen are Catholics, 
 and a more upright, kindly, truly religious people I have 
 rarely or never met. What, then, can have rendered them 
 so palpably and greatly superior to their Italian neighbors, 
 whose ancestors were the masters of theirs, but the preva- 
 lence here of Republican Freedom and there of Imperial 
 Despotism? 
 
 Switzerland, shut out from equal competition with other 
 nations by her inland, elevated, scarcely accessible position, 
 has naturalized Manufactures on her soil, and they are 
 steadily extending. She sends Millions' worth of Watches, 
 Silks, &c., annually even to distant America ; while Italy, 
 with nearly all her population within a day's ride of the 
 Adriatic or the Mediterranean, with the rich, barbaric East 
 at her doors for a market, does not fabricate even the rass 
 w^hich partially cover her beggars, but depends on England 
 and France for most of the little clothing she has. Italy is 
 naturally a land of abundance and luxury, with a soil and 
 climate scarcely equalled on earth ; yet a large share of 
 her population actually kick the necessaries, not to speak 
 of the comforts, of life, and those who sow and reap her 
 bountiful harvests are often without bread : Switzerland 
 has, for the most part, an Arctic climate and scarcely any 
 soil at all ; and yet her people are all decently clad and 
 adequately though frugally fed, and I have not seen one 
 person who seemed to have been demoralized by want or 
 to suffer from hunger since I crossed her border. Her 
 hotels are far superior to their more frequented namesakes 
 
260 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 of Italy ; even at the isolated hamlet of Airolo, where no 
 grain will grow, I found everything essential to cleanliness 
 and comfort, while the " Switzer Hoff " at Lucerne and 
 "Les Trois Rois " at Basle are two of the very best houses 
 I have found in Europe. What Royalist can satisfactorily 
 explain these contrasts ? 
 
 Switzerland, though a small country, and not half of this 
 habitable, speaks three different languages. I found at 
 Airolo regular files of Swiss journals printed respectively 
 in French, Italian, and German : the last entirely baffled 
 me; the two former I read after a fashion, making out 
 some of their contents' purport and drift. Those in French, 
 printed at Geneva, Lausanne, &c., were executed far more 
 neatly than the others. All were of small size, and in good 
 part devoted to spirited political discussion. Switzerland, 
 though profoundly Republican, is almost equally divided 
 into parties known respectively as " Radical " and " Con- 
 servative : " the Protestant Cantons being preponderantly 
 Radical, the Catholic generally Conservative. Of the pre- 
 cise questions in dispute I know little and shall say nothing; 
 but I do trust that the controversy will not enfeeble' nor 
 paralyze the Republic, now seriously menaced by the 
 Allied Despots, who seem to have almost forgotten that 
 there ever was such a man as William Tell. Let us 
 drink, in the crystal current leaping brightly down from 
 the eternal glaciers, to his glorious, inspiring memory, and 
 to Switzerland a loving and hopeful Adieu ! 
 
XXXIII. 
 GERMANY. 
 
 Cologne, Tuesday, July 15, 1851. 
 
 After spending Sunday very agreeably at Basle (where 
 American Protestants traveling may like to know that 
 Divine worship is regularly conducted each Sabbath by 
 an English clergyman, at the excellent Hotel of the Three 
 Kings), I set my face again northward at 7i a. m. on 
 Monday, crossing the Rhine (which is here about the size 
 of the Hudson at Albany) directly into Baden, and so 
 leaving the soil of glorious Switzerland, the mountain home 
 of Liberty amid surrounding despotisms. The nine first 
 miles from Basle (to Efringen) are traversed by Omnibus, 
 and thence a very good Railroad runs nearly parallel with 
 the Rhine by Freiburg, Kehl (opposite Strasburg), Baden 
 (at some distance), Rastatt, Carlsruhe, and Heidelberg, to 
 Mannheim, distant from Basle 167 J miles by Railroad, and 
 I presume considerably further by River, as the Rhine 
 (unlike the Railroad as far as Heidelberg) is not very 
 direct in its course. There is a French Railroad complet- 
 ed on the other (west) side of the river from Basle to 
 Strasburg, and nearly completed from Strasburg to Paris, 
 which affords a far more direct and expeditious route than 
 that I have chosen, as I wished to see something of Ger- 
 many. It is also cheaper, I believe, to take the French 
 Railroad to Strasburg, and the river thence by steamboats 
 which ply regularly as high as Strasburg, and might keep 
 on to Basle, I presume, if not impeded by bridges, as the 
 river is amply large enough. 
 12* 
 
262 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 The Baaen Railroad runs through a country descending, 
 indeed, toward the Rhine and with the Rhine, but as near- 
 ly level as a country well can be, and affording the fewest 
 possible obstacles to its construction. It is faithfully built, 
 but instead of the numerous common roads which cross it 
 being carried over or under its track, as the English Rail- 
 roads are, they are closed on each side by a swing-bar, at 
 which a guard is stationed — a plan which saves expense at 
 the outset, but involves a heavy permanent charge. I 
 should deem the English plan preferable to this, though 
 men are had much cheaper for such service in Germany 
 than in America, or even Great Britain. The pace is 
 slower than with us. We were about nine hours of fair 
 day-light traversing 160 miles of level or descending grade, 
 with a light passenger train. The management, however, 
 was careful and unexceptionable. 
 
 This Railroad runs for most of the distance much nearer 
 to the range of gentle hills which bound the broad and 
 fertile Rhine valley on the east than to the river itself. 
 The valley is nearly bare of trees for the most part, and 
 has scarcely any fences save the very slight board fence on 
 either side of the Railroad. In some places, natural woods 
 of considerable extent are permitted, but not many fruit 
 nor shade-trees, whether in rows or scattered. The hills 
 in sight, however, are very considerably wooded, and wood 
 is apparently the common fuel. The valley is generally 
 but not entirely irrigated, though all of it easily might be, 
 the arrangements for irrigation appearing much more mo- 
 dern and unsystematic here than in Lombardy. The land is 
 cultivated in strips as in France — first Wheat (the great 
 staple), then Rye, then Potatoes, then Clover, then Beets, 
 or Hemp, or Flax, and so on. For a small part of the 
 way. Grass seems to preponderate, but generally Wheat 
 and Rve cover more than half the ground, while Potatoes 
 have a very large breadth of it. Rye is now being harvest- 
 ed, and is quite heavy : in fact, all the crops promise 
 
GERMANY. 263 
 
 abundant harvests. The Vine appears at intervals, but is 
 not general through this region : Indian Corn is also rare, 
 and appears in small patches. In some places many acres 
 of Wheat are seen in one piece, but usually a breadth of 
 four to twenty rods is given to one crop, and then another 
 succeeds and so on. I presume this implies a diversity of 
 owners, or at least of tenants. 
 
 The cultivation, though not always judicious, is generally 
 thorough, there being no lack of hands nor of good will. 
 The day being fine and the season a hurrying one, the vast 
 plain was everywhere dotted with laborers, of whom fully 
 half were Women, reaping Rye, binding it, raking and 
 pitching Hay, hoeing Potatoes, transplanting Cabbages, 
 Beets, &c. They seemed to work quite as heartily and 
 efficiently as the men. But the most characteristically 
 European spectacle I saw was a woman unloading a great 
 hay-wagon of huge cordwood at a Railroad station, and 
 pitching over the heavy sticks with decided resolution and 
 efficiency. It may interest the American pioneers in the 
 Great Pantalette (or is it Pantaloon ?) Movement to know 
 that she was attired in appropriate costume — short frock, 
 biped continuations and a mannish oil-skin hat. — And this 
 reminds me that, coming away from Rome, I met, at the 
 half-way house to Civita Vecchia, a French marching re- 
 giment on its way from Corsica to the Eternal City, to 
 which regiment two women were attached as sutlers, &c., 
 who also wore the same costume, except that their hats 
 were of wool instead of oil-skin. Thus attired, they had 
 marched twenty-five miles that hot day, and were to march 
 as many the next, as they had doubtless done on many 
 former days. It certainly cannot be pretended that these 
 women adopted that dress from a love of novelty, or a 
 desire to lead a new fashion, or from any other reason 
 than a sense of its convenience, founded on experience. 
 I trust, therefore, that their unconscious testimony in be- 
 half of the Great Movement may not be deemed irrelevant 
 
264 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 nor unentitled to consideration. Their social rank is cer- 
 tainly not the highest, but I consider them more likely to 
 render a correct judgment on the merit of the Bloomer 
 controversy than the Lady Patronesses of Almack's. 
 
 THE RHINE. 
 
 After spending the night at Mannheim, I took a steam- 
 boat at 5^ this morning for this place, 165 miles down the 
 Rhine, embracing all the navigable part of the river of 
 which the scenery is esteemed attractive. As far down as 
 Mayence or Mentz (55 miles), the low banks and broad 
 intervale continue, and there is little v^orthy of notice. 
 From Mentz to Coblentz (54 miles), there is some magnifi- 
 cent scenery, though I think its natural beauties do not 
 surpass those of the Hudson from New- York to Newburgh. 
 Certainly there are no five miles equal in rugged grandeur 
 to those beginning just below and ending above West 
 Point. But the Rhine is here somewhat larger than the 
 Hudson ; the hills on either side, though seldom absolutely 
 precipitous, are from one to five hundred feet high, and are 
 often crowned with the ruins of ancient castles, which 
 have a very picturesque appearance ; w^hile the little 
 villages at their foot and the cultivation (mainly of the 
 Vine) which is laboriously prosecuted up their rocky and 
 almost naked sides, contribute to heighten the general 
 effect. These sterile rocks impart a warmth to the soil 
 and a sweetness to the grape which are otherwise found 
 only under a more southerly sun, and, combined with the 
 cheapness of labor, appear to justify the toilsome process 
 of terracing up the steep hill-sides, and even carrying up 
 earth in baskets to little southward-looking nooks and 
 crevices where it may be retained and planted on. Yet I 
 liked better than the vine-clad heights those less abrupt 
 declivities v^here a more varied culture is attempted, and 
 where the Vine is intermingled with strips of now ripened 
 
THE GERMANS. 265 
 
 Rye, ripening Wheat, blossoming Potatoes, &c., &c., 
 together imparting a variegated richness and beauty to the 
 landscape which are rarely equaled. But the Rhine has 
 been nearly written out, and I will pass it lightly over. 
 Its towers are not very imposing in appearance, though 
 Coblentz makes a fair show. Opposite is Ehrenbreitstein, 
 no longer the ruin described (if I rightly remember) in 
 Childe Harold, but a magnificent fortress, apparently in 
 the best condition, and said to have cost Five Millions of 
 dollars. The *' blue Moselle " enters the Rhine from the 
 west just below Coblentz. This city (Cologne) is the 
 largest, I believe, in Rhenish Prussia, and, next to Rotter- 
 dam at its mouth, the largest on the Rhine, having a 
 flourishing trade and 90,000 inhabitants. (Coblentz has 
 26,000, Mayence 36,000, Mannheim 23,000 and Strasburg 
 60,000.) 
 
 There are some bold bights dignified as mountains below 
 Coblentz, but the finest of the scenery is above. The hills 
 disappear some miles above this city, and henceforward to 
 the sea all is flat and tame as a marsh. On the whole, 
 the Rhine has hardly fulfilled my expectations. Had I 
 visited it on my way to the Alps, instead of just/?'om them, 
 it would doubtless have impressed me more profoundly ; 
 but I am sure the St. Mary's of Lake Superior is better 
 worth seeing ; so I think, is the Delaware section of the 
 Erie Railroad. It is possible the weather may have 
 unfitted me for appreciating this famous river, for a more 
 cloudy, misty, chilly, rainy, execrable, English day I have 
 seldom encountered. To travelers blessed with golden 
 sunshine, the Rhine may wear a grander, nobler aspect, 
 and to such I leave it. 
 
 THE GERMANS. 
 
 I have been but two days wholly among the Germans, 
 but I had previously met many of them in England, Italy 
 
GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 and Switzerland. They are seen to the best advantage at 
 home. Their uniform courtesy (save in the detestable 
 habit of smoking where others cannot help being annoyed 
 by their fumes), indicates not merely good nature but 
 genuine kindness of heart. I have not seen a German 
 quarreling or scolding anywhere in Europe. The deference 
 of members of the same family to each other's happiness 
 in cars, hotels and steamboats has that quiet, unconscious 
 manner which distinguishes a habit from a holiday orna- 
 ment. The entire absence of pretense, of stateliness, of 
 a desire to be thought a personage and not a mere person, 
 is scarcely more universal in Switzerland than here. But 
 in fact I have found Aristocracy a chronic disease 
 nowhere but in Great Britain. In France, there is abso- 
 lutely nothing of it ; there are monarchists in that country 
 — monarchists from tradition, from conviction, from policy, 
 or from class interest — but of Aristocracy scarcely a trace 
 is left. Your Paris boot-black will make you a low bow 
 in acknowledgment of a franc, but he has not a trace of 
 the abjectness of a London waiter, and would evidently 
 decline the honor of being kicked by a Duke. In Italy, 
 there is little manhood but no class-worship ; her millions 
 of beggars will not abase themselves one whit lower before 
 a Prince than before anyone else from whom they hope to 
 worm a copper. The Swiss are freemen, and wear the 
 fact unconsciously but palpably on their brows and beaming 
 from their eyes. The Germans submit passively to 
 arbitrary power which they see not how successfully to 
 resist, but they render to rank or dignity no more homage 
 than is necessary — their souls are still free, and their 
 manners evince a simpUcity and frankness which might 
 shame or at least instruct America. On the Rhine, 
 the steamboats are so small and shabby, without state- 
 rooms, berth-rooms, or even an upper deck — that tiie 
 passengers are necessarily at all times under each other's 
 observation, and, as the fare is high, and twice as much in 
 
THE GERMANS. 267 
 
 the main as in the forward cabin, it may be fairly presumed 
 that among those who pay the higher charge are none of 
 the poorest class — no mere laborers for wages. Yet in 
 this main cabin well-dressed young ladies would take out 
 their home-prepared dinner and eat it at their own good 
 time without seeking the company and countenance of 
 others, or troubling themselves to see who was observing. 
 A Lowell factory-girl would consider this entirely out of 
 character, and a New-York milliner would be shocked at 
 the idea of it. 
 
 The Germans are a patient, long-suffering race. Of 
 their Forty Millions outside of Austria, probably less than 
 an eighth at all approve or even acquiesce in the despotic 
 policy in which their rulers are leagued, and which has 
 rendered Germany for the present a mere outpost of 
 Russia — an unfinished Poland. These people are intelli- 
 gent as well as brave — they see and feel, yet endure and 
 forbear. Perhaps their course is wiser than that which 
 hot impatience would prompt — nay, I believe it is. If they 
 can patiently suffer on without losing heart until France 
 shall have extricated herself from the toils of her treacher- 
 ous misrulers, they may then resume their rights almost 
 without a blow. And whenever a new 1848 shall dawn 
 upon them, they will have learned to improve its opportu- 
 nities and avoid its weaknesses and blunders. Heaven 
 speed its auspicious coming ! 
 
XXXIV. 
 BELGIUM. 
 
 Paris, Saturday, July 19, 1851. 
 
 From Cologne westward by Railroad to the Western 
 frontier (near Verviers) of Rhenish Prussia, and thus of 
 Germany, is 65 miles. For most of the way the country 
 is flat and fertile, and in good part devoted to Grazing, 
 though considerable Wheat is grown. The farming is 
 not remarkably good, and the general aspect befits a region 
 which for two thousand years has been too often the arena 
 of fierce and bloody conflict between the armies of great 
 nations. Cologne itself, though a place of no natural 
 strength, has been fortified to an extent and at an evident 
 cost beyond all American conception. All over this part 
 of Europe, and to a less degree throughout Italy, the 
 amount of expenditure on walls and forts, bastions, ditches, 
 batteries, &c. is incalculably great. I cannot doubt that 
 any nation, by wisely expending half so much in systematic 
 efforts to educate, employ steadily and reward amply its 
 poorer classes, would have been strengthened and ensured 
 against invasion far more than it could be by walls like 
 precipices and a belt of fortresses as impregnable as 
 Gibraltar. But this wisdom is slowly learned by rulers, 
 and is not yet very widely appreciated. Whenever it 
 shall be, "Othello's occupation" will be gone, not for 
 Othello only, but for all who would live by the sword. 
 
 For some miles before it reaches the frontier, and for a 
 much larger distance after entering Belgium, the Railroad 
 
BELGIUM. 269 
 
 passes through a decidedly broken, hilly, up-and-down 
 country, most unlike the popular conception of Flanders 
 or Belgium. Precipices of naked rock are not unfrequent 
 and the region is wisely given up mainly to Wood and 
 Grass, the former engrossing most of the hill-sides and the 
 latter flourishing in the valleys. This Railroad has more 
 tunnels in the course of fifty miles than I ever before met 
 w^ith — I think not less than a dozen — while the grading 
 and bridging must have been very expensive. Such a 
 country is of course prolific in running streams, on which 
 many small and some larger manufacturing towns and 
 villages are located. At length, it ascends a considerable 
 inclined plane at Liege, once a very popular, powerful and 
 still a handsome and important manufacturing town with 
 60,000 inhabitants; and here the beautiful and magnifi- 
 cently fertile table lands of Belgium spread out like a vast 
 prairie before the traveler. In fact, the peasant cultivators 
 are so commonly located in villages, leaving long stretches 
 of the rarely fenced though well cultivated plain without a 
 habitation, that the resemblance to level prairies which 
 have been planted and sown is more striking than would 
 be imagined. But the growing crops are too cleanly and 
 carefully weeded and too uniformly good to protract the 
 illusion. Sometimes hundreds of acres are unbrokenly 
 covered with Wheat, which has the largest area of any 
 one staple ; but more commonly a breadth of this is suc- 
 ceeded by one of Rye, that by one of Potatoes, then Wheat 
 again, then Clover, then Rye, then Wheat, then Potatoes, 
 then Clover or other grass, and so on. I never before saw 
 so extensive and uniformly thrifty a growth of Potatoes, 
 while acres upon acres of Beets, also in regular rows and 
 kept carefully free from weeds, present at this season a 
 beautiful appearance. I apprehend that not half so much 
 attention has been given in our country to the growth of 
 this and the kindred roots as would have been richly 
 rewarded. Of course, it is idle to sow Beets on any but 
 
270 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 rich land, with a generous depth of soil and the most 
 thorough cultivation, but with such cultivation the red 
 lands of New- Jersey and the intervales of our rivers might 
 be profitably and extensively devoted to the Beet culture 
 and to that of the larger Turnips. I have seen nothing in 
 Europe that made a better appearance or promised a more 
 bountiful return than the large tracts of Belgium and the 
 neighboring district of France sown to Beets. 
 
 Indian Corn and the Vine are scarcely, or not at all 
 seen in Belgium. Beggars are not abundant ; but women 
 are required to labor quite extensively in the fields. The 
 habitations of the poor are less wretched than those of 
 Italy, but not equal to those of the fertile portion of Switz- 
 erland. Irrigation is quite extensively practised, but is far 
 from universal. The few cattle kept in the wholly arable 
 and thoroughly cultivated portion of the country are seldom 
 allowed to range, because of the lack offences, but are kept 
 up and fed throughout the year. Women cutting grass in 
 all by-places, and carrying it home by back-loads to feed 
 their stock, is a common spectacle throughout central 
 Europe. Trees sometimes line the roads and streams, or 
 irrigating canals, and sometimes have a piece of ground 
 allotted them whereon to grow at random, but are rather 
 scarce throughout this region, and I think I saw square 
 miles entirely devoid of them. Fruit-trees are clearly too 
 scarce, though Cherries in abundance were offered for sale 
 as we passed. On the whole, Belgium is not only a fertile 
 but a prosperous country. 
 
