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THE 
 
 EMIGRANTS GUIDE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Hmtcft states 
 
 OF AMERICA; , 
 
 CONTAINING THE BEST 
 
 ADVICE AND DIRECTIONS 
 
 RESPECTING THE 
 
 VOYAGE,—PRESERVATION OF HEALTH,— CHOICE OF 
 SETTLEMENT, &c. 
 
 ALSO THE 
 
 LATEST INFORMATION 
 
 CONCERNING THE 
 
 CLIMATE, PRODUCTIONS, POPULATION, MANNERS, PRICES OF 
 LAND, LABOUR, AND PROVISIONS, 
 
 and 
 
 0rtjet Subjects, (Economical ana Political, 
 
 AFFECTING THE WELFARE OF 
 
 PERSONS ABOUT TO EMIGRATE TO THE UNITED STATES, 
 AND BRITISH AMERICA. 
 
 BY ROBERT HOLDITCH, ESQ. 
 
 OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. 
 
 HonUfln: 
 
 PRINTED FOR WILLIAM HONE, 45, LUDGATE HILL. 
 
 1818 . 
 
 Four Shillings and Sixpence. 
 
Printed by MJCttooald ifld Sou, 46, Cloth Fair, London* 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The following Work was undertaken almost exclusively for 
 the perusal of persons about to emigrate to America. In the 
 present unprecedented rage for expatriation, there are many 
 who earnestly desire to obtain information on subjects con¬ 
 nected with their intended settlement both in British North 
 America and in the United States. But this could not be pro¬ 
 cured, without either toiling through expensive and tedious 
 volumes, or by the more equivocal medium of oral inquiry. 
 A work imparting much useful knowledge in a small compass 
 became a desideratum; to supply it, the following sheets are 
 submitted to the inquirer respecting America: they contain an 
 abundant variety of facts, all of which will, at one tune or 
 other, be of service to him. 
 
 Some of the materials in this publication are not arranged 
 in the precise order wherein they should succeed each other: 
 this arose from a desire to get the work through the press as 
 speedily as possible, that persons about to embark at this 
 season may have it in their hands. However, to render 
 reference easy, a good Index is added. 
 
 Great assistance has been derived from recent publications, 
 and especially from the following:—1. “ Travels through Ca¬ 
 nada and the United States; by John Lambert; Third 
 Edition; 2 vols. 8vo. 1816:” a very entertaining and instruc¬ 
 tive work. 2. “ Travels in North America in 180,9, 10, & 11; 
 by John Bradbury, F.L.S. 8vo. 1817:” a work of much 
 interest, and from which is taken the excellent No. I. of the 
 Advice to Emigrants, at p. 41. 3. “Travels in Canada and 
 
 the United States,in 1816 and 1817; by Lieut.FRANCis Hall, 
 14th Light Dragoons, H.P.a production to be esteemed for 
 
IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 its dignified moral feeling, and philosophical views, especially 
 on the higher subjects of legislation; and from which, it would 
 be grossly unjust to Captain Hall not to state, that some of 
 the valuable articles on the American character, and that on 
 the liberty of the press in particular, are extracted. 4. “ A 
 Journal of Travels in the United States of North America, and 
 in Lower Canada, in 1817; by John Palmer:” the reader 
 is indebted to, for some of the prices of provisions, labour, 
 land, &c. 5. Mr. Morris Birkbeck’s“ Notes on a Journey 
 in America, and Letters from Illinois two importantly useful 
 publications, and indispensable to every Emigrant, fur¬ 
 nish the article at p. 86 . 6 . Mellish’s unassuming but in¬ 
 
 structive “ Travels in America;” his able Map of the Coun¬ 
 try, with the Description; his “ Traveller’s Directory 
 through the United States, for 1818;” Brown’s “ Western 
 Gazetteer;” are pregnant with valuable fact. Bristed’s 
 “Resources of the United States;” is an eloquently written 
 and valuable book. These, with several other recent Ame¬ 
 rican works, have contributed to enrich, or been consulted 
 with a view to render more correct, the details in this little 
 publication; which, it is hoped and believed, will prove highly 
 beneficial to those interested in its objects, and really become 
 the Emigrant’s Guide to the United States of Ame¬ 
 rica. 
 
 R. HOLDITCH, 
 
 London, 28 th August, 1818 . 
 
TIIE 
 
 EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 4 
 
 A FTER a war unusually protracted, which desolated the fairest 
 portions of the globe, which in its progress had bees marked 
 by the destruction of millions, and which had been productive of evils 
 the most terrible ever sustained by suffering humanity, the nations of 
 the earth fondlv contemplated the return of peace as an event which 
 would, in some degree, compensate for the sacrifices they had made, 
 and the privations they had so long and so patiently suffered. 
 
 Among those who had endured with unexampled fortitude the evils 
 attendant on a state of warfare so protracted, w ere the British people. 
 If the blood and treasure of England had been lavishly expended 
 during the contest, she sustained the hour of trial with magnanimity, 
 and came out of it triumphantly. During the progress of the war, 
 her victories, both on the land and on the ocean, had been unprece¬ 
 dented, brilliant, and decisive,—achieved with uncommon exertion, 
 and at an enormous expence. Repose was absolutely necessary’: 
 the hour of peace at length arrived; but it brought not with it those 
 benefits which had been so eagerly contemplated. 
 
 The commerce of England had covered the seas, from the com¬ 
 mencement to the termination of hostilities; and her thousand ships 
 of w ar, while they so gloriously added to her naval fame, protected 
 her commercial fleets, and enabled them to traverse the sea in com¬ 
 parative security. London, during the war, became the emporium of 
 the globe; and the commercial monopoly of England was complete. 
 The return of peace, therefore, by admitting the belligerent powers to 
 a participation in the advantages of commerce, was severely felt; and 
 the diminution of the commerce of England naturally kept pace with 
 the activity of those maritime powers, who, during the continuance of 
 hostilities, were almost in a state of absolute inaction. 
 
 The cry of distress w r as soon heard from all quarters, and the bank¬ 
 ruptcy of our merchants and tradesmen occurred to an extent hitherto 
 unknown. These failures involved the fate of thousands connected 
 with trade and commerce: the opulent became insolventmany of 
 the middling classes descended to poverty;—the indigent filled the 
 workhouses;—the local taxes pressed with intolerable weight upon 
 those w ho w ere able to pay, and the situation of many who contributed 
 , was scarcely superior to the wretched inmates of the workhouse. 
 
 It is true, that the aspect of affairs is improving in some degree* 
 Commerce has revived, and there is an increased demand for our 
 manufactures: but a frightful national debt still presses, aud the 
 united demands of local and national taxes have influenced, and do 
 itili influence, thousands of our countrymen to abandon their native 
 
 B 
 
2 THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 shores, and to commence as it were a new existence on those of the 
 Atlantic. 
 
 Among the many causes leading to the immense emigration which 
 is taking place, must be particularly noticed an excess of population, 
 and the use of machinery in our manufactories. The machinery of a 
 single mill now completes the work of thousands. Machinery also 
 used in the operations of agriculture is hourly lessening the demand 
 for hands. An excellent writer, Mr. Gouri.ay, observes, in a letter 
 from Canada, that England could spare 50,000 people annually, while 
 she would he refreshed and strengthened by the discharge. In war, 
 England sent abroad annually more than 20,000 of her youthful sons 
 to be slain, and more than 20,000 of her youthful daughters sent after 
 them the last hope of honourable love. In these 25 years of war, the 
 population of England rapidly increasing, what is it to do now, when 
 war is at an end, when love and opportunity are no longer to be foiled, 
 and the poor laws have provided sustenance for children independent 
 of the parent's care? It is absolutely necessary, for the domestic 
 comfort of England, that a vent should be immediately opened for her 
 increasing population; and the colonization of Canada, if once begun 
 upon a liberal footing, will afford ibis vent. 
 
 The great stream of emigration is evidently towards the United 
 States; but many thousands of emigrants arrive yearly from England 
 in Canada. The population of the provinces of Upper and Lower 
 Canada received an accession of 5000 persons in 1817. At the 
 present moment settlers are embarking in considerable numbers from 
 every part of the United Kingdom; and during the year 1818 the 
 number of persons embarking for America far exceeds any thing of 
 the kind ever known. This little work, therefore, cannot fail to be 
 of singular service to those whom circumstances may impel to quit 
 their beloved country. To the industrious inquirer it may afford 
 instruction; to the visionary, a salutary check. 
 
 The author does not claim the merit of originality in this unassuming 
 production. Where so many have written, and so well, on subjects 
 connected with America, there cannot be much said that may claim 
 the meed of uncommon novelty. Having, however, twice crossed the 
 Atlantic, he has inspected in person most of what he has described, 
 and thus can at least vouch for the fidelity of his little work, which, 
 he again asserts, was undertaken expressly for the information of 
 persons about to emigrate to America, and who have not leisure for 
 the inspection of more voluminous works. 
 
 LOWER CANADA. 
 
 The face of Lower Canada is remarkably bold and striking. The 
 noble river St. Lawrence flows more than 400 miles, between high 
 lands and lofty mountains, sometimes divided into channels by large 
 islands, and at other times intersected by clusters of small ones; 
 numerous rapid streams rolling from the neighbouring mountains, 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 3 
 
 breaking over steep precipices, and mingling their waters with the 
 grand river; its bold and rugged shores, lofty eminences, and sloping 
 valleys, covered with the umbrageous foliage of immense forests, or 
 interspersed with the cultivated settlements of the inhabitants, present 
 altogether to the eye of the spectator a succession of the most sub¬ 
 lime and picturesque objects that imagination can conceive. 
 
 The soil of Lower Canada is very various, and is more or less fer¬ 
 tile as it approaches to the North or South, from Farther Point (the 
 lowest settlement on the south shore) to Kamouraska. Very little land 
 is cultivated; and that little yields a crop only with considerable 
 labour, but without manure. An intelligent native of Plymouth- 
 Dock, who has lived ten years in Canada, observes in one of his 
 letters, “ I have often requested the Canadians to throw compost on 
 their lands, as I do; to which the uniform answer is, ‘ There is no 
 necessity 7 for it; our fore fathers never did it, why should we?* ” 
 
 From Kamouraska to the Island of Orleans, both on the north and 
 south shores, the soil gradually improves, and great quantities of grain 
 are produced. The average crop is about twelve bushels an acre. 
 Emigrants from Europe greatly excel the natives in all agricultural 
 operations: the prejudices of the Canadians in favour of old systems 
 will not, however, permit them to adopt the European methods. Of 
 the soil in the vicinity of Quebec, that of the Island of Orleans is 
 reckoned the best. This island is diversified with high and low lands, 
 covered with woods, or converted into meadows and corn fields; the 
 soil k sufficiently fertile to afford the inhabitants a large surplus of 
 productions beyond their own consumption, which they dispose of at 
 Quebec. 
 
 The meadows of Canada, which have most commonly been corn 
 fields, are reckoned superior to those in the more southern parts of 
 America. They possess a fine close turf, well covered at the roots 
 with clover. They cannot be mown more than once a year, in conse¬ 
 quence of the spring commencing so late. In autumn they exchange 
 their beautiful green for a light brown hue, which gives them the 
 appearance of being scorched by the sun. It is two or three weeks 
 after the snow is gone, before they recover their natural colour. This 
 is the case all over America ; whose pastures, during the autumnal and 
 winter months, never possess that rich and lovely verdure, which they 
 do in England. 
 
 The high lands, with good management, yield tolerable crops; but 
 the Canadians are miserable farmers. They seldom or never manure 
 their land, and plough so very slight and careless, that they continue 
 year after year to turn over the clods which lie at the surface, without 
 penetrating an inch deeper into the soil. Hence their grounds be¬ 
 come exhausted, over-run with weeds, and yield but scanty crops. 
 The fields of wheat which I have seen in different parts of the country 
 appeared much stinted in their growth, and were often much choaked 
 with weeds. When cut down, the straw was seldom more than 18 or 
 20 inches long, the ears small, and the wheat itself discoloured, and 
 little more than two thirds of the size of our English wheat. The 
 wheat about Montreal appeared to be the best that came under my 
 observation. There is, however, a month difference in the climate 
 betweeu Montreal and Quebec; the former is situated in lat. 45° 36', 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 4 
 
 Three Rivers in 46° 25', and Quebec in 46° 35'. The French Cana¬ 
 dians sow only summer wheat, though I should think that winter 
 wheat might be sown in winter with success. Peas, oats, rye, and 
 barley, are sown more or less by every farmer; though the largest 
 crops of these are in the viciniiy of Montreal. 
 
 The towns of Montreal and Quebec, including their suburbs, are 
 said to contain 14,000 inhabitants each, nearly three-fourths of whom 
 are French. 
 
 The British inhabitants of Quebec consist of the government 
 people, the military, 1 lie merchants and shopkeepers, and a few per¬ 
 sons belonging to the church, the law, and medicine. Medical prac- 
 ticioners of character and skill are much wanted, both in Upper and 
 Lower Canada. The Canadians would do well to encourage profes¬ 
 sional gentlemen by liberality to settle among them. 
 
 The French comprise the old noblesse, and seigniors, most of whom 
 are members of the government; the clergy; the advocates and nota¬ 
 ries ; the storekeepers. 
 
 The houses at Quebec are, with few exceptions, built of stone ; the 
 roofs of the better part are generally covered with sheets of iron or 
 tin. The streets of the Lower Town are scarcely deserving of that 
 appellation; they are rugged, narrow, and irregular. A heavy same¬ 
 ness pervades all the houses in Quebec, which is seldom relieved by 
 any elegance or beauty in the public buildings. The Upper Town is 
 the most agreeable part ot Quebec, both in summer and winter. 
 
 The markets of Quebec are well supplied. In the summer the fol¬ 
 lowing articles are brought to market by the habitans (country people), 
 and generally sold at the prices, in sterling money, affixed to them:— 
 
 Meat . —Beef, J Id. to 1 d. per lb. Mutton, 4 d. to Gd. per lb.; or 
 8s. to 10s per sheep. Lamb, 3s. Gd. to 4s. 6d . per quarter. Veal, 
 Gd. to 7 d. per lb. Pork 5d. to Gd. per lb. Sausages. 
 
 Poultry and Game . —Turkeys, 3s. Gd. to 5s. per couple. Fowls, 
 Is. 3 d. to 2s. do. Chickens, 7 d. to lOtf. do. Geese, 2s. 5 d. to 4s. Gd. 
 do. Wild, do. Partridges, lOrf. to 1 3d. do. Pigeons, Is. Gd. to 4s. 
 per dozen. Hares, to 9 d. each. 
 
 Fish. —Eels, Trout, Perch, Poisson Dor£e, and Maskinonse, ac¬ 
 cording to their size. Shad, 1 d. to 2d. each. Sturgeon, Actigan, 
 Black bass, Salmon, Fresh Cod, Salt Cod, and Cat Fish, of various 
 prices, according to the size. At some periods Cod and Salmon are 
 as dear as in London. 
 
 Vegetables. —Potatoes, 18 d. to 20 d. per bushel. Cabbages, Id. to 
 2d. each. Onions, lOd. per hundred. Leeks, 4d. per bundle. 
 Carrots, Turnips, Peas, Beans, Beet, Celery, and Sallad, but very 
 little cheaper than in London. Asparagus, Cotaunier, Parsnips, 
 Boiled Corn, Herbs, &c. 
 
 Fruit. —Apples, 18rf. per barrel. Pears, but few at market. Straw¬ 
 berries, about Gd. per quart. Currants, Gooseberries, Raspberries, 
 Blueberries, Blackberries, Plums, Melons. 
 
 Sundries. —Maple Sugar, 2d. to 3 d. per lb. Flour, 18$. to 25$. 
 per cwt. Lard, Gd. to 9 d. per lb. Tallow, 9 d. to lOrf. per lb. To¬ 
 bacco, 9rf. per lb. Butter, 9 d. to 14rf. per lb. Oats, 2$. Gd. to 3 s. 
 per minot. Hay, Gd. to 7 d. per bundle. Straw, 2d. to 3rf. per 
 bundle. Wood, 12$. to 15$. per cord, Soap, Magasins, Furs, &c. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 5 
 
 In winter, a few only of the above articles are brought to market. 
 As soon as the river between Quebec and the Island of Orleans is 
 frozen over, a large supply of provisions is received from that island. 
 The Canadians, at the commencement of winter, kill the greatest 
 part of their stock, which they carry to market in a frozen state. The 
 inhabitants of the towns then supply themselves with a sufficient 
 quantity of poultry and vegetables till spring, and keep them in 
 garrets or cellars. As long as they remain frozen, they preserve 
 their goodness, but they will not keep long after they have thawed. 
 I have eaten turkeys in April, which have been kept in this manner 
 all the winter, and found them remarkably good. Before the frozen 
 provisions are dressed, they are always laid for some hours in cold 
 water, which extracts the ice; otherwise, by a sudden immersion in 
 hot water, they would be spoiled. 
 
 The articles of life are certainly very reasonable in Canada; but 
 the high price of house-rent and European goods, together with the 
 high wages of servants, more than counterbalance that advantage. 
 
 A person must pay at least 70 or 100 per cent, upon the London 
 price for every article of wearing apparel, furniture, &c. unless he 
 attends the public sales, which are pretty frequent, and where arti¬ 
 cles are sometimes sold very low; hut there he is often liable to be 
 deceived, and many a keen economist has been overreached with as 
 much dexterity as in London. 
 
 The Lower Town market-place is reckoned cheaper than the other; 
 it is not so large, but is generally well supplied. Fish is at certain 
 seasons abundant, particularly salmon and shad; the latter is classed 
 among the herrings, which it somewhat resembles in flavour, though 
 widely different in size, the shad being as large as a moderate-sized 
 salmon. They are a great relief to the poor people in the months 
 of May and June, as at that season they are taken in shoals. In the 
 river of St. Lawrence, from the entrance to more than 200 miles 
 above Quebec, large quantities are salted down for the use of the 
 upper province. 
 
 Fresh cod are very rarely brought to market. A merchant in the 
 Upper Town usually gets a supply once during the summer season, 
 which he keeps in an ice-house, and retails to the inhabitants at 
 neariv the London price. Montreal receives a supply from the 
 United States during the winter season; they are packed up in ice, 
 and a few of them find their way to Quebec. 
 
 Considering the vast quantities of fish with which the river and 
 gulf of St. Lawrence abound, the markets in Canada are very ill 
 supplied. Though the gulf is full of mackarel, yet none ever appear 
 at Quebec. Oysters are sometimes brought from Chaleur Bay; but 
 so seldom, and in such small quantities, that an oyster party is consi¬ 
 dered by the inhabitants as a very rare treat. They are, however, 
 but of an indifferent quality; and though of large size when taken 
 out of the shell, yet have so little substance in them, that when cut 
 with a knife the water runs out, and they diminish at least a fourth. 
 The shells are large, and adhere to each other in great clusters. The 
 herrings of Canada are large, but of an indifferent quality. Sprats 
 there are none; at least none ever appear on shore. 
 
 In the spring, the markets are abundantly supplied with wild 
 
(5 THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 pigeons, which are sometimes sold much lower than the price I have 
 mentioned; this happens in plentiful seasons. But the immense 
 flocks that formerly passed over the country are now considerably 
 diminished; or, as the land becomes cleared, they retire farther 
 back. 
 
 The beef of Canada is in general poor and tough. The Canadians have 
 not a proper method of fattening their cattle, which are for the most 
 part lean and ill fed. The butchers, however, contrive to furnish a 
 better sort, which they fatten on their own farms. The veal is 
 killed too young to please an English taste; and the pork is over¬ 
 grown. Mutton and lamb are very good; and the latter, on its first 
 coming in, is sold at a price that would not disgrace a London 
 market. The habilans sell their meat by the quarter, half, or whole 
 carcase ; r which accounts for the different prices I have affixed to 
 those articles. The butchers retail them by the pound. 
 
 The best butter is brought from Green Island, about one hundred 
 and fifty miles below Quebec. That sold by the Canadians in the 
 market place is generally of a cheesy or sour flavour, owing to the 
 cream being kept so long before it is churned. Milk is brought to 
 market in the wintertime in large frozen cakes. 
 
 Large quantities of Maple sugar are sold at about half the price of 
 the West India sugar. The manufacturing of this article takes place 
 early iu the spring, when the sap or juice rises in the maple trees. It 
 is very laborious work, as at that time the snow is just melting, and 
 the Canadians suffer great hardships in procuring the liquor from an 
 immense number of trees dispersed over many hundred acres of 
 land. The liquor is boiled down, and often adulterated with flour, 
 which thickens and renders it heavy; after it is boiled a sufficient time, 
 it is poured into tureens, and, when cold,, forms a thick hard cake, of 
 the shape of the vessel. These cakes are of a dark brown colour, 
 for the Canadians do not trouble themselves about refining it: the 
 people in Upper Canada make it very white; and it may be easily 
 clarified equal to the finest loaf sugar made in England. It is very 
 hard, and requires to be scraped with a knife when used for tea, 
 otherwise the lumps would be a considerable time dissolving. Its 
 flavour strongly resembles the candied horehound sold by the druggists 
 in England ; and the Canadians say that it possesses medicinal qualities, 
 for which they eat it in large lumps. It very possibly acts as a correc¬ 
 tive to the vast quantity of fat pork which they consume, as it pos¬ 
 sesses a greater degree of acidity than the West-India sugar. Before 
 salt was in use, sugar was eaten with meat, in order to correct its 
 putrescency. Hence, probably, the custom of eating sweet apple 
 sauce with pork and goose, and currant jelly w ith hare and venison. 
 
 Ilay is sold at market in bundles of 17lbs. weight each, at 50 s. 
 the hundred bundles. Straw is sold in the same manner, at about 
 half the price. Wood is brought to hiarket in carts or sleighs; 
 three loads make one cord, which sells from 12s. to 15s. Most people 
 at Quebec, however, lay in their wood from the water-side, near the 
 Low'er Town market-place; it is brought down the river in summer, 
 in cribs of six cords each. A cord of wood is six feet long, four 
 feet high, and two feet deep, and is sold at the water side from Is. to 
 9j. The cxpences of carting, piling, and sawing the wood, is about 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 7 
 
 4s. 6d. more. Coals are generally brought by the vessels as ballast, 
 and sell from 20s. to 30s. per chaldron at Quebec; they are a cheaper 
 fuel than wood, but the latter is better adapted for the stoves which 
 are used in Canada. The French people sell their commodities by 
 the minoty a measure which is one twelfth more than the Winchester 
 bushel. They also measure land by the arpent , which is four-fifths 
 of a statute acre. 
 
 The fish in the seas, gulfs, rivers, and lakes of Canada, are 
 innumerable; they consist, indeed, of almost every species and variety 
 at present known. Those brought to market have been mentioned 
 before. They are mostly the fresh water-fish; and, considering the 
 immense quantities that might be procured with the greatest facility, 
 it is surprising that so few are offered for sale. The salt-water fishery 
 is carried on chiefly for the purpose of exportation; but no great 
 quantity is exported from Quebec. 
 
 The two Canadas abound with almost every species and variety of 
 trees, shrubs, and plants. Among the timber trees are the oak, pine, 
 fir, elm, ash, birch, walnut, beech, maple, chesnut, cedar, aspen, 
 &c. Among the fruit trees and shrubs are walnut, chesnut, apple, 
 pear, cherry, plum, elder, vines, hazel, hiccory, samach, juniper, 
 hornbeam, thorn, laurel, whortleberry, cranberry, raspberry, goose¬ 
 berry, blackberry, blueberry, sloe, &c. Strawberries are luxuriantly 
 scattered over every part of the country; but currants are only met 
 with in gardens. Such innumerable quantities of useful and beautiful 
 plants, herbs, grapes, and flowers, are also to be found in the 
 forests, that where the botanist is presented with so rich a field for 
 observation and study, it is to be regretted that so little is known 
 concerning them. 
 
 The pine trees grow to the height of 120 feet and more, and 
 from nine to ten feet in circumference. In several parts of Lower 
 Canada, bordering on the states of Vermont and New York, they 
 make excellent masts and timber for shipping; but the quantity 
 procured in the lower province is very trifling to the supplies re¬ 
 ceived from Upper Canada and the United States. In other parts, 
 particularly to the northward and westward of Quebec, the forest 
 trees are mostly of a small growth. There are several varieties of the 
 pine and fir trees, from some of which are made large quantities of 
 pitch, tar, and turpentine. The clearing of lands has of late years 
 been carried on to great advantage by those who properly’ understand 
 the true method ; for there is scarcely a tree in the forest but what 
 may be turned to some account, particularly in the making of pot 
 and pearl ashes, which have enriched the American settlers far beyond 
 any other article. The trees of a resinous quality supply pitch, tar, 
 and turpentine. The maple furnishes sugar, and, with the beech, 
 ash, elm, &c. will also serve for the potash manufactory. Cedar 
 is converted into shingles for the roofs of houses; oak into ship 
 timber; firs into deal planks and board*, and, in short, almost every 
 kind of tree is brought into use for some purpose or other. 
 
 In the clearing of lands, however, it is always necessary that 
 the settler should first look out for a market for his produce, and for 
 some navigable river or good road to convey the same; otherwise it 
 is of little consequence that he obtains four or five hundred acres of 
 
THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. 
 
 8 
 
 land for four or five pounds. So much land for so little money is 
 highly prepossessing to an European; but appearances, particularly at 
 a distance, are often fallacious. 
 
 The American oak is quicker in its growth, but less durable than 
 that of Europe; one species called the live oak, which is, however, 
 found only in the warmer parts of the country, is said by many to be 
 equal, if not superior, to the English oak for ship-building. The 
 white oak is the best that is found in the Canadian settlements, and is 
 chiefly used for the building of vessels at Quebec and Montreal. 
 
 One of the most useful trees in Canada is the maple tree, acer 
 gaccharinum . I haye, in a former chapter, adverted to the mode of 
 manufacturing ihe sap of this tree into sugar. It is not cut dow n till 
 exhausted of its sap, when it is generally preferred for fire wood, and 
 fetches a higher price than any other sold at market. 
 
 ROADS AND DISTANCES IN CANADA. 
 
 From Quebec to Halifax . miles. 
 
 From Quebec to Point Levi, across the river . 1 
 
 Thence to the Portage at Riviere du Cap. 121 \ 
 
 -Timispuata. 36 
 
 -the Settlement of Maduaska. 45 
 
 -the great falls in River St. John . 45 
 
 -Frederick Town.180 
 
 -St.John’s. 90 
 
 -Halifax.189£ 
 
 --70S 
 
 From Quebec to Michillimahinak , at the entrance of Lake Huran. 
 
 To Montreal..... 184 
 
 — Coteau du Lac. 225 
 
 — Cornwall. 266 
 
 — Matilda.... 301 
 
 — Augusta. 335 
 
 — Kingston... 385 
 
 — Niagara. 525 
 
 Fort Erie. 560 
 
 — Detroit. 700 
 
 — Michillimakinak. 1107 
 
 From Quebec to New York , by way of Montreal. 
 
 To Cape Rouge. 9 
 
 — St. Augustin . 9 
 
 — Jacques Cartier. 15 
 
 — St. Anne’s . 30 
 
 — Three Rivers. 22 
 
 — Riviere du Soup... ... 27 
 
 — Berthicr. 22 
 
 — Repcntign 6 . 
 
 — Montreal. 13 
 
 --184 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 9 
 
 MILKS. 
 
 To Laprairie . 9 
 
 — St. John’s . 14 
 
 — Isle au Maix... 14 
 
 — Windmill Poiut. 12 
 
 — Savage's Point. .. G 
 
 — Sandbar... oo 
 
 — Burlington, the first post-town in the States. 14 
 
 - 89 
 
 To Skenesborough. 73 
 
 — Fort Anne. 12 
 
 — Dumant Ferry . 24 
 
 — Waterford. 24 
 
 — Albany City. 12 
 
 -159 
 
 To Hudson City. . . 34 
 
 — Rhinebeck... 31 
 
 — Poughkeepsie. 17 
 
 — Peckshill. 34 
 
 — Kingsbridge . 34 
 
 — New York. 15 
 
 -1G5 
 
 The expence of travelling post, in Lower Canada, is one shilling 
 currency per league. 
 
 The American packets, on Lake Champlain, charge from three to 
 four dollars for the passage from St. John’s to Skenesborough, a dis¬ 
 tance of nearly 160 miles. 
 
 From Skenesborough the traveller proceeds to New York in a 
 waggon or stage, at the rate of three pence sterling per mile. 
 
 Of the inhabitants of Lower Canada, not more than one-tenth are 
 British or American settlers from the United States. In Upper 
 Canada the population is almost entirely composed of the latter and 
 British subjects, who have emigrated from various parts of the United 
 Kingdom. Very few French people reside in that province; and it is 
 a remarkable circumstance, that among all the British residents in the 
 two colonies, not 200 Englishmen perhaps can be found. I was told, 
 that at Quebec there were not more than twelve or fourteen of that 
 country. The rest are either Irish or Scotch, though the former bear 
 no proportion to the latter, who are distributed from one end of the 
 Canadas to the other. The Irish emigrate more to the United States 
 than to Canada. Being discontented with their own government, 
 they endeavour to seek relief under a foreign one, whose virtues have 
 been so greatly exaggerated, and whose excellent properties have 
 been extolled to the skies. A few months, however, convince them 
 of their error, and those who are not sold to their American masters 
 generally find their way into Upper Canada. 
 
 Of all British emigrants, the Scotch are the most indefatigable and 
 persevering . In poverty they leaye their native home; yet seldom 
 return to it without a handsome competency. Their patient diligence, 
 and submission, in the pursuit of riches, together with their general 
 knowledge and good sense, render them highly beneficial to the 
 mother country; while their natural partiality for their ancient soil 
 
 c 
 
10 THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 secures their steady attachment and adherence to the British govern¬ 
 ment. 
 
 The expences of the civil government in Upper Canada are de¬ 
 frayed by direct taxes, by duties upon articles imported from the 
 United States, and a sum granted by the Lower Province out of cer¬ 
 tain duties. In Upper Canada, lands, houses, and mills, horses, cows, 
 pigs, and other property, are valued and taxed at the rate of one penny 
 in the pound. Woodlands are valued at one shilling per acre, and 
 cultivated lands at fifty shillings per acre. A house with only one 
 chimney pays no tax, but with two it is charged at the rate of forty 
 pounds per annum, though it may be but a mere hovel. 
 
 The inhabitants of Lower Canada pay no direct taxes, except for 
 the repair of roads, highways, paving streets, &c. and then they have 
 the choice of working themselves, or sending one of their labourers 
 with a horse and cart, &c. 
 
 The timber and staves which are brought into Canada from the 
 States are cut down in winter or spring, and collected into large rafts 
 on Lake Champlain, whence they are floated down the river Richlieu 
 into the St. Lawrence, and deposited along the shores of Silleri and 
 Wolfe’s Cove, for an extent of more than five miles. There they 
 are culled and sorted for the merchants. Standard staves, of 5J feet 
 long, L] inch thick, and 5 inches broad, sell in Canada from <£40 to 
 £50 the 1200. The freight is about the same amount. 
 
 The rafts, when coming down the river, exhibit a curious scene: they 
 have several little sheds or huts erected with boards for the accom¬ 
 modation of the rowers, whose number on large rafts frequently con¬ 
 sists of 100 or 150. 
 
 A letter, received from the intelligent friend resident in Quebec 
 before mentioned, says— 
 
 iC As to what goods will sell best here, it is impossible for me to speak 
 accurately. In one season articles sell well, in another very indifferently. 
 Cargoes that have arrived from England this year (1817) are selling at 
 sale9 as cheap as in England! The market is glutted; and indeed some 
 articles are going off 20 per cent, under prime cost. The course of exchange 
 is at par at present: the difference of currency and sterling is Is. 9 cL 
 An English guinea, if weight, is worth 1/. 3s. 9^. In Canada all gold is taken 
 by weight. Salt is now going off here at the sales at 7s. 6d. per bushel: this 
 article is procured chiefly from Liverpool. In some years 226,000 bushels 
 have been exported. During winter it has been known to sell as high as 
 12 s. 6d. per bushel, and even at 14s.; but in the ensuing spring it fell to 
 3s. 6d. which is generally the price at which it is retailed. Ships from Liver¬ 
 pool are most commonly ballasted with salt; and during the season of their 
 arrival at Quebec, some of the merchants purchase it from Is. 3 d. to Is. 8 d. 
 per bushel, and monopolize it until the season is over, when no more supplies 
 can be obtained till the following spring.” 
 
 The fruit of Canada is not remarkable either for goodness or 
 cheapness, except strawberries and raspberries, which are brought to 
 market in great abundance, during the season. They are gathered on 
 the plains at the back of Quebec, and in the neighbouring woods, 
 where they grow upon the ground, or among the shrubs, in wild 
 luxuriance. The poor Canadians send their children to gather them, 
 and afterwards sell them to the inhabitants at a moderate price. It 
 is an agreeable sight to yiew the fields covered with strawberries, in 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 11 
 
 blossom, or ripe: few persons keep them in gardens. The raspberry 
 bushes are intermingled with the underwood of the forests, and afford 
 an agreeable treat to those who are fond of rambling in the woods. 
 That pleasure is, however, more than counterbalanced by the mus- 
 quitoes and sand-flies, which never fail for three or four months in 
 the summer to annoy those who venture to penetrate their abode. 
 
 Apples and pears are procured from Montreal, where they grow 
 in more abundance, and in greater perfection, than in any other part 
 of Lower Canada. They are sold for much the same price as in 
 England. The apple which is most prized is what they call the 
 pommegris, a small light brown apple, somewhat resembling the 
 russetin in appearance. Many persons say that it is superior to any 
 English apple; but I never could agree with them in that particular. 
 In my opinion it is not equal to many of our apples, and cannot be 
 compared with the nonpareil, an apple unknown in Canada. Several 
 species of apples and pears are found in ihe woods, but they are of 
 inferior quality to those cultivated in the gardens and orchards. 
 
 The grapes brought to market are mostly of the wild species, 
 which are gathered in the woods, or from vines that have been 
 planted near the houses. Little care has been taken to improve the 
 latter, so that very trifling alteration is discernible. They are scarcely 
 larger than currants, but when ripe have a pleasant flavour, though 
 rather sharp and pungent. There are a few European vines cultivated 
 in the gardens, but the grapes are seldom to be purchased. Oranges 
 and lemons are imported from England, and are always extremely 
 scarce ; for the damage which they sustain on the voyage renders 
 them a very unprofitable article for sale. Oranges frequently sell at 
 one or two shillings each. The lemons, which generally keep better, 
 are sometimes as low as six pence, but they are often not to be pur¬ 
 chased at any price. 
 
 Gooseberries, blackberries, and blueberries, are in great abundance, 
 and grow wild in the woods. Those cultivated in gardens are much 
 superior. Currants came originally from Europe, and are to be 
 found only in gardens; there is of course but a scanty supply of 
 them at market. Plums are plentiful in the market ; they are of the 
 wild species, though often introduced into gardens. They are 
 generally of two sorts, the white and black; and resemble the most 
 common of our plums. Walnuts and filberts are by no means 
 common in Canada, and are procured principally by importation from 
 England. Hickory and hazel nuts are met with in the forests. 
 Cherries are grown in gentlemen's gardens only: w ild cherries are, 
 however, scattered over the country,; and a very agreeable liqueur is 
 made with them, which in flavour resembles noyau. 
 
 Vegetables may be obtained in tolerable quantities at the markets. 
 The potatoe is now generally grown in Canada; it was introduced by 
 the English settlers. Onions, leeks, pease, beans, and cabbages, are 
 much esteemed. Gardening is, however, as little understood as 
 farming, and nothing is brought to market in perfection. Gardeners 
 of skill, sobriety, and industry, would meet with considerable encou¬ 
 ragement both in Upper and Lower Canada. Scotch gardeners, so 
 celebrated for their superior intelligence, their sobriety, and their 
 perseverance, would effect wonders with the soil of either province. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 12 
 
 Large quantities of wheat are raised in Canada, and exported to 
 Great Britain, and yet the article bread is not so cheap as it ought 
 to be. Upper Canada is particularly luxuriant in the production of 
 the finest wheat. There is no deficiency of mills for grinding wheat. 
 The price of bread is regulated monthly by the magistrates. 
 
 If the emigrant farmer should be poor, he will have difficulties to 
 encounter in establishing himself. Arrived at his land, he has no 
 shelter till he ereets his house; he then cuts down trees, and clears 
 his ground of brushwood, &c. by fire. By degrees he ameliorates 
 his land, obtains shelter for his cattle, &c. Enterprising men, who 
 have courage to surmount difficulties, will in the end do very well, as 
 thousands have done. That farmer will best succeed who can com¬ 
 mand a small capital, from £200 to <£400. With this he can pur¬ 
 chase a farm in the neighbourhood of Montreal, where the ground is 
 luxuriant, and the frosts do not injure the crops, as is often the case 
 at Quebec ; he will also find a market for his productions. 
 
 The price of the best land averages from 25 to 30 dollars per acre, * 
 Perhaps the best land is in the neighbourhood of Montreal. The 
 farms are generally cleared of trees about a mile back. Few trees 
 arc suffered to grow near the houses. 
 
 Tea comes from the United States; and, considering that no duty is 
 paid on it, is certainly dear. Green tea is generally drank, and 
 differs considerably in price: the highest is 10$. per lb. Hyson sells 
 from 12$. to 14$. per lb. Chocolate and coffee also come from the 
 United States, and average at 2$. per lb. Sugars are obtained at a 
 reasonable rate. 
 
 Soap and candles are made at Quebec and Montreal. They are 
 not very good in quality, and in price are as high as in England. 
 Tobacco is universally grown in Canada, and yet it is imported from 
 the United States in considerable quantities. 
 
 Some cheese is also obtained from the United States, which is nearly 
 of the same quality as Suffolk cheese. This sells from 7 d. to i)d. per 
 pound. English cheese sells high, from 2$. to 2$. 6d. per pound. 
 
 The trades likely to flourish in the Canadas are those of the 
 ship-wright, block and mast maker, blacksmith, house carpenter, 
 joiner, mill-wright, wheel wright, boat-builder, cabinet-maker, saddler, 
 painter, baker, taylor, tanner, hair-dresser, and whitesmith. There 
 are others, no doubt, that would auswer extremely well. Skill and 
 industry will make their way every where. 
 
 I have known, in several instances, an association of the house car¬ 
 penter and blacksmith to expedite considerably the formation of an 
 infant settlement. They have emigrated together from England; and 
 their union has materially facilitated the progress of their establish¬ 
 ment in their adopted country. 
 
 Ship builders, in Canada, are in general an indifferent set of men. 
 Many of them are from the river Thames; and the dissolute habits of 
 these are proverbial. Shipwrights of sober, steady habits, cannot 
 fail of doing well on the banks of the River St. Lawrence. The 
 Canadian shipwrights, however, make up for lack of skill by habits 
 the very reverse of those of the Europeans. 
 
 There is certainly a great want of useful hands in Canada; bu t 9 
 perhaps, it is not so great as is apprehended in England, 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 13 
 
 f The wages of artificers are good; but they must imitate the ants. 
 Those who cannot save during the summer are miserable during the 
 winter, when many are out of employment. 
 
 For a small society, like that of Canada, the number of unfaithful 
 wives, kept mistresses, and girls of easy virtue, exceed in proportion 
 those of the old country; and it is supposed that, in the towns, more 
 children are born illegitimately than in wedlock. Trials for crim. con . 
 are, however, unknown. 
 
 Good female servants are very scarce in Canada. Following the 
 example of their mistresses, few can be found who are exempt from 
 the vices of the age. Their wages are from .£12 to £20 per annum ; 
 and notwithstanding they are so liberally paid, they seldom remain 
 above a month in a place. A servant that remains in her place four 
 or five months is looked upon as a pattern of excellence. Farmers* 
 servants get from £06 to £40 a year currency, and provisions. A 
 careful man, may of course, lay by something. 
 
 Blessed with a luxuriant soil, which he obtains on easy terms, the 
 habitan of Canada raises the productions of the earth with inconsi¬ 
 derable labour, and, satisfied with the practice of his fore-fathers, 
 obstinately rejects the advice which w'ould lead to improvement and 
 profit. It will therefore be readily perceived what singular advan¬ 
 tages asvait the industrious agricultural emigrant on his arrival in 
 Canada. What effects must be produced by the introduction into 
 that country of the superior modes of husbandry adopted in Eng¬ 
 land ! and what wonders will not these methods produce, when asso¬ 
 ciated with the characteristic perseverance and industry of the 
 farmers of the United Kingdom ! 
 