 At Liege, the Railroad we traversed leaves its westerly 
 for a north-west course, running past Tirlemont to Malines 
 (Mechlin) and thence to Antwerp; but we took a sharp 
 turn to the south-west of Malines in order to reach Brus- 
 sels, which, though the capital and the largest city of Bel- 
 gium, is barely a point or stopping-place on a right line, 
 while Liege, Namur, Ghent and Bruges are each the point 
 of junction of two or more completed roads. Brussels 
 
NORTH-EASTERN FRANCE. 271 
 
 has slept while this network has been woven over the 
 country, and will awake to discover herself shorn of her 
 trade and sinking into insignificance if she does not imme- 
 diately bestir herself. Her location is a fine one, on a 
 ground which rises very gradually from the great plain to 
 a modest hill southward, and she is among the best built 
 of modern cities. But already she is off the direct line 
 from either London or Paris to Germany ; I would have 
 saved many miles by avoiding her and taking the road due 
 west from Liege to Namur, Charleroi and Mons, where it 
 intersects the Brussels line ; and soon the great bulk of the 
 travel will do so if it does not already. Railroads are 
 reckless Radicals and are destined by turns to make and 
 to mar the fortunes of many great emporiums. 
 
 NORTH-EASTERN FRANCE. 
 
 Tournay in the coal region, fifty miles from Brussels, is the 
 last town of Belgium ; eight miles further is Valenciennes, 
 one of the strong frontier fortresses of France, with over 
 20,000 inhabitants, an active trade and the worth of a 
 dukedom wasted on its fortifications. Here our baggage 
 underwent a new custom-house scrutiny, which was expe- 
 ditiously and rationally made, and I kept on twenty-three 
 miles farther to Douai, where our Railroad falls into one 
 from Calais, which had already absorbed those from Dun- 
 kirk and Ghent, and where, it being after 10 o'clock, I 
 halted for the night, so as to take a Calais morning train at 
 4|- and see by fair day-light the country thence to Paris, 
 which I had already traversed in the dark. 
 
 This country presents no novel features. It is not quite 
 so level nor so perfectly cultivated as central Belgium, but 
 is generally fertile and promises fairly. The Rye harvest 
 is in progress through all this country, and is very good, 
 but the breadth of Wheat is much greater, and it also 
 promises well, though not yet ripened. Westward from 
 
272 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 Brussels in Belgium is an extensive Grazing region, boun- 
 tifully irrigated, and covered with large herds of fine cattle. 
 Something of this is seen after crossing into France, but 
 Wheat regains its predominance, while large tracts are de- 
 voted to the Beet, probably for the manufacture of Sugar. 
 There are few American gardens that can show the Beet 
 in greater perfection than it exhibits here, in areas of 
 twenty to forty acres. Wood also becomes far more 
 abundant in the Grazing region, and continues so nearly 
 up to the walls of Paris, Poplars and other trees of slender 
 foliage being planted in raws across the fields as well as by 
 the streams and road-sides. The Vine, which had vanish- 
 ed with the bolder scenery of the Rhine, reappears only 
 within sight of Paris, where many of the cultivated fields 
 attest a faultiness or meagerness of cultivation unworthy 
 of the neighborhood of a great metropolis. I presume 
 there will be more middling and half middling yields 
 within twenty miles of Paris than in all Belgium. 
 
 I find Paris, and measurably France, in a state of saluta- 
 ry ferment, connected with the debate in the Assembly on 
 the proposed Revision of the Constitution. The best 
 speeches are yet to be made, but already the attention of 
 the People is fixed on the discussion, and it will be follow- 
 ed to the end with daily increased interest. That end, as 
 is well known, will be a defeat of the proposed Revision, 
 and of all schemes looking to the legal and peaceful rees- 
 tablishment of Monarchy, or the reelection of Louis Na- 
 poleon. And this discussion, this result, will have immense- 
 ly strengthened the Republic in the hearts of the French 
 Millions, as well as in the general conviction of its stability. 
 And if, with the Suffrage crippled as it is, and probably 
 must continue to be, a heartily Republican President can 
 be elected here next May, an impulse will be given to the 
 movement throughout Europe which can scarcely be with- 
 stood. Live the Republic ! 
 
XXXV. 
 PARIS TO LONDON. 
 
 London, Tuesday, July 22, 1851. 
 The quickest and most usual route from Paris to Lon- 
 don is that by way of Calais and Dover ; but as I had 
 traversed that once, and part of it twice, I resolved to try 
 another for my return, and chose the cheapest and most 
 direct of all — that by way of Rouen, Dieppe, New-Haven 
 and the Brighton Raih'oad — which is 32 miles shorter than 
 the Calais route, but involves four times as long a watei 
 passage, and so is spun out to more than twice the length 
 of the other. We left Paris at 8 yesterday morning; 
 halted at the fine old town of Rouen before noon ; were in 
 Dieppe at 2^ p. m.; but there we waited for a boat till after 
 6 ; then were eight hours crossing the Channel ; had to 
 wait at New-Haven till after 6 this morning before the 
 Custom-House scrutiny of our baggage was begun ; so that 
 only a few were enabled to take the first train thence for 
 London at a quarter to 7. I was not among the lucky 
 ones, but had to hold on for the second train at a quarter 
 past 8, and so did not reach this city till after 10, or 
 twenty-six hours from Paris, though, with a little enter- 
 prise and a decent boat on the Channel, the trip could 
 easily be made in 14 hours — four for the French side, six 
 for the Channel, two for the English side and two for 
 Custom-House delay and leeway of all kinds. If Commo- 
 dore Vanderbilt or Mr. Newton would only take compas- 
 sion on the ignorance and barbarism prevailing throughout 
 
274 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 Europe in the matter of steaiiiboat-buildiDg, and establish 
 a branch of his business on this side of the Atlantic, he 
 would do the cause of Human Progress a service, and 
 signally contribute to the diminution of the sum of mortal 
 misery. 
 
 The night was mild and fair ; the wind light ; the sea 
 consequently smooth ; and I suffered less, and repented my 
 choice of a route less, than I had expected to ; but consider 
 the facts : Here was the most direct route by Railroad and 
 Steamboat between the two great Capitals of Europe — a 
 route constantly traveled by multitudes from all parts of 
 world — yet the only boats provided for the liquid portion 
 of the way are two little black, cobbling concerns, each 
 perhaps seventy feet long by fifteen wide, with no deck 
 above the water line, and not a single berth for even a 
 lady passenger, though making one passage each night. 
 Who could suppose that two tolerably civilized nations 
 would endure this in the middle of 1851 ? 
 
 We were nearly two hundred passengers, and the boat 
 just about decently held us, but had not sitting-room for 
 all, above and under the deck. But as about half, being 
 " second class," had no right to enter the main cabin, those 
 who had that right were enabled to sit and yawn, and try 
 to cheat themselves into the notion that they would coax 
 sleep to their aid after a while. Occasionally, one or two 
 having left for a turn on deck, some drowsy mortal would 
 stretch himself on a settee at full length, but the remonstran- 
 ces of others needing seats would soon compel him to 
 resume a half-upright posture. And so the passage wore 
 away, and between 2 and 3 this morning vve reached 
 New- Haven (a petty sea-port at the mouth of the little 
 river Ouse), where we were permitted promptly to land, 
 minus our baggage, and repair to a convenient inn. Here 
 I, with several others, invested two British shillings in a 
 chance to sleep, but the venture (at least in my case) 
 proved a losing one. It was daylight when we went to 
 
PARIS TO LONDON. 275 
 
 bed, and the incessant tramping, ringing of bells, &c., kept 
 us for the most part awake and called us up at a very 
 early hour, to fidget uselessly for the recovery of our 
 baggage, and lose the early train at last. 
 
 The country stretching north-westward from Paris to 
 Dieppe (125 miles) is less thoroughly cultivated than any 
 other I have seen in Europe out of Italy. I saw more 
 weedy and thin Rye and ragged Wheat than I had noted 
 elsewhere. Grass is the chief staple, after leaving the 
 garden-covered vicinity of Paris, though Wheat, Rye and 
 Oats are extensively cultivated. The Root crops promise 
 poorly. Indian Corn is hardly seen, though the Vine is 
 considerably grown. This region is generally well wooded, 
 but in a straggling, accidental way, which has the effect 
 neither of Lombard nicety of plantation, nor of the natural 
 luxuriance of genuine forests. Fruit is not abundant. 
 Irrigation is considerably practiced. The dwellings of the 
 majority have an antiquated, ruinous, tumble-down aspect, 
 such as I have observed nowhere else this side of Lower 
 Italy. On the whole, I doubt whether this portion of 
 France has improved much within the last fifty years. 
 
 Rouen, the capital of ancient Normandy, is the fifth city 
 of France, only Paris, Lyons, Marseilles and Bordeaux 
 having more inhabitants. Here the Railroad for Havre 
 diverges from that to Dieppe, which we adhered to. Rouen 
 is interesting for its antiquities, including several venerable 
 and richly adorned Churches which I had no time to visit. 
 Dieppe, on the Channel, has a small harbor, completely 
 landlocked, and 17,000 inhabitants. It is considerably 
 resorted to for sea-bathing, but seems to have very little 
 trade. I judge that the Railroads now being extended 
 through France, are likely to arrest the growth or hasten 
 the decline of most of the smaller cities and towns by 
 facilitating and cheapening access to the capital, where 
 nearly every Frenchman would live if he could, and where 
 the genius of people and government (no matter under 
 
276 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 what constitution) conspires to concentrate all the intel- 
 lectual and artistic life of the Nation. 
 
 The Railroad from New-Haven to London passes 
 through no considerable town, though not far from Brighton 
 and Tunbridge. The country is undulating and beautiful, 
 mainly devoted to Grass, Wheat and Wood, and in the 
 very highest condition. It is now toward the end of 
 Haying, and the Wheat is just beginning to ripen, though 
 that of Central Italy was mainly harvested a full month 
 ago. But the English Wheat covers the ground thickly 
 and evenly, and promises a large average crop, especially 
 if the present fine weather should continue through the 
 next two weeks. 
 
 Noble herds of Cattle and flocks of Sheep overspread the 
 spacious grounds devoted to Pasturage, especially near the 
 Channel, where most of the land is in Grass. English 
 Agriculture has a thorough and cleanly aspect which I 
 have rarely observed elsewhere. Belgium is as careful 
 and as productive, but its alternations of tillage or grass 
 with woodland are by no means so frequent nor so pictu- 
 resque as I see here. The sturdy, hospitable trees of an 
 English park or lawn are not rivaled, so far as I have seen, 
 on the Continent. I have rarely seen a reach of country 
 better disposed for effect than that from a point ten miles 
 this side of New-Haven to within some ten miles of this 
 city, where Market Gardening supplants regular Farming. 
 Women work in the fields at this season in England, but 
 not more than one woman to five men were visible in 
 the hay-fields we passed this morning — it may have been 
 otherwise in the afternoon. As to beggars, none were 
 visible, begging being disallowed. 
 
 Crossing the Channel shifts the boot very decidedly with 
 respect to language. Those who were groping in the 
 dark a few hours ago are now in the brightest sunshine, 
 while the oracles of yesterday are the meekest disciples 
 to-day. I rode from Nevs^-Haven to London in the same 
 
LONDON AT MIDNIGHT. 277 
 
 car with three Frenchmen and two Frenchwomen, coming 
 up to the Exhibition, with a scant half-allowance of 
 English among them ; and their efforts to understand the 
 signs, &c., were interesting. " London Stout," displayed 
 in three-foot letters across the front of a drinking-house, 
 arrested their attention: ''Stoat? Stoot ?" queried one of 
 them ; but the rest were as much in the dark as he, and I 
 was as deficient in French as they in English. The 
 bofogged one pulled out his dictionary and read over and 
 over all the French synonyms of " Stout," but this only 
 increased his perplexity. " Stout " signified " robust," 
 " hearty," " vigorous," " resolute," &c., but what then 
 could " London Stout " be ? He closed his book at length 
 in despair and resumed his observations. 
 
 LONDON AT MIDNIGHT. 
 
 London is given to late hours. At 6 a. m. though the 
 sun has long been up, there are few stirring in the principal 
 streets ; occasionally you meet a cab hurrying with some 
 passenger to take an early train ; but few shutters are 
 down at 7, and scarcely an omnibus is to be seen till after 
 8. The aristocratic dinner hour is 8 p. m. though I trust 
 few are so unmerciful to themselves as to postpone their 
 chief meal to that late hour when they have no company. 
 The morning to sleep, the afternoon to business and the 
 evening to enjoyment, seems the usual routine with the 
 favored classes. 
 
 Walking home from a soiree at the West-end through 
 Regent-street, Haymarket and the Strand once at midnight, 
 I was struck, though accustomed to all manner of late 
 hours in New- York, with the relative activity and wide- 
 awake aspect of London at that hour. It seemed the 
 High Change of revelry and pleasure-seeking. The 
 taverns, the clubs and drinking-shops betrayed no symptoms 
 of drowsiness ; the theatres were barely beginning to emit 
 
 13 
 
278 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 their jaded multitudes ; the cabs and private carriages 
 were more plentiful than by day, and were briskly wheeling 
 hundreds from party to party ; even the omnibuses rattled 
 down the wide streets as freshly and almost as numerously 
 as at midday. The policemen were alert on nearly every 
 corner ; sharpers and suspicious characters stepped nimbly 
 about the cross-streets in quest of prey, and innumerable 
 wrecks of Womanhood, God pity them ! shed a deeper 
 darkness over the shaded and dusky lanes and byways 
 whence they momently emerged to salute the passer-by. 
 Beneath the shelter of night, Misery stole forth from its 
 squalid lair, no longer awed by the Police, to beseech the 
 compassion of the stranger and pour its tale of woe and 
 suffering into the rarely willing ear. Serene and silvery 
 in the clear night-air rose the nearly full moon over 
 Southwark, shedding a soft and mellow light on pillar and 
 edifice, column and spire, and enduing the placid bosom 
 of the Thames with a tranquil and spiritual beauty. Such 
 was one glimpse of London at midnight ; I have not seen 
 it so impressive by day. 
 
XXXVI. 
 UNIVERSAL PEACE CONGRESS. 
 
 London, July 25, 1851. 
 
 The fourth Annual Congress of the friends and cham- 
 pions of Peace, universal and perpetual, was closed last 
 evening, after a harmonious and enthusiastic session of 
 three full days. The number of Delegates in attendance 
 was between eight and nine hundred, while the spacious 
 area of Exeter Hall, which is said to hold comfortably 
 thirty-five hundred persons, was well filled throughout, and 
 densely crowded for hours together. Having been held at 
 a most favorable time and at the point most accessible to 
 the great body of the active friends of Peace, I presume 
 the attendance was larger than ever before. 
 
 Two thoughts were suggested to me by the character 
 and proceedings of this assemblage — first, that of the emi- 
 nently popular and plebeian origin and impulse of all the 
 great Reform Movements of our age« Every great public 
 assemblage in Europe for any other purpose will be sure to 
 number Lords, Dukes, Generals, Princes, among its digni- 
 taries ; but none such came near the Peace Congress ; very 
 few of them take part in any movement of the kind. In 
 the list of Delegates to this Congress, under the head of 
 " Profession or Trade," you find " Merchant," " Miller," 
 "Teacher," "Tanner," "Editor," "Author," "Bookseller," 
 "Jeweller," &:c., very rarely "Gentleman," or "Baronet," 
 and never a higher title. I rejoice to say that " Minister" 
 or " Clergyman " appears pretty often, but never such a 
 
280 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 word as " Bishop " or " Archbishop," though the most 
 liberal of the Established Hierarchy, Archbishop Whateley 
 of Dublin, sent a brief note expressing sympathy with the 
 objects of the meeting. And I think among the clergymen 
 present there was hardly one belonging to either of the 
 two Churches which in these realms claim a special and 
 exclusive patent from Heaven for the dispensation of 
 Religious Truth. 
 
 The other thought suggested by this mighty gathering 
 concerns the character and efficacy of the organizations 
 and sects in which Christianity is presumed to be em- 
 bodied. Let a Convention be called of the Friends of 
 Peace, of Temperance, of Personal Liberty, of the Sacred- 
 ness of Human Life, or any other tangible and positive 
 idea, and many hundreds will come together from distant 
 nations, speaking diverse languages, and holding antagonist 
 opinions on other important subjects, and will for days dis- 
 cuss and deliberate in perfect harmony, unite in appropri- 
 ate and forcible declarations of their common sentiments 
 and in the adoption of measures calculated to ensure their 
 triumph. But let a general Convention of the followers of 
 Jesus Christ be called, with a view to the speedy Christian- 
 ization of the world, and either three-fourths would keep 
 away or the whole time of the meeting be wasted in an 
 acrimonious quarrel as to the meaning of Christianity or 
 the wording of the Shibboleth whereby those who were 
 should be distinguished from those who were not entitled 
 to bear the Christian name. 
 
 This contrast implies a great wrong somewhere, and for 
 which somebody must be responsible. I merely suggest it 
 for general consideration, and pass on. 
 
 Not fully sympathising with the Peace Movement in the 
 actual condition of Europe, I was not a Delegate, and did 
 not attend the first two days' deliberations. I see not how 
 any one who does not hope to live and thrive by injustice, 
 oppression and murder, can be otherwise than ardently 
 
UNIVERSAL PEACE CONGRESS. 281 
 
 favorable to Universal Peace. But, suppose there is a 
 portion of the human family who won't have Peace, nor let 
 others have it, what then ? If you say, " Let us have it as 
 soon as we can," I respond with all my heart. I would 
 tolerate War, even against pirates or murderers, no longer 
 than is absolutely necessary to inspire them with a love of 
 Peace, or put them where they can no longer invade the 
 peace of others. But so long as Tyrannies and Aristocra- 
 cies shall say — as they now practically do say all over 
 Europe, " Yes, we too are for Peace, but it must be Peace 
 v^ith absolute submission to our good pleasure — Peace 
 w^ith two-thirds of the fruits of Human Labor devoted to 
 the pampering of our luxurious appetites, the maintenance 
 of our pomp, the indulgence of our unbounded desires — it 
 must be a Peace which leaves the Millions in darkness, in 
 hopeless degradation, the slaves of superstition and the 
 helpless victims of our lusts." I answer, "No, Sirs! on 
 your conditions no Peace is possible, but everlasting War 
 rather, until your unjust pretensions are abandoned or 
 until your power of enforcing them is destroyed." I have 
 felt a painful apprehension that the prevalence of the Peace 
 Movement, confined as it is to the Liberal party, and act- 
 ing on a state of things which secures almost unbounded 
 power to the Despots, is calculated to break the spirit of 
 down-trodden nations, and, by thus postponing the inevita- 
 ble struggle, protract to an indefinite period the advent of 
 that Reign of Universal Justice which alone can usher in 
 the glorious era of Universal Peace. And, had I been a 
 Delegate to this Universal Peace Congress, I should per- 
 haps have marred its harmony and its happiness by asking 
 it to consider and vote upon some such proposition as this^ 
 
 « Resolved, That in commending to all men everywhere the duty of seeking 
 and preserving Peace, we bear in mind the Apostle's injunction, ' First pure, 
 then peaceable,' and do not deny but affirm the right of a Nation wantontly 
 invaded by a foreign army, or intolerably oppressed by its own rulers, to resist 
 force by force." 
 
282 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 I rejoice in being able to say that the general tendency 
 of the speeches was towards universal Emancipation, 
 mental and physical. I doubt whether an English audience 
 composed in so large proportion of the conventionally 
 " respectable classes " ever listened to so much downright 
 Democracy before. The French speakers, the French 
 writers, were full of it, and the great event, at least of the 
 last day's session, was the entrance of a body of fifteen 
 French workmen, delegates to the World's Exhibition of 
 the " Working Associations" of Paris, who came in a body 
 to pledge their hearts and hands to the cause of Universal 
 Peace, and to assure the Congress that the Laborers, the 
 Republicans, of France, were eminently pacific in their 
 ideas and purposes, and that the preservation of the Re- 
 public, which is the immediate object of their exertions, is 
 valued not more in its relation to their personal rights and 
 aspirations than as a step toward the formation of a Eu- 
 ropean confederacy of emancipated Nations, and thus as 
 the corner-stone of the temple of Universal Peace. The 
 Speeches of these Workmen just from their benches in the 
 work-shops of Paris were every way admirable, and were 
 received with the heartiest enthusiasm. They breathed 
 the true spirit not of Peace only but of hearty cooperation 
 in every work calculated to promote the moral and social 
 well-being of mankind. The wretched cant which implies 
 natural enmity between France and England, or any other 
 two nations, was emphatically repudiated by them, and 
 every variety of forcible expression given to the earnest 
 desire of the Laboring Classes of France that Peace, 
 Freedom and Brotherhood shall prevail, not in their own 
 country merely, but throughout the world. 
 
 Mr. CoBDEN had made his great speech on the preceding 
 day, wdierein the grievous expensiveness and hideous im- 
 morality of Standing Armies were vividly portrayed. He 
 did not hesitate to speak straight out on the subject of the 
 demoralizing influence of Armies on the People among 
 
UNIVERSAL PEACE CONGRESS. 283 
 
 whom they were quartered or posted, and the broad track 
 of moral desolation which an armed force everywhere 
 leaves behind it. If the facts in this connection were but 
 generally known, I think there would soon be a loud call 
 from Christians, Moralists and Philanthropists for the entire 
 disbandment and dispersion of every Standing Army. — 
 Emile Girardin, Editor of " La P?^esse/' spoke more es- 
 pecially of the enormous expense of Armies and the ruinous 
 taxation they render necessary. — Mr. Cobden spoke again 
 yesterday, in more immediate denunciation of the enormous 
 Standing Army maintained by Austria, not merely through- 
 out its own but in other countries also, the Loans which 
 its Government is constantly contracting, and the gulf of 
 bankruptcy to which it is rapidly hurrying. He said there 
 were intimations that another Austrian Loan would be 
 attempted in London, and if it should be he should urge 
 the call of a public meeting to expose the past knaveries 
 of Austria in dealing with her creditors, and to hold up to 
 pubhc reprobation whoever should touch the Loan. — Mr. 
 Samuel Gurney, the Quaker banker, also spoke in repre- 
 hension of Loans for War purposes and all who subscribe 
 to or encourage them.- — Edward Miall (Editor of The 
 Non-Co7iformist), also spoke forcibly against War Loans. 
 
 M. CoRMENiN, an eminent French Statesman and writer, 
 read a witty, piquant essay in reprehension of War and all 
 other contrivances for shortening human life, which, being 
 given first in French and then substantially in English, 
 elicited very hearty plaudits. 
 
 There were many more speakers, including Mr. Hindley, 
 British M. P., M. Bouret, French Chamber of Deputies, 
 Elihu Burritt, M. Avignon, an Italian banker, J. S. Buck- 
 ingham, Dr. ScHERTZER of Vienna, and Joseph Sturge, 
 who moved that a similar convention be held next year, at 
 a time and place to be afterward agreed on, which was 
 unanimously carried. It was announced that Mr. Geo. 
 Hatfield of Manchester had suggested and agreed to bear 
 
284 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 the expense of fifteen Silver Medals to be presented, in 
 behalf of the Congress, to the representatives of the French 
 Workmen's Association for their attendance and sympathy. 
 — Sir David Brewster, being warmly thanked for his 
 services as Chairman, responded in a few excellent remarks, 
 urging each person present to instill the principles of Peace 
 into the hearts of the children who are or may be commit- 
 ted to his or her guidance. He remarked that he had not 
 once been called upon to exercise authority or repress 
 commotion during the whole period of the Congress, — a 
 fact proving that the principles of Peace had already taken 
 root in the breasts of the Membei*s ; and there was not, I 
 beUeve, a single proposition submitted to the Congress on 
 which its vote was not substantially unanimous. The 
 following are the Resolutions adopted : 
 
 The Congress of the friends of Universal Peace, assembled in London July 
 22, 23 and 24, 1851, considering that recourse to arms for the settlement of 
 international disputes, is a custom condemned alike by Religion, Morality, 
 Reason, and Hun>anity, and believing that it is useful and necessary frequently 
 to direct the attention both of Governments and Peoples to the evils of tho 
 War system, and the desirableness and practicability of maintaining Perma- 
 nent International Peace, resolves : 
 
 1. That it is the special and solemn duty of all Ministers of Religion, In- 
 structors of Youth, and Conductors of the Public Press, ta employ their great 
 influence in the diffusion of pacific principles and sentiments,, and in eradicat- 
 ing from the minds of men those hereditary animosities, and paiitical and 
 commercial jealousies, which have been so often the cause of disastrous Wars. 
 
 2. That as an appeal to the sword can settle no question, on any principle 
 of equity and right, it is the duty of Governments to refer to the decision of 
 competent and impartial Arbitrators such differences arising between them as 
 cannot be otherwise amicably adjusted. 
 
 3. That the Standing Armaments, with which the Governments of Europe 
 menace each other, amid professions of mutual friendship and confidence, being 
 a prolific source of social immorality, financial embarrassment, and national 
 suffering, w^hile they excite constant disquietude and irritation among the na- 
 tions, this Congress would earnestly urge upon the Governments the imperative 
 necessity of entering upon a system of International Disarmament. 
 
 4. This Congress, regarding the system of negotiating Loans for the prose- 
 cution of War, or the maintenance of warlike armaments, as immoral in prin- 
 ciple and disastrous in operation, renews its emphatic condemnation of all such 
 Loans. 
 
UNIVERSAL PEACE CONGRESS. 285 
 
 5. This Congress, believing that the intervention, by threatened or actual 
 violence, of one country in the international politics of another, is a frequent 
 cause of bitter and desolating wars, maintains that the right of every State to 
 regulate its own affairs should be held absolute and inviolate. 
 
 6. This Congress recommends all the friends of Peace to prepare public 
 opinion, in their respective countries, with a view to the formation of an au- 
 thoritative Code of International Law. 
 
 7. This Congress expresses its strong abhorrence of the system of aggression 
 and violence practiced by so-called civilized nations upon aboriginal and feeble 
 tribes, as leading to incessant and exterminating wars, eminently unfavorable 
 to the true progress of religion, civilization and commerce. 
 
 8. This Congress, convinced that whatever brings the nations of the earth 
 together in intimate and friendly intercourse must tend to the establishment of 
 Peace, by removing misapprehensions and prejudices, and inspiring mutual res- 
 pect, hails, with unqualified satisfaction, the Exhibition of the Industry of all 
 Nations, as eminently calculated to promote that end. 
 
 9. That the members of Peace Societies, in all Constitutional Countries, be 
 recommended to use their influence to return to their respective Parliaments, 
 representatives who are friends of Peace, and who will be prepared to support, 
 by their votes, measures for the diminution of the number of men employed in, 
 and the amount of money expended for. War purposes. 
 
 American Members of the Congress. — Nathaniel Adams, Cornwall, Conn.* 
 Rev. Robert Baird, New- York ; Geo. M. Borrows, Friburg, Maine ; M. b! 
 Bateman, Columbus, Ohio ; Rev. George Beckwith, Boston, Mass. ; W. Wells 
 Brown, do ; Elihu Buriitt, Worcester, Mass. ; William A. Burt, Washington, 
 
 D. C. ; Dr. Thomas Chadbourne, Portsmouth, N. H. ; Rev. J. W. Chickering^ 
 Portland, Me. ; Wm. Darlington, Westchester, Pa. ; Rev. P. B. Day, New- 
 Haven ; Rev. Amos Dresser, Oberlin, Ohio ; Rev. D. C. Eddy, Lowell, Mass. ; 
 Rev. Romeo Elton, Providence, R. I. ; A. R. Forsyth, Indiana ; Rev. Aaron 
 Foster, Massachusetts ; William B. Fox, do ; Rev. H. H. Garnet, Geneva, 
 N. Y-. ; David Gould, Sharon, Conn. ; Rev. Josiah Henson, Canada West ; 
 
 E. Jackson, Jr., Boston, Mass. ; Wm. Jackson, Newton, do ; Rev. P. M. 
 McDowell, New-Brunswick ; Rev. Geo. Maxwell, Ohio ; Rev. H. A. Mills, 
 Lowell, Mass. ; Rev. A. A. Miner, Boston, Mass. ; Dr. Henry S. Patterson, 
 Frank B. Palmer, Dr. William Pettit, Philadelphia, Pa. ; Thomas Pierce, 
 Illinois ; Moses Pond, Boston, Mass. ; J T. Sheoffe, Whitesboro', N. Y. ; 
 Isaac Skervan, Buffalo, N. Y. ; Rev. Zadock Thompson, Burlington, Vt. ; 
 Rev. John E. Tyler, Windham, Conn. ; Ichabod Washbourne, Worcester, 
 Mass. ; Rev. James C. White, Ohio ; Chas. H. De Wolfe, Oldtown, Me. 
 
 13* 
 
XXXVII. 
 AMERICA AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. 
 
 London, Tuesday, July 26, 1851. 
 
 If I return this once more and for the last time to the 
 subject of American contributions to the great Exposition, 
 it shall not be said with truth that my impulse is a feeling 
 of soreness and chagrin. Within the last few days, a very 
 decided and gratifying change has taken place in the cur- 
 rent of opinion here with regard to American invention 
 and its results. One cause of this was the late formal trial 
 of American (with other foreign) Plows, in the presence 
 of the Agricultural Jury ; v/hich trial, though partial and 
 hurried, was followed by immediate orders for an American 
 Plow then tested (Starbuck's) from Englishmen, Belgians 
 and Frenchmen, including several Agricultural Societies. 
 If a hundred of those Plows were here, they might be sold 
 at once; in their absence, the full price has been paid 
 down for some twenty or thirty, to be shipped at New- 
 York, and be thenceforth at the risk and cost of the buyers. 
 And these orders have just commenced. The London 
 journals which had reporters present (some of which 
 journals ridiculed our Farming Implements expressly a few 
 weeks ago), now grudgingly admit that the American 
 Plows did their work with less draft than was required by 
 their European rivals, but add that they did not do it so 
 v^rell. Such was not the judgment of other witnesses of 
 the trial, as the purchases, among other thinos, attest. 
 
 A still more signal triumph to American higenuity was 
 
AMERICA AT THE WORLD S FAIR. 287 
 
 accorded on Thursday. Mr. Mechi, formerly a London"^" 
 merchant, having acquired a competence by trade, retired 
 some years since to" a farm in Essex, about forty miles off, 
 where he is vigorously prosecuting a system of High 
 Farming, employing the most effective implements and 
 agencies of all kinds. He annually has a gathering of dis- 
 tinguished farmers and others to inspect his estate and see 
 how his "book farming" gets on. This festival occurred 
 day before yesterday — a sour, dark, drenching day — not- 
 withstanding which, nearly two hundred persons were 
 present. Among others, several machines for cutting 
 Grain were exhibited and tested, including two (Hussey's 
 and McCormick's) from America, and an English one 
 which was declared on all hands a mere imitation of Hus- 
 sey's. Neither the original nor the copy, however, appear 
 to have operated to the satisfaction of the assembly, 
 perhaps owing to the badness of the weather and its effects 
 on the draggled, unripe grain. With McCormick's a very 
 different result was obtained. This machine is so well 
 known in our Wheat-growing districts that I need only 
 remark that it is the same lately ridiculed by one of the 
 great London journals as " a cross between an Astley's 
 chariot, a treadmill and a flying machine," and its uncouth 
 appearance has been a standing butt for the London 
 reporters at the Exhibition. It was the ready exeniplar of 
 American distortion and absurdity in the domain of Art. 
 It came into the field at Mechi's, therefore, to confront a 
 tribunal (not the official but the popular) already prepared 
 for its condemnation. Before it stood John Bull, burly, 
 dogged and determined not to be humbugged — his judgment 
 made up and his sentence ready to be recorded. Nothing 
 disconcerted, the brown, rough, homespun Yankee in 
 charge jumped on the box, starting the team at a smart 
 walk, setting the blades of the machine in lively operation, 
 and commenced raking off the grain in sheaf-piles ready 
 for binding, — cutting a breadth of nine or ten feet cleanly 
 
-L 
 
 288 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 and carefully as fast as a span of horses could comfort- 
 ably step. There was a moment, and but a moment of 
 suspense ; human prejudice could hold out no longer ; 
 and burst after burst of. involuntary cheers from the 
 whole crowd proclaimed the triumph of the Yankee 
 "treadmill." That triumph has since been the leading 
 topic in all agricultural circles. The Times' report speaks 
 of it as beyond doubt, as placing the harvest absolutely 
 under the farmer's control, and as ensuring a complete 
 and most auspicious revolution in the harvesting operations 
 of this country. I would gladly give the whole account, 
 which, grudgingly towards the inventor, but unqualifiedly 
 as to the machine, speaks of the latter as '-securing to 
 English farming protection against climate and an eco- 
 nomy of labor which must prove o{ incalculable advantage." 
 Pretty well for "a cross between an Astley's chariot, a 
 flying machine and a tread-mill." 
 
 Mr. McCormick, I hear, is probably now on his way 
 hither from the United States, and will be rather astonished 
 on landing to find himself a lion. Half a dozen makers and 
 sellers of Agricultural implements, are already on the 
 watch for hini, and if he makes his bargain wisely, he is 
 morally sure of a fortune from England alone. His 
 machine and its operator were the center of an eager 
 circle to-day, and if five hundred of the former were to be 
 had here, they would all be bought within a month. There 
 is to be another public trial, merely to place beyond doubt 
 its capacity to cut dry and ripe grain as well as green and 
 wet ; but those who have seen it work in the States will 
 not care much for that.* 
 
 Mr. Hobbs, of the American Bank Lock Company, has 
 had a recent trial of the Chubb Lock, so long deemed 
 invincible here, and consumed twenty-four minutes and a 
 
 * This trial took place at Mechi's some three weeks later, and resulted ia 
 a complete triumph for the reaper, which thereupon received an award (already 
 accorded it by the Council of Chairmen, subject to revision upon the result of 
 this trial), of a first-class or Great- Medal. 
 
AMERICA AT THE WORLd's FAIR. 289 
 
 half in picking it, under the supervision of judges of 
 unquestionable ability and impartiality. He then re-locked 
 it without disturbing the " Detector/' and left it as when 
 it was set before him. He has now to try his skill on the 
 " Bramah " lock under the challenge for £200 ; and, 
 should he be able to open it, he says he shall there rest the 
 case."^ He has been sent for by the Governor of the 
 Bank of England, and will respond to the invitation. His 
 operations have of course excited some feeling among 
 those whose interests were affected by them ; yet it is 
 manifestly proper and important, if the locks relied on by 
 banks and other depositories of treasure here are not secure 
 against burglary, that the fact should be known. Unless 
 1 err as to his success at the forthcoming trial with the 
 Bramah lock, British locksmiths must commence at once 
 to learn their business over again under Yankee tuition. 
 
 I might give other facts in support of my judgment that 
 our Country has not been and will not be disgraced by her < 
 share in this Exhibition, but I forbear. Had we declined*^ 
 altogether the invitation to participate in this show, we 
 certainly would have been discredited in the world's opinion, 
 however unjustly ; had we attempted to rival the costly 
 tissues, dainty carvings, rich mosaics, and innumerable 
 gewgaws of Europe, we should have shown equal bad 
 taste and unsound judgment, and would have deservedly 
 been laughed at. Our real error consists, not in neglecting 
 to send articles to rival the rich fabrics and wares of this 
 Continent, but in sending too few of those homely but 
 most important products in which we unquestionably lead 
 the world. We have a good many such here now, but we 
 should have had many more. One such plain, odd-looking 
 concern as McCormick's Reaper, though it makes no figure 
 in the eyes of mere sight-seers in comparison with an inlaid 
 Table or a case of Paris Bonnets, is of more practical 
 account than a Crystal Palace full of those, and so will 
 
 * He has since done so, to the perfect satisfaction of the judges. 
 
290 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 ultimately be regarded. Looking to-day at Mitchell's 
 admirable new Map of the United States and their Terri- 
 tories, as now existing, which worthily fills an honorable 
 place in the Exhibition, with several but too few others of 
 the same class, I could not but regret that a set of- Har- 
 pers' Common School Libraries, with a brief account of 
 the origin and progress of our School Library system, had 
 not been contributed ; and I wish I had myself spent fifty 
 dollars if necessary to place in the Exhibition a good 
 I collection of American School Books. If there shall ever 
 j Fe another World's Exhibition, I bespeak a conspicuous 
 \ place in it for a model American country School-House, 
 I with its Library, Globes, Maps, Black-Board, Class Books, 
 j &c., and a succinct account of our Common School system, 
 I printed in the five or six principal languages of Europe for 
 ( gratuitous distribution to all who may apply for it. With 
 this got up as it should be, I would not mind admitting that 
 in Porcelain and Laces, Ormolu and Trinkets, Europe is 
 yet several years ahead of us. 
 
 Mr. J. S. Gwynne of our State, whose " Balanced 
 
 Centrifugal Pump " made a sensation and obtained a Gold 
 
 Medal at our Institute Fair last October, is here with it, 
 
 and proposes a public trial of its qualities in competition 
 
 with the rival English pumps of Appold and Bessimer for 
 
 $1,000, to be paid by the loser to the Mechanics' Society. 
 
 Mr. Gwynne claims that these English Pumps (which have 
 
 been among the chief attractions of the department of 
 
 British Machinery) are palpable plagiarisms from his 
 
 invention, and not well done at that. He, of course, does 
 
 not claim the idea of a Centrifugal Pump as his own, for it 
 
 is much older than any of them, but he does claim that 
 
 •I adaptation of the idea which has rendered it effective and 
 
 I valuable. I am reliably informed that he has just sold his 
 
 I Scotch patent only for the comfortable sum of £ 10,000 
 
 I sterling, or nearly $50,000 ; and this is but one of several 
 
 I inventions for which he has found a ready market here 
 
AMERICA AT THE WORLd's FAIR. 29] 
 
 at liberal prices. I cite his case (for he is one of seve- 
 ral Americans who have recently sold their European ; 
 patents here at high figures) as a final answer to those who | 
 croak that our country is disgraced, and regret that any j 
 American ever came near the Exhibition. Had these ' 
 discerning and patriotic gentlemen been interested in these 
 patents, they might have taken a different view of the 
 matter. Even my New- York friend, whose toadyism in 
 exhibiting a capital pair of Oars inscribed "A present for 
 the Prince of Wales," I have already characterized as it ■ 
 deserves, yesterday informed me that he had sold $15,000 
 worth of Oars here since the Fair opened. I am sure I 
 rejoice in his good fortune, and hope it may insure the 
 improvement of his taste also. 
 