 They will have difficulties to encounter; but nothing is impossible 
 to industry. The increase of agriculture and commerce has caused 
 many in Canada to emerge from poverty and neglect to opulence and 
 esteem. He that dares to be resolute in defiance of obstacles, finds 
 that success generally crowns his efforts. 
 
 66 The wise and prudent conquer difficulties 
 “ By daring to attempt them.” 
 
 The emigrant will find the habits of the people with whom he is 
 called to associate very different from those of the people he has 
 quitted; but if he accommodates himself to circumstances, his com¬ 
 forts will be proportioned to the disposition which he may carry with 
 him into his newly-adopted society. With him prudent conformity 
 to new habits will often be wisdom. 
 
 UPPER CANADA. 
 
 The observations which have been rapidly made on the soil, the 
 scenery, commerce, trade, &c. of Lower Canada, will nearly apply 
 to the Upper Province. 
 
 The climate of Upper Canada is much more temperate and soft 
 than that of the Lower Province, and it is on that and on many other 
 accounts preferred by emigrants. Vegetation is extremely rapid, the 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 14 
 
 harvests remarkably abundant, and by many Upper Canada has been 
 termed the garden of North America. The principal towns are 
 York, Kingston, Queenston, and Niagara. The capital (York) is on 
 Lake Ontario, and is rapidly increasing in importance. All the 
 towns are populous, and the commerce of the whole province has 
 considerably increased within the last ten years, and is still in¬ 
 creasing. 
 
 Direct taxation is very trifling; and any man with a moderate sum 
 of money has it in his power to acquire a handsome competency. 
 
 The manners, customs, and amusements of the people, resemble 
 those of the British nation; and though society is yet in its infancy, 
 it is not wanting in those requisites which make it agreeable to 
 strangers. 
 
 England derives considerable benefit and assistance from the pro¬ 
 ductions and commerce of Upper Canada; yet government does not 
 appear to be sensible of the high importance of this rising state. 
 Greater encouragement must yet be held out to those who are dis¬ 
 posed to emigrate. 
 
 That there unaccountably exists a want of due attention on the part 
 of government to this national concern, may be inferred from the 
 perusal of an interesting letter written by Mr. GouRlay to the 
 gentlemen of Canada, in October 1817;—the following is an ex¬ 
 tract from it:— 
 
 “ Gentlemen —I am a British farmer, and have visited this province to 
 ascertain what advantages it possesses in an agricultural point of view. After 
 three months’ residence, I am convinced that these are great—far superior, 
 indeed, to what the Mother Country has ever held out, either as they concern 
 speculative purchase, or the profits of present occupation. Under such 
 impressions, it is my purpose, a3 soon as circumstances will permit, to become 
 a settler; and, in the mean time, would willingly do what lay in my power 
 to benefit the country of my choice. When I speak in this sanguine manner 
 of the capabilities of Canada, I take it for granted that'eenain political re¬ 
 straints to improvement will be speedily removed. Growing necessity, and 
 the opinion of every sensible man with whom I have conversed upon the 
 subject, gives assurance of this. My present address, therefore, waves all 
 regard to political arrangements; it has in view, simply, to open a corre¬ 
 spondence between you and your fellow-subjects at home, where the utmost 
 ignorance prevails with respect to the natural resources of this fine country. 
 Travellers have published passing remarks; they have told wonderful stories, 
 and amused the idle of England with descriptions of the beautiful and grand 
 scenery which Nature has here displayed; but no authentic account has yet 
 been afforded to men of capital,—to men of enterprise and skill, of those im¬ 
 portant facts which are essential to be known, before such men will launch 
 into foreign speculation, or venture with their families in quest of better 
 fortune across tlie Atlantic In this state of ignorance, you have hitherto 
 had for settlers chiefly poor men, driven from their home by despair;—these 
 men, ill-informed, and lost in the novelties which surround them, make at first 
 but a feeble commencement, and ultimately form a society crude, unambitious, 
 and weak. In your Newspapers I have frequently observed hints towards 
 bettering the condition of these poor settlers, and for insuring their residence 
 in the piovinces. Such hints evidently spring from benevolent feelings; they 
 are all well meant, and may tend to alleviate individual distress, but can 
 produce no important good to the country. Canada is worthy of something 
 better than a mere guidance to it of the blind and the lame; it has attractions 
 to stimulate desire, and place its colonization above the aids of necessity.'*— 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 15 
 
 Hands, no doubt, ace necessary; but, next to good laws, the grand requisite 
 for the improvement of any country is capital. Could a flow of capital be 
 once directed to this quarter, hands would not be wanting, nor would these 
 Lands be so chilled with poverty as to need the patronage of charitable insti¬ 
 tutions. At this moment British capital is overflowing; trade is yielding it 
 up; the funds cannot profitably absorb it; land mortgages are gorged ; and it 
 is streaming to waste in the six percents, of America. Why should not this 
 stream be diverted into the woods of Canada, where it would find a still higher 
 rate of interest, with the most substantial security ? 
 
 u Gentlemen—The moment is most auspicious to your interest, and you 
 should take advantage of it. You should make known the state of this country; 
 you should advertise the excellence of the raw material which Nature has la¬ 
 vishly spread before you; you should inspire confidence, and tempt able adven¬ 
 turers from home. At this time there are thousands of British farmers, sickened 
 with disappointed hopes, who would reaJily come to Canada, did they but know 
 the truth ; many of these could still command a few thousand pounds to begin 
 with here ; while others, less able in means, have yet preserved their character 
 for skill and probity, to entitle them to the confidence of capitalists at home, 
 for w hom they could act as agents in adventure. Under the wing of such men 
 the redundant population of Britain would emigrate with cheerfulness, and be 
 planted here with hearts unbroken. We hear of 4 or 5000 settlers arriving 
 from home this season, and it is talked of as a great accession to the population 
 of the provinces. It is a mere drop from the bucket. 
 
 u The extent of calamity already occasioned by the system of the poor 
 laws cannot be even imagined by strangers. They may form some idea, how¬ 
 ever, when I tell them, that last winter I saw in one parish (Blackwall, within 
 five miles of London) several hundreds of able-bodied men harnessed and 
 yoked, fourteen together, in carts, hauling gravel for the repair of the high¬ 
 ways; each 14 men performing just about as much work as an old horse led 
 by a boy could accomplish. We have heard since, that 1,500,000/ has been 
 voted to keep the poor at work; and perhaps the most melancholy consider¬ 
 ation of the w hole is, that there are people who trust to such means as a cure 
 for the evil. While all this is true; when the money and labour of England 
 are thus wasted; when thousands of our fellow-subjects are emigrating into 
 the States of America, when we even hear of their being led off to toil with 
 the boors of Poland, in the cultivation of a country where the nature of the 
 government must counteract the utmost efforts towards improvement—is it 
 not provoking that all this should go on merely from a reigning ignorance of 
 the superior advantages which Canada has in store, and a thoughtlessness as 
 to the grand policy which might be adopted for the general aggrandizement of 
 the British nation? Some have thought the exclusion of American citizens a 
 great bar to the speedy settlement of Canada; but a liberal system of colo¬ 
 nization from Europe would render this of small importance. Before coming 
 to a decided opinion on this important subject, I took much pains to inform 
 myself of facts. A minute inquiry on the spot where Government has endea¬ 
 voured to force a settlement satisfied me as to the causes of the too notorious 
 failure there. It convinced me that the fault by no means rested with the 
 incapacity of the settlers, but resulted from the system pursued. I have since 
 spent a month perambulating the Genesee country, for the express purpose of 
 forming a comparison between British and American management. That 
 country lies parallel to this; it possesses no superior advantages; its settle¬ 
 ment began ten years later; yet I am ashamed to say, it is already ten years 
 before Canada in improvement. This has been ascribed to the superior loy¬ 
 alty of the American people, but most eroneously. The art of clearing land 
 is as well understood here as in the States :—men direct from Britain are as 
 energetic, and, after a little practice, sufficiently expert with the axe, while 
 they are more regular in their habits, and more persevering in their plans, than 
 the Americans. No improvement has taken place in the Genesee country, 
 which could uot be far exceeded here, under a proper system. It was indeed 
 
16 THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE, 
 
 British capital and onterprize which gave the first grand impetus to the 
 provement of that country : much of its improvement is still proceeding unde? 
 British agency; and one of its most flourishing townships is wholly occupied 
 by men who came with slander means from the Highlands of Scotland. Id 
 the Genesee country the Government pocketed much, buljurced nothing; and 
 charity there has been left without an object. 
 
 “ Gentlemen—The inquiries and observations which I have recently made 
 on the subject of settlement, assure me, that neither in these provinces nor in 
 the United States has a proper system been pursued. The mere filling of the 
 world with men should not be the sole object of political wisdom. This 
 should regard the filling of it with beings of superior intellect and feeling; 
 without which the desert had better remain occupied by the heaver and the 
 bear. That society of a superior kind may be nursed up in Canada, by an 
 enlarged and liberal connexion with the mother country, I am very confi¬ 
 dent; and its being realized is the fond hope which induces me to come 
 forward with my present proposals, and which, if these proposals meet with 
 support, will continue the spur of my exertions to complete the work which 
 I have now in view. Many of you, Gentlemen, have been bred up at home, 
 and well know how superior, in many respects, are the arrangements and 
 habits of society there, to what they are on this side the Atlantic. Such never 
 can be hoped for here, under the present system of colonization; which brings 
 put only a part, and that the weakest part of society,—which places poor 
 and destitute individuals in remote situations, with no object before them but 
 groveling selfishness—no aid—no example—no fear either of God or man. 
 Is it not possible to create such a tide of commerce as would not only bring 
 with it part of society, but society complete, with all the strength and order 
 and refinement which it has now attained in Britain, beyond all precedent? 
 Surely Government would afford every facility to a commerce which would 
 not only enrich, but eternally bind together Britain and its Provinces, by the 
 most powerful sympathies of manners, and taste, and affection. 
 
 “ Government can never too much encourage the growth of this colony by 
 a liberal system of emigration. When we come from home we aie not expatri¬ 
 ated ; our feeling^ as British subjects grow mure warm with distance, and our 
 greater experience teaches us the more to venerate the principles of our native 
 land—the country wherein the sciences have made the greatest progress, and 
 where alone are cultivated to perfection the arts of social life. At home we 
 have experienced evils; we know that influences are there, which war against 
 the principles of the constitution, and counteract its most benevolent designs. 
 Here, we are free of such influences; we are perfectly contented; and a fine 
 field lies open to us for cultivating the best fruits of civil and religious liberty. 
 An enlarged and liberal connexion between Canada and Britain appears to 
 me to promise the happiest results to the cause of civilization. It promises a 
 new aera in the history of our species; it promises the growth of manners with 
 manly spirit, modesty with acquirements, and a love of truth superior to the 
 boasting of despicable vanity. The late war furnished the stongest proof of 
 fhe rising spirit of this colony, even under every disadvantage; and pity would 
 it be, were so noble a spirit ever again exposed to risk. The late war shewed 
 at once the affection which Britain bears to Canada, and the desire which 
 Canada has to continue under the wing of Britain. When a connexion is 
 established between the two countries worthy of such manifestations, all risk 
 will cease. Britain will no longer have to expend her millions here. This 
 country will not only be equal to its own defence, but the last hope of inva¬ 
 sion will wither before its strength. While Canada remains poor and 
 neglected, she can only be a burden to Britain; when improved and wealthy, 
 she will amply repay every debt, and become the powerful friend of the 
 parent state/' ***#*•**•• 
 
T1IE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 17 
 
 There is little opening at Quebec or Montreal for emigrants, but 
 much room for both mechanics and farmers in Upper Canada. One 
 great obstacle to many in settling in or near Quebec or Montreal, is 
 the want of knowledge of the French language ; no person can carry 
 en business without such knowledge, which is not the case in Upper 
 Canada, where all the settlers are either British or Americans. The 
 price of mechanics’ labour is from 7s.6d.to 1 Os. sterling, per day; 
 stone-masons, painters, and carpenters, get 7s. 6d. per day. 
 
 Some land in good situations, though somewhat remote from the 
 present settlements, has been obtained for nothing but the fees, pro¬ 
 vided the person applying settles thereon. 
 
 Good land, in better situations, sells for from two to five dollars 
 uncleared, and from five to twenty cleared and improved. Labourers' 
 wages are from twelve to sixteen dollars per month, and their board. 
 There are no compact towns of any great size in Upper Canada; it 
 being yet a very young country, the inhabitants find it most to their 
 interest to pursue farmiug: York and Kingston, on Lake Ontario, are 
 the principal. The townships are laid out in several miles square, as 
 in the United States. 
 
 The terms on which a settlement may be obtained in the wilds are 
 as follow’:— 
 
 First.—Every person that wants a lot of *200 acres (for no one 
 person can get more from the King) must take the oath of allegiance 
 to his Majesty before some of his Majesty’s justices of the peace; a 
 certificate of which he must procure. 
 
 Secondly.—He must go to the King’s agent respecting land, shew 
 him the certificate, and inform him of his wish to obtain a lot for 
 settlement; the agent will point out those lots not engaged, and the 
 person applying may then take his choice. 
 
 Thirdly.—He must pay the agent thirty-seven dollars and a half, 
 for which a receipt is given. 
 
 Fourthly.—He must, within the term of two years, clear, fit for 
 cultivation, and fence, ten acres of the lot obtained; and build a house, 
 at least sixteen feet by twenty feet, of logs, or frame, with a shingle 
 roof. He must also cut down all the timber in front, and the whole 
 width of the lot, thirty-three feet of which must be cleared smooth, 
 and left for half of the public road. The cutting the timber for the 
 road is omitted as a settling duty on lots oft* the main road. 
 
 Fifthly.—He must, with or w ithout a family, be an actual settler 
 on the said lot, w ithin and at the end of tw o years. 
 
 When all these things are done (no matter how soon), the agent 
 will give a certificate of the same, which must be taken to the land 
 oftice in York ; upon which the settler will get a deed of gift front 
 the King. The thirty-seven dollars and a half, called the fees, cover 
 the expences of surveying and giving it out. 
 
18 
 
 THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The United States are situated between 25° 50' and 49° 17' north 
 latitude, and between 10° east and 48° 20' west longitude from Wash¬ 
 ington. The most northern part is bounded by a line running due 
 west from the north-west corner of the Lake of the Woods ; and the 
 southern extremity is the outlet of the Rio del Norte. The eastern 
 extremity is the Great Menan Island, on the coast of Maine; and the 
 western extremity is Cape Flattery, north of Columbia river, on the 
 Pacific ocean. Their greatest extent from north to south is 1700 
 miles, and from east to west 2700. Their surface covers more than 
 2,500,000 square miles, or 1,000,000,000 acres; and their population 
 is ten millions, or about four persons to every square mile. The 
 following table shews the population and surface of some of the most 
 important parts of the world, namely, in round numbers; which is 
 sufficient for our present purpose, to point out the proportion of 
 territory and people between the United States and other nations. 
 
 / 
 
 States in 1817. 
 
 All Russia. 
 
 Italy. 
 
 France . 
 
 Austria. 
 
 Turkey. 
 
 British Isles. 
 
 Spain. 
 
 Prussia. 
 
 Sweden and Norway. 
 
 Denmark. 
 
 United Netherlands . 
 
 Switzerland. 
 
 Portugal. 
 
 China. 
 
 United States N. America 
 
 Total. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Square Miles. 
 
 52,000,000 
 
 3,G50,000 
 
 20,000,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 29,000,000 
 
 250,000 
 
 2G,000,000 
 
 280,000 
 
 57,000,000 
 
 940,000 
 
 20,000,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 14,000,000 
 
 150,000 
 
 11,000,000 
 
 96,000 
 
 4,500,000 
 
 270,000 
 
 800,000 
 
 60,000 
 
 6,000,000 
 
 47,000 
 
 2,200,000 
 
 16,000 
 
 2,300,000 
 
 28,000 
 
 200,000.000 
 
 1,200,000 
 
 10,000,000 
 
 2,500,000 
 
 435,800,000 
 
 9,687,000 
 
 So that the United States have the largest home territorv of all the 
 nations in the world, except Russia ; and their population is gaining 
 fast upon that of all the European powers. China is laid out*of the 
 question, because she can never contend for the sovereignty or con¬ 
 trolling influence of the world ; that question must be decided, here¬ 
 after, between America and the first-rate potentates of Europe. 
 Britain possesses a hundred and fifty millions of subjects in her 
 colonial empire, and covers a dominion equal to nearly one-fifth of 
 the whole surface of the globe; but her main strength must always 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 19 
 
 depend upon the resources, intelligence, spirit, and character of 
 her native population in the British Isles. If these fail, her colonial 
 empire will be soon dissipated into thin air. The following table 
 shews the gross population and surface of the four quarters of the 
 world. 
 
 Quarters of the 'World. Population. 
 
 AU Asia. 600,000,000 
 
 Africa. 100,000,000 
 
 Europe . 200,000,000 
 
 America . 40,000,000 
 
 Square Miles. 
 11,000,000 
 0,000,000 
 2,700,000 
 18,000,000 
 
 Total 000,000,000 40,700,000 
 
 The following table shews how fast the people increase in an exten¬ 
 sive country, under the auspices of free and popular institutions. 
 
 TABLE OF POPULATION, Ac. 
 
 STATES 
 
 'Population 
 ! in 1790. 
 
 Population 
 | in 1800. 
 
 Population 
 hi 1817. 
 
 Seat of 
 Government. 
 
 «n 
 
 -D £ 
 
 a v 
 
 £ O 
 
 Vermont. 
 
 85,539 
 
 154,465 
 
 296,450 
 
 Montpelier 
 
 6 
 
 New Hampshire.... 
 
 141,885 
 
 183,858 
 
 302,733 
 
 Concord 
 
 6 
 
 Maine 7 .. 
 
 96,540 
 
 151,719 
 
 318,647 
 
 Portland | 
 
 n a 
 
 Massachusetts J .. 
 
 378,787 
 
 422,845 
 
 564,392 
 
 Boston j 
 
 20 
 
 Rhode Island. 
 
 68,825 
 
 1 69,122 
 
 98,721 
 
 Providence 
 
 2 
 
 Connecticut. 
 
 237,946 
 
 251,092 
 
 349,568 
 
 Hartford 
 
 7 
 
 New York. 
 
 340,120 
 
 ! 586,050 
 
 1,486,730 
 
 Albany 
 
 27 
 
 New Jersey. 
 
 184,139 
 
 211,149 
 
 345,822 
 
 Trenton 
 
 6 
 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 434,373 
 
 602,545 
 
 986,494 
 
 Harrisburg 
 
 23 
 
 Delaware. 
 
 59,094 
 
 64,273 
 
 108,334 
 
 Dover 
 
 2 
 
 Maryland. 
 
 319,728 
 
 349,692 
 
 502,710 
 
 Annapolis 
 
 9 
 
 Virginia } . 
 
 747,610 
 
 886,149 
 
 1,347,496 
 
 Richmond 
 
 23 
 
 Keutucky j . 
 
 73,677 
 
 220,959 
 
 683,753 
 
 Frankfort 
 
 10 
 
 North Carolina .... 
 
 393,751 
 
 478,105 
 
 701,224 
 
 Raleigh 
 
 13 
 
 South Carolina .... 
 
 240,073 
 
 345,591 
 
 564,785 
 
 Columbia 
 
 9 
 
 Georgia. 
 
 82,548 
 
 162,685 
 
 408,576 
 
 Milledgville 
 
 6 
 
 Western Territorities 
 
 35,691 
 
 45,365 
 
 
 
 
 District of Columbia 
 
 
 14,093 
 
 37,892 
 
 Washington 
 
 0 
 
 r lVntiPs^pp 
 
 
 105 600 
 
 489 60J 
 
 Nashville 
 
 r; 
 
 Ohio 
 
 
 
 394,752 
 
 Colum bus 
 
 (j 
 
 Louisiana......... 
 
 
 
 108,923 
 
 New Orleans 
 
 1 
 
 Indiana . 
 
 
 5,641 
 
 86 784!Cor\don 
 
 1 
 
 Mississippi. 
 
 
 
 104,550 Washington 
 
 1 
 
 Illinois Territory. .. 
 