 There are many articles in the American department of 
 which I would gladly speak, that have attracted no public 
 notice. Since I left for the Continent, Mrs. A. Nicholson, 
 formerly of our city, has sent in a Table-Cover worked in 
 Berlin Wool from the centre outward so as to form a 
 perfect circle, or succession of circles, from centre to 
 circumference, with a great variety of brilliant colors 
 imperceptibly shading into each other. This having been 
 made entirely by hand, with no implement but a common 
 cut nail, the process is of course too slow to be valuable ; 
 but the result attained may very probably afford useful 
 hints and suggestions to inventors of weaving machinery. 
 — I think the display of FUnt Glass by the Brooklyn Com- 
 pany is equal in purity and fineness to any other plain 
 Glass in the Exhibition, and only regret that the quantity 
 sent had not been larger. I regret far more that the 
 " Hillotype," for giving sun-pictures with the colors of life, 
 has not yet made its appearance here, while the '' Caloric 
 Engine " (using compressed and heated air instead of 
 water for the generation of power), was not ready in season 
 to justify a decision on its merits by the Jury of its Class ; 
 and so with other recent American inventions of which 
 
292 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 high hopes are entertained. We ought to have had here 
 a show merely of Inventions, Machines and Implements 
 exceeding the entire contents of the American Department 
 — ought to have had, apart from any question of National 
 credit, if only because the inventors' interests would have 
 been subserved thereby — andjwe should have had much 
 more than we actually have, had the state of the British 
 Patent-Laws been less outrageous than it is. A patent 
 here costs ten times as much as in the United States, and 
 is worth little when you have it — that is, it is not even an 
 opinion that the patentee has really invented anything, 
 but merely an evidence that he claimed to have done so at 
 such a date, and a permission to prove that he actually 
 did, if he can. In other words : a patent gives a permis- 
 sion and an opportunity to contend legally for your rights ; 
 and if the holder is known to have money enough, it 
 generally suffices ; if not, he can and will be not only 
 plundered with impunity, but defied and laughed at. A 
 bill radically revising the British Patent-Laws is now on 
 its way through Parliament, but in its absence many 
 American inventors refused to expose themselves to a loss 
 of their inventions by exhibiting them at the Fair ; and 
 who can blame them ? "* 
 
 The succession of fetes to be given by the Municipality 
 of Paris to the Royal Commissioners, Jurors, &c., in honor 
 of the World's Exhibition, opens this week, and will be 
 brilliant and gratifying as no other city but Paris could 
 make it. The number invited is over One Thousand, and 
 all are taken from the British shore in French National 
 Vessels, and thenceforth will be the guests of their inviters 
 until they shall again be landed at an English port, paying 
 nothing themselves for travel, entertainment, balls, &c., &c. 
 This is certainly handsome, and I acknowledge the 
 courtesy, though I shall not accept the invitation. I leave 
 for Scotland and Ireland on Monday. 
 
XXXVIII. 
 ENGLAND, CENTRAL AND NORTHERN. 
 
 Newcastle, Eng., Tuesday, July 29, 1851. 
 
 I CAME up through the heart of England by railroad yes- 
 terday from London by Rugby, Leicester, Derby, Chester- 
 field, near Sheffield and Leeds, through York, near Durham, 
 to this place, where Coal is found in proverbial abundance, 
 as its black canopy of smoke might testify. Newcastle lies 
 at the head of navigation on the Tyne, about thirty miles 
 inland from the E. N. E. coast of England, three hundred 
 miles from London, and is an ancient town, mainly built of 
 brick, exhibiting considerable manufacturing and commer- 
 cial activity. 
 
 The British Railroads are better built, more substantial 
 and costly than ours, but their management does not equal 
 my anticipations. They make no such time as is current- 
 ly reported on our side, and are by no means reliable for 
 punctuality. The single Express Train daily from London 
 to Edinburgh professes to make the distance (428 miles) in 
 about twelve hours, which is less than 36 miles per hour, 
 with the best of double tracks, through a remarkably level 
 country, everything put out of its way, and no more stops 
 than its own necessities of wood and water require. We 
 should easily beat this in America with anything like equal 
 facilities, and without charging the British price — £4 7s. 
 (or over $21) for a distance not equal to the length of the 
 Erie Railroad, almost wholly through a populous and busy 
 region, where Coal is most abundant and very cheap. 
 
294 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 Our train (the Mail) started from London at 10| A, M. 
 and should have been here at 11 P. M. or in a little less 
 than 25 miles per hour. But the running throughout the 
 country is now bewitched with Excursion Trains and 
 throngs of passengers flocking on low-priced Excursion re- 
 turn tickets to see the Great Exhibition, which is quite as 
 it should be, but the consequent delay and derangement of 
 the regular trains is as it should not be. The Companies 
 have no moral right to fish up a quantity of irregular and 
 temporary business to the violation of their promises and 
 the serious disappointment of their regular customers. As 
 things are managed, we left London with a train of twenty- 
 five cars, half of them filled with Excursion passengers for 
 whom a separate engine should have been, but was not, 
 provided ; so that we were behind time from the first and 
 arrived here at 1 this morninoj instead of 11 last night. 
 
 The spirit of accommodation is not strikingly evinced 
 on British Railroads. The train halts at a place to which 
 you are a stranger, and you perhaps hear its name called 
 out for the benefit of the passengers who are to stop there ; 
 but whether the halt is to last half a minute, five minutes, 
 or ten, you must find out as you can. The French Rail- 
 roads are better in this respect, and the American cannot 
 be worse, though the fault is not unknown there. A penny 
 programme for each train, to be sold at the chief stations 
 on each important route, stating not merely at what place 
 but exactly how long each halt of that particular train 
 would be made, is one of the yet unsatisfied wants of Rail- 
 road travelers. Our " Path-finders " and " Railway Guides " 
 undertake to tell so much that plain people are confused 
 and often misled by them, and are unable to pick out the 
 little information they actually need from the wilderness of 
 figures and facts set before them. Let us have Guides so 
 simple that no guide is needed to explain them. 
 
 There is much sameness in English rural scenery. I 
 have now traveled nearly a thousand miles in this country 
 
ENGLAND, CENTRAL AND NORTHERN. 295 
 
 without seeing anything like a mountain and hardly a preci- 
 pice except the chalky cliffs of the sea shore. Nearly every 
 acre I have seen is susceptible of cultivation, and of course 
 either cultivated, built upon, or devoted to wood. A few 
 steep banks of streams or ravines, almost uniformly wood- 
 ed, and some small marshes, mainly on the sea-coast, are 
 all the exceptions I remember to the general capacity for 
 cultivation. Usually, the aspect of the country is pleasant 
 — beautiful, if you choose — but nowise calculated to excite 
 wonder or evoke enthusiasm. The abundance of evergreen 
 hedges is its most striking characteristic. I judge that two- 
 thirds of England is in Grass (meadow or pasture), very 
 green and thrifty, and dotted with noble herds of cattle and 
 flocks of sheep. They are anxious to finish Hay-making 
 throughout the region we traversed yesterday ; but as there 
 has been scarcely an hour of very bashful sunshine during 
 the last six days, more than half of which have been rainy, 
 the operation is one rather trying to human patience. Some 
 of the cut grass looks as if it were Flax spread out to rot, 
 and all of it evinces a want of shelter. This morning is 
 almost fair, though hazy, so that the necessity of taking in 
 and drying the hay by a fire may be obviated, but a great 
 deal of it must be seriously damaged. {P. S. 10 o'clock. — 
 It is cloudy and raining again.) 
 
 Wheat covers perhaps an eighth of all Central England, 
 is now ripening and generally heavy, but much of it is 
 beaten down by the wind and rain, and looks as if a herd 
 of buffaloes had been chased through it by a tribe of mount- 
 ed Indians. If the weather should be mainly fair hence- 
 forth, the crop may be saved, but it must already have 
 received material damage, and the process of harvesting it 
 must be tedious. Barley is considerably grown, and has 
 also been a good deal prostrated. Oats have suffered less, 
 being more backward. — Potatoes look vigorous, though 
 not yet out of danger from blight or rot. Not a patch of 
 Indian Corn is to be seen throughout. Considerable grass- 
 
296 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 land has been plowed up for Wheat next season, and some 
 Turnips are just visible ; but it is evident that Grass and 
 Stock, under the influence of the low prices of Grain pro- 
 duced by the repeal of the Corn-laws, are steadily gaining 
 upon Tillage, of course throwing tens of thousands of 
 Agricultural laborers out of employment, and driving them 
 to emigration, to manufactures, or the poor-house. Thus 
 the rural population of England is steadily and constantly 
 decreasing. 
 
 The best feature of English landscape is formed by its 
 Trees. Though rarely relied on for fuel, there is scarcely 
 an area of forty acres without them, while single trees, 
 copses, more rarely rows, and often petty forests, are 
 visible in all quarters. The trees are not the straight, tall, 
 trim, short-limbed, shadeless Poplars, &c., of France and 
 Italy, but wide-spreading, hospitable Oaks, Yews and other 
 sturdy battlers with wind and storm, which have a far more 
 genial and satisfactory appearance. And the trees of Eng- 
 land have a commercial as well as a less measurable value ; 
 for timber of all sorts is in demand in the collieries, manu- 
 factories and mines, and bears a high price, the consump- 
 tion far exceeding the domestic supply. But for the trees, 
 these sullen skies and level grounds would render England 
 dreary enough. 
 
 Newcastle is the location of one of those immense struc- 
 tures which illustrate the Industrial greatness and pecuniary 
 strength of Britain, and illustrate also the meagerness of 
 her Railroad dividends. The Tyne is here a furlong wide 
 or more, running through a narrow valley or wide ravine 
 perhaps 150 feet below the average level of the great plain 
 which encloses it, and hardly more than half a mile wide 
 at the top. Across this river and gorge is thrown a bridge 
 of iron, with abutments and piers of hewn stone, the 
 arches of said bridge having a total length of 1,375 feet, 
 with 512 feet water-way, while the railway is 112 J feet 
 above high-water mark, with a fine carriage and foot- 
 
THE BORDER SCOTLAND. 297 
 
 %vay underneath it at a hight of 86 feet, and a total hight 
 from river-bed to parapet of 132|- feet. The gigantic 
 arches have a span of over 124 feet each, and the total cost 
 oi" the work was £304,500, or about $1,500,000. Near 
 this is a Central Railway Station (there are two others in 
 the place), built entirely, including the roof, of cut stone, 
 save a splendid row of glass windows on either side — said 
 depot being over 592 feet long, the passengers' department 
 being 537 by 183 feet, and the whole costing over $500,- 
 000. Here, then, are about $2,000,000 expended on a 
 single mile of railroad, in a city of by no means primary 
 importance. If any one can see how fair dividends could 
 be paid on railroads constructed at such expense, the 
 British shareholders generally would be glad to avail them- 
 selves of his sagacity. And it is stated that the Law Ex- 
 penses of several of the British roads, including procure- 
 ment of charter and right of way, have exceeded $2,500,- 
 000. Add to this rival lines running near each other, and 
 often three where one should suffice, and you have the ex- 
 planation of a vast, enormous and ruinous waste of property. 
 Let the moral be heeded. 
 
 THE BORDER SCOTLAND. 
 
 Edinburgh, July 29 — Evening. 
 
 From Newcastle to the Tweed (70 miles) the country 
 continues level and mainly fertile, but the Grain is far 
 more backward than in the vicinity of London, and very 
 little of it has been blown down. More Wheat and far 
 less Grass are grown here than below York, while Barley, 
 Oiits and Potatoes cover a good share of the ground, and 
 the Turnip is often seen. All look well, but the Potato, 
 though late, is especially hearty and thrifty. Shade-trees 
 in the cultivated fields are rare ; in fact, wood is altogether 
 rarer than at the south, though small forests are generally 
 within sight. I should judge from what I see and feel that 
 
298 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 shade is seldom wanting here, except as a shield from the 
 rain. Desperate attempts at Hay-making engross the 
 thoughts and efforts of a good many men and women, 
 though the skies are black, rain falls at intervals, and a 
 chill, heavy mist makes itself disagreeably familiar, while 
 a thin, drifting fog limits the vision to a square mile or so. 
 Some of the half-made hay in the meadows looks as though 
 it had been standing out to bleach for the last fortnight. 
 Even the Grass-land is often ridged so as to shed the water 
 quickly, while deep ditches or drains do duty for fences. 
 Fruit-trees are rarely seen ; they were scarce from London 
 to York, but now have disappeared. Our road runs nearer 
 and nearer the North Sea, which at length is close beside 
 us on the right, but no town of any importance is visible 
 until we cross the Tweed on a long, high, costly stone 
 bridge just above Berwick of historic fame, and are in 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 Here the growing crops are much the same as through- 
 out the North of England — Wheat, Potatoes, Barley, Oats, 
 and Grass — ^save that the Turnip has become an article 
 of primary importance. From some points, hundreds of 
 acres of the Swedish and French may be seen, and they 
 are rarely or never out of view. They are sown in rows 
 or drills, some eighteen inches or two feet apart, so as to 
 admit of cultivation by the plow, which is now in progress. 
 The most forward of the plants now display a small yellow 
 blossom. All are healthy, and promising, and are kept 
 thoroughly clear of weeds. I infer that they are mainly 
 grown for feeding cattle, and this seems a good idea, since 
 they can be harvested in defiance of rain and mist, which 
 is rather more difficult with Hay. They become more and 
 more abundant as we approach this city, and are grown up 
 .to its very doors. Heavy stone walls laid in mortar and 
 copses or little forests of Oak are among the characteristics 
 
EDINBURGH. 299 
 
 of the rural district around Edinburgh, whereof the culture 
 is widely famed for its excellence. The only Scottish town 
 of any note we pass is Dunbar, by the sea-side, though 
 Dunse, Haddington and Dalkeith lie but a few miles inland 
 from our road, with which they are connected by branches. 
 We reached this city about 3 P. M. or in five hours from 
 Newcastle, 130 miles. 
 
 EDINBURGH. 
 
 I knew this was a city of noble and beautiful structures, 
 but the reality surpasses my expectation. The old town 
 was mainly built in a deep valley running northward into 
 the Firth of Forth, with the Royal Palace of Holyrood in 
 its midst, the port of Leith on the Firth a few miles north- 
 ward, and the Castle on a commanding crag overlooking 
 the old town from the west. The Canongate and High- 
 street lead up to the esplanade of the Castle from the east, 
 but its other sides are precipitous and inaccessible, a deep 
 valley skirting it on the north, while the south end of the 
 old town fills the other side. The former or more northern 
 valley has lor the most part been kept clear of buildings, 
 the spacious Prince's-street Gardens and the grounds of 
 several charitable institutions having had possession of it, 
 until they were recently required to surrender a part for 
 the Railroads running south to Berwick, &c., and west to 
 Glasgow for a General Depot. Across this deep valley or 
 chasm, northward, rises the eminence on which the new 
 town of Edinburgh is constructed, with the deep chasm in 
 which runs the rapid mill-stream known as the " Water 
 of Leith," separating it from a like, though lower, hill still 
 further north and west, on which a few fine buildings and 
 very pleasant gardens are located. The new town is thus 
 perhaps 150 feet above the old town, a mile and a half long 
 by half a mile wide, commanding magnificent views of the 
 old town, the port of Leith, the broad, ocean-like Firth of 
 
300 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 Forth, and the finely cultivated country stretching south- 
 ward ; and, as if these were not enough to secure its salu- 
 brity, it has more gardens and public squares than any 
 other city of its size in the world. Its streets are broad 
 and handsome ; its houses built almost wholly of stone, and 
 I never saw so many good ones with so few indifferent. If 
 I were to choose from all the world a city wherein to make 
 an effort for longevity, I would select the new town of 
 Edinburgh ; but I should prefer to live fewer years where 
 there is more sunshine. 
 
 Public Monuments would seem to be the grand passion 
 of the Edinburghers. The most conspicuous are those of 
 Lord Nelson on Calton Hill (next to the Castle, if not be- 
 fore it, the most commanding location in the city) and of 
 Walter Scott on Prince's-street, nearly opposite the Castle, 
 across the glen, in full sight of all who arrive in Edinburgh 
 by Railroad, as also from the Castle and its vicinity, as well 
 as from the broad and thronged street beside v/hich it is 
 located. But there are Monuments also to Pitt, to Lord 
 Melville, and some twenty or thirty other deceased notables. 
 These are generally located in the higher squares or gardens 
 which wisely occupy a large portion of the ground-plot of 
 the new town. Public Hospitals and Infirmaries are also 
 a prominent feature of the Scottish capital, there being 
 several spacious and fine edifices devoted to the healing of 
 the sick, most if not all of them founded and endowed by 
 private munificence. There are several Bridges across the 
 two principal and more on the secondary or cross valleys, 
 ravines or gorges which may well attract attention. These 
 Bridges are often several hundred feet long, and from thirty 
 to eighty feet high, and you look down from their roadway 
 upon the red-tiled roofs of large eight or nine-story houses 
 beside and below them. Nearly or quite every house in 
 Edinburgh is built of stone, which is rather abundant in 
 Scotland, and often of a fair, free, easily worked quality. 
 Many even of the larger houses, especially in the old town. 
 
EDINURGH. 301 
 
 are built of coarse, rough, undressed stone, often of round, 
 irregular boulders, made to retain the places assigned them 
 by dint of abundant and excellent mortar. In the better 
 buildings, however, the stone is of a finer quality, and 
 handsomely cut, though almost entirely of a brown or dark 
 gray color. The winding drive to the summit of Calton 
 Hill, looking down upon large, tall, castle-like houses of 
 varied material and workmanship, with the prospect from 
 the summit, are among the most impressive I have seen in 
 Europe. 
 
 I was interested this afternoon in looking around from 
 one to another of the edifices with which History or the pen 
 of the Wizard of the North has rendered us all familiar — 
 the Tolbooth, the Parliament House, the Castle, the house 
 of John Knox, the principal Churches, &c., &c. I spent 
 most time of all in the Palace of Holyrood, which, though 
 unwisely located, never gorgeously furnished, and long 
 since abandoned of Royalty to dilapidation and decay, still 
 wears the stamp of majesty and will be regal even when 
 crumbled into ruins. Its tapestries are faded and rotten ; 
 its paintings, never briUiant specimens of the art, have 
 also felt the tooth of Time ; its furniture, never sumptuous, 
 would but poorly answer at this day the needs of an 
 ordinary family ; its ball-room is now a lumber-room ; its 
 royal beds excite premonitions of rheumatism ; its boudoir 
 says nought of Beauty but that it passeth away. Yet the 
 carefully preserved ivory miniature of the hapless Queen 
 of Scots is still radiant with that superlative loveliness 
 which seems unearthly and prophetic of coming sorrows ; 
 and it were difficult to view without emotion the tapestry 
 she worked, the furniture she brought over from France, 
 some mementoes of her unwise marriage, the little room in 
 which she sat at supper with Rizzio and three or four 
 friends when the assassins rushed in through a secret door, 
 stabbed her ill-starred favorite, and dragged him bleeding 
 through her bed-room into an outer audience chamber, and 
 
 14 
 
302 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 there left him to die, his life-blood oozing out from fifty- six 
 wounds. The partition still stands which the Queen 
 caused to be erected to shut off the scene of this horrible 
 tragedy from that larger portion of the reception-room 
 which she was obliged still to occupy, therein to greet daily 
 those whom public cares and duties constrained her to con- 
 fer with and listen to, though Murder had stained ineffa- 
 ceably the floor of that regal hall. Alas ! unhappy Queen ! 
 — and yet not all unhappy. Other sovereigns have their 
 little day of pomp and adulation, then shrivel to dust and 
 are forgotten ; but she still lives and reigns wherever 
 Beauty finds admirers or Suftcring commands sympathy. 
 Other Queens innumerable have lived and died, and their 
 scepters crumbled to dust even sooner than their clay ; but 
 Mary is still Queen of Scots, and so will remain forever. 
 