 
 
 39,000 Kaskaskia 
 
 1 
 
 Mirhirran Ho 
 
 
 
 O <7/1*1 
 
 o 
 
 Missouri do. 
 
 
 
 68,794 
 
 St. Louis 
 
 0 
 
 Total.' 
 
 3,929,326 
 
 5,303,666 
 
 10,405,547 
 
 
 184 
 
 
 
 Each State sends two Senators 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 
 Total Legislature 
 
 224 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 20 
 
 What the national capacities of the state of New York are, may he 
 inferred, not only from her territorial extent, which is 10,000 square 
 miles larger than all England and Wales taken together, but also 
 from the fact, that in 1817 she outstripped every other state in the 
 Union, in the number of her population, although at the dose of the 
 revolutionary war, in 1783, she did not contain half the number of 
 souls which the states of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
 and Virginia, respectively possessed. The following tacts will shew 
 how rapid has been the growth of some particular places in the 
 United States. In the year 1783 the population of the city of New 
 York was only 26,000; in the year 1700, 33,000; in 1800, 60,439; 
 in 1810, 03,0il; in 1817, 122,000;—thus multiplying four times in 
 thirty-four years. Its harbour, formed by the union of the Hudson 
 with the strait of the sound, called East /iver, makes a road-stead 
 capable of containing all the navies of the world. Its commerce far 
 surpasses that of any other city in the Union; and in the course of a 
 few years, will be second only to that of London. It imports most of the 
 goods consumed between the Raritan and the Connecticut, a coast of 
 130 miles, and between the Atlantic ocean and the lakes, a range of 
 400 miles. In the year 1816 the foreign imports into the city ex¬ 
 ceeded 56 millions of dollars. 
 
 Fifty years since, no such place as Baltimore existed ; and now 
 it is a city abounding in commerce, wealth, and spieudour, and 
 contains a population of nearly 60,000 souls. 
 
 In the year 1770 there w as not a single white inhabitant in all Ken¬ 
 tucky; in 1790, there were 73,677 souls; in 1800,220,960; and now, 
 in 1817, nearly 700,000. In 1783 the city of New' Orleans was in¬ 
 habited by a few miserable Spaniards, who carried on a small smug¬ 
 gling trade; in 1817 it numbered nearly 40,000 inhabitants; and 
 its exports , during the last year, exceeded those of all the New Eng¬ 
 land states taken together; the steam boats have been found able to 
 stem the current of the Mississippi; and, henceforth, the struggle to 
 engross the foreign trade of the whole western country will be be¬ 
 tween New Orleans, New York, Montreal, and Philadelphia. The 
 chief part of this immense and rapidly augmenting commerce will 
 fall, of course, to that place which can supply foreign goods at the 
 lowest rate ; the ditference of price depending chiefly on the expence 
 of internal transportation. At present, Montreal seems to have the 
 advantage over her rivals. The single portage at the falls of Niagara 
 excepted, there is a free navigation for vessels from Montreal to Lake 
 Erie, and the vast extent of waters beyond. Unless, indeed, the 
 canal to be opened between Lake Erie and the Hudson may suc¬ 
 ceed in diverting the trade of the western country from Montreal to 
 New York. 
 
 The population of New r Orleans is rapidly increasing by emigra¬ 
 tions from all the other states in the Union, and from almost every 
 country in Europe. Tire e xports of Louisiana already exceed those 
 of all the New-England states. Nearly 400 sea vessels arrive and de¬ 
 part annually. And about 1000 vessels of all denominations de¬ 
 parted, during the year 1816, from the Bayou St. John, a port of de¬ 
 livery in the Mississippi district, and were employed in carry ing the 
 produce of the Floridas, belonging to the United States, Six hundred 
 
21 
 
 THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 flat-bottomed boats and three hundred barges brought down, last 
 year, to New Orleans, produce from the western states and terri¬ 
 tories. Ton millions of pounds of sugar are made on the Mississippi 
 alon^. And twenty thousand bales of cotton are exported annually. 
 
 Any oue, in any vocation, manual or mechanical, may, by honest 
 industry and ordinary prudence, acquire an independent provision for 
 himself and family; so high are the wages of labour, averaging at 
 least double the rate in England, and quadruple that in France; so 
 comparatively scanty the population; so great the demand for all 
 kinds of work; so vast the quantity, and so low the price of land; 
 so light the taxes; so little burdensome the public expenditure and 
 debt. 
 
 For the rapid increase of population, America is much less in¬ 
 debted to foreign emigration than is generally believed. The num¬ 
 ber of emigrants from other countries into the Union has not aver¬ 
 aged more than^ve thousand annually during the twenty-five years 
 preceding the peace of Europe in 1815; and full half that number 
 have, during the same period, migrated from the United States, partly 
 into Upper Canada, and partly as seafaring adventurers all over the 
 world. The proof that this country owes the rapid increase of its 
 population chiefly to its own exertions in that universal domestic 
 manufactory, the production of children, lies in the fact, that the 
 average births are to the deaths, throughout the whole United States, 
 as 100 to 48; in the healthiest parts, as New England and the middle 
 states, as 100 to 44; in the least healthy, namely, the two Carolinas 
 and Georgia, as 100 to 52. The annual deaths average, throughout 
 the United States, one in forty; in the healthiest districts, one in 
 fifty-six; in the most unhealthy, one in thirty five. There die, annually, 
 in all Europe, in great cities, one in twenty-three; in moderately- 
 sized towns, one in twenty-eight; in the country, one in thirty-five; 
 and in the most healthy parts, one in fifty five. 
 
 The aggregate salubrity of the United States surpasses that of 
 Europe: the males are, generally, active, robust, muscular, and 
 powerful, capable of great exertion and endurance; the females dis¬ 
 play a fine symmetry of person, lively and interesting countenances, 
 frank and engaging manners. Neither the men nor the women 
 exhibit such ruddy complexions as the British, Dutch, Swedes, Danes, 
 Russians, Norwegians, and the northern Europeans generally. The 
 Americans average a longer life than the people in Europe; where 
 onlv three out of every thousand births reach the ages of 80 to 90 
 years; whereas in the United States the proportion is Jive to every 
 thousand. 
 
 The population of the whole United States has, hitherto, doubled 
 itself in rather less than twenty-jive years. The New England states, 
 of course, do not retain their proportion of this increase, because 
 large bodies of their people migrate annually to the western country; 
 which, in consequence, has increased much faster than do the states 
 on the sea-board. Kentucky, for example, has increased 80 per cent, 
 in ten years; Tennessee, 95; Ohio, 180; Louisiana, 150; Indiana, 
 800; Mississippi Territory, 160; Illinois Territory, 700; Missouri 
 Territory, 600 ; and Michigan Territory, 600;—while, of all the 
 Atlantic states, the greatest increase is only 44per cent, the population 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 22 
 
 growth of New York ; and the least is 20 per cent, that of Virginia. 
 So that, in the course of a few years, the States will range, if the 
 future be like the past, as to their aggregate population, in the follow¬ 
 ing order:—New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, 
 North Carolina, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, 
 Georgia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Louisiana, New Hamp¬ 
 shire, Indiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Illinois, Delaware, and Rhode 
 Island. 
 
 In the most populous parts of China there are upwards of three 
 hundred persons to each square mile; in England, Ireland, the 
 Netherlands, and Italy, the average is two hundred; in France, one 
 hundred and fifty; in Scotland, seventy; in Massachusetts, Rliode- 
 Island, and Connecticut, fifty-two; New-York, twenty; Virginia, 
 fifteen; the whole United States, four. 
 
 It is a fact worthy of observation, that in the State of Virginia there 
 appear to he three distinct races of people; those on the sea-board, up 
 to the head of the tidewater, are a sickly, indolent, feeble tribe; from 
 the head of the tidewater to the base of the Blue-ridge, the soil is 
 inhabited by as fine, robust, athletic, powerful a body of men as may 
 be found in the world; on the ridge of the Blue Mountains, the popu¬ 
 lation is less in stature, but extremely active, hardy, strong, and enter¬ 
 prising. 
 
 The rapid increase of a healthy and vigorous population implies a 
 flourishing state of agriculture; and, accordingly, the United States, 
 during the last twenty years, except 1808 (the embargo year) and 
 1814, in addition to maintaining their own fast-growing population, 
 have, on an average, exported one-fourth of their agricultural 
 produce. Agriculture, as a science, is improving rapidly; and agri¬ 
 cultural societies are established in Massachusetts, New York, 
 Pennsylvania, and some other states, for the purpose of ascertaining 
 the modes of tillage, pasture, and grazing, best adapted to the diffe¬ 
 rent districts of the Union. The chief articles of agricultural exports 
 are w heat, flour, rice, Indian corn, rye, beans, peas, potatoes, beef, 
 tallow, hides, butter, cheese, pork, See. horses, mules, sheep, tobacco, 
 cotton, indigo, flax-seed, wax, See. See .—The following statement 
 shews the value of agricultural exports, constituting vegetable food, 
 in particular years, namely: — 
 
 In 1802-12,790,000 dollars. 
 
 1803.. .. 14,080,000 
 
 1807.. .. 14,432,000 
 
 1808.. .. 2,550,000 
 
 In 1811_20,391,000 dollars . 
 
 1814.. .. 2,179,000 
 
 1815.. .. 11,234,000 
 
 1816.. .. 13,150,000 
 
 The United States far surpass Europe in navigable capacities; their 
 rivers are more numerous, more capacious, and navigable a greater 
 distance. The Hudson, or North river, that ministers to the con¬ 
 venience and wealth of the citv of New-York, and is bv no means 
 to be reckoned among the largest of the American rivers, is navigable 
 for sizeable craft nearly two hundred miles from the Atlantic. Some 
 notion may be formed of the facilities for internal navigation in this 
 country, by casting the eye over a map of the United States, and 
 tracing the course of some of the principal rivers; for instance, the 
 Missouri, the Arkansas, the Red river, the La Plate, the Ohio, the 
 Tennessee, and, above all, the Mississippi, the eastern extremity of 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE, 
 
 23 
 
 Mliose stream is the head-water of the Alleghany, in Pennsylvania, 
 about two hundred miles north-west of Philadelphia. Its western 
 extremity is the head-water of Jefferson river, about 550 miles from 
 the Pacific ocean; making a distance between these two extreme 
 points, of 1700 miles, in a straight line. Its northern extremity is a 
 branch ot the Missouri, about 570 miles west by north of the Lake 
 of the Woods. Its southern extremity is the south pass into the gulf 
 of Mexico, about a hundred miles below New Orleans; making a 
 distance, between its extreme north and south, in a straight line, of 
 1G80 miles. So that the Mississippi river, and its branches, spread 
 over a surface of about one million Jive hundred thousand square miles , 
 traversing, in whole, or in part, the following states and territories; 
 namely—the territories of Mississippi, Missouri, North-west, and 
 Illinois; and the States of Indiana, Ohio, New-York, Pennsylvania, 
 Maryland, V irginia, the two Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
 and Louisiana. 
 
 Several successful efforts have been made, and more are now in 
 progress and in contemplation, to render the vast internal navigation 
 of the United States si ill more complete by the help of canals. An 
 able and luminous report of Mr. Gallatin, when Secretary of the 
 Treasury, recommends to the general government to form canals, from 
 north to south, along the Atlantic sea-coast; to open communications 
 between the Atlantic and western waters, and between the Atlantic 
 waters and those of the great lakes, and river St. Lawrence; and, 
 finally, to make interior canals, wherever they may be wanted, 
 throughout the Union. 
 
 Minerals .—Of these there are a great variety and profusion. Iron, 
 limestone, and freestone, abound throughout all the country. Coal 
 is very abundant in the western country, and is found in several dis¬ 
 tricts in the Atlantic states. Lead abounds in the district near St. 
 Louis, where the mines are exceedingly valuable, and probably of 
 great extent. Copper mines exist in several places throughout the 
 country ; and it is believed, that gold and silver exist in great profu¬ 
 sion in Upper Louisiana. Marble is a most abundant article, parti¬ 
 cularly in Upper Louisiana, where it forms the bed of the White 
 river. Quicksilver, zinc, saltpetre, and sulphur, exist in considerable 
 quantities. In Upper Louisiana Mr. Bringier discovered vast quan¬ 
 tities of antimony, which may hereafter be an article of great value; 
 and the whole western country abounds with salt springs. 
 
 Soil .—The soil in such a great extent of country must be very 
 various. On the Atlantic coast, to the north and east, it is stony, 
 and towards the south sandy; but in both cases it is interspersed with 
 a great deal of alluvial land. Towards the mountains the soil im¬ 
 proves, and there are many situations extremely fertile. , On the 
 mountains the soil is light and thin, but rich in the valleys. Beyond 
 the mountains, in the valleys of the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri, 
 there are vast tracts of land uncommonly rich and fertile. Towards 
 the south-western parts of the Missouri Territory, the soil is light, 
 thin, and sandy. The mountainous region to the north-west is pretty 
 similar to the Allegany Mountains, but the hills are much more lofty, 
 and the soil more variable. Beyond these mountains there is much 
 good soil all the way to the Pacific Ocean. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 24 
 
 Produce .—The produce consists of every variety in the world 2 
 wheat, maize (or Indian corn), oats, barley, and other grain, with 
 apples, pears, cherries, peaches, grapes, plums, and other fruit, and 
 a vast variety of vegetable's, are produced all over the country. Le¬ 
 mons, oranges, and some tropical fruits, are raised in Louisiana and 
 some of the other southern countries. Hops, flax, and hemp, are 
 very abundant. Tobacco is an article of extensive cultivation in 
 Virginia, Maryland, and other places. Cotton is a staple commodity 
 in the southern states. ludigo is produced in Louisiana; and sugar 
 has become an article of extensive cultivation in that country, and in 
 some places along the Atlantic coast. 
 
 The northern and eastern states, and the mountains in the interior, 
 are fine grazing countries, producing vast quantities of cattle and 
 sheep, and butter and cheese in abundance. Sheep are multiplying 
 very fast all over the country; and the Merino breed having been 
 introduced thrive as well as they do in Spain. 
 
 The horses for draught arid lor the saddle are very abundant, and 
 generally excellent, particularly in Pennsylvania. Other domestic 
 animals are very plentiful, as asses, goats, hogs, and dogs. 
 
 Of tame fowl, there are turkeys, geese, ducks, common poultry, 
 pigeons, peacocks, and guinea fowls. 
 
 The wild animals are numerous. The mammoth, the largest of all 
 the four-footed tribe, formerly an inhabitant of this country, is now 
 extinct, though many specimens of its remains are to be found in the 
 United States. Among those in existence at present may be enume¬ 
 rated the bison, or wild ox, moose deer, bear, woif, fox, lynx, pan¬ 
 ther, weazel, ermine, martin, mink, otter, opossum, hare, squirrel, 
 mouse, bat, rat, beaver, seal, Ac. The game and wild fowl peculiar 
 to the country are turkeys, pheasants, partridges, woodcocks, snipes, 
 wild swans, wild geese, wild ducks, pigeons, teal, plovers, widgeons, 
 rail, Ac. The other birds are eagles, hawks, vultures, turkey-buz¬ 
 zards, starlings, blue birds, red birds, bumming birds, Ac. 
 
 Of fishes, there are the whale, dolphin, porpoise, grampus, skate, 
 shark, sturgeon, cod, flounder, perch, whiting, salmon, trout, roach, 
 shad, drum, black fish, and a great variety of others, with which the 
 seas and interior lakes and rivers abound. 
 
 There is such a profusion of natural timber all over the United 
 States, that the bare enumeration of the various kinds of trees would 
 swell this work beyond the limits allotted for it; a few of the most 
 useful kinds may be noticed : elm, cherry, locust, oak, beech, pine, 
 cedar, cypress, w illow', hickory, ash, w alnut, chesnut, birch, maple, Ac. 
 
 Cltmate .—In such an extensive country as this, the climate must 
 be very various. In the north-east, the winters are very cold, and the 
 summers hot, varying as you proceed to the southward. In the south¬ 
 east, and along the Gulf of Mexico, the summers are very hot, and the 
 winters mild and pleasant. Among the mountains it is cold towards 
 the north, and temperate in the south. 
 
 Beyond the mountains, in the valleys of the Ohjo, Mississippi, and 
 Missouri, I he country enjoys generally a temperate and delightful 
 climate, until we approach the Rocky Mountains, when it becomes 
 subject to great extremes, the winters being generally very cold, and 
 many ot the mountains constantly covered with snow. To the west- 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 25 
 
 \vard of these mountains there is a great change on the climate, until 
 We reach the shores of the Pacific, where it is pretty similar to the 
 western parts of Europe. The prevailing winds are from the west¬ 
 ward; and, blowing over a great expanse of water, they fan and cool 
 the air in summer, and in winter, being loaded with vapour, they 
 deluge the country with frequent rain. 
 
 Government and Laws .—The government of the United States is 
 a federal republic. Each State has a constitution for the manage¬ 
 ment of its internal affairs; and they are all formed into one bond of 
 union by the Federal Constitution. By it the legislative 
 power is vested in a congress of delegates from the several States, 
 divided into two distinct bodies, styled the Senate , and House of 
 Representatives. The members of the House of Representatives are 
 elected every two years by the people, and the Senators are elected 
 every six years by the state legislatures. The executive power is 
 vested in a President , chosen every four years by a number of dele¬ 
 gates in each state, appointed in such number as the state legislatures 
 may direct, aud equal to the number of members which they respec¬ 
 tively send to both branches of congress. 
 
 Freedom of speech, and of the press, is for ever guaranteed by the 
 constitution, 
 
 All the inhabitants are equal in the eye of the law. They must all 
 bear arms, or pay an equivalent, and all are equally interested in the 
 defence of the country. 
 
 Trial by jury is to be preserved inviolate. 
 
 A republican form of government is guaranteed to all the states, 
 and hereditary titles and distinctions prohibited. 
 
 Religion .—No law shall ever be passed to establish any particular 
 form of religion, or to prevent the free exercise of religion; and no 
 religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of 
 public trust under the United States. 
 
 LAND LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The public lands of the United States originally consisted, with 
 some exceptions to be noticed hereafter, of the whole of the country 
 north and west of the Ohio, to the Mississipi; and of a considerable 
 portion south of Tennessee, and west of Georgia, to that river. 
 These countries are now subdivided into states and territories, and 
 consist of the states of Ohio and Indiana, and the Michigan, Illinois, 
 North-West, and Mississippi territories. 
 
 The purchase of Louisiana has added an amazing extent of terri¬ 
 tory to the general fund. 
 
 To enable the reader the more easily to trace the subject, we shall 
 take a short view of the present state of the public lands in the 
 several states and territories. It is a matter of great public interest, 
 not only to the present citizens of the United States, but to the world 
 at large, for all the inhabitants of the‘world may avail themselves of 
 whatever advantages may result from it. Whoever arrives in the 
 country for permanent settlement, can become a citizen within five 
 years after his arrival, and be entitled to partake in all the blessings 
 that this chosen country and its excellent institutions can afford, 
 
 E 
 
26 
 
 THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 In the State of Ohio , the United States hold the whole of the un¬ 
 sold lands, with the exception of the Connecticut Reservation , on 
 Ivake Erie; the Virginia Military Lands, between the Scioto and 
 Little Miami, and the North west Section , where the Indian title is 
 not yet extinguished, and of which the United States hold the pre¬ 
 emption right. 
 
 In Indiana , the United States hold all the unsold lands below the 
 Indian boundary line; and they hold the pre-emption right of all 
 above it. 
 
 In the Illinois Territory , they hold all the unsold lands beyond 
 the Indian boundaries; and the pre-emption right of the remainder. 
 
 In the Michigan Territory , they hold all the unsold lands within 
 the Indian boundary line; and the pre-emption right of the re¬ 
 mainder. 
 
 In the North-west Territory , they hold all the unsold lands ceded 
 by the Sac and Fox Indians; and the pre-emption right of the re¬ 
 mainder. 
 
 In the State of Mississippi and Alabama Territory , they hold all 
 the land within the Indian boundary line in the south, and a consi¬ 
 derable portion in the northern part; and they hold the pre-emption 
 right to all the remainder. 
 
 In the State of Lousiana , they hold a very considerable portion 
 of lands; and in the Missouri territory they hold the whole of the 
 unsold lands, with the exception of fho.se grants made by the court 
 of Spain before they obtained the sovereignty. 
 
 In estimating the resources of the country in 1808, with a view to 
 the execution of a plan for its internal improvement, it was stated iu 
 the Report of the then Secretary of the Treasury, that “ Exclusively 
 of Louisiana, the general government possessed, in trust for the people 
 of the United States, about 100,000,000 of acres tit for cultivation 
 north of the river Ohio, and near 50,000,000 south of the state of 
 Tennessee.” Although considerable sales have been made since that 
 time, yet there has also been considerable acquisitions by purchase 
 from the Indians, so that the aggregate quantity is not diminished. 
 There is at least 150,000,000 of acres of excellent land belonging to 
 the public, east of the Mississippi; and, without carrying our specu¬ 
 lations far forward, we may reckon that as much more will soon be 
 surveyed, and ready for sale and settlement, beyond the Mississippi. 
 Here then, to say nothing of the more remote parts of the country— 
 here is 300,000,000 of acres of land, tit for cultivation, the property 
 of the government, in trust for the people of the United States, in 
 one of the fiuest climates, watered by the noblest rivers, and pos¬ 
 sessing natural advantages second to no country in the world. 
 
 In animadverting on this subject, the Secretary of the Treasury, in 
 his Report before quoted, states, “ For the disposition of these lands 
 a plan has been adopted y calculated to enable every industrious citi¬ 
 zen to become a freeholder y to secure indisputable titles to the pur¬ 
 chasers, to obtain a national revenue , AND, above all, to sup¬ 
 press monopoly The plan is this: — Before the lands are sold, 
 they are all surveyed, and subdivided into townships and sections . 
 Each township is six miles square, aud it is subdivided into sections 
 of one mile square. Each section therefore contains 640 acres; and 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 27 
 
 a township, being 36 square miles, contains 23,040 acres. The sec¬ 
 tions are numbered from I to 36; and number 16, being near the 
 centre, is uniformly destined for the support of a school, for the use 
 of the township; and the three adjacent sections are reserved for 
 the use of the United States, to be sold at a future period, as Con¬ 
 gress may determine. 
 
 A convenient number of townships, between two parallel lines, 
 running north and south, is called a range ; and a convenient number 
 of ranges is erected into a district, where an otHce, called a “ Land 
 Office,” is situated for the disposal of the public lands in the 
 district. 
 
 In this office are deposited the surveys of the lands, together with 
 the field notes, which designate their quality, &c. and these are 
 open to the inspection of the public. The smallest quantity that 
 can be sold in these offices is a quarter of a section, 160 acres; and 
 the price is limited to two dollars per acre, payable one-fourth in 
 cash, and the remainder by instalments in the course of four 
 years. 
 
 If the whole is paid in cash, the price is one dollar sixty-four cents 
 per acre. 
 
 These land offices are distributed as follows; viz. In Ohio, at 
 Wooster, Steubenville, Marietta, Zanesville, Chillicothr, and Cin¬ 
 cinnati . In Indiana, at Jeffersonville and Vincennes . In the Michi¬ 
 gan Territory, at Detroit . In the Illinois Territory, at Shawnee 
 Town, Kaskaskias, and Edwardsville. In the Missouri Territory, at 
 St. Louis . In Louisiana, at New Orleans and Opelousas. In the 
 new State of Mississippi, at Washington, near Natches; and in the 
 Alabama Territory, at St. Stephens, east of Pearl river, and Hunts¬ 
 ville, Madison county. 
 
 Each office is under the direction of a Register; and the payments 
 are made to another officer, entitled the Receiver; the whole is 
 under the direction of the Surveyor General, who makes periodical 
 returns to the Commissioner of the Land Office, at Washington. 
 
 In the land office at Washington, all the surveys and records of the 
 public lands are deposited; all titles are issued from thence, and are 
 signed by the President of the United States. 
 
 Such is the system ! Now mark its effects. Every industrious 
 citizen of the United States has the power to become a freeholder, on 
 paying the small sum of eighty dollars, being the first instalment on 
 the purchase of a quarter of a section of land ; and though he should 
 not have another shilling in the world, lie can easily clear as much 
 from the land as will pay the remaining instalments before they be¬ 
 come due. This is merely taking the result of the system on the 
 smallest scale, for illustration. A farmer with an industrious family 
 may become the proprietor of a whole section, or more; and the 
 land being purely his own, there is no setting limits to his prosperity. 
 No proud tyrant can lord it over him. He has no rent to pay—no 
 game laws—nor timber laws—nor fishing laws to dread. He has no 
 taxes to pay, except his equal share for the support of the civil go¬ 
 vernment of the country, which is but a trifle. He has no excise 
 laws to oppress and harass him,—he can neither be gauged nor su¬ 
 pervised,—and he has no tithes to pay. 
 
28 
 
 THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF EACH STATE. 
 
 % 
 
 MAINE. 
 
 Situation .—Between 43° 5' and 47° 45' N. lat. and 5° 55' and 10® 
 E. long. 
 
 Boundaries. —On the north and north-west, Lower Canada. South¬ 
 east, Atlantic ocean. East, New Brunswick. West, NeV* Hampshire. 
 
 Extent .—From north to south about 210* miles. F*om east to west, 
 
 1G2. 
 
 Area .—About 31,750 square miles, or 19,720,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country.— Hilly, but not mountainous. The coast 
 indented with bays, and abounding with excellent harbours. 
 
 Rivers. — St. John, St. Croix, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Kenne- 
 beck, Androscoggin, Saco, &c. 
 
 Minerals .—Iron, copperas, sulphur, and ochres. 
 
 Soil .—On the sea-coast, stony and barren. In the interior, pretty 
 fertile. 
 
 Produce. —Grain, grass, &c. 
 
 Climate. —Summers, short but agreeable. Autumns, clear and 
 healthy. Winters, long and severe. Spring, hardly any. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Situation. —Between 41° 13' and 42° 52' N. lat. and 3° 20' and 6° 
 55' E. long. 
 
 Boundaries. —On the north, New Hampshire and Vermont. South, 
 Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Atlantic Ocean. East, Atlantic 
 Ocean. West, New York. 
 
 Extent. —From north to south 70 miles. From east to west 140 
 miles. 
 
 Area. —3,500 miles, or 5,440,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. —Strikingly diversified. The coast indented 
 with bays, and studded with islands. Middle, agreeably uneven. On 
 the w r est, mountainous. 
 
 Rivers. — Connecticut, Merrimack, &c. 
 
 Soil. —Various. On the coast, sandy and rocky, improving in the 
 interior. Among the mountains, adapted to grazing. 
 
 Produce.— Corn, rye, barley, oats, grass, fruit, flax, hemp, and 
 some wheat. 
 
 Climate .—Salubrious and healthy. Winters, long and severe. 
 Springs, short. Summer and autumn, delightful. 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 Situation. —Between 42° 42' and 45° 13' N. lat. and 4° 23' and 
 G° 10' E. long. 
 
 Boundaries— On the north, Lower Canada. South, Massachu¬ 
 setts. East, district of Maine and Atlantic Ocean. West, Vermont. 
 
 Extent. — From north to south, 160 miles; from east to west, 
 70 miles. 
 
 Area. — 8,500 square miles, or 5,4J0,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country.— On the sea coast, level ; in the interior and 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 29 
 
 northern part, mouutainous. The White Mountains in this state, 
 computed at from 8,000 to 9,000 feet above the level of sea, is the 
 highest land in the United States. 
 
 Rivers .—Connecticut, Merrimack, Piscataqua, and Androscoggin. 
 
 Minerals .—Iron, ochres, isinglass, crjstals, sulphur, free-stone, 
 lead, black-lead, and copper. 
 
 Soil. —Towards the sea-coast, sandy; mountains poor, but rich 
 valleys among them. 
 
 Produce .—Grain, grass, and fruit. 
 
 Climate — Healthy.—Winters long and severe. Summers, some¬ 
 times very warm. 
 
 VERMONT. 
 
 Situation .—Between 40° 42' and 45° north lat. and 3° 35' and 
 5° 27' east long. 
 
 Boundaries. —On the north, Lower Canada. South, Massachu¬ 
 setts. East, New Hampshire. West, New York. 
 
 Extent. —From north to south, 152 miles; breadth, from east to 
 west, 60 miles. 
 
 Area .—8,700 square miles, or 5,568,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. —Mostly hilly. An extensive chain of moun¬ 
 tains runs through the middle, nearly south and north, and abounds 
 with rich valleys and elegant scenery. 
 
 Rivers. — Connecticut, Missisque, La Moille, Onion, and Otter 
 Creek. 
 
 Minerals .—Iron, lead, copperas, flint, marble, and vitriol. 
 
 Soil. —A great part of it good, some very fertile. 
 
 Produce . — Nearly the same as New Hampshire, but more abundant, 
 the state being more fertile. 
 
 Climate. — Similar to New Hampshire. 
 
 RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 Situation. —Between 41° 22' and 42° N. lat. and 5° and 5° 50' 
 E. long. 
 
 Boundaries. — On the north, Massachusetts. South, Atlantic Ocean. 
 East, Massachusetts. West, Connecticut. 
 
 Extent. —From north to south, 48 miles; from east to west, 42 
 miles. 
 
 Area. — 1,500 square miles, or 960,000 acres. 
 
 lace of the Country. — Agreeably uneven ; some places hilly, but 
 not mountainous. 
 
 Rivers. — Providence, Taunton, Patuxent. 
 
 Minerals. —Iron, limestone, marble, coal, some copper, aud load¬ 
 stone. 
 
 Soil. — Various, a great proportion rocky. 
 
 Produce. — Same as Massachusetts. 
 
 Climate. — Very healthy ; nearly the same as Massachusetts. 
 
 CONNECTICUT. 
 
 Situation .—Between 41° and 42° N. lat. and 3° 20' and 5° E. long. 
 
 Boundaries .—On the north, Massachusetts. South, Long Island 
 Sound. East, Rhode Island. West, New York. 
 
80 
 
 THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 Extent. —From north to south, 50 miles ; from rust to west, BO. 
 Area. —4,000 square miles, or 2,500,000 acres. 
 
 Face*of the Country. —Agreeably uneven, and beautifully diversi¬ 
 fied. Towards the north-west, hilly. 
 
 Rivers. —Connecticut, Thames, and Housotonic. 
 
 Minerals. —Iron, lead, copper, zinc, and some pit-coal. 
 
 Soil .—Various, a considerable portion of it t r ood. 
 
 Produce. —Wheat, rye, Indian corn, oats, barley, flax, hemp, &c. 
 Climate. —Subject to sudden changes from heat to cold, but healthy 
 and agreeable. 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 Situation. —Between 40° 33 7 and 45° N. lat. and 3° 43' E. and 2° 43' 
 W. long. 
 
 Boundaries. —On the north. Lake Ontario and Canada. South, 
 Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the Atlantic Ocean. East, Vermont, 
 Massachusetts, and Connecticut. West, Upper Canada, Lake Erie, 
 Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. 
 
 Extent. —From north to south, 198 miles ; from east to west, 
 256. 
 
 Area. —46,000 square miles, or 28,440,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. —Exhibits a great variety. To the south-east, 
 the surface is agreeably uneven. In the middle, mountainous. To 
 the north-west, undulating. Flat towards the lakes, and hilly towards 
 the southern extremity. 
 
 Rivers. —Hudson, Mohawk, Oswego, and Genessee. The great 
 river St. Lawrence is on the north, and the head-waters of the 
 Susquehannah, Delaware, and Alleghany rivers, are in the south. 
 
 Minerals. —Iron, lead, copper, zinc, marble, free stone, lime-stone, 
 slate, plaster of Paris, talc, sulphur, and some coal and silver. 
 
 Soil. —Very various. A great proportion of it good, particularly in 
 the western part of the state. 
 
 Produce. —Wheat is the staple. Corn, oats, barley, rye, flax, hemp* 
 fruit, &c. 
 
 Climate. —In the south-east, very changeable. Among the moun¬ 
 tains, the winters are long and severe. To the westward, more tem¬ 
 perate and agreeable. 
 
 NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Situation. —Between 38° 56' and 41° 20' N. lat. and 1° 33' and 
 3° 5' E. long. 
 
 Boundaries. —On the North, New York. South, Delaware Bav. 
 East, New York, and the Atlantic Ocean. West, Pennsylvania, and 
 Delaware. 
 
 Extent. —138 miles long, and 50 miles broad. 
 
 Area. —6,600 square miles, or 4,224,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. — On the sea coast, sandy and level. In the 
 interior, agreeably uneven. To the north-west, high lands approach¬ 
 ing to mountains. 
 
 Rivers. —Delaware, Raritou, Passaic, Hackensac. 
 
 Minerals. —Iron, lead, copper, gypsum, coal, loadstone, and slate. 
 
 Soil. —About one-fourth sandy and barren. There is much good 
 
THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. ' 31 
 
 land in the interior; and among the mountains there are fertile 
 valleys. 
 
 Produce. Wheat, rye, barley, oats, Indian corn, fruit, &c. 
 
 Climate .—To the north, the weather is clear and settled, but the 
 winters very cold. To the south and east, it is very changeable, and 
 the summers are hot and sultry. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Situation .—Between 39° 43' and 42° N. lat. and 2° 20' E. and 
 3° 30' W. long. 
 
 Boundaries. —On the north, New York and Lake Erie. South, 
 Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. East, New York and New 
 Jersey. West, Ohio and Virginia. 
 
 Extent. —From north to south, 153 miles; from east to west, 
 273 miles. 
 
 Area. —42,500 square miles, or 27,200,000 acres. 
 
 Face cf the Country. —South east part, undulating, swelling some¬ 
 times to considerable hills. Middle, mountainous. To the north 
 and west, is an elevated country, abounding in hills, valleys, and 
 rich scenery. 
 
 Rivers. —Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Juniata, 
 Alleghany, Monongaheld, Yoxihogcni, and Ohio. 
 
 Minerals. —Iron, coal, marble, free-stone, lime-stone, and some 
 copper and lead. 
 
 Soil. —To the east of the mountains, generally good. Among the 
 mountains, rough, and much of it poor. To the west of the moun¬ 
 tains, generally excellent. 
 
 Produce. —Grain, grass, vegetables, and fruit in great profusion. 
 
 Climate .—To the east of the mountains, changeable. Among the 
 mountains, clear and settled, with cold winters. To the westward, 
 temperate. 
 
 DELAWARE. 
 
 Situation. —Between 38° 29' and 39° 48' N. lat. and 1° 18' and 
 1° 58' E. long. 
 
 Boundaries .—On the north, Pennsylvania. South, Maryland. 
 East, Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean. West, Pennsylvania and 
 Maryland. 
 
 Extent.— From north to south, 90 miles; from east to west, 25 
 miles. 
 
 Area —About 1,700 square miles, or 1,088,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. —Lower part, level and swampy. To the 
 north, more elevated; and at the extremity, hilly. 
 
 Rivers. —Delaware, Brandywine Creek, Christiana Creek, Duck 
 Creek, Mispillion Creek, Gravelly Creek, and Indian River. 
 
 Minerals .—Iron. 
 
 Soil .—In the south, sandy; in the north, clay and loam. 
 
 Produce.— Wheat is the staple. Grain, grass, fruit. 
 
 Climate.— In the south, warm and humid. North, agreeable and 
 healthy. 
 
32 
 
 TIIE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. 
 
 MARYLAND. 
 
 Situation. —Between 38° and 39° 43' N. lat. and 2° E. and 2° 30' 
 VI. long. 
 
 Boundaries. — On the north, Pennsylvania. South, Virginia. East, 
 Delaware and Atlantic ocean. West, Virginia. 
 
 Extent. — From north to south, 90 miles; from east to west, 193. 
 
 Area .—10,800 square miles, or 0,912,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. —Remarkably variegated. Eastern shore, 
 low, level, and sandy. Middle, hilly. Western part, mountainous. 
 
 Pavers. —Susquebannah and Chesapeake, Potomac, Patapsco, Pa¬ 
 tuxent, Elk, Sassafras, Chester, Choptank, Nanticoke, and Po- 
 comoke. 
 
 Minerals. — Iron ore, some coal. 
 
 Soil. — Various. On the east, low and sandy, but interspersed 
 with rich meadows. Among the mountains, similar to the moun¬ 
 tainous districts of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Produce. — Wheat is the staple. Grain, grass, fruit, tobacco, and 
 some cotton. 
 
 Climate. — On the eastern shore, warm and humid, improving to¬ 
 wards the interior. Among the mountains delightful. 
 
 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 Note. —The District of Columbia was ceded to the United States 
 by the states of Maryland and Virginia; and in the year 1800 it be¬ 
 came the seat of the general government. It is beautifully situated 
 on both sides of the Potomac river, and abounds with elegant pros¬ 
 pects. The great leading feature in the face of the country is the 
 Potomac river, and the highlands to the westward. The district 
 abounds with small streams and springs of water, which are very 
 useful in watering the city, and for machinery. The Capitol is 
 elegantly situated upon an eminence*of seventy-eight feet, and com¬ 
 mands a delightful prospect. West from this, about a mile, is the 
 President’s House, a stately mansion, commanding a fine view 
 of the river and ad jacent country. On the one side of the President’s 
 House is the Treasury Office, and on the other side a similar build¬ 
 ing, which accommodates the officers of state, the war department, 
 and the naval department. These elegant buildings were burnt in 
 the late war; but the last-mentioned offices have been re-built, and 
 the Capitol and President’s house are repairing, and will be more 
 splendid than ever. The post-office holds a commanding situation, 
 on a rising ground between the President’s house and the Capitol. 
 The barracks are situated about a mile east of the Capitol; and the 
 navy yard is on the eastern branch of the Potomac. 
 
 Georgetown is handsomely situated to the west of the city; and 
 Alexandria is on the west bank of the river, in the lower part of the 
 district. The city is laid out on an elegant plan; but a small por¬ 
 tion of it only is built. The removal of the seat of government was 
 an experiment, in the success of which confidence for a considerable 
 period was not reposed : but the fiery trial brought the ques¬ 
 tion to issue. There now remains no doubt but the seat of govern* 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE, 33 
 
 hifcnt is firmly fixed here; and the chance is that the district xvill 
 rapidly improve. 
 
 Situation .— Between 38° 48' and 38° 59' N. lat. and 7' E. and 7 
 \V. long. The Capitol is about 77° (V 22* west from London. 
 
 Boundaries .—On the north east, south-east, and partly north-west, 
 Maryland. On the south-west, and partly north-west, Virginia. 
 
 Extent .—10 miles square. 
 
 Area .—100 square miles, or 64,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country .—Elegantly variegated; abounding with beau¬ 
 tiful prospects. 
 
 Rivers .—Potomac, Tiber Creek, Reedy Creek Rock Creek, and 
 Four Mile Run. 
 
 Soil .—Thin and sandy, but susceptible of great improvement. 
 
 Climate .—Spring variable, summer pretty warm, autumn agreeable, 
 winter variable, sometimes very cold. 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 Situation. —Between 36° 30' and 40° 43' N. lat. and 1° 40' E* 
 and 6° 20' W. long. 
 
 Boundaries .—On the north, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. 
 South, North Carolina aud Tennessee. East, Maryland, and Atlantic 
 ocean. West, Kentucky and Ohio. 
 
 Extent .—From north to south, 220 miles; from east to west, 370 
 miles. 
 
 Area. —About 64,000 square miles, or 40,960,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country .—On the eastern shore, level, interspersed 
 with swamps and meadows. In the middle, mountainous, with many 
 rich valleys. On the west side hilly. 
 
 Rivers. —Potomac, Shenandoah, Rappahannock, Mattapony, Pa- 
 munky, York, James, Rivannah, Appomattox, Elizabeth, Nottaway, 
 Meherrin, Staunton, Ohio, Sandy* Great Kanhaway, Little Kanhaway, 
 Monongahela, and Cheat. 
 
 Minerals. —Iron, coal, lime-stone, and some copper, black lead, 
 and gold. 
 
 Soil. —In the low parts of the state, sandy, but rich on the banks 
 of rivers. Between the head of tide-waters and the mountains, pretty 
 good. The mountains poor, but many fertile valleys. West of the 
 mountains, generally good. 
 
 Produce. —Wheat and tobacco are the staples; corn, rye, barley, 
 buckwheat, hemp, flax, roots, grass, fruit, indigo, and some silk. 
 