XXXIX» 
 
 SCOTLAND, 
 
 The Clyde, Wednesday, July 30, 1851. 
 
 I AM leaving Scotland without having seen half enough 
 of it. My chief reasons are a determination to run over 
 a good part of Ireland and an engagement to leave Europe 
 in my favorite ship Baltic next week ; but, besides these, 
 this continual prevalence of fog, mist, cloud, drizzle and 
 rain diminish my regret that I am unable to visit the 
 Highlands. My friends who, having a day's start of me, 
 went up the Forth from Edinburgh to Stirling, thence 
 visiting Lochs Lomond and Katrine, thence proceeding by 
 boat to Glasgow, were unable to see aught of the moun- 
 tains but their bases, their heads being shrouded in vapor ; 
 and, being landed from a steamboat at the head of Lake 
 navigation on Loch Lomond, found five miles of land- 
 carriage between them and a comfortable shelter, and only 
 vehicles enough to take the women and part of the men ; 
 the rest being obliged to make the distance on foot in a 
 drenching rain, with night just at hand. Such adventures 
 as this, — and they are common in this region, — console me 
 for my disappointment in not having been able to see the 
 Heather in its mountain home. The Gorse, the Broom, 
 the Whins, not to speak of the Scottish Thistle, have been 
 often visible by the roadside, and the prevalence of ever- 
 greens attests the influence of a colder clime than that of 
 England ; indeed, the backwardness of all the crops argues 
 a difference of at least a fortnight in climate between 
 
304 GLANCES AT EUROPE, 
 
 Edinburgh and London. Wheat has hardly filled yet io 
 the Scottish Lowlands ; Oats are barely headed ; and the 
 Grass is little more than half cut and not half dried into 
 Hay ; on the contrary, it now looks as if it must winter 
 on the ground or be taken in thoroughly water-soaked. 
 Being so much later, the cropfs are far less blown down 
 here than they are in England ; but neither Grass nor 
 Grain is generally heavy, while Potatoes and Turnips, 
 though backw^ard, looked remarkably vigorous and promis- 
 ing. Beautifully farmed is all this Lowland country, well 
 fenced, clear of weeds, and evidently in the hands of 
 intelligent, industrious, scientific cultivators. Wood is 
 quite plentiful. Oak especially, though shade-trees are not 
 so frequent in cultivated fields as in England ; but rough, 
 rocky, precipitous spots are quite common here, though in 
 the Lowlands, and these are wisely devoted to growing 
 timber. Belgium is more genial and more fertile, but I 
 have rarely seen a tract of country better farmed than that 
 stretching westward from Edinburgh to Glasgow (48 miles) 
 and thence down the Clyde to Greenock, some 22 miles 
 further. The farmers in our Mohawk Valley ought to 
 pass through this gloomy, chilly, misty country, and be 
 shamed into a better improvement of their rare but misused 
 advantages. 
 
 Traveling is useful in that it gives us a more vivid idea 
 of the immense amount of knowledge we yet lack. I 
 supposed till to-day that, by virtue of a Scotch-Irish 
 ancestry (in part) and a fair acquaintance with the works 
 of Walter Scott, Burns, Hogg, &c., I knew the Lowland 
 Scotch dialect pretty thoroughly ;. and yet a notice plainly 
 posted up, " This Lot To Feu,'' completely bothered me. 
 On inquiry, I learned that to feu a lot means to let or 
 lease it for building purposes — in other words, to be built 
 upon on a ground-rent. I suppose I learned this years 
 ago, but had entirely forgotten it. 
 
 The Clyde, though a fair stream at Glasgow, is quite 
 
SCOTLAND. 305 
 
 narrow for twelve to fifteen miles below that city, seeming 
 hardly equal to the Connecticut at Hartford, or the Hudson 
 at Waterford ; but then it has a good tide, which helps the 
 matter materially, and has at great expense been dredged 
 out so as to be navigable for vessels of several hundred 
 tuns. We passed a fine American packet-ship with a very 
 wholesome looking body of Scotch emigrants, hard aground 
 some ten miles below Glasgow, and I was informed that a 
 large vessel, even though towed by a steamboat, is seldom 
 able to get down into deep water upon a single tide, but is 
 stopped half way to wait for another. This river fairly 
 swarms with small steamboats, of which there are regular 
 lines connecting Glasgow with Londonderry, Belfast, 
 Dublin, Fleetwood (north-west of England), Liverpool, 
 London, &c. We met four or five boats returning from 
 Excursion parties crowded with the better paid artisans 
 and laborers of Glasgow, their wives and children. 
 
 The banks of the Clyde for some miles below Glasgow 
 are low and marshy, much of the intervale being devoted 
 to pasturage, while a rude embankment has been interposed 
 on either side, consisting of stones of five to fifty pounds 
 each, intended to prevent the washing away of the banks 
 by the ripple raised by the often-passing steamboats. The 
 end is fairly though not cheaply subserved. As we 
 descend, the shores become bolder ; the rugged hills, at 
 first barely visible on the right, come near and nearer the 
 water: low rocks begin to lift their heads above the 
 surface of the stream, while others have their innate 
 modesty overpowered by wooden fixtures lifting their 
 heads above the highest tides to warn the mariner of his 
 danger. At length a gigantic cone of rock rises out of the 
 water on the right of the channel to a height of fifty or 
 sixty feet, resembling some vast old cathedral : this is 
 Dumbarton Castle, with the anciently famous but now 
 decaying town of Dumbarton lying at the head of a small 
 bay behind it. A little lower on the left is Port Glasgow, 
 
306 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 the head of navigation for very large vessels ; and three 
 miles lower still is Greenock, quite a stirring seaport, 
 somewhat addicted to ship-building. Here our boat, which 
 had left Glasgow (22 miles above) at 4 P. M. held on till 
 8 for the train which left the same port at 7 with the mail 
 and additional passengers ; and then laid her course 
 directly across the channel to Belfast, 138 miles from 
 Glasgow, where she is due at 5 to-morrow morning. 
 
 GLASGOW 
 
 Looks more American than any other city I have seen 
 in Europe. Half of Pittsburgh spliced on to half of Phila- 
 delphia would make a city very like Glasgow. Iron is 
 said to be made cheaper here than elsewhere in the world, 
 the ore being alloyed with a carbonaceous substance which 
 facilitates the process and reduces the cost of melting. 
 Tall chimneys and black columns of smoke are abundant 
 in the vicinity. The city is about twice the size of Edin- 
 burgh, with more than double the trade of that capital, and 
 has risen rapidly from relative insignificance. New rows 
 of stately houses have recently been built, and the " court 
 end " of the city is extending rapidly toward the West. A 
 brown or dark gray stone, as in Edinburgh, is the principal 
 material used, and gives the city a very substantial 
 appearance. Most of the town, being new, has wide and 
 straight streets ; in the older part, they are perverse and 
 irrational, as old concerns are apt obstinately to be. They 
 have an old Cathedral here (now Presbyterian) of which 
 the citizens seem quite proud,. I can't perceive why. 
 Architecturally, it seems to me a sad waste of stone and 
 labor. The other churches are also mainly Presbyterian, 
 and, while making less pretensions, are far more creditable 
 to the taste of their designers. The town is built on both 
 sides of the Clyde, which is crossed by fine stone bridges, 
 but seven-eighths of it lie on the north. Ancient Glasgow, 
 
GLASGOW. 307 
 
 embracing the narrow and crooked streets, lies nearly in 
 the center, and is crowded with a squalid and miserable 
 population, at least half the women and children, including 
 mothers with children in their arms, and grand -mothers, 
 or those who might well be such, being without shoes or 
 stockings in the cold and muddy streets. Intemperance 
 has many votaries here, as indeed, throughout Scotland ; 
 *' Dealers in Spirits," or words to that effect, being a 
 fearfully common sign. I am afraid the good cause of 
 Total Abstinence is making no headway here — Glasgow 
 has a daily paper (the first in Scotland) and many weeklies, 
 one of the best of them being a new one, " The Sentinel,'* 
 which has a way of going straight to the core of public 
 questions, and standing always on the side of thorough 
 Reform. Success to it, and a warm goodbye to the rugged 
 land of Song and Story — the loved home of Scott and 
 Burns, 
 
XL. 
 
 IRELAND— ULSTER. 
 
 Dublin, Thursday, July 31, 1851. 
 
 Though the night was thick, the wind was light, and we 
 had a very good passage across the North Channel, though 
 our boat was very middling, and I was nearly poisoned by 
 some of my fellow-sleepers in the gentlemen's cabin 
 insisting that every window should be closed. O to be 
 Pope for one little week, just long enough to set half a 
 million pulpits throughout the world to ringing the changes 
 on the importance, the vital necessity, of pure, fresh air ! 
 The darkness, or rather the general misapprehension, which 
 prevails on this subject, is a frightful source of disease and 
 misery. Nine-tenths of mankind have such a dread of 
 "a draught" or current of air that they will shut them- 
 selves up, forty together, in a close room, car or cabin, and 
 there poison each other with the exhalations of their mutual 
 lungs, until disease and often death are the consequences. 
 Why won't the}^ study and learn that a " draught " of pure 
 air will injure only those who by draughts of Alcoholic 
 poison or some other evil habit or glaring violation of the 
 laws of life, have rendered themselves morbidly susceptible, 
 and that even a cold is better than the noxiousness of air, 
 already exhausted of its oxygen by inhalation ? Nothing 
 physical is so sorely needed by the great majority as a 
 realizing sense of the blessedness, the indispensable neces- 
 sity of pure, fresh air. 
 
 We landed at Belfast at 5 this morning under a pouring 
 rain, which slacked off two hours later, but the skies are 
 
IRELAND ULSTER, 309 
 
 still clouded, as they have been since Tuesday of last week, 
 and there has been some sprinkling through the day. 
 
 Of course the Crops are suffering badly. Flax is a 
 great staple of the North of Ireland, and three fourths of 
 it is beaten flat to the earth. Wheat is injured and poor, 
 though not so generally prostrate ; Oats look feeble, and 
 as if half drowned ; some of these are, and considerable 
 Barley is thrown down ; Grass is light, much of it uncut, 
 and much that is cut has lain under the stormy or cloudy 
 skies through the last week and looks badly ; only the 
 Potatoes look strong and thrifty, and promise an ample 
 yield. I shall be agreeably disappointed if Ireland realizes 
 a fair average harvest this year. 
 
 Belfast is a busy, growing town, the emporium of the 
 Linen Manufacture, and the capital of the Province of 
 Ulster, the Northern quarter of Ireland. It seems pros- 
 perous, though no wise remarkably so ; and I have been 
 painfully disappointed in the apparent condition of the 
 rural peasantry on the line of travel from Belfast to Dublin, 
 which I had understood formed an exception to the general 
 misery of Ireland. Out of the towns not one habitation in 
 ten is fit for human beings to live in, but mere low, 
 cramped hovels of rock, mud and straw ; not one-half the 
 families on the way seem to have so much as an acre of 
 land to each household ; not half the men to be seen have 
 coats to their backs ; and not one in four of the women 
 and children have each a pair of shoes or stockings. And 
 those feet ! — if the owners would only wash them once a 
 week, the general aspect of aifairs in this section would be 
 materially brightened. Wretchedness, rags and despair 
 salute me on every side ; and if this be the best part of 
 Ireland, what must the state of the worst be? 
 
 From Belfast we had railroad to Armagh, 35 miles ; then 
 13 miles by omnibus to Castle Blayney. We came over 
 this latter route with ten or twelve passengers, and a tun 
 or so of luggage on the outside of the Railroad Company's 
 
310 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 omnibus, with thirteen of us stowed inside, beside a 
 youngster in arms, who illustrated the doctrine of Innate 
 Depravity by a perpetual fight with his mother. Yet, 
 thus overloaded we were driven the thirteen miles of 
 muddy road in about two hours, taking at Castle Blayney 
 another railroad train, which brought us almost to 
 Drogheda, some 25 miles, where we had to take another 
 omnibus for a mile or two, for want of a railroad bridge 
 over the Boyne, thus reaching another train which brought 
 us into Dublin, 32 miles. The North of Ireland is yet 
 destitute of any other railroads than such patches and 
 fragments as these, whereby I am precluded from seeing 
 Londonderry, and its vicinity, which I much desired. At 
 length we were brought into Dublin at half-past three 
 o'clock, or in eight hours from Belfast, about one 
 hundred and thirty miles. 
 
 The face of the country through this part of Ireland is 
 moderately rolling, though some fair hills appear in the 
 distance. The land is generally good, though there are 
 considerable tracts of hard, thin soil. Small bogs are 
 frequently seen, but no one exceeding a dozen acres ; the 
 large ones lying farther inland. Taking so little room and 
 supplying the poor with a handy and cheap fuel, I doubt 
 that these little bogs are any detrimen to the country. 
 Some of them have been made to take on a soil (by 
 draining, cutting, drying and burning the upper strata of 
 peat, and spreading the ashes over the entire surface), and 
 are now quite productive. — Drainage and ridging are 
 almost universally resorted to, showing the extraordinary 
 humidity of the atmosphere. The Potato is now generally 
 in blossom, and, having a large breadth of the land, and 
 being in fine condition, gives an appearance of thrift and 
 beauty to the landscape. But, in spite of this, the general 
 yield of Ireland in 1851 is destined to be meager. There 
 is more misery in store for this unhappy people. 
 
 We cross two small lakes some ten to fifteen miles north 
 
IRELAND ULSTER. 311 
 
 of this city, and run for some distance close to the shore 
 of the Channel. At length, a vision of dwellings, edifices 
 and spires bounds the horizon of the level plahi to the 
 south-west, and in a few minutes we are in Dublin. 
 
XLI. 
 WEST OF IRELAND— ATLANTIC MAILS. 
 
 Galway, Ireland, Aug. 2, 1851. 
 
 I CAME down here yesterday from Dublin (1261- miles) 
 by the first Raih'oad train ever run through for the travel- 
 ing public, hoping not only to acquire some personal know- 
 ledge of the West of Ireland, but also to gain some idea of 
 the advantages and difficulties attending the proposed es- 
 tablishment of a direct communication by Mail Steamers 
 between this port and our own country. And although my 
 trip is necessarily a hurried one, yet, having been row^ed 
 down and nearly across the Bay, so as to gain some know- 
 ledge of its conformation and its entrance, and having 
 traversed the town in every direction, and made the ac- 
 quaintance of some of its most intelligent citizens, I shall 
 at all events return with a clearer idea of the whole subject 
 than ever so much distant study of maps, charts and books 
 could have given me. 
 
 The Midland Railroad from Dublin passes by Maynooth, 
 Mullingar, Athlone (where it crosses the Shannon by a 
 noble iron bridge), and Ballinasloe to this place, at the head 
 of Galway Bay, some twenty-five miles inland from the 
 broad Atlantic. The country is remarkably level through- 
 out, and very little rock-cutting and but a moderate amount 
 of excavation have been required in making the Railroad, 
 of which a part (from Dublin to Mullingar) has been for 
 some time in operation, while the residue has just been 
 opened (The old stage-road from Dublin to Galway mea- 
 
WEST OF IRELAND. 313 
 
 sures 133 miles, or nearly seven more than the Railroad.) 
 I presume there is nowhere an elevation of forty feet to the 
 mile, and with a good double track (now nearly complet- 
 ed), there can be no difficulty in running express trains 
 through in three hours. From Dublin to Holyhead will 
 require four hours, and from Holyhead to London six more, 
 making fifteen hours in all (including two for coming into 
 Galway) for the transportation of the Mails from the broad 
 Atlantic off this port to London. Allow three more for 
 leeway, and still the entire Mails may be distributed in 
 London about the time that the steamship can now be tele- 
 graphed as off Holyhead, and at least twelve (I hope fifteen) 
 hours earlier than the Mails can now be received in Lon- 
 don, to say nothing of the saving of thirty or forty hours 
 on the Mails to and from Ireland, and twenty or so for those 
 of Scotland. Is there any good reason why those hours 
 should not be saved ? I can perceive none, even though the 
 steamships should still proceed to Liverpool as heretofore. 
 Galway Bay is abundantly large enough and safe enough 
 for steamships, even as it is, though its security is suscep- 
 tible of easy improvement. It has abundant depth inside, 
 but hardly twenty feet at low water on a bar in the harbor, 
 so that large steamships coming in would be obliged to an- 
 chor a mile or so from the dock for high water if they did 
 not arrive so as to hit it, as they must now wait off the bar 
 at Liverpool, only much further from the dock. But what 
 I contemplate as a beginning is not the bringing in of the 
 Steamships but of their Mails. Let a small steamboat be 
 waiting outside when a Mail Steamer is expected (as now 
 off the bar at Liverpool), and let the Mails and such passen- 
 gers as would like to feel the firm earth under their feet 
 once more, be swiftly transferred to the little boat, run up 
 to Galway, put on an express train, started for Dublin, and 
 thence sent over to Holyhead, and dispatched to London 
 and Liverpool forthwith. Let L'ish Mails for Galway, 
 Dublin, &c., and Scotch Mails for Glasgow be made up on 
 
314 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 our side, and let us see, by three or four fair trials, what 
 saving of time could be effected by landing the Mails at 
 Galway, and then we shall be in a position to determine the 
 extent and character of the permanent changes which are re- 
 quired. That a saving of fully twelve hours for England and 
 thirty for Ireland may be secured by making Galway the 
 European terminus of the Atlantic Mail Route, I am very 
 confident, while in the calculations of those who feel a local 
 and personal interest in the change the saving is far greater. 
 But this is quite enough to justify the inconsiderable 
 expense which the experiaient I urge would involve. 
 
 Galway was formerly a place of far greater commerce 
 and consequence than it now is. It long enjoyed an ex- 
 tensive and profitable direct trade with Spain, which, since 
 the Union of Ireland with England, is entirely transferred 
 to London, so that not a shadow of it remains. At a later 
 day, it exported considerable Grain, Bacon, &c., to Eng- 
 land, but the general decline of Irish Industry, and the low 
 prices of food since Free Trade, have nearly destroyed this 
 trade also, and there are now, except fishing-boats, scarce- 
 ly half a dozen vessels in the harbor, and of these the two 
 principal are a Russian from the Black Sea selling Corn, 
 to a district whose resources are Agricultural or nothing, 
 and a smart-looking Yankee clipper taking in a load of 
 emigrants and luggage for New- York — the export of her 
 population being about the only branch of Ireland's com- 
 merce which yet survives the general ruin. Galway had 
 once 60,000 inhabitants ; she may now have at most 
 30,000 ; but there is no American seaport with 5,000 which 
 does not far surpass her annual aggregate of trade and in- 
 dustry. What should we think in America of a seaport of 
 at least 25,000 inhabitants, the capital of a large, populous 
 county, located at the head of a noble, spacious bay, look- 
 ing off" on the broad Atlantic some twenty miles distant, 
 with cities of twenty, fifty, and a hundred thousand in- 
 habitants within a few hours' reach on either side of her, 
 
WEST OF IRELAND. 315 
 
 yet not owning a single steamboat of any shape or nature, 
 and not even visited by one daily, weekly, monthly, or at 
 any stated period ? Truly, the desolation of Ireland must 
 be witnessed or it cannot be realized. 
 