 Climate .—In the low country, summers hot, and winters mild. In 
 the upper country, and among the mountains, the air is pure, aud the 
 weather pleasant To the westward, temperate. 
 
 OHIO* 
 
 Situation .—Between 38° 30' ani42° N. lat. and 3° 32'and 7° 40' 
 W. long. 
 
 Boundaries. —On the north, Lake Erie and Michigan Territory. 
 South and south-east, Kentucky and Virginia. East, Pennsylvania. 
 West, Indiana. 
 
 Extent .—From north to south, 201 miles; from east to west, 210 
 miles. 
 
 F 
 
34 
 
 THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 Area. —About 39,000 square miles, or 24,960,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. — On the north, nearly level, sloping toward# 
 Lake Erie. Middle, agreeably uneven, abounding with plains. South 
 and south-east elevated. In some places hilly. 
 
 Minerals. —Iron, coal, lime stone, free-stone, very abundant. 
 
 Rivers. — Ohio, Muskingum, Hockhocking, Scioto, Great and Little 
 Miami, Miami of the Lakes, St. Mary’s, Au Glaize, Sandusky, Huron, 
 Vermilion, Black, Rocky, Cayalioga, Chagrine, Grand, Ashtabula, 
 Conneought, and Beaver. 
 
 Soil. —Generally excellent, particularly in the south-west part of 
 the state. 
 
 Produce. —Wheat is the staple. Other grains, grasses, roots, and 
 fruit in great profusion, hemp, flax, and some cotton. 
 
 Climate. — Temperate and healthy. Heat of summer. 
 
 Winters, mild. Spring and fall, delightful. 
 
 KENTUCKY. 
 
 Situation. — Between 36° 30' and 39° 5' N. lat. and 4° 4& and 
 12° 20' W. long. 
 
 Boundaries .—On the north, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois territory. 
 South, Virginia and Tennessee. East, Virginia. West, Illinois and 
 Missouri territories. 
 
 Extent. —From north to south, 133 miles; from east to west, 
 300 miles. 
 
 Area. —39,000 square miles, or 24,900,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. —Generally uneven; some of it rough and 
 hilly; towards the east, spurs of the Alleghany mouutains. 
 
 Rivers. — Ohio, Mississippi, Sandy, Licking, Kentucky, Rolling, 
 Green, Cumberland, and Tennessee. 
 
 Minerals. — Iron, coal, lime-stone, lead, copperas, alum, nitre, and 
 salt. 
 
 Soil. —Every kind, from the best to the worst. A great propor¬ 
 tion is good, and a considerable part excellent. 
 
 Produce. — Wheat and other grains, grass, roots, fruit, hemp, flax, 
 tobacco, cotton. 
 
 Climate. — Agreeable. The thermometer seldom rises above 80 
 
 in summer, or falls below 25- in w inter. 
 
 TENNESSEE. 
 
 Situation. — Between 35° and 36° 30' N. lat. and 4° 20' and 13° 5 
 W. long. 
 
 Boundaries . — On the north, Virginia and Kentucky. South, 
 Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama Territory. East, North Carolina. 
 West, Missouri Territory. 
 
 Extent. —From north to south, 102 miles; from east to west, 42^ 
 miles. 
 
 Area. — 40,000 square miles, or 25,600,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. — Eastern part mountainous. Middle part 
 hilly. Western part mostly level. 
 
 Rivers. —Cumberland, Holstein, Tennessee, Clinch, Notachuckey, 
 French Broad, Hiwasse, Duck, Redfoot, Obian, Forked Deer, and 
 Wolf. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 35 
 
 Minerals. — Iron, lime-stone, coal, copperas, alum, nitre, lead, and 
 some silver. 
 
 Soil. — In the eastern part, on the mountains, poor, but there are 
 many rich valleys. It improves in the middle, and the western part 
 is rich. 
 
 Produce.— Cotton, corn, wheat, and other grains, grass, roots, and 
 fruit. 
 
 Climate. — Among the mountains,, delightful. Middle, temperate, 
 and agreeable. Western part, hoi in summer, and mild in winter. 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 Situation. —Between 33° 45' and 3G° 30' N. lat. and 1° E. and 
 0° 50' W. long. 
 
 Boundaries. — On the north, Virginia. South, South Carolina and 
 Georgia. East, Atlantic ocean. West, Tennessee. 
 
 Extent. — From north to south, 120 miles; from east to west, 345 
 miles. 
 
 Area. — 45,000 square miles, or 23,800,000 acres. 
 
 Pace of the Country. — Below the head of tide-water, low and 
 sandy, abounding with swamps. From the head of tide-waters to 
 the mountains, agreeably uneven; in many places hilly. Among the 
 mountains, many fertile valleys and rich scenery. 
 
 Rivers. —Chowan, Roanoke, Tar, Pamlico, Nuse, Black, Cape 
 Fear, Catawba, and Broad. 
 
 Minerals. — Iron, lime-stone, cobalt, gold. 
 
 Soil. —Low r part, sandy and barren; but many fertile spots on the 
 banks of rivers. In the middle much of it good. Among the 
 mountains poor, but some fertile valleys. 
 
 Produce. —Cotton, tobacco, grain, grass, fruit. 
 
 Climate. —In the low' country, hot in summer. Often unhealthy 
 in fall. Mild and agreeable in winter. In the upper country the 
 climate improves, and ainong^he mountains it is delightful. 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 Situation .— Between 32° G' and 35° N. lat. and 1° 30' and G° 25' 
 W. long. 
 
 Boundaries. —On the north and north-east, North Carolina. South¬ 
 east, Atlantic ocean. South west, Georgia./ 
 
 Extent. —From north to south 1G2 miles; from east to west, 21G. 
 
 Area. —28,700 square miles, or 18,368,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. —Below the head of tide-waters, level and 
 swampy. From the head of tide-waters to the mountains, variegated. 
 Among the mountains, romantic and beautiful. 
 
 Rivers. — Great Pedee, Little Pcdce, Santee, Wateree, Catawba, 
 Congaree, Broad, Tyger, Enoree, Saluda, Cooper, Ashley, Edisto, 
 Cambahee, Coosawatchie, and Savannah. 
 
 Minerals. —Iron, lime-stone, slate, soap-stone, rock crystal, flint, 
 fullers earth, emery, marl, lead, and copper. 
 
 Soil .—In the low' country, sandy, but exceedingly fertile in bot¬ 
 toms, and on the borders of rivers. In the upper country, a con¬ 
 siderable portion of it good. 
 
36 THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 Produce. —Cotton and rice are staples. Grain, grass, fruits, and 
 roots. 
 
 Climate . — In the low country the summers are hot and sultry, 
 with mild winters. In the upper country, the summers are more tem¬ 
 perate, and among the mountains the climate is delightful. 
 
 GEORGIA. 
 
 Situation .—between north lat. 30° 30' and 35°; and Y\^. long. 
 3° 50' and 0° 5' 
 
 Boundaries . — On the north, North Carolina and Tennessee. North¬ 
 east, South Carolina. South, Florida. East, the Atlantic Ocean. 
 West, West Florida and Mississippi territory. 
 
 Extent. —From north to south, 300 miles; from east to west, 240 
 miles. 
 
 Area. —About 58,000 square miles, or 37,120,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. —Below the head of tide-water, low 7 and 
 sandy. From the head of tide w r aters to the mountains, agreeably 
 uneven. The mountains in the north-west abound with picturesque 
 
 scenery. 
 
 Rivers. — Savannah, Ogechee, Canuche, Alataraaha, Ohoope, 
 Oconee, Appalachy, Oakniulgee, Satilla, St. Mary’s, Flint, Chata- 
 houchy, Iliovvee, and Estenawry. 
 
 Minerals . — Yellow ochre, near Milledgeville; copper, near 
 Greensburg. 
 
 Soil. — In the low country, sandy, with rich lands in the swamps 
 and on the rivers. In the upper country, various; much of it good. 
 
 Produce. —Cotton the staple. YVheat, and other grain, rice, and 
 tobacco, and on the sea-board some sugar. 
 
 Climate. — In the low country, hot, sultry summers. Y\ T inters, 
 mild. Upper country, summers more temperate; winters, agreeable. 
 The finest climate in the United States is supposed to be about the 
 boundary of Georgia and Tennessee. 
 
 LOUISIANA. 
 
 Situation. —Between 20° and 33° N. lat. and 12° and 17° W. long. 
 
 Boundaries. —On the north, Missouri and Mississippi territories. 
 South, Gulf of Mexico. East, Mississippi territory and Gulf of 
 Mexico, West, Missouri territory. 
 
 Extent. —From north to south, 240 miles; from east to west, 210 
 miles. 
 
 Area .—48,000 square miles, or 30,540,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. — Level towards the Gulf of Mexico and 
 Mississippi, and abounding with swamps and prairies; towards the 
 north-west, undulating. 
 
 Rivers. — Mississippi, Pearl, Iberville, Plaquemines, Wachitta, 
 Atchafalaya, Black, lied, Teche, Vermilion, Mermento, Calcasu, and 
 Sabine. 
 
 Soil. —Generally rich and fertile. 
 
 Produce. —Cotton and sugar are staples. Every kind of grain, 
 grass, fruit, and some indigo. 
 
 Climate . — Tile summers in the lower part are hot and sultry. The 
 upper part more temperate. Frost in winter is seldom seen. * 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 37 
 
 INDIANA. 
 
 This interesting country, lately denominated the Indiana territory, 
 is now a nineteenth state ; and such is the fertility of the soil, the 
 salubrity of the climate, and its commanding situation, that it will un¬ 
 questionably become a very bright star in the galaxy of the republic. 
 
 Situation.- —Between N. lat. 37° 45' and 41° 52', and W. Ion*. 
 7° 40' and 10° 47'. 
 
 Boundaries. —On the north, Michigan territory, Lake Michigan, 
 and North-West territory. South, Kentucky. East, Ohio. West, 
 Illinois territory. 
 
 Extent. —From north to south, 240 miles; from east to west, 138 
 miles. 
 
 Area. —34,000 square miles, or 21,700,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. —Hilly; not mountainous. Scenery rich 
 and variegated. Abounding with plains and large prairies.- 
 
 Rictrs. —Ohio, Wabash, White Water, Tippecanoe, Illinois, and 
 St. Joseph’s. 
 
 Minerals. —Coal, lime-stone, free-stone, salt, and silver. 
 
 Soil. —Generally rich and fertile. 
 
 Produce. —Grain, grass, fruit; in the south, cotton. 
 
 Climate. —Temperate and pleasant. 
 
 MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 This elegant country lias just been formed into a state, making 
 the twentieth in the union. It consists of the western portion of 
 the late Mississippi territory, the eastern part being now called the 
 Alabama territory. It is increasing with great rapidity in population 
 and improvements. 
 
 Situation. — Between 30° 10' and 35° N. lat. and 11° 30' and 
 14° 32' W. long. 
 
 Boundaries. — On the north, Tennessee. South, Louisiana and 
 Gulf of Mexico. East, Alabama territory. West, Louisiana and 
 Missouri territory. 
 
 Extent .—From north to south, 317 miles; from east to west, 150 
 miles. 
 
 Area .—About 43,000 square miles, or 27,520,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country .—Towards the south, level. To the north, 
 elevated and beautifully diversified. 
 
 Rivers. — Mississippi, Tennessee, Yazoo, Black, Pearl, Pasca¬ 
 goula, &c, 
 
 Soil. —Generally good, in many places excellent. 
 
 Produce .—Cotton, corn, rice, wheat, rye, oats, some sugar, and 
 indigo. 
 
 Climate. —Generally good. Winters mild ; and summers not warmer 
 than several degrees to the northward. 
 
 ALABAMA TERRITORY. 
 
 This territory recently formed part of the Mississippi territory, 
 but was detached from the western part when the latter was formed 
 into a state. It is increasing fast in population and wealth, and 
 will soon be entitled to become a state. The probability is, that tho 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 38 
 
 part of Florida lying to the west of the Chatahoucby river, will be 
 annexed to it, as soon as that country becomes part of the United 
 States. 
 
 Situation .—Between 130° I O' and 35° N. lat. and 8° and 11° 30' W. 
 long. 
 
 Boundaries .— On the north, Tennessee. South, Gulf of Mexico 
 and West Florida. East, Georgia. West, Mississippi. 
 
 Extent .—From north to south, 317 miles; from east to west, 174 
 miles. 
 
 Area .—About 48,000 square miles, or 29,440,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country .—Towards the south, level and sandy. To 
 the north, elevated and beautifully diversified. The Alleghany moun¬ 
 tains terminate in the north-east, and exhibit a beautiful appearance. 
 
 j Rivers .—Alabama, Tombigby, Black Warrior, Koose, Tallapoose, 
 Tennessee, Chatahoucby, Connecuh, and Perdido. 
 
 Soil. —Generally good ; in many places exceedingly rich and fertile. 
 
 Produce. — Cotton, corn, rice, wheat, rye, oats, Ac. in great 
 abundance. 
 
 Climate. —Generally very good. Winters mild ; and the summers, 
 tempered by the breezes from the Gulf of Mexico, are pleasant. The 
 climate of the northern part is probably the finest in the United 
 States. 
 
 ILLINOIS TERRITORY. 
 
 This territory is increasing fast in population and improvements. 
 Four new counties have been laid out since last census; and 
 3,500,000 acres of land (a space as large as Connecticut and 
 Rhode Island) are to be located here for the soldiers who fought in the 
 last war. These lands are represented as being of good quality. 
 The chance is, that this territory will soon become a state, and it will 
 be one of the most important in the Union. 
 
 Situation. —Between 37° and 41° 45' N. lat. and 10° 15' and 14° 15' 
 W. long. 
 
 Boundaries. — On the north, the North-West territory. South, 
 Kentucky and Missouri territory. East, Indiana. West, Missouri 
 territory. 
 
 Extent. —-From north to south, 306 miles; from east to west, 210 
 miles. 
 
 Area. — 50,000 square miles, or 32,000,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. —In the south, level. To the north, ele¬ 
 vated and hilly, but not mountainous. 
 
 Rivers. — Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois, Wabash, Kaskaskia, and 
 Stony. 
 
 Minerals. —Coal, salt, flint, copper, lead, iron, alum. 
 
 Soil. —Generally fertile. 
 
 Produce. —Grain, grass, fruit, flax, hemp ; and southern part, cotton. 
 
 Climate. —Temperate and agreeable. 
 
 MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 
 
 Situation. — Between 41° 45' and 45° 35' N. lat. and 5° 5' and 
 8° 18' W. long. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 39 
 
 Boundaries . — On the north, the straits of Michilmackinac. South, 
 Ohio and Indiana. East, Lakes Huron and St. Clair, and Upper 
 Canada. West, Lake Michigan. 
 
 Extent .—From north to south, 234 miles; breadth, from east to 
 west, 138 miles. 
 
 Area. —27,000 square miles, or 17,280,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. —In the centre, the land is high, from whence 
 there is a descent in all directions. 
 
 Rivers. — St. Mary’s, Huron, Detroit, Black,Marame, Grand, Carrion, 
 Raisin, &c. 
 
 Soil. — Generally lich and fertile. 
 
 Produce. — Wheat, oats, barley, rye, corn, potatoes, fruit, &c. 
 
 Climate. —Temperate and healthy. Winter lasts from the middle 
 of November to the middle of March. 
 
 NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 
 
 This extensive territory has not yet been organized into a regular 
 government; but it is rising fast into importance. A number of the 
 United States’ troops are stationed at the village of Prairie du Chiens, 
 with detachments along the Ouisconsin and Fox rivers to Lake Michi¬ 
 gan, and these will check and controul the Indians in that quarter; 
 and the probability is, that a society will soon be formed in this terri¬ 
 tory, requiring the usual forms of government in the other territories. 
 
 Situation. —Between 41° 45' and 49° 37 x N. lat. and 7° and 18° 50' 
 W. long. 
 
 Boundaries .—On the north, Upper Canada and Lake Superior. 
 South, Indiana and Illinois territory. East, Upper Canada, and Lake 
 Michigan. West and south-west, Mississippi river, which divides it 
 from the Missouri territory. 
 
 Extent. —From north to south, about 360 miles; from east to west, 
 456 miles. 
 
 Area. —About 147,000 square miles, or 94,080,000 acres. 
 
 Face of the Country. —Generally undulating. In some places 
 hilly, but not mountainous. 
 
 Rivers. —Mississippi, Ouisconsin, Fox, Monomonie, Chippeway, &c. 
 
 Minerals. —Iron, lead, copperas, lime-stone, alum. 
 
 Soil. —A great portion of it excellent. 
 
 Climate.— Towards the south, pleasant. To the north, cold. 
 
 Few settlements have yet been made in this extensive region, and 
 the inhabitants were not included in the last census. 
 
 MISSOURI TERRITORY. 
 
 This great country is rising fast into importance. The probability 
 is, that it will be subdivided into districts of a convenient size, and 
 these will be admitted as states, as soon as they have sufficient popu¬ 
 lation. Two millions of acres of land are appropriated for the sol¬ 
 diers between the Arkansas and St. Francis, and half a million above 
 
 St. Charles. 1 , 
 
 Situation. — Between 26° and 49° 37' N. lat. and 12° and 49 30 
 
 W. long. . . 
 
 Boundaries.— On the north, unsettled country. South, Louisiana 
 and Gulf of Mexico. East, Upper Canada, North-west territory. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 40 
 
 Illinois territory, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. 
 West, the Pacific ocean; and south-west the Spanish internal provinces. 
 
 Extent. —From north to south, about 1380 miles; from east to 
 west, about 1G80 miles. 
 
 Area. —About 1,580,000 square miles, or 1,011,200,000 acres. 
 Face of the Country. —Towards the south, level. In many places 
 overflowed by rivers. To the north, elevated, swelling out into large 
 hills. To the north-west and west, very lofty mountains. 
 
 Rivers. —Mississippi, Missouri, Kanses, Grand, Osage, Maramec, 
 St. Francis, White, Arkansaw, Wachitta, Red, Sabine, Moines, 
 Rio Colorado, Rio Bravos de Dios, Rio Guadalupe, Rio del Norte, 
 &c. &c. 
 
 Minerals. -Very abundant; particularly lead, of which there are 
 extensive and valuable mines near St. Genevieve. 
 
 Soil. —Every quality. A vast quantity of it rich and valuable. 
 Produce. —Grain, grass, fruit, cotton, and some sugar and indigo. 
 Climate. —In the south, warm. Middle, temperate. To the north 
 and west, cold. On the Pacific ocean, temperate. 
 
 I 
 
 ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS 
 
 TO THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Note. — Before an Emigrant can pass the Custom-House at Liver¬ 
 pool , or elsewhere , in Great Britain , it is accessary for him to be 
 furnished with a Certificate , to the following purport :— 
 
 We, the undersigned Churchwardens and Overseers of the parish of 
 in the county of do hereby certify and declare unto the officers of 
 
 his Majesty’s customs, and all others whom it may concern,*that we have 
 known A. B. of the parish of aforesaid, for several ¥ea?s fast past; 
 
 and that the trade or business of the said A. B. during all the time we have 
 known him, hath been that of a And we do further particularly 
 
 certify and declare that the said A. B. is not, nor hath ever been, a manufac¬ 
 turer or artificer in wool, iron, steel, brass, or any other metal, nor is he, or 
 hath he ever been, a watch-maker, or clock-maker, or any other manufacturer 
 or artificer whatsoever. And we do further certify that the said A. B. is 
 about years of age, stands feet and inches, or thereabouts, in 
 
 height, hath hair, eyes, complexion, is of a 
 
 appearance. 
 
 As witness our hands, this day of ) 
 
 > Churchwardens. 
 
 I, C. D. Esq. one of his Majesty’s justices of the peace for the county of 
 do hereby certify and declare, that the several persons, whose 
 natives are subsciihed at the foot of the above-written certificate are respec¬ 
 tively the churchwardens and overseers of the parish of ’ aforesaid; 
 
 and that the statement contained in the same certificate is true, according to 
 the best of my knowledge, information, and belief. ® 
 
 As wivtie&s my hand, this day of 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 41 
 
 ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS .—I. 
 
 The inutility of the law prohibiting the emigration of manufacturer* 
 or machinists to the United States is so obvious to all acquainted 
 with the interior of that country, that they are at a loss to conceive 
 why it continues to exist. It is still more surprising that it should yet 
 be enforced in a country where excess of population is a subject of 
 complaint,—where means have been devised to check the rapidity of 
 its progress,—and where the classes denied the privilege of expatria¬ 
 tion are complained of as being an incumbrance, and are daily adding 
 more and more to the distress of the nation, in the picture of which 
 they stand the most prominent figure. Whoever is intimately ac¬ 
 quainted with the interior of the United States, knows that cotton and 
 woollen manufactories are spread throughout the Union, and that they 
 have found their way even to the west of the Alleghanies. At Nash¬ 
 ville (in Tennessee), Lexington (in Kentucky), at Cincinnati, Beaver, 
 and at Pittsburg, and many other places, there are large cotton and 
 woollen establishments. 
 
 In the eastern and middle states there are many hundreds of fac¬ 
 tories, abundantly supplied with managers and machine-makers from 
 Britain, of which there is such a redundancy, that a very considerable 
 number have resorted to agriculture. Whether manufactories will 
 succeed in America, or to what degree, time alone can determine; 
 but that their progress can be in the least impeded by restrictive laws, 
 •* prohibiting the emigration of manufacturers or machinists from this 
 country, is now absolutely impossible. 
 
 Most articles of furniture being cheaper in the United States than 
 in Britain, nothing of that kind ought to be taken, as they would, in 
 all probability, suffer damage. Feather beds and bedding, on the 
 contrary, should be preserved ; and for packing clothes, &e. trunks 
 are preferable to heavy and clumsy boxes. On arriving at the port 
 from whence the emigrant expects to sail, his first care should be to 
 ascertain if bis certificate is sufficient, which he may be acquainted, 
 with at the custom-house; and he must be careful not to pay for his 
 passage until he be well assured that he shall be permitted to proceed. 
 
 The port in the United States to which it will be the interest of 
 the emigrant to sail, will depend on his views or his prospects. A 
 W'ide field is open to him, and he ought to make himself acquainted 
 with its geography before he decide on this point. 
 
 For a very great portion of emigrants the countries west of the 
 Alleghanies, say Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, or the Illinois, 
 offer bv much the best prospects; and to get to those countries, 
 Philadelphia or Baltimore are the best ports. If the intention be to 
 proceed to the lower part of the Ohio, Baltimore is preferable to 
 Philadelphia; and the best way will be to go from thence to Wheeling, 
 on % the Ohio, ninety-five miles below Pittsburg, and the road is much 
 less difficult. The port to which the emigrant will sail being deter¬ 
 mined, the next consideration is sea store; and he will do well to 
 recollect that most probably both himself and his family will be sea- 
 
 G 
 
THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. 
 
 42 
 
 sick for some days, and that, during its continuance, if he is a steerage* 
 passenger, both he and his wife will have an utter aversion to the 
 trouble of cooking: he must therefore provide some cold meat to last 
 during that time; either fowls or veal would be the best. For the 
 general sea store it would be difficult to prescribe rules. The quan¬ 
 tity will of course depend on the number to be provided for, and the 
 quality on their taste, and in some measure on the season of the 
 year. If there are small children, some oatmeal and some molasses 
 will be found very useful and wholesome, as it will furnish a food 
 much more conducive to their health than salt provisions. For the 
 general sea store, tea, coffee, sugar, biscuits, butter, cheese, a few 
 hams, salt, soap, candles, &c. will be necessary. Sufficient should 
 be laid in to last at least eight weeks, in particular for Baltimore, as 
 sometimes vessels are a week or ten days in going up the Chesa¬ 
 peake, after passing the Capes. A due regard to cleanliness during 
 the voyage is recommended; to admit as much air between decks as 
 the weather will permit; and to take a few bottles of vinegar to 
 sprinkle on the floor occasionally; and if it can be practised, fumiga¬ 
 tion, by putting a red hot piece of iron in a kettle of pitch, will be 
 found salutary. On arriving at the desired port, if the emigrant has 
 any letters of introduction, he should deliver them immediately: his 
 friends may probably assist him in finding a proper place where his 
 family may rest a few days after the fatigues of the voyage. His 
 next care will be to land his trunks, bedding, <fcc. and get them depo¬ 
 sited in a place of safety. If he have not a letter of introduction to 
 any one in the city where he first lands, he ought to be on his guard. 
 In every one of the maritime cities in America, a great number of 
 small stores are established for the sale of spirituous liquors, &c. 
 Many of these are kept by natives of Great Britain; and some of 
 those who keep them are so devoid of principle as to induce emi¬ 
 grants to remain in the cities, under various pretences, but chiefly 
 holding out a prospect of employment, when their real purpose is to 
 tempt them to spend their money with them. 
 
 So many emigrants arrive at all the principal ports in the United 
 States, that there is very little chance of employment; and almost the 
 whole of the distress that has been reported to exist in America has 
 arisen from the number of emigrants who have foolishly lingered in 
 the cities until they have spent all their money. 
 
 It shall be supposed that the design of the emigrant is to proceed 
 to the countries cast of the Alleglranies, in which case he ought not 
 to stay more than two or three days in the city. When he first lands, 
 he will find that great numbers of waggons start from Philadelphia 
 to Pittsburg, or from Baltimore to Pittsburg or \\ heeling, every day. 
 The charge is by the hundred weight, both for passengers and their 
 luggage; and the rate is variable from"five to seven dollars per hundred : 
 but the men may go cheaper, if they choose to walk over the mountains* 
 which is recommended. The w aggoners travel w ith great economy : many 
 of them carry a small camp-kettle with them, in which they rook their 
 provisions; and some have even a bed in their waggons, in which they 
 sleep at night. A traveller who chooses to adopt a similar mode may 
 travel very cheap; or, as there are plenty of inns on the roads, he cai 
 be accommodated every night with beds, at a very reasonable rate. 
 
THE ^MIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 43 
 
 When the emigrant arrives at Pittsburg or Wheeling, he will find that 
 numbers of Europeans and Americans are arriving there every day; and 
 the same causes that operated against them in the maritime cities, as 
 respects employment, will, in some degree, have an effect here; but as 
 he will have occasion for information, it would be advisable for him to 
 stop a few days, to make inquiries. II he find it necessary to descend 
 the Ohio, the best mode of proceeding will be to inquire for one or 
 more families, who have intentions of going to the same neighbourhood 
 as himself, who may join him in the purchase of an ark, one of the 
 kind of vessels in which families descend. These arks are built for 
 sale, for the accommodation of families descending the river, and for 
 tiie conveyance of produce. They are flat-bottomed, and square at 
 the ends, and are all made of the same dimensions, being fifty feet in 
 length, and fourteen in breadth; which last is limited, because it often 
 happens that they must pass over the falls at Louisville, when the 
 river is at a low state, at which time they pass betwixt two rocks in 
 the Indian schule , only fifteen feet asunder.* These arks are covered, 
 and are managed by a steering oar, which can be lifted out of the 
 water. The usual price is seventy five dollars for each, which will 
 accommodate three or four families, as they carry from twenty five to 
 thirty tons; and it frequently happens that the ark can be sold for 
 nearly what it cost, six or eight hundred miles lower dow n the river. 
 
 After the arrival of the emigrant on the Ohio, the next step lie takes 
 is a very important one:—much depends on his movement, and- it is 
 at that point when hejias the greatest need of counsel and advice. 
 From Europe until he arrives on the Ohio, general rules may apply; 
 but now his future destination depends on his choice, and no general 
 rule can be given to direct that choice, because emigrants are of so 
 many different descriptions. In order that these remarks may have a 
 general application, the emigrants shall be considered as consisting of 
 several classes; the remarks shall be applied to each class separately, 
 aud terminate with some general observations. 
 
 The first class of emigrants may be composed of labourers, who have 
 no other trade or profession, aud from whose services more is expect¬ 
 ed to result from bodily strength, than from ingenuity or education. If a 
 man of this class will work, he has nothing to fear in the interior of 
 America :—he possesses all the requisites for a farmer, excepting skill; 
 and that he may soon obtain. A great number of farmers have more 
 land inclosed in fence than they can well manage : ask one of these the 
 reason, he replies, “ I want help.” An assistant enables him to culti¬ 
 vate a portion of his land that would otherwise become overrun with 
 weeds. The emigrant cannot expect full wages in the commence¬ 
 ment; but if he be attentive, lie may in one year become so expert as 
 to be entitled to what is usually paid to husbandmen,—from twelve to 
 fifteen dollars per month, and board. 
 
 But when employment is obtained, the most difficult thing remains 
 yet to be done. The man he lives with, and for whom he works, most 
 probably makes his own cyder, a portion of which is distilled into 
 brandy: both these articles are kept, in considerable quantities, in 
 
 * There are regular pilots resident at Louisville, who conduct the boats over the 
 falls, and deliver them safe at Shipping-Portthey charge two dollars for 
 pilotage. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 44 
 
 the farmer’s house. The emigrant is liberally supplied with them, and 
 can obtain them at a cheap rate elsewhere; but he must avoid 
 indulging too much, particularly in the spirits. He is not accustomed 
 to a profusion of this article, and may, by too frequent use, acquire 
 a habit, that will ruin all his future prospects in life. If his conduct 
 is proper, he may associate with the sons of the neighbouring farmers, 
 many of whom know that their ancestors became proprietors of land 
 from a beginning not more promising than his ; even his employer was 
 probably the helper to some one formerly. Before this man can 
 become a complete American farmer, he must learn a number of 
 things not connected with agriculture in some other countries. He 
 must learn to handle the axe dexterously, as he will often be employed 
 to cut down trees. He must also learn, not only to distinguish the 
 different species of trees, but also to know by their appearance 
 whether they will suit the purpose for which they are wanted. 
 
 The second class of emigrants to be considered are those who have 
 trades or professions, and yet are too poor to enter into business for 
 themselves. The primary object of a person of this description is, of 
 course, employment; the commodity he has to dispose of is labour , 
 for which he wants a market. So much of this is daily brought into 
 the sea-ports by the arrival of emigrants, that they are always over¬ 
 stocked ; he must look for a better chance:—this chance the country 
 will afford him. If his trade or profession be such as is followed in a 
 city, he may remain two days before he goes to the country; if un¬ 
 successful in his inquiries for work, be ought not to remain longer. 
 During his stay, he ought to inquire amongst those in his own pro¬ 
 fession, where he may hope to obtain employment ; it is very likely 
 they may furnish references which will be very useful to him. In 
 travelling, this man ought not to be sparing in his inquiries; he is 
 not in the least danger of receiving a rude or an uncivil answer, even 
 if lie should address himself to a squire (so justices are called). It is 
 expected in America, that every man shall attend to his own concerns ; 
 and if a man who is out of work asks for employment, it is considered 
 as a very natural thing. 
 
 He ought to make his situation and profession known at the taverns 
 where he stops, and rather to court than to shun conversation with 
 any that he may find assembled there. He will seldom or never meet 
 with a repulse, as it gives them an opportunity of making inquiries 
 respecting the “ old country ,” (the term usually applied to the British 
 Islands). 
 
 Should he fail in procuring employment at his ow n business, he has 
 all the advantages of the first man, in agriculture. The countries west 
 of the Alleghany Mountains afford the greatest advantages, of any part 
 of the United States, to emigrants of this or the preceding descrip¬ 
 tion; and when they arrive at the head of the Ohio, the facility of 
 descending that river opens to them a vast field, in which labour must, 
 for ages to come, find a good market, as the* vast tract of fine land 
 yet unsettled will induce such an avidity for farming, that labourers, 
 or men who have trades or professions, will adopt that line of life 
 whenever they can raise the means of purchasing land. For this 
 reason a very longtime must elapse before there can be such a redun¬ 
 dancy of labour as to reduce its value. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE, 
 
 44 
 
 The man possessed of some property, say from 200/. to 1000/. 
 lias more need of cautionary advice than either of the former. But no 
 knowledge can be conveyed to him, that will be so valuable as what 
 results from his own experience and observation. He is advised to 
 deposit his money in a bank, or vest it in government stock imme¬ 
 diately on landing. His next object is to determine in what line of 
 life he shall employ himself and his capital. In this he should avoid 
 being too hasty. If it is known that lie has money, he will probably 
 be tempted to enter into speculations, both by his own countrymen 
 and others. Designing men are much more likely to hold out such 
 temptations than men with honest and honourable intentions; and 
 until he has acquired a competent knowledge of men and things, it 
 is dangerous for him to embark in business. It should have been pre¬ 
 mised, that he ought, if possible, to take with him letters of intro¬ 
 duction to some persons in the United States, experienced in matters 
 of business, whom he might occasionally consult. If he decide on 
 mercantile business, or keeping a store, he ought by all means to 
 procure a situation in a merchant’s counting-house, or in a store, for 
 one year at least; even if with only trifling wages, he will still be a 
 gainer. If he adopt agriculture, lie ought to obtain, if possible, an 
 assistant who knows the management of crops, and the mode of work¬ 
 ing the ground : such a person will be necessary at least for two 
 years. If he should not succeed in procuring such a man, he must 
 keep on good terms with his neighbours, who will cheerfully tell him 
 what is necessary to be done. In purchasing his land he ought not 
 to depend entirely on his own judgment, unless he has made an 
 extensive tour through the country, and attentively considered the 
 subject of land. He will find some remarks applicable to that sub¬ 
 ject in the course of this publication. 
 
 In a great many trades or professions the emigrant who has a capi 
 tal, and a trade or profession, may meet with less difficulty than any 
 of the preceding, if he act with caution. Much in this case depends 
 on making a judicious choice in determining where to establish his 
 business. In most trades, the country beyond the Alleghany Moun 
 tains, sav Ohio, Kentucky, or Tennessee, hold out greater advantages 
 than the rest of the Union, the profits in business being greater, and 
 the expence of living much less: the climate also is more suitable to 
 European constitutions, as the extreme betwixt the heat of summer 
 and cold of w inter is much less than in the Atlantic states. In some 
 trades he may be expected to keep journeymen, perhaps Americans ; 
 from whom lie is advised not to exact that servility of deportment 
 expected from subordinates in other countries. He may be faithfully 
 served without it. He loses nothing by this, as those who are his 
 employers or customers will make no such exactions from him. 
 
 There are several objects in America that present them¬ 
 selves to the capitalist, in which he may vest his property with 
 perfect security; and if lie act judiciously, he will have no reason to 
 complain of his profits. The most prominent object that offers itself 
 island. Of this, immense tracts may always be had, and in particular 
 from the government of the United States. The price is two dollars , 
 per acre; one-fourth of the money to be paid down, the rest by in¬ 
 stalments in five years. The degree of advantage to be derived from 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 4 6 
 
 lands purchases, depends in a great measure on the judgment and 
 foresight of the speculator, to whom the country west of the Alle- 
 ghanies offers the best field. A very great majority of the emigrants 
 to that part have only farming in view, and the establishment of 
 towns does not keep pace with the increase of interspersed population. 
 There are a great many places, which, from the nature of things, 
 must become the scites of towns: a person of judgment and obser¬ 
 vation would easily point them out. The formation of a number of 
 proximate settlements lias an invariable tendency to raise the price of 
 land in their vicinity: for this reason a rich man, who purchases a 
 large tract of land on speculation, consults his best interests by a 
 liberal policy towards those who first settle on his property. Let it 
 be supposed that he purchases four miles square; this is Sixteen 
 square miles or sections, or 10,240 acres, which for cash costs 1G,896 
 dollars, or .£3801. 125 . English money. On this property he ought 
 to possess a scite convenient for a village, and he should also have a 
 water-fall. If he lays the whole out in quarter sections, he will have 
 64, of 100 acres each. Let him lay out the village, and sell, in the 
 first instance, only the intermediate subdivisions, at moderate terms 
 and liberal credit: the reserved subdivisions, together with the 
 village lots, will in a short time rise to a very great value. The next 
 object of importance is coal; and although the investment of capital 
 in that way may not so speedily produce profit as in land, yet it holds 
 out great advantages. It has already been stated, that coal is abun¬ 
 dant in file western country, and that a considerable portion of that 
 region is prairie: it has also been observed, that the existence of a 
 bed of coal scarcely enhances the price of the land under w hich it lies. 
 In most parts of the Atlantic States, 50 years ago, one acre of cleared 
 land was worth five of woodland. Since that time innumerable 
 towns and villages have been established, and the old cities and 
 villages have increased. Every city or town may be considered as 
 the centre of a circle, w ithin tiie area of which one acre of woodland 
 is now of much more value than the same extent of the finest meadow'. 
 These areas are continually increasing, and consequently the aggregate 
 value of timber. At a period not very remote the larger cities must 
 resort to ihe use of coal ; and nothing is more certain than that a time 
 will come when that article will be as valuable to America as it is 
 now to England. 
 
 The emigrant who goes to America with the intention of applying 
 himself to farming, should take with him some seed wheat of the best 
 kinds; ;nd if he can procure it, perhaps the Syrian wheat (Triticum 
 composition) might be worth a trial. It has a much better chance of 
 answering in America than in England, and particularly south of 40 
 degrees of latitude. Also a small quantity of lucerne, saiutfoin, and 
 vet< lies ; either the seeds or the roots of the two former, but the roots 
 would be preferable. It might also be advisable to take a small bag 
 of hay seeds from some of ihe best meadows. Farming implements 
 can be had in any part of the United Slates, well adapted to the dif¬ 
 ferent purposes for which they are wanted. In determining a situation, 
 lie has ihe c hoice of any climate from latitude 29 to 44 degrees, com¬ 
 prehending ihe regions suitable for the culture of sugar, cotton, and 
 grain. If his views are governed by the determination to adopt any 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 47 
 
 particular culture, he will of course settle in the region suitable: if 
 sugar, he will go south of 31 J°; if cotton, south of 36°: for corn 
 the most agreeable is from 3G° to 41°, as further north the severity 
 and length of the winters render the climate less desirable. A far¬ 
 mer, on settling in America, ought not rashly to set up his opinions or 
 former practices against those of the old settlers. Many things 
 which may appear to him at first to be wrong or unnecessary, will 
 be found, on farther experience, both right and expedient; but if 
 he cultivates the good-will of his neighbours, and follows their advice, 
 he will not go wrong. He will soon find the succession of crops 
 and the mode of culture vary much from what he has experienced in 
 England, and that a differently modified climate, and a sun more 
 nearly vertical, greatly change tliNp order of the things to w hich he has 
 been accustomed. He will find bis rye harvest to commence in 
 June, and that of his wheat soon after: the oats follow next; and 
 afterwards, if he have a meadow r , his grass w ill be ready for the scythe; 
 then come his potatoes, and lastly his Indian corn. If the emigrant 
 purchases and settles upon what is called wild land, one of his first 
 cares ought to be to plant a peach and apple orchard; and he ought 
 to plant the two sorts alternate, say one peach betwixt two apple 
 trees, and not plant the apple trees less than thirty feet asunder. The 
 peach tree soon comes to maturitv, and is short lived : they w ill be¬ 
 come of little value by the time the apple trees are in want of room. 
 
 In the woody region, the axe is for some time the chief implement 
 in the hands of the settler, and he feels a considerable degree of re¬ 
 pugnance at the destruction of so much fine timber; but this soon 
 subsides. If he has the courage to proceed as far west as the Illinois, 
 the North-West Territories, or to the west of the Mississippi, the 
 prairies afford him the means of settling without much trouble. 
 
 In the early part of the settlement of the rich countries beyond the 
 Alleghanies, agues were very prevalent; and it will perhaps be found, 
 that all countries in a state of nature are liable to this disease in the 
 proportion of their fertility, which has a tendency to produce it, from 
 the vast quantity of vegetable matter which goes to decay in autumn. 
 As this applies generally in those regions, the new settler lias no 
 means of avoiding the consequence, but by precautions and pre¬ 
 ventives; but as it has also a local influence, he may, by a judicious 
 choice of a situation, render himself and family less liable to its attacks. 
 As the first settlers have the choice of the whole country, it is very 
 natural that they should adopt the alluvial of the rivers, both on 
 account of the superior fertility of the soil, and the facilities it gives 
 to the transportation of produce; and many, in so doing, sacrifice 
 ther health to their apparent interest. It must he admitted, that 
 some of the valleys in which the rivers flow are as healthy as the up¬ 
 lands; but this depends on whether the river overflows its banks or 
 not, or on the existence or non-existence of stagnant water in the 
 neighbourhood. As to precautions, the emigrant is apprised that in 
 these countries the dews are very copious, and begin to fall even be¬ 
 fore sun-set. Let him avoid, as much as possible, exposure either to 
 this or rain; or if unavoidably exposed, he must take oft his wet 
 clothes as soon as possible; and if he lias flannel shirts, in order to change 
 after copious perspiration, he will find benefit in them. A 11 important 
 
4n The emigrants guide. 
 
 consideration in this respect is the quality of the water used in hb 
 family; of course the purer this is, the better. The settler cannot be 
 expected to be capable of analyzing it; but he may discover the pre¬ 
 sence of sulphur, iron, an acid, or an alkali, by tests always in his 
 power to procure. Sulphur may be detected by laying a piece of 
 bright silver in the water, which turns black if that substance is held 
 in solution. A little of the inner bark of any of the oaks, infused in 
 a glassful, turns the water black, if iron is present. Paper, stained 
 blue by the petals of almost any flower of that colour being rubbed 
 upon it, turns green by being dipped in water impregnated with 
 alkali, or red, if an acid. 
 