 I judge that of nearly thirty thousand people who live 
 here not ten thousand have any regular employment or 
 means of livelihood. The majority pick up a job when 
 they can, but are inevitably idle and suffering two-thirds 
 of the time. Of course, the Million learn nothing, have 
 nothing, and come to nothing. They are scarcely in 
 fault, but those who ought to teach them, counsel them, 
 employ them, until they shall be qualified to employ 
 themselves, are deplorably culpable. Here are gentlemen 
 and ladies of education and wealth (dozens where there 
 were formerly hundreds) who year after year and genera- 
 tion after generation have lived in luxury on the income 
 WTung from these poor creatures in the shape of Rent, 
 without ever giving them a helping hand or a kind word 
 in return — without even suspecting that they were under 
 moral obligation to do so. Here is a Priesthood, the 
 conscience-keepers and religious instructors of this fortu- 
 nate class, who also have fared sumptuously and amassed 
 wealth out of the tithes wrenched by law-sanctioned 
 robbery from the products of this same wretched peasantry, 
 yet never proffered them anything in return but conversion 
 to the faith of their plunderers — certainly not a tempting 
 proffer under the circumstances. And here also is a 
 Priesthood beloved, reverenced, confided in by this 
 peasantry, and loving them in return, who I think have 
 done far less than they might and should have done to 
 raise them out of the slough in which generation after 
 generation are sinking deeper and deeper. I speak plainly 
 on this point, for I feel strongly. The Catholic Priesthood 
 of Ireland resist the education of the Peasantry under 
 Protestant auspices and influences, for which we will 
 presume they have good reason ; but, in thus cutting them 
 
316 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 off from one chance of improving their social and intellec- 
 tual condition, they double their own moral responsibility 
 to secure the Education of the Poor in some manner not 
 inconsistent with the preservation of their faith. And, 
 seeing what I have seen and do see of the unequaled power 
 of this Priesthood — a power immensely greater in Ireland 
 than in Italy, for there the Priests are generally regarded 
 as the allies of the tyrant and plundering class, while here 
 they are doubly beloved as its enemies and its victims — I 
 feel an undoubting conviction that simply, an earnest 
 determination of the Catholic Hierarchy of Ireland that 
 every Catholic child in the country shall receive a good 
 education would secure its own fulfilment within five 
 years, and thenceforth for ever. Let but one generation 
 be well educated, and there can be no rational apprehen- 
 sion that their children or grandchildren will be allowed 
 to grow up in ignorance and helplessness. Knowledge is 
 self-perpetuating, self-extending. And, dreadfully destitute 
 as this country is, the Priesthood of the People can com- 
 mand the means of educating that People, which nobody 
 without their cooperation can accomplish. Let the 
 Catholic Bishops unite in an earnest and potential call for 
 teachers, and they can summon thousands and tens of 
 thousands of capable and qualified persons from convents, 
 from seminaries, from cloisters, from drawing-rooms, even 
 from foreign lands if need be, to devote their time and 
 efforts to the work without earthly recompense or any 
 stipulation save for a bare subsistence, which the less 
 needy Catholics, or even the more liberal Protestants, in 
 every parish would gladly proffer them. There is really 
 no serious obstacle in the way of this first great step toward 
 Ireland's regeneration if the Priesthood will zealously 
 attempt it. 
 
 But closely allied to this subject, and not inferior to it in 
 importance, stands that of Industrial Training. The Irish 
 Peasantry are idle, the English say truly enough ; but who 
 
WEST OP IRELAND. 317 
 
 inquires whether there is any work within their reach ? 
 Suppose there was always something to do, what avails 
 that to millions who know not how to do that precise 
 something ? Walking with a friend through one of the 
 back streets of Galway beside the outlet of the Lakes, I 
 came where a girl of ten years old was breaking up hard 
 brook pebbles into suitable fragments to mend roads with. 
 We halted, and M. asked her how much she received for 
 that labor. She answered, " Six-pence a car-load." " How 
 long will it take you to break a car-load ? " " About a 
 fortnight." Further questions respecting her family, &c., 
 were answered with equal directness and propriety, and 
 with manifest truth. Here was a mere child, who should 
 have been sent to school, delving from morning till night 
 at an employment utterly unsuited to her sex and her 
 strength, and which I should consider dangerous to her 
 eyesight, to earn for her poor parents a half-penny per day. 
 Think of this, ye who talk, not always without reason, of 
 " factory slaves '' and the meagre rewards of labor in 
 America. In any community where labor is even decently 
 rewarded, that child should have been enabled to earn 
 every day at least as much as her fortnight's work on the 
 stone-heap would command. And even in Galway, a 
 concerted and systematic Industrial Education for the Poor 
 would enable her to earn at some light and suitable em- 
 ployment six times what she now does. 
 
 In every street of the town you constantly meet girls of 
 fourteen to twenty, as well as old women and children, 
 utterly barefoot and in ragged clothing. I should judge 
 from the streets that not more than one-fourth of the 
 females of Galway belong to the shoe- wearing aristocracy. 
 Now no one acquainted with Human Nature will pretend 
 that girls of fourteen to twenty will walk the streets bare- 
 foot if the means of buying shoes and stockings by honest 
 labor are fairly within their reach. But here there are 
 none such for thousands. Born in wretched huts of rough 
 
318 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 stone and rotten straw, compared with which the poorest 
 log-cabin is a palace, with a turf fire, no window, and a 
 mass of filth heaped up before the door, untaught even to 
 read, and growing up in a region where no manufactures 
 nor arts are prosecuted, the Irish peasant-girl arrives at 
 womanhood less qualified by experience, observation or 
 training for industrial efficiency and usefulness than the 
 daughter of any Choctaw or Sioux Indian. Of course, not 
 all the Irish, even of the wretchedly poor, are thus un- 
 skilled and helpless, but a deplorably large class is ; and it 
 is this class whose awkwardness and utter ignorance are 
 too often made the theme of unthinking levity and ridicule 
 when the poor exile from home and kindred lands in New 
 York and undertakes housework or anything else for a 
 living. The " awkwardness," which means only inability 
 to do what one has never even seen done, is not confined 
 to any class or nation, and should be regarded with every 
 allowance. 
 
 An Industrial School, especially for girls, in every town, 
 village and parish of Ireland, is one of the crying needs of 
 the time. 1 am confident there are in Galway alone five 
 thousand women and girls who would hail with gratitude 
 and thoroughly improve an opportunity to earn six- pence 
 per day. If they could be taught needle-work, plain dress- 
 making, straw-braiding, and a few of the simplest branches 
 of manufactures, such as are carried on in households, 
 they might and would at once emerge from the destitution 
 and social degradation which now enshroud them into 
 independence, comfort and consideration. Knowing how 
 to work and to earn a decent subsistence, they would very 
 soon seek and acquire a knowledge of letters if previously 
 ignorant of them. In short, the Industrial Education of 
 the Irish Peasantry is the noblest and the most hopeful 
 idea yet broached for their intellectual and social elevation, 
 and I have great hope of its speedy triumph. It is now 
 being agitated in Dublin and many other localities, a 
 
WEST OF IRELAND. 319 
 
 central and many auxiliary schools having already been 
 established. But I will speak further on this point in 
 another letter. 
 
 Galway has an immense and steady water-power within 
 half a mile of its harbor, on the outlet of Lakes Corrib and 
 Mash, by means of which it enjoys an admirable internal 
 navigation extending some sixty miles northward. Here 
 Manufactures might be established with a certainty of 
 commanding the cheapest power, cheapest labor and 
 cheapest fuel to be had in the world. I never saw a spot 
 where so much water power yet unused could be obtained 
 at so trifling a cost as here directly on the west line of the. 
 town and within half a mile of its center. A beautiful 
 Marble is found on the line of the Railroad only a few 
 miles from the town, and all along the line to Dublin the 
 abundance and excellence of the building-stone are 
 remarkable. Timber and Brick come down the Lake 
 outlet as fast as they are wanted, while Provisions are 
 here cheap as in any part of the British Isles. Nature has 
 plainly designed Galway for a great and prosperous city, 
 the site of extensive manufactures, the emporium of an 
 important trade, and the gateway of Europe toward Ame- 
 rica ; but whether all this is or is not to be dashed by 
 the fatality which has hitherto attended Irish prospects, 
 remains to be seen. I trust that it is not, but that a new 
 Li^r<^rpool is destined soon to arise here ; and that, should 
 I ever again visit Europe, I shall first land on the quay of 
 Galway. 
 
XLIT. 
 IRELAND— SOUTH. 
 
 Dublin, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 1851. 
 
 1 HAD hoped to see all of Trf^land ^hat is pr»ce«sib]e by 
 Railroad from this city, but Time will rot permit. Having 
 remained here over Sunday. 1 bad only Monday left for 
 a trip Southward, and tb.at would just suffice for rencbinc; 
 Limerick and returning .i - ; j ' ' ^^ 
 
 7 yesterday morning I took the " Great Southern and West- 
 ern Railroad,'' and was set down in Limerick (130 miles) 
 at a quarter before 1, passing Kilds"C, with'^its " Curragh " 
 or spacious race-ground, Maryborough and Thurles on the 
 way. Portarlington, Mount Melick, Mountrath and Temple- 
 more — all considerable towns — lie a few miles from the 
 Railroad, on the right or west, as Naas, Cashel and Tippe- 
 rary are not far from it on the left; while another Railr. . ' 
 the "Irish South-Eastern," d '^s at Ki ' 
 
 Bagnalstown and Kilkenny ( . riles fron> 
 South ; while from Kilkenny " Kilkenny aiid 
 
 ford " has already been constructed to Thomasiowa ^^sumc 
 20 miles), and is to reach Waterford, at the head of ship 
 navigation on the common estuary at the mouth of the 
 Suir and Barrow, when completed. 
 
 I left the Great Southern and Western at Limerick 
 Junction, 107 miles S. S. W. of Dublin, and took the cross- 
 road from Tipperary to Limerick (30 miles), but the main 
 road proceeds south-westerly to Charleville, 22^ miles fur- 
 ther, and thence leads due south to Mallow, on the Black- 
 
IRELAND— SOUTH. 321 
 
 water, and then south by east to Cork, 164|- miles from 
 Dublin, while another railroad has just been opened from 
 Cork to Bandon, 18f miles still further south-west, making 
 a completed line from Dublin to Bandon, 183|- miles, with 
 branches to Limerick, Tipperary and Kilkenny, the latter 
 to be continued to Waterford. In a country so easily 
 traversed by Railroads, and so swarming with population 
 as Ireland, these roads should be not only most useful but 
 most productive to their stockholders, but they are very far 
 from it. Few of the peasantry can afford to travel by 
 them, except when leaving the country for ever, and their 
 scanty patches of ground produce little surplus food for 
 exportation, while they can afford to buy little that the 
 Railroads bring in. Were the population of Ireland as 
 well fed and as enterprising as that of New-England, with 
 an industry as well diversified, her Railroads would pay 
 ten per cent, on their cost; as things now are, they do not 
 pay two per cent. Thus the rapacity of Capital defeats 
 itself, and actually iiiipv/v"3rishes its owners when it de- 
 prives Labor of a fair reward. If all the property-holders 
 of Ireland would to-day combine in a firm resolve to pay 
 at least half a dollar per day for men's labor, and to em- 
 ploy all that should present themselves, introducing new 
 arts and manufactures and improving their estates in order 
 to furnish such employment, they would not only speedily 
 banish destitution and ignorance from the land but they 
 would double the value of their own possessions. This is 
 one of the truths which sloth, rapacity and extravagance 
 are slow to learn, yet which they cannot safely ignore. 
 The decay and ruin of nearly all the " old families " in 
 Ireland are among the penalties of disregarding it. 
 
 To talk of an excess of labor, or an inability to employ 
 it, in such a country as Ireland, is to insult the general un- 
 derstanding. In the first place, there is an immediate and 
 urgent demand for at least Half a Million comfortable 
 rain-proof dwellings. The inconceivable wretched hovels 
 
322 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 in which nine-tenths of the peasantry endure existence 
 inevitably engender indolence, filthiness and disease. Ge- 
 neration after generation grows up ignorant and squalid 
 from never having had a fireside by which they could sit 
 down to read or study, nor an example of home comfort 
 and cleanliness in their own class to profit by. In those 
 narrow, unhghted, earth-floored, straw-thatched cabins, 
 there is no room for the father and his sons to sit down and 
 enjoy an evening, so they straggle off to the nearest grogge- 
 ry or other den in search of the comfort their home denies 
 them. Of course, men who have grown up in this way 
 have no idea of anything better and are slow to mend ; but 
 the personal influence of their superiors in wealth and 
 station is very great, and might be ten times greater if the 
 more fortunate class would make themselves familiar with 
 the wants and woes, the feelings and aspirations of the 
 poor, and act toward them as friends and wiser brethren, 
 instead of seeming to regard them only as strange dogs to 
 be repelled or as sheep to be sheared. But the first practi- 
 cal point to be struggled for is that of steady employment 
 and just reward for labor. So long as men's wages (without 
 board) range from fourpence to one and six-pence per day, 
 and women's from a penny to six-pence (which, so far as 
 I can learn, are the current rates at present, and nothing 
 to do for half the year at any price), no radical improve- 
 ment can be hoped for. A family with nothing to do, very 
 little to eat and only a hog-pen to live in, will neither ac- 
 quire mental expansion, moral integrity, nor habits of neat- 
 ness and industry. On the contrary, however deficient 
 they may originally be in these respects, they are morally 
 certain to grow worse so long as their circumstances re- 
 main unchanged. But draw them out of their wretched 
 hovel into a neat, dry, glass-lighted, comfortable dwelling, 
 offer them work at all seasons, and a fair recompense for 
 doing it, and you will have at least rendered improvement 
 possible. The feasibility of cleanliness will instill the love 
 
IRELAND— SOUTH. 323 
 
 of it, at least in the younger members ; the opportunity of 
 earning will awaken the instinct of saving as well as the 
 desire to maintain a comely appearance in the eyes of 
 friends and neighbors. The laborer, well paid, will natu- 
 rally be adequately fed, and both able and willing to per- 
 form thrice the work per day he now does or can ; seeing 
 the more efficient often step above them to posts better 
 paid and more respected, the dullest workers will aspire to 
 greater knowledge and skill in order that they too may 
 attain more eligible positions. " It is the first step that 
 costs " — the others follow almost of course. If the 
 Aristocracy of Ireland would unitedly resolve that every 
 individual in the land should henceforth have constant 
 work and just recompense, the outlay involved need not 
 be great and the return would be abundant and certain. 
 They have ample water-power for a thousand factories, 
 machine-shops, foundries, &c., which has run to waste 
 since creation, and can never bring them a dollar while 
 Irish Industry remains as rude, ill-paid and inefficient as it 
 now is. Every dollar wisely spent in improving this 
 power will add two to the value of their estates. So they 
 have stone-quarries of immense value all over the island 
 which never produced anything and never will while the 
 millions live in hovels and confine their attention to grow- 
 ing oats and potatoes for a subsistence. Agriculture alone 
 and especially such Agriculture, can never adequately 
 employ the people ; when the Oats and Potatoes have 
 been harvested, the peasant has very little to do but eat 
 them until the season for planting them returns. But 
 introduce a hundred new arts and processes — let each 
 village have its mechanics, each county its manufacturers 
 of the various wares and fabrics really needed in the 
 country, and the excess of work done over the present 
 aggregate would speedily transform general poverty into 
 general competence. The Six Millions of People in Ireland 
 are doing far less work this year than the Three Millions 
 
324 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 of New-England, although the Irish in New-England are 
 at least as industrious and efficient as the natives. They 
 work well everywhere but at home, because they every- 
 where else find the more powerful class ready to employ 
 them, instruct them, pay them. In Ireland alone are they 
 required to work for six pence to eighteen pence per day, 
 and even at these rates stand idle half the year for want 
 of anything to do ; so that the rent which they would 
 readily double (for better tenements) if they were fully 
 employed and fairly paid, now benumbs and crushes them, 
 and their little patches of land, which ought to be in the 
 highest degree productive, are often the worst cultivated 
 of any this side of the Alps. Ignorance, want, and hope- 
 lessness have paralysed their energies, and the consequent 
 decay of the Peasantry has involved most of the Aristo- 
 cracy in the general ruin. The Encumbered Estates 
 Commission is now rapidly passing the soil of Ireland out 
 of the hands of its bankrupt landlords into those of a new 
 generation. May these be wise enough to profit by the 
 warning before them, and by uniting to elevate the 
 condition of the Laboring Millions place their own pros- 
 perity on a solid and lasting foundation ! 
 
 GENERAL ASPECTS. 
 
 The South of Ireland is decidedly more fertile and 
 inviting than the North or West. There is a deeper, 
 richer soil, with far less stone on the level low lands. The 
 railroad from Dublin to Limerick runs throughout over a 
 level plain, and though it passes from the valley of the 
 LifTey across those of the Barrow, the Durrow and the 
 Suir to that of the Shannon, no perceptible ridge is 
 crossed, no tunnel traversed, and very little rock-cutting 
 or embankment required. Although the highways are 
 often carried over the track at an absurd expense, while 
 the principal despots are made to cost thrice what they 
 
GENERAL ASPECTS. 
 
 325 
 
 should, I still cannot account for the great outlay on Irish 
 railroads. They would have been built at one-half the 
 cost in the States, where the wages of labor are thrice as 
 much as here : who pockets the difference ? Of course, 
 there is stealing in the assessment of land damages ; but so 
 there is everywhere. When I was in Gal way, a case was 
 tried in which a proprietor, whose bog was crossed by the 
 Midland Railroad, sued the company for more than the 
 Appraisers had awarded him, and it was proved on the 
 trial that his bog, utterly worthless before, had been 
 partially drained and considerably increased in value by 
 the railroad. There seems to be no conscience in exacting 
 damages of those who invest their money, often most 
 reluctantly, in railroads, of which the main benefits are 
 universal. In Ireland they have palpably and greatly 
 benefited every class but the stockholders, and these they 
 have well nigh ruined. 
 
 There are fewer remains of dwellings recently "cleared " 
 and thrown down in the South than in the West of Ire- 
 land ; though they are not unknown here ; but I saw no 
 new ones going up, save in immediate connection with the 
 Railroads, in either section. If Government, Society and 
 Ideas are to remain as they have been, the country may 
 be considered absolutely finished, with nothing more to do 
 but decay. I trust, however, that a new leaf is about to 
 be turned over ; still, it is mournful to pass through so 
 fine a country and see how the hand of death has transfixed 
 it. Even Limerick, at the head of ship navigation on the 
 glorious estuary of the Shannon, with steamboat naviga- 
 tion through the heart of this populous kingdom for sixty 
 or eighty miles above it, shows scarcely a recent building 
 except the Railroad D6p6t and the Union Poor-House, 
 while its general aspect is that of stagnation, decline and 
 decay. The smaller towns between it and Dublin have a 
 like gloomy appearance — Kildare, with its deserted 
 " Curragh " and its towering ruins, looking most dreary of 
 
 15 
 
326 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 all. Happy is the Irishman who, in a new land and amid 
 the activities and hopes which it inspires, is spared the 
 daily contemplation of his country's ruin. 
 