 The settler who is accustomed to malt liquor may, with very little 
 trouble, brew his own ale. Barley is cultivated west of the Allegha- 
 nies; and hops grow wild in abundance. The use of this beverage is 
 supposed to be a preventive to the ague. Almost every family has a 
 supposed cure for this complaint; and everyone who visits or sees 
 those affected has a favourite remedy, all differing from each other; 
 but the physicians, in the Western Country, treat it with bark and 
 laudanum: of these the emigrant ought to lay in a sufficiency to ad¬ 
 minister to his family in case of need. 
 
 It has already been observed, that the emigrants to this country are 
 almost of every nation in Europe, but it is a remarkable and striking 
 fact, that the Germans, Dutch, and Swiss, succeed much better than 
 those from any other country. This is not so much owing to greater 
 industry or economy, as to the more judicious mode they adopt in 
 settling. In general, before these people emigrate, they form associa¬ 
 tions, lay down their plans, and send an agent over in whom they can 
 contide. He purchases for them a suitable extent of land, and pre¬ 
 pares the way: when their arrangements are made, they move over 
 in one body. This system has always been followed by these people, 
 and the consequences are visible in almost every part of the United 
 States; but more particularly in the states of New York, New Jersey, 
 and Pennsylvania, in all parts of which they are in possession of the 
 best lands. The appearance of comfort, ease, and independence, 
 exhibited by one of these little colonies, is so visible, that the tra\eller 
 w ho does not perceive it at first sight must be very deficient in discern¬ 
 ment. Some of the colonies of this kind, besides the tie of common 
 interest, have another bond of union, which is a similarity of senti¬ 
 ment and belief in their religious opinions ; this, in some instances, has 
 operated as a cause for regulating their system of colonization : but 
 perhaps that which has most generally influenced them is the circum¬ 
 stance of their language not being the general language of the United 
 Slates,—an inconvenience much less felt by a colons than by an isolated 
 family. But let the cause be what it may, the effect is very manifest, 
 and may be easily accounted for, In the early settlement of any par¬ 
 ticular district of new country * its progress in improvements is slow, 
 until a grist and a saw mill are erected ; after which the change is very 
 rapid. Every planter in the vicinity, by llie aid of the saw mill, is 
 able to erect a handsome frame-house. The grist mill enables him 
 to convert his wheat into flour fit for a market, and he boldly engages 
 
 • The term nett? country signifies one newly settled, * 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 49 
 
 and employs hands to assist him in converting forest into fields 
 yielding luxuriant crops. These two kinds of mills are ihe most 
 necessary objects in a new colony ; but there are many others, such as 
 roads, bridges, <S:c. all of which are much sooner effected by a colony 
 having an union of interest, and of course an union of action. 
 
 ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS— II. 
 
 HINTS TO EMIGRANTS FROM EUROPE, 
 
 If ho intend to make a permanent residence in the United States of 
 America : pointing out the most advantageous places of settlement, 
 and giving directions for the best means of preserving health. 
 
 By THE SHAMROCK SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Extract from the Minutes of the Shamrock Society of New York, 
 composed of Republican Citizens of all Nations. 
 
 At an adjourned Meeting, June 18 , 1816 , Mr. Emmet, President, in the 
 Chair, on the motion of Mr. Irvine, 
 
 It was unanimously resolved — 
 
 tf That a Committee be appointed to draw up a brief Address to Europe, 
 on subjects economical and political, affecting their welfare / 7 
 
 Whereupon the Society named Dr. M‘Neven, Mr. Emmet, Mr. Irvine, 
 Mr. Humbert, and Mr. O’Connor, to be the said Committee. 
 
 Alex. Pyke, Secretary. 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 
 
 That hospitality which, as Mr. Jefferson says, the savages of the 
 wilderness extended to the first settlers arriving in this land, cannot 
 be denied by a free, civilized, and Christian people, to brethren 
 emigrating from the countries of their common fathers; and the 
 exercise of it is peculiarly agreeable to us, who have (some of us) 
 been induced, by a similarity of fate and fortunes with your own, to 
 quit the lands of our nativity, and seek freedom and happiness in 
 America. That hospitality which the wild Arab never violates, and 
 which the American Indian so often exercises to strangers,—that 
 sacred virtue is dear to our hearts, which we open to address you, in 
 the frankness of friendship and sincerity of truth. We bid you wel¬ 
 come to a land of freedom ; we applaud your resolution ; we commend 
 your judgment in asserting the right of expatriation—a right acknow¬ 
 ledged and practised by people of all nations, from the earliest ages 
 to the present time—a right indispensable to liberty and happiness, 
 and which ought never to be surrendered. The free states once esta¬ 
 blished in Asia recognized it; Greece adopted it. Emigration from 
 thence was uncontrouled ; and naturalization, which puts the emi¬ 
 grant, civilly, on a level with the native, was there a thing of course. 
 The Romans avowed and vindicated the right in all its latitude; and 
 this memorable declaration composed part of their code: * € Every 
 man has a right to choose the state to which he will belong.’' It Is 
 
 H 
 
50 
 
 THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 a law of nature, that we may go whither we list to promote our hap¬ 
 piness. It is thus, indeed, that the arts, sciences, laws, and civiliza¬ 
 tion itself, have journeyed, with colonies, from one region to another, 
 from Asia and Egypt to Europe, and from Europe to America. In 
 making this country your home, your choice does you honour; and 
 We doubt not but your conduct will be equally correct, judicious, 
 and honourable. That the laws and institutions of America may be 
 from this moment the objects of your constant respect, we will quote 
 what an European philosopher has said of America, as compared, 
 politically, with Europe. “ Whilst almost all the nations of Eu¬ 
 rope,^ says the Abbe de Mablv, “ are ignorant of the constituent prin¬ 
 ciples of society, and regard the people as beasts of a farm, cultivated 
 for the benefit of the owner, we are astonished, we are edified, that 
 your thirteen republics should know at once the dignity of maw, ami 
 should have drawn from the sources of the wisest philosophy the 
 principles by which they are disposed to be governed.” 
 
 Even in your state of probation here, as aliens, you will soon per¬ 
 ceive that the laws (and our’s is a government of laws) are made by 
 the wilt of the people, through agents called representatives. The 
 will of a majority passes for, and requires the consent of all. Entire 
 acquiescence in the decisions of the majority is the vital principle of 
 republics, from which there is no legitimate appeal; for resistance to 
 those decisions is an appeal to force, the vital principle and immediate 
 parent of despotism. It is a fundamental truth in nature, and for 
 those not held in servitude it is law iu America, that men are born 
 equal, and endowed with unalienable rights, of which they can 
 neither divest themselves, nor be deprived by others. Slaves may 
 be ruled by the w ill of one, or a few; but freemen are governed only 
 by the general will. 
 
 Strangers as you are, you may derive benefit from the counsel and 
 guidance of friends. If one who has gone the road you are about 
 to travel, by only shewing you how it winds beyond the next hill, 
 does you an act of civility, how much more important would be 
 some information that must influence your welfare an 1 future for¬ 
 tune? And when you reflect, that circumstances apparently trivial 
 may make the one, or mar the other, you will not disregard a commu¬ 
 nication which relates to the business of life. 
 
 All that a first conversation with an emigrant can properly embrace 
 will fall under three heads: 
 
 I. What relates to bis personal safety in a new climate ; 
 
 II. llis interest as a probationary resident; and 
 
 III. Ilis future rights aud duties as a member of a free state. 
 
 Under the first will be comprised some directions for your mode 
 
 of living, and the preservation of your health. The second would 
 demand some description of this extensive country, which may direct 
 your choice and industry. Under the third should be contained a 
 brief abstract of such civil or political matters as behoves you to 
 understand. 
 
 I i Emigrants from Europe usually arrive here during summer; 
 and, every thing considered, it is best they should; for in the middle 
 and eastern slates the winter is long, fuel very dear, and employment 
 comparatively scarce at that season. In winter they will expend 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 51 
 
 more, and earn less. Rut if arriving at this time bear more upon 
 their pocket, the heats of the summer are undoubtedly more trying 
 to their health. In the middle states, namely, New York, New 
 Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, a northern European usually 
 • finds the climate intensely hot from about the middle of June until 
 towards the 1st of October. The thermometer frequently ranges 
 from 84° to 90°, and sometimes above it in the middle part of the 
 day ; this to a stranger who works in the open air, exposed to the 
 burning sun, is certainly dangerous, and requires some precautions 
 on his part. 
 
 First of all, lie should regulate his diet, and be temperate in the 
 quantity of his food. The American labourer or working mechanic, 
 who has a belter and more plentiful table than any other man in the 
 world of his class, is, for the most part, a small eater; and we recom¬ 
 mend to you his example. The European of the same condition, 
 who receives meat or fish, and coffee, at breakfast, meat at dinner, 
 and meat or fish, and tea, at supper—an abundance of animal 
 food to which he was unaccustomed—insensibly falls into a state of 
 too great repletion, which exposes him to the worst kind of fever 
 during the heats of summer and autumn. He should, therefore, be 
 quite as abstemious in the quantity of food, as of strong drink; and, 
 in addition to this method of preventing sickness, he should take a 
 dose of active physic every now and then, especially in the hotter 
 mouths of July and August. By this prudent course an ardent cli¬ 
 mate will have no terrors; and, after some residence here, he may pre¬ 
 serve his health by regimen and exercise alone. 
 
 The labourer or mechanic should put off his ordinary clothes, and 
 wear next his skin a loose flannel shirt, while he works; it should be 
 taken off again when he has done. 
 
 The stranger, as well as native, must be particularly careful not to 
 •drink cold water after being heated by exposure to the sun or exer¬ 
 cise. Sudden and severe pain at the stomach, and even death, are 
 frequently the consequences of such imprudence. The Humane 
 Society of this city has published the following directions to be ob¬ 
 served in such cases: 
 
 “ 1st. Avoid drinking water while the body is heated, or during 
 profuse perspiration. 
 
 “ 2d. Wash the hands and face with cold water before drinking. 
 
 * s rid. If these precautions have beeu neglected, and cramps or 
 convulsions have been induced, let a tea-spoonful of laudanum be 
 given immediately in a cup of spirits and water; and repeat the dose 
 in half an hour, if necessary. 
 
 “ 4th. At. the same time apply hot fomentations of spirits and 
 water to the stomach and bowels, and to the lower extremities, cover¬ 
 ing the body with a blanket, or immerse the body in a warm bath, if 
 it can be immediately obtained. 
 
 “ 5. Inject into the bowels a pint of warm spirits and water, 
 mixed in the proportion of one part of the former to two of the 
 latter/' 
 
 II. Do you ask by this time, with a view to the ordinary business 
 of life. What is America? What sort of people may expect to suc¬ 
 ceed in it? The immortal Franklin has answered these questions: 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 52 
 
 “ America is the land of labour/' But it is, emphatically, the best 
 country on earth for those who will labour. By industry they can 
 earu more wages here than elsewhere in the world. Our govern¬ 
 ments are frugal; they demand few taxes: so that the earnings of 
 the poor man are left to enrich himself; they are nearly all his 
 own. 
 
 Idlers are out of their element here; and the being who is techni¬ 
 cally called a man of rank in Europe, is despicable in Ameraca. He 
 must become an useful member of society, or be will find no society; 
 he will be shunned by all decent people. Franklin, whose sage 
 counsel is the best that can be given or observed, has said, that it is 
 not advisable for a person to come hither “ who has no other quality 
 to recommend him hut his birth. In Europe, indeed, it may have its 
 value ; but it is a commodity which cannot be carried to a worse 
 market than that of America, Where people do not inquire concern¬ 
 ing a stranger, What is he? but, What can he do? If he has any 
 useful art, he is welcome; and if he exercises it, and behaves well, 
 he will be respected by all that know him. The husbandman is in 
 honour here, and so is the mechanic, because their employments are 
 useful." “ And the people," he adds, “ have a saying, that * God Al¬ 
 mighty is himself a mechanic, the greatest in the universe.' " Frank¬ 
 lin farther illustrates the generality of industrious habits by the 
 Negro's observation, that “ the white man makes Ihe black man work, 
 the horses work, the oxen work, and every thing work except the 
 hog, which alone walks about, goes to sleep when he pleases, and 
 lives like a gentleman ” 
 
 The only encouragement we hold out to strangers are a good 
 climate, fertile soil, wholesome air and water, plenty of provisions, 
 good pay for labour, kind neighbours, good laws, a free government, 
 and a hearty welcome. The rest depends on a man’s own industry 
 and virtue." 
 
 It would he very prudent for new' comers, especially labourers or 
 farmers, to go into the country without delay, as they will save l oth 
 money and time by it, and avoid several inconveniences of a sea port 
 town. By spending some time with an American farmer, in any capa¬ 
 city, they will learn the method of tillage, or working a plantation, 
 peculiar to this country. No time can be more usefully employed 
 than a year in this manner. In that space any smart stout man can 
 learn how woodland may be cleared, how cleared land is managed; 
 he will acquire some knowledge of crops and their succession, of 
 usages and customs that ought to be known, and perhaps save some¬ 
 thing into the bargain. Many European emigrants who brought 
 money with them have heretofore taken this wise course, and found 
 it greatly to their advantage; for, at the end of the year, they knew 
 what to do with it. They had learned the value of lands in old set¬ 
 tlements and near the frontiers, the price of labour, cattle, and grain, 
 and were ready to begin the world with ardour and confidence Mul¬ 
 titudes of poor people, from Ireland, Scotland, and Germany, have 
 by these means, together with industry and frugality, become wealthy 
 farmers, or, as they are called in Europe, estated men; who, in their 
 own countries, where all the lands are fully occupied, and the wages 
 f>f labour low, could never have emerged from the condition wherein 
 they were born. 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 53 
 
 I 11 the west of Pennsylvania there is a custom which the farmers 
 there cal! topping, and which is as beneficial to the owner as to the 
 tiller of the ground, in the present state of this country. The cropper 
 performs the labour of the plantation, as spring and fall ploughing, 
 sowing, harrowing, or other work, and receives a certain share of the 
 crop, as agreed on, for his pains. Rut he must be an expert farmer 
 before he can undertake, or be intrusted with, the working of the 
 farm. None but a poor man undertakes it; and that only until lie 
 can save money to buy land of bis ow n. 
 
 It is invariably the practice of the American, and well suited to his 
 love of independence, to purchase a piece of land as soon as he can, 
 and to cultivate his own farm, rather than live at wages. It is equally 
 in the po*ver of an emigrant to do the same, after a few years of 
 labour and economy. From that moment he secures all the means 
 of happiness. He has a sufficiency of fortune, without being exempt 
 from moderate labour; he feels the comfort of independence, and 
 lias fear of poverty in his old age. He is invested with the powers 
 as well as the rights of a freeman, and may in all cases, without let 
 or apprehension, exercise them according to his judgment. He can 
 afford to Ins children a good education, and knows that he has 
 thereby provided for their wants. Prospects open to them far brighter 
 than were uis own; and iu seeing all this he is surely blest. 
 
 Industrious men need never lack employment in America. Labour¬ 
 ers, carpeuters, masons, bricklayers, sloue-cutters, blacksmiths, turners, 
 weavers, farmers, curriers, tailors, and shoemakers, and the useful 
 mechanics generally, are always sure of work and wages. Stone¬ 
 cutters now receive, in this city (New York), two dollars a day, 
 equal to nine shilling sterlings; carpenters, one dollar and 87J 
 cents; bricklayers, two dollars; labourers, from one dollar to 
 one and a quarter; others in proportion. At this time (July, 1816) 
 house-carpenters, bricklayers, masons, and stone-cutters, are paid three 
 dollars p^rday in Petersburg)!, (Virginia). The town was totally con¬ 
 sumed by fire about a year since, hut it is now rising from its ashes 
 in more elegance tiian ever. Mechanics wili find ample employment 
 there for, perhaps, two years to come. 
 
 Artisans receive better pay in America than in Europe, and can 
 live with less exertion, and more comfort; because they put an addi¬ 
 tional pr ce on their work, equal to the cost of freight and commis¬ 
 sion charged by the merchant on importations. Rut there are not 
 many of the laborious classes whom we would advise to reside or 
 even loiter in great towns, because as much will be spent during a long 
 winter as can be made through a toilsome summer, so that a man may 
 be kept a moneyless drudge for life. But this is not perhaps the 
 worst; he is tempted to become a tippler, by the cheapness and 
 plenty of liquors, and then his prospects are blasted for ever. In 
 few countries is drunkenness more despised than in this. The drunk- 
 ark is viewed as a person socially dead, shut out from decent inter¬ 
 course, shunned, despised, or abhorred. Tire pernicious habit is to 
 be guarded against as scrupulously for political as moral considera¬ 
 tions. Civil liberty every w here rests on self respect; while degrada¬ 
 tion or voluntary debasement is one of the causes of despotism* 
 These remarks are general; we have no reason to suppose that oac 
 
54 THE emigrants guide. 
 
 people are more ignorant than another of moral duty or propriety. 
 It deserves notice, that two sister states have made laws vesting the 
 estate of an habitual drunkard in trustees; and it has been proposed 
 to deprive such persons of suffrage and the privilege of giving evi¬ 
 dence in courts of justice. An ancient lawgiver was even more 
 severe; he affixed a double penalty to crimes committed in a state of 
 intoxication. Such have been the methods of legislators to preserve 
 the dignity of man. 
 
 Men of science, who can aj^ply their knowledge to useful and 
 practical purposes, may be very advantageously settled; but mere 
 literary scholars, who have no profession, or only one which they 
 cannot profitably practise in this conntry, do not meet with much 
 encouragement,—in truth, with little or none, unless they are willing 
 to devote themselves to the education of youth. The demand for 
 persons who will do this is obviously increasing; and although many 
 excellent preceptors are every where to be found among the native 
 Americans, there is still considerable room for competition on the 
 part of well-qualified foreigners. In the seminaries for classical edu¬ 
 cation, it is very common to find the preceptors natives of Ireland ; 
 and the same may he said of the mathematical schools. In the 
 southern states, where a ttiin population is spread over an extensive 
 country, good schools are comparatively few ; but there are rich 
 planters in those districts, in whose families foreigners of genteel 
 address, and good knowledge of the classics, English, and arithmetic, 
 will find employment and a good salary, as private tutors. It does 
 not detract from a man’s personal respectability to have been thus 
 employed. The Americans are too wise to treat that condition as 
 mean, which is essential to the honour and prosperity of the nation, 
 and which supposes in its professor natural talents and acquired 
 knowledge. It is not unusual, in this country, to see young men who 
 taught school until they had accumulated some property, and who 
 then turn to the professions of law, physic, or divinity, or else become 
 farmers or merchants. The practice and feelings of the Americans, 
 in this particular, may be judged from the fact, that many gentlemen, 
 who begin their career as schoolmasters, pass through all the grada¬ 
 tions of state honours, are appointed to foreign embassies, promoted 
 to the head of departments of the federal government, and have as 
 good prospects as others of attaining the Presidency. Several in¬ 
 stances of this nature might be quoted from this unprejudiced people. 
 
 In what part of this extensive country may an emigrant from the 
 northern or western parts of Europe most advautageously settle? If 
 he be undecided until his arrival, his choice will he agreeably per¬ 
 plexed or suspended bv the different invitations offered bv various 
 sections of this empire. It covers an area between the 31st and 4Gth 
 degrees of north latitude, and from the Atlantic ocean