 And yet there are brighter shades to the picture. 
 Nature, ever buoyant and imperative, does her best to 
 remedy the ills created by " Man's inhumanity to Man." 
 The South of Ireland seems far better wooded than either 
 the. North or West, and thrifty young forests and tree 
 plantations soften the gloom which unroofed and ruinous 
 cabins would naturally suggest. Though the Railroad 
 runs wholly through a tame, dull level, sweeping ranges 
 of hills appear at intervals on either side, exhibiting a 
 lovely alternation of cultivation, grass and forest, to the 
 delighted traveler. The Hay crop is badly saved so far, 
 and some that has been cut several days is still under the 
 weather, while a good deal, though long ripe, remains 
 uncut ; the Wheat looks to me thin and uneven ; Oats (the 
 principal grain here) are short and generally poor ; but I 
 never saw the Potato more luxuriant or promising, and the 
 area covered with this noble root is most extensive. The 
 poor have a fashion of planting in beds three to six feet 
 wide, with narrow alleys between ; which, though involving 
 extra labor, must insure a large yield, and presents a most 
 luxuriant appearance. Little Rye was sown, but that 
 little is very good ; Barley is suffering from the stormy 
 weather, but is quite thrifty. Yet there is much arable 
 land either wholly neglected or only yielding a little grass, 
 while I perceive even less bog undergoing reclamation 
 than in the West. I did not anticipate a tour of pleasure 
 through Ireland, but the reality is more painful than I 
 anticipated. Of all I have seen at work in the fields to-day, 
 cutting and carrying turf, hoeing potatoes, shaking out 
 Hay, &c., at least one-third were women. If I could 
 believe that their fathers and husbands were in America, 
 clearing lands and erecting cabins for their future homes, 
 I should not regret this. But the probability is that only 
 
GENERAL ASPECTS. 327 
 
 a few of them are there or hopefully employed anywhere, 
 while hundreds of neglected, weedy, unpromising patches 
 of cultivation show that, narrow as the holdings mainly are, 
 they are yet often unskillfully cultivated. The end of this 
 is of course ejectment, whence the next stage is the Union 
 Work-House. Alas ! unhappy Ireland ! 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 XLIII. 
 PROSPECTS OF IRELAND. 
 
 Dublin, Tuesday, August 5, 1851. 
 
 Of Irish stagnation, Irish unthrift, Irish destitution, Irish 
 misery, the world has heard enough. I could not wholly 
 avoid them without giving an essentially false and decep- 
 tive account of what must be painfully obvious to every 
 traveler in Ireland ; yet I have chosen to pass them over 
 lightly and hurriedly, and shall not recur to them. They 
 are in the main sufficiently well known to the civilized 
 world, and, apart from suggestions of amendment, their 
 contemplation can neither be pleasant nor profitable. I 
 will only add here that though, in spite of Poor Laws and 
 Union Poor-Houses, there are still much actual want, 
 suffering and beggary in Ireland, yet the beggars here are 
 by no means so numerous nor so importunate as in Italy, 
 though the excuses for mendicity are far greater. What I 
 propose now to bring under hasty review are the principal 
 plans for the removal of Ireland's woes and the conversion 
 of her myriads of paupers into independent and comfortable 
 laborers. I shall speak of these in succession, beginning 
 with the oldest and closing with the newest that has come 
 under my observation. And first, then, of 
 
 REPEAL. 
 
 The hope of obtaining from the British Crown and 
 Parliament the concession of a separate Legislature of 
 
REPEAL. 329 
 
 their own seems nearly to have died out of the hearts of 
 the Irish millions. The death of O'Connell deprived the 
 measure of its mightiest advocate ; Famine and other dis- 
 asters followed ; and fresher projects of amelioration have 
 since to a great extent supplanted it in the popular mind. 
 Yet it is to-day most palpable that such a Legislature is 
 of the highest moment to the National well-being, and that 
 its concession would work the greatest good to Ireland 
 without injury to England. Nay ; I see fresh reasons for 
 my hope that such concession is far nearer than is 
 generally imagined. 
 
 On all hands it is perceived and conceded that the 
 amount of legislation required by the vast, widely scattered 
 and diversely constituted portions of the British Empire is 
 too great to be properly affected by any deliberative body. 
 Parliament is just closing a long session, yet leaving very 
 much of its proper business untouched for want of time, 
 and that pertaining to Ireland is especially neglected. 
 Then it has just passed a most unwise and irritating act 
 with regard to the titles of the Catholic Prelates, which, 
 because every act of Parliament must extend to Ireland 
 unless that country is expressly excluded, is allowed to 
 operate there, though the bad reasons given for its enact- 
 ment at all have no application to that country, while the 
 mischiefs it will do there are ten times greater than all it 
 can effect in Great Britain. Had Ireland a separate 
 Parliament, no British Minister would have been mad 
 enough to propose the extension of this act over that 
 country, where it is certain to excite disaffection and 
 disloyalty, arouse slumbering hatreds, and impede the 
 march of National and Social improvement. An Irish 
 Parliament, with specified powers and duties akin to those 
 of an American State Legislature, would be a great relief 
 to a British Parliament and Ministry, a great support to 
 Irish loyalty and Irish improvement, and no harm to any- 
 body. These truths seem to me so palpable that I think 
 
330 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 they cannot long be disregarded, but that some one of the 
 PoHtical changes frequently occurring in Great Britain 
 will secure to Ireland a restoration of her domestic 
 Legislature. Neither Canada, Jamaica nor any other 
 British colony can show half so good reasons for a domestic 
 Legislature. 
 
 TENANT-RIGHT. 
 
 The agitation for Tenant-Right in Ireland is destined 
 to fail — in fact, has virtually failed already. The Imperial 
 Parliament will never concede that right, nor will any 
 Legislature similarly constituted. And yet the demand 
 has the clearest and strongest basis of natural and eternal 
 justice, as any fair mind must confess. What is that 
 demand ? Simply that the creator of a new value shall 
 be legally entitled to that value, or, in case he is required 
 to surrender it to another, shall be paid a fair and just 
 equivalent therefor. Here is a farm, for instance, whereof 
 one man is recognised by law as the owner, and he lets it 
 for three lives or a specific term of years to a tenant- 
 cultivator for ten, fifteen or twenty shillings per acre. 
 The tenant occupies it, cultivates it, pays the rent and 
 improves it. At the close of his term, he is found to have 
 built a good house on it instead of the old rookery he found 
 there, while by fencing, draining, manuring and subsoiling 
 he has doubled its productive capacity, and consequently 
 its annual value. He wishes to cultivate it still, and offers 
 to renew the lease for any number of years, and pay the 
 rent punctually. "But no," says, the landlord, "you must 
 pay twice as much rent as hitherto." " Why so ?" 
 " Because the land is more valuable than it was when you 
 took it." " Certainly it is ; but that value is wholly the 
 fruit of my labor — it has cost you nothing." "' Can't help 
 that. Sir ; you improved for your own benefit, and with a 
 full knowledge that the additional value would revert to 
 
EMIGRATION. 331 
 
 me on the expiration of your lease ; so pay my price or 
 clear out !" — Is this right ? The law says Yes ; but Justice 
 says No ; Public Good says even more imperatively No. 
 The laws of the land should encourage every occupier to 
 improve the land he holds, to expend capital and employ 
 labor upon it, so as to increase its value and productive 
 capacity from year to year; but the law of the British 
 Empire discourages improvement and impedes the employ- 
 ment of labor by taking the product from the producer 
 and giving it arbitrarily to the landlord. Yet the landlord 
 influence in Parliament is so predominant, so overwhelming, 
 that no repeal, no mitigation even, of this great wrong is 
 probable ; and every demand for it is overborne by a 
 senseless outcry against Agrarianism. Still, the agitation 
 for Tenant-Right does good by imbuing the popular mind 
 with some idea of the monster evil and wrong of the 
 Monopoly of Land — an idea which will not always remain 
 unfruitful. 
 
 EMIGRATION. 
 
 Emigration is now proceeding with gigantic strides, and 
 is destined for some time to continue. I think a full third 
 of the present population of Ireland are anxious to leave 
 their native land, and will do so if they shall ever have the 
 means before better prospects are opened to them. Packet- 
 ships are constantly loading with emigrants at all the prin- 
 cipal ports, while thousands are flocking monthly to 
 Liverpool to find ready and cheap conveyance to 
 America. But this emigration, however advisable for the 
 departing, does little for those left behind, and is in the 
 main detrimental to the country. The energetic, the dar- 
 ing, the high-spirited go, leaving the residue more abject 
 and nerveless than ever. If Two Millions more were to 
 leave the country next year, the condition of the remainder 
 would not be essentially improved. Over population is 
 not a leading cause of Ireland's present miseries. 
 
332 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 Rudimental knowledge is being slowly diffused in Ireland, 
 in spite of the serious impediments interposed by Religious 
 jealousy and bigotry. But this remedy, as now applied, 
 does not reach the seat of the disease. They are mainly 
 the better class of poor children who are educated in the 
 National and other elementary schools ; the most depraved, 
 benighted, degraded, are still below their reach. The 
 destitute, hungry, unemployed, unclad, despairing,- cannot 
 or do not send their children to school ; the wife and 
 mother who must work daily in the turf-bog or potato-field 
 for a few pence per day must keep her older child at home 
 to mind the younger ones in her absence. Education, in 
 its larger, truer meaning, is the great remedy for Ireland's 
 woes; but until the parents have steadier employment and 
 a juster recompense the general education of the children 
 is impracticable. 
 
 ENCUMBERED ESTATES. 
 
 The act authorizing and requiring the sale of irre- 
 deemably Encumbere'd Estates in Ireland is one of the 
 best which a British Parliament has passed in many years. 
 Under its operation, a large portion of the soil is rapidly 
 passing from the nominal ownership of bankrupts wholly 
 unable and unqualified to improve it into those of new 
 proprietors who, it may fairly be hoped, will generally be 
 able to improve it, giving employment to more labor and 
 increasing the annual product. The benefits of this 
 change, however, can be but slowly realized, and are for 
 the present hardly perceptible. 
 
 IRISH MANUFACTURES. 
 
 Within the past few months, a very decided interest 
 has been awakened in the minds of enlightened and 
 
IRISH MANUFACTURES. 833 
 
 patriotic Irishmen in Dublin and other places, with regard 
 to the importance and possibility of establishing various 
 branches of Household Manufactures throughout the 
 country. It is manifest that the general cheapness of 
 Labor and Food, the facilities now enjoyed for communi- 
 cation, not only with Great Britain, but with all Europe 
 and America also, and the extraordinary amount of unem- 
 ployed and undeveloped capacity in Ireland, render the 
 introduction of Manufactures at once eminently desirable 
 and palpably feasible. Even though nothing could be 
 immediately earned thereby, the simple diffusion of indus- 
 trial skill and efficiency which must ensue from such 
 introduction would be an inestimable gain to the peasantry 
 of Ireland. But allow that all the idle poor of this island 
 could in six months be taught how to earn six pence each 
 per day, the aggregate benefit to the Irish and to mankind 
 would be greater than that of all the gold mines yet 
 discovered. The Poorhouse Unions could be nearly 
 emptied in a year, and this whole population comfortably 
 fed, clad and housed within the next three years. A 
 beginning must be made with the simplest or household 
 manufactures, for want of means to establish the more 
 complex, costly and efficient branches, which require 
 extensive Machinery and aggregation of Laborers; but 
 if the first step be successfully taken, others are certain to 
 follow. With abundant water-power and inexhaustible 
 beds of fuel yet untouched, it is demonstrable that Manu- 
 factures of Cotton and Woolen, as well as Linen, might be 
 prosecuted in Ireland even cheaper than in England, 
 though the average recompense of Labor should thereby 
 be doubled. 
 
 The first impulse to the Manufacture movement appears 
 to have been given by Mr. Thomas Mooney, a gentleman 
 well known to his countrymen throughout the United 
 States, whence he returned some eighteen months ago. 
 Primarily at his suggestion, a " Parent Board of Irish 
 
 15* 
 
334 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 Manufacture" was organized in Dublin several months 
 since, funds collected by voluntary subscription, an office 
 opened, and a central school established, with a view to 
 the qualification of teachers for the superintendence of 
 auxiliary schools throughout the country. The enterprise 
 was proceeding vigorously and with daily increasing 
 momentum when Dissension, the evil genius of Ireland, 
 broke out among its leading supporters, which has resulted 
 in the division of the original Society into two, one of them 
 sustaining Mr. Mooney and the other claiming to have 
 taken the movement entirely out of his hands. Thus the 
 case stands at present, but thus I trust it will not long 
 remain. The enterprise is one of the most feasible and 
 hopeful of the many that have been undertaken for the 
 benefit of Ireland, and affords ample scope and occupation 
 for all who may see fit to labor for its success. I trust 
 that all differences will speedily be harmonized, and that 
 the friends of the movement, once more united, may urge 
 it forward to a most complete and beneficent triumph. 
 
 PEAT MANUFACTURE. 
 
 The Peat Bogs of Ireland cover some Three Millions 
 of Acres of its surface, mainly in the heart of the country, 
 though extending into every part of it. Perhaps One 
 Hundred Thousand Acres, chiefly in the north-east, have 
 been brought into cultivation ; of the residue, some yields 
 a little sour pasturage, but the greater portion is of no use 
 whatever, save as it supplies a very poor but cheap fuel to 
 the peasantry. These bogs are of. all depths from a few 
 inches to thirty or forty feet, though the very shallow have 
 generally been reclaimed. This is effected in some cases 
 by removing the Peat or Turf altogether ; but sometimes, 
 where it is quite deep, by ditching and draining it, and 
 then cutting and heaping up some six to twelve inches at 
 the top, so that it can be thoroughly burned, and the 
 
PEAT MANUFACTURE. 335 
 
 ashes spread over the entire surface for a soil. This is not 
 so deep as could be desired, but the climate is so uniformly 
 moist and the skies so rarely unclouded that it suffices to 
 insure very tolerable crops thereafter. 
 
 I do not know how the origin of these Bogs is accounted 
 for by the learned, but I presume the land they cover was 
 originally a dense forest, and that the Peat commenced 
 growing as a sort of moss or fungus, carpeting the ground 
 and preventing the germination of any more trees. In 
 the course of ten or fifteen centuries, the forest trees 
 (mainly of Oak or Fir) decayed and fell into the Peat, 
 which, dying at the top, continued to grow at the bottom, 
 while the perpetual moisture of the climate prevented its 
 destruction by fire. Thus the forest gradually disappeared, 
 and the Peat alone remained, gaining a foot in depth in 
 the course of two or three centuries until it slowly reached 
 its present condition. 
 
 Many efforts have been made to render this Peat 
 available as a basis of Manufacture and Commerce, but 
 hitherto with little success. The magnificent chemical 
 discoveries heralded some two years ago, whereby each 
 bog was to be transformed into a mimic California, have 
 not endured the rough test of practical experience. There 
 is no doubt that Peat contains all the valuable elements 
 therein set forth — Carbon, Ammonia, Stearine, Tar, (fee, 
 but unfortunately it has hitherto cost more to extract them 
 than they will sell for in market; so the high-raised 
 expectations of 1849 have been temporarily blasted, like a 
 great many predecessors. 
 
 But further chemical investigations have resulted in new 
 discoveries, which, it is confidently asserted, render the 
 future success of the Peat Charcoal manufacture a matter 
 of demonstrable certainty. A company has just been 
 organized in London, under commanding auspices, which 
 proposes to embark £500,000 directly and £1,000,000 
 ultimately in Peat- Works, having secured the exclusive 
 
336 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 right of using the newly patented processes of Messrs. 
 J. S. Gwynne and J. J. Hays, which are pronounced 
 exceedingly important and valuable. By a combination 
 of these patented processes, it is calculated that the com- 
 pany will be able to manufacture from the inexhaustible 
 Bogs of Ireland, 1. Peat Coal, or solidified Peat, of intense 
 calorific power, exceedingly cheap, almost as dense as 
 Bituminous Coal, while absolutely free from Gases 
 injurious to metals as well as from "clinker," and therefore 
 especially valuable for Locomotives and for innumerable 
 applications in the arts ; 2. Peat Charcoal, thoroughly 
 carbonized, of compact and heavy substance, free from 
 sulphur, and for which there is an unlimited demand not 
 only for fuel but for fertilization ; 3. Peat Tar, of extra- 
 ordinary value simply as Tar, an admirable preservative 
 of Timber, and readily convertible into Illuminating Gas 
 of exceeding brilliancy and power ; 4. Acetate of Lime ; 
 and 5, a crude Sulphate of Ammonia, well known as a 
 fertilizer of abundant energy. The company is already at 
 work, and expect soon to have six working stations in 
 different parts of the country, professing its ability to 
 manufacture for 14s. per tun. Peat Charcoal readily selling 
 in London for 45s., while they expect to realize 5s. worth 
 of Tar, Ammonia, &c., with every tun of Charcoal, while 
 on Solidified Peat they anticipate still larger profits. 
 These may be very greatly reduced by practical experience 
 without affecting the vital point, that sagacious and 
 scrutinizing capitalists have been found willing to invest 
 their money in an enterprise which, if it succeeds at all, 
 must secure illimitable employment to Labor in Ireland 
 and strongly tend to increase its average reward. 
 
 BEET SUGAR. 
 
 A similar Company, with a hke capital, has also been 
 formed to prosecute extensively in Ireland the manufacture 
 
BEET SUGAR. 337 
 
 of Beet Sugar, and this can hardly be deemed an experi- 
 ment. That the Sugar Beet grows luxuriously here I can 
 personally bear witness ; indeed, I doubt whether there is 
 a soil or climate better adapted to it in the world. That 
 the Beet grown in Ireland yields a very large proportion 
 of Sugar is attested by able chemists ; that the manufacture 
 of Beet Sugar is profitable, its firm establishment and 
 rapid extension in France, Belgium, &c., abundantly prove. 
 The Irish Company have secured the exclusive use of two 
 recently patented inventions, whereby they qlaim to be 
 able to produce a third more sugar than has hitherto been 
 obtained, and of a quality absolutely undistinguishable 
 from the best Cane Sugar. They say they can make it at 
 a profit of fully twenty-five per cent, after paying an excise 
 of £10 per tun to the Government, working their mills all 
 the year (drying their roots for use in months when they 
 cannot otherwise be fit for manufacture). Mr. Wm. K. 
 Sullivan, Chemist to the Museum of Irish Industry, states 
 that the Beet Sugar manufactured in France has increased 
 from 51,000 tuns in 1840 to more than 100,000 tuns in 
 1850, in defiance of a large increase in the excise levied 
 thereon — that the average production of Sugar Beet is in 
 Ireland 15 tuns per acre, against less than 11 tuns in 
 France and Germany — that each acre of Beets will yield 
 4j tuns (green) of tops or leaves, worth 7s. 6d. per tun for 
 feeding cattle, making the clear profit on the cultivation 
 of the Beet, at 15s. per tun, over £5 per acre — that there 
 is no shadow of difference between the Sugar of the Beet 
 and that of the Cane, all the diflference popularly supposed 
 to exist being caused by the existence of foreign substances 
 in one or both — that Irish roots generally, and Beet roots 
 especially, contain considerably more Sugar than those 
 grown on the Continent — and that Beet Sugar may be 
 made in Ireland (without reference to the newly patented 
 processes from which the Company expect such great 
 advantages) at a very handsome profit. As the soil and 
 
338 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 climate of Ireland are at least equal to, and the Labor 
 decidedly cheaper than, that employed in the same pursuit 
 on the Continent, while Ireland herself, wretched as she 
 is, consumes over two thousand tuns of Sugar per annum, 
 and Great Britain, some twenty -five thousand tuns — every 
 pound of it imported — I can perceive no reasonable basis 
 for a doubt that the Beet Culture and Sugar Manufacture 
 will speedily be naturalized in Ireland, and that they will 
 give employment and better wages at all seasons to many 
 thousands of her sons. 
 
 Such are some of the grounds of my hope that the 
 deepest wretchedness of this unhappy country has been 
 endured — that her depopulation will speedily be arrested, 
 and that better days are in store for her long-suffering 
 people. Yet Conquest, Subjugation, Oppression and 
 Misgovernment have worn deep furrows in the National 
 character, and ages of patient, enlightened and unselfish 
 effort will be necessary to eradicate them. Ignorance, 
 Indolence, Inefficiency, Superstition and Hatred are still 
 fearfully prevalent ; I only hope that causes are beginning 
 to operate which will ultimately efface them. If I have 
 said less than would seem just of the Political causes of 
 Ireland's calamities, it is because I would rather draw 
 attention to practical though slow remedies than invoke 
 fruitless indignation against the wrongs v/hich have 
 rendered them necessary. Peace and Concord are the 
 great primary needs of Ireland — Peace between her warring 
 Churches — Concord between her rulers and landlords on 
 one side and her destitute and desperate Millions on the 
 other. I wish the latter had sufficient courage and self- 
 trust to demand and enforce emancipation from the 
 Political and Social vassalage in which they are held ; to 
 demand not merely Tenant-Right but a restitution of the 
 broad lands wrested from their ancestors by fire and 
 sword — not merely equal rights with Englishmen in 
 Church and State, but equal right also to judge whether 
 
BEET SUGAR. 339 
 
 the existing Union of the two islands is advantageous to 
 themselves, and if not, to insist that it be made so or cease 
 altogether. But Ireland has suffered too long and too 
 deeply for this ; her emancipation is now possible only 
 through the education and social elevation of her People. 
 This is a slow process, but earnest hearts and united 
 minds will render it a sure one. If the Irish but will and 
 work for it, the close of this century will find them a 
 Nation of Ten Millions, with their Industry as diversified, 
 their Labor as efficient, its Recompense as liberal, and 
 their general condition as thrifty and comfortable as those 
 of any other Nation. Thus circumstanced, they could no 
 longer be treated as the appendage of an Empire, the 
 heritage of a Crown, the conquest of a selfish and domi- 
 neering Race, but must be accounted equals with the 
 inhabitants of the Sister Isle in Civil and Religious Rights 
 or break the connection without internal discord and 
 almost without a struggle. There shall yet be an Ireland 
 to which her sons in distant lands may turn their eyes 
 with a pride unmingled with sadness ; but alas ! who can 
 say how soon ! 
 
XLIV. 
 THE ENGLISH. 
 
 Liverpool, Wednesday, August 6, 1851. 
 
 I DO not wholly like these cold and stately English, yet 
 I think I am not blind to their many sterling qualities. 
 The greatness of England, it is quite confidently asserted, 
 is based upon her conquests and plunderings — on her 
 immense Commerce and unlimited Foreign Possessions. 
 I think otherwise. The English have qualities which 
 would have rendered them wealthy and powerful though 
 they had been located in the center of Asia instead of on 
 the western coast of Europe. I do not say that these 
 qualities could have been developed in Central Asia, but 
 if they had been, they would have insured to their 
 possessors a commanding position. Personally, the 
 English do not attract nor shine ; but collectively they are 
 a race to make their mark on the destinies of mankind. 
 
 In the first place, they are eminently industrious. I 
 have seen no country in which the proportion of idlers is 
 smaller. I think American labor is more efficient, day to 
 day or hour to hour, than British ; but we have the larger 
 proportion of non-producers — petty clerks in the small 
 towns, men who live by their wits, loungers about bar- 
 rooms, &c. There is here a small class of wealthy idlers 
 (not embracing nearly all the wealthy, nor of the Aristo- 
 cracy, by any means), and a more numerous class of idle 
 paupers or criminals ; but Work is the general rule, and 
 the idlers constitute but a small proportion of the whole 
 
THE ENGLISH. 341 
 
 population. Great Britain is full of wealth, not entirely 
 but mainly because her people are constantly producing. 
 All that she has plundered in a century does not equal the 
 new wealth produced by her people every year. 
 
 The English are eminently devotees of Method and 
 Economy. I never saw the rule, " A place for everything, 
 and everything in its place," so well observed as here. 
 The reckless and the prodigal are found here as every- 
 where else, but they are marked exceptions. Nine-tenths 
 of those who have a competence know what income they 
 have, and are careful not to spend more. A Duchess will 
 say to a mere acquaintance, " I cannot afford " a proposed 
 outlay — an avowal rarely and reluctantly made by an 
 American, even in moderate circumstances. She means 
 simply that other demands upon her income are such as to 
 forbid the contemplated expenditure, though she could of 
 course afford this if she did not deem those of prior conse- 
 quence. No Englishman is ashamed to be economical, 
 nor to have it known that he is so. Whether his annual 
 expenditure be fifty pounds or fifty thousand, he tries to 
 get his money's worth. I have been admonished and 
 instructed by the systematic economy which is practiced 
 even in great houses. You never see a lighted candle set 
 down carelessly and left to burn an hour or two to no 
 purpose, as is so common with us ; if you leave one 
 burning, some one speedily comes and quietly extinguishes 
 the flame. Said a friend : " You never see any paper in 
 the streets here as you do in New- York [swept out of the 
 stores, &c.] the English throw nothing away/' We speak 
 of the vast parks and lawns of the Aristocracy as so much 
 land taken out of use and devoted to mere ostentation; 
 but all that land is growing timber or furnishing pas- 
 turage — often both. The owner gratifies his taste or his 
 pride by reserving it from cultivation, but he does not 
 forget the main chance. So of his Fisheries and even 
 Game-Preserves. Of course, there are noblemen who 
 
342 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 would scorn to sell their Venison or Partridges ; but Game 
 is abundant in the hotels and refectories — too much so for 
 half of it to have been obtained by poaching. Few whose 
 estates might yield them ten thousand a year are content 
 with nine thousand. 
 
 The English are eminently a practical people. They 
 have a living faith in the potency of the Horse-Guards, 
 and in the maxim that " Safe bind is sure find." • They 
 have a sincere affection for roast beef They are quite 
 sure " the mob " will do no harm if it is vigilantly watched 
 and thoroughly overawed. Their obstreperous loyalty 
 might seem inconsistent with this unideal character, but it 
 is only seeming. When the portly and well-to-do Briton 
 vociferates " God save the Queen !" with intense enthusi- 
 asm, he means " God save my estates, my rents, my 
 shares, my consols, my expectations." The fervor of an 
 Englishman's loyalty is usually in a direct ratio with the 
 extent of his material possessions. The poor like the 
 Queen personally, and like to gaze at royal pageantry ; 
 but they are not fanatically loyal. One who has seen 
 Gen. Jackson or Harry Clay publicly enter New- York or 
 any other city finds it hard to realize that the acclamations 
 accorded on like occasions to Queen Victoria can really 
 be deemed enthusiastic. 
 
 Gravity is a prominent feature of the English character. 
 A hundred Englishmen of any class, forgathered for any 
 purpose of conference or recreation, will have less merri- 
 ment in the course of their sitting than a score of French- 
 men or Americans would have in a similar time. Hence 
 it is generally remarked that the English of almost any 
 class show to least advantage when attempting to enjoy 
 themselves. They are as awkward at a frolic as a bear at 
 a dance. Their manner of expressing themselves is literal 
 and prosaic ; the American tendency to hyperbole and 
 exaggeration grates harshly on their ears. They can only 
 account for it by a presumption of ill breeding on the part 
 
THE ENGLISH. 343 
 
 of the utterer. Forward lads and *' fast " people are scarce 
 and uncurrent here. A Western " screamer," eager to 
 fight or drink, to run horses or shoot for a wager, and 
 boasting that he had " the prettiest sister, the likeliest wife 
 and the ugliest dog in all Kentuck," would be no where 
 else so out of place and incomprehensible as in this country, 
 no matter in what circle of society. 
 
 The Women of England, of whatever rank, studiously 
 avoid peculiarities of dress or manner and repress 
 idiosyncrasies of character. No where else that I have 
 ever been could so keen an observer as Pope have written : 
 
 " Nothing so true as what you once let fall ; 
 Most women have no character at all." 
 
 Each essays to think, appear and speak as nearly accord- 
 ing to the orthodox standard of Womanhood as possible. 
 Hardly one who has any reputation to save could tolerate 
 the idea of attending a Woman's Rights Convention or 
 appearing in a Bloomer any more than that of standing on 
 her head in the Haymarket or walking a tight-rope across 
 the pit of Drury Lane. So far as 1 can judge, the ideas 
 which underlie the Woman's Rights movement are not 
 merely repugnant but utterly inconceivable to the great 
 mass of English women, the last Westminster Review to 
 the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 I do not judge whether they are better or worse for this. 
 Their conversation is certainly tamer and less piquant 
 than that of the American or the French ladies. I think 
 it evinces a less profound and varied culture than that of 
 their German sisters ; but none will deny them the 
 possession of sterling and amiable qualities. Their physi- 
 cal development is unsurpassed, and for good reasons — their 
 climate is mild and they take more exercise than our 
 women do. Their fullness of bust is a topic of general 
 admiration among the foreigners now so plentiful in 
 England, and their complexions are marvelously fair and 
 
344 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 delicate. Except by a very few in Ireland, I have not 
 seen them equaled. And, on the whole, I do not know 
 that there are better mothers than the English, especially 
 of the middle classes. 
 
 I did not find the Aristocracy so remarkable for physical 
 perfection and beauty as I had been taught to expect. 
 Some of them are large, well formed and vigorous ; but I 
 think the caste is not noticeably so. Among the ladies of 
 "gentle blood," however, there is more of the asserted 
 aristocratic symmetry and beauty than among the men. 
 
 The general stiffness of English manners has often been 
 noted. Not that a gentleman is aught but a gentleman 
 anywhere, but courtesy is certainly not the Englishman's 
 best point. No where else will a perplexed stranger 
 inquiring his way receive more surly answers or oftener 
 be refused any answer at all than in London. Even the 
 policeman who is paid to direct you, replies to your inquiry 
 with the shortest and gruffest monosyllable that will do. 
 
 Awkwardness of manner pervades all classes ; the most 
 thoroughly natural, modest and easy mannered man I met 
 was a Duke, whose ancestors had been dukes for many 
 generations ; but some of the most elaborately ill bred men 
 I met also inherited titles of nobility. And, while I have 
 been thrown into the company of Englishmen of all ranks 
 who were cordial, kind, and every way models of good 
 breeding, I have also met here more constitutionally 
 arrogant and unbearable persons than had crossed my 
 path in all my previous experience. These, too, are found 
 in all ranks ; I think the MiHtary service exhibits some of 
 the worst specimens. But Bull in authority anywhere is 
 apt to exhibit his horns to those whom he suspects of being 
 nobodies. Elevation is unpropitious to the display of his 
 more amiable qualities. 
 
 I have elsewhere spoken of the indifferent figure made 
 by most Englishmen at public speaking. Many of them 
 
THE ENGLISH. 345 
 
 say good things ; hardly one dehvers them aptly or grace- 
 fully. Any Frenchnaan having Lord Granville's brains 
 would make a great deal more out of them in a speech. I 
 attribute this National defect to two causes ; first, the 
 habitually prosaic level of British thought and conversa- 
 tion ; next, the intense pride which is also a National 
 characteristic. John is called out at a festive gathering, 
 and springs to his feet really intending to be clever. But 
 the next moment the thought strikes him — " This is beneath 
 my dignity, after all. Why should I subject myself to 
 miscellaneous criticism ? Why put myself on the verdict 
 of this crowd ? Does it become a gentleman of my stand- 
 ing to fish for their plaudits ? What will success amount 
 to, if attained ?" Or else he criticises his own thoughts and 
 meditated forms of expression, pronounces them tame, trite 
 or feeble, and recoils from their enunciation as unworthy 
 of his abilities, position and reputation. The result is the 
 same in either case — he hesitates, blunders, chokes, and 
 finally stammers out a few sentences and subsides into his 
 seat, sweating at every pore, red-faced with chagrin, vexed 
 with himself and every body else on account of his failure, 
 which might not have occurred, and certainly would not 
 have been so palpable, had his self-consciousness been less 
 diseased and extravagant. 
 
 I have said that the British are not in manner a winning 
 people. Their self-conceit is the principal reason. They 
 have solid and excellent qualities, but their self-complacency 
 is exorbitant and unparalleled. The majority are not con- 
 tent with esteeming Marlborough and Wellington the 
 greatest Generals and Nelson the first Admiral the world 
 ever saw, but claim alike supremacy for their countrymen 
 in every field of human effort. They deem Machinery and 
 Manufactures, Railroads and Steamboats, essentially British 
 products. They regard Morality and Philanthropy as in 
 eflfect peculiar to " the fast anchored isle," and Liberty as 
 
346 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 an idea uncomprehended, certainly unrealized, any where 
 else. They are horror-stricken at the toleration of Slavery 
 in the United States, in seeming ignorance that our Con- 
 gress has no power to abolish it and that their Parliament, 
 which had ample power, refused to exercise it through 
 generations down to the last quarter of a century. They 
 cannot even consent to go to Heaven on a road common 
 to other nations, but must seek admission through a private 
 gate of their own, stoutly maintaining that their local 
 Church is the very one founded by the Apostles, and that 
 all others are more or less apostate and schismatic. Other 
 Nations have their weak points — the French, Glory ; the 
 Spaniards, Orthodoxy; the Yankees, Rapacity; but Bull 
 plunders India and murders Ireland, yet deems himself the 
 mirror of Beneficence and feeds his self-righteousness by 
 resolving not to fellowship slaveholders of a diflerent fashion 
 from himself; he is perpetually fighting and extending his 
 possessions all over the globe, yet wondering that French 
 and Russian ambition will keep the world always in hot 
 water. Our Yankee self-conceit and self-laudation are 
 immoderate ; but nobody else is so perfect on all points — 
 himself being the judge — as Bull. 
 
 There is one other aspect of the British character which 
 impressed me unfavorably. Everything is conducted here 
 with a sharp eye to business. For example, the manufac- 
 turing and trafficking classes are just now enamored of 
 Free Trade — that is, freedom to buy raw staples and sell 
 their fabrics all over the world — from which they expect 
 all manner of National and individual benefits. In conse- 
 quence, these classes seize every opportunity, however 
 unsuitable, to commend that policy to the strangers now 
 among them as dictated by wisdom, philanthropy and 
 beneficence, and to stigmatize its opposite as impelled by 
 narrow-minded selfishness and only upheld by prejudice 
 and ignorance. The French widow who appended to the 
 
THE ENGLISH. 347 
 
 high-wrought eulogium engraved on her husband's tomb- 
 stone that " His disconsolate widow still keeps the shop 
 No 16 Rue St. Denis," had not a keener eye to business 
 than these apostles of the Economic faith. No considera- 
 tion of time or place is regarded ; in festive meetings, peace 
 conventions, or gatherings of any kind, where men of 
 various lands and views are notoriously congregated, and 
 where no reply could be made without disturbing the har- 
 mony and distracting the attention of the assemblage, the 
 disciples of Cobden are sure to interlard their harangues 
 with advice to foreigners substantially thus — " N. B. Pro- 
 tection is a great humbug and great waste. Better abolish 
 your tariffs, stop your factories and buy at our shops. 
 We're the boys to give you thirteen pence for every 
 shilling." I cannot say how this affected others, but to 
 me it seemed hardly more ill-mannered than impolitic. 
 
 Yet the better qualities in the Enghsh character 
 decidedly preponderate. Naturally, this people love 
 justice, manly dealing, fair play ; and though I think the 
 siiop- keeping attitude is unfavorable to this tendency, it 
 has not elTaced it. The English have too much pride to 
 be tricky or shabby, even in the essentially corrupting 
 relation of buyer and seller. And the Englishman who 
 may be repulsive in his out-of-door intercourse or spirally 
 inclined in his dealings, is generally tender and truthful in 
 his home. There only is he seen to the best advantage. 
 When the day's work is over and the welcome shelter of 
 his domestic roof is attained, he husks off his formality 
 with his great-coat and appears to his family and hi» 
 friends in a character unknov/n to the outer world. The 
 quiet comfort and heartfelt warmth of an English fireside 
 must be felt to be appreciated. These Britons, like our 
 own people, are by nature not demonstrative ; they do not 
 greet their wives before strangers with a kiss, on returning 
 from the day's business, as a Frenchm.an may do ; and if 
 
348 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 very glad to see you on meeting, they are not likely to say 
 so in words ; but they cherish warm emotions under a hard 
 crust of reserve and shyness, and lavish all their wealth of 
 affection on the little band collected within the magic 
 circle of Home. Said an American who had spent two 
 years as a public lecturer throughout Great Britain : " Cir- 
 cumstances have introduced me favorably to the intimacy 
 and regard of many English families, and I can scarcely 
 recollect one which was not in its own sphere, a model 
 household." My own opportunities have been very 
 limited, yet so far as they go they tend to maintain the 
 justice of this remark. There are of course exceptions, 
 but they would be more abundant elsewhere. And I 
 regard the almost insuperable obstacles here interposed to 
 the granting of Divorces, no matter on what grounds, as 
 one cause of the general harmony and happiness of 
 English homes. 
 
 But I must not linger. The order to embark is given ; 
 our good ship Baltic is ready ; another hour and I shall 
 have left England and this Continent, probably for ever. 
 With a fervent good-bye to the friends I leave on this side 
 of the Atlantic, I turn my steps gladly and proudly toward 
 my own loved Western home — toward the land wherein 
 Man enjoys larger opportunities than elsewhere to develop 
 the better and the worse aspects of his nature, and where 
 Evil and Good have a freer course, a wider arena for their 
 inevitable struggles, than is allowed them among the heavy 
 fetters and cast-iron forms of this rigid and wrinkled Old 
 World. Doubtless, those struggles will long be arduous 
 and trying : doubtless, the dictates of Duty will there often 
 bear sternly away from the halcyon bowers of Popularity ; 
 doubtless, he who would be singly and wholly right must 
 there encounter ordeals as severe as those which here try 
 the souls of the would-be champions of Progress and 
 Liberty. But Political Freedom, such as white men enjoy 
 
THE ENGLISH. 349 
 
 in the United States, and the mass do not enjoy in Europe, 
 not even in Britain, is a basis for confident and well- 
 grounded hope ; the running stream, though turbid, tends 
 ever to self-purification ; the obstructed, stagnant pool 
 grows daily more dank and loathsome. Beliievng most 
 firmly in the ultimate and perfect triumph of Good over 
 Evil, I rejoice in the existence and diffusion of that 
 Liberty which, while it intensifies the contest, accelerates 
 the consummation. Neither blind to her errors nor a 
 pander to her vices, I rejoice to feel that every hour 
 henceforth till I see her shores must lessen the distance 
 which divides me from my country, whose advantages and 
 blessings this four months' absence has taught me to 
 appreciate more clearly and to prize more deeply than 
 before. With a glow of unwonted rapture I see our 
 stately vessel's prow turned toward the setting sun, and 
 strive to realize that only some ten days separate me from 
 those I know and love best on earth. Hark! the last gun 
 announces that the mail-boat has left us, and that we are 
 fairly afloat on our ocean journey : the shores of Europe 
 recede from our vision ; the watery waste is all around 
 us ; and now, with God above and Death below, our 
 gallant bark and her clustered company together brave the 
 dangers of the mighty deep. May Infinite Mercy watch 
 over our onward path and bring us safely to our several 
 homes ; for to die away from home and kindred seems one 
 of the saddest calamities that could befall me. This mortal 
 tenement would rest uneasily in an ocean shroud ; this 
 spirit reluctantly resign that tenement to the chill and 
 pitiless brine ; these eyes close regretfully on the stranger 
 skies and bleak inhospitality of the sullen and stormy main. 
 No ! let me see once more the scenes so well remembered 
 and beloved ; let me grasp, if but once again, the hand of 
 Friendship and hear the thrilling accents of proved Affec- 
 tion, and when sooner or later the hour of mortal agony 
 
 19 
 
350 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 
 
 shall come, let my last gaze be fixed on eyes that will not 
 forget me when I am gone, and let my ashes repose m that 
 congenial soil which, however I may there be esteemed or 
 hated, is still 
 
 « My own green land forever !" 
 
 THE END. 
 
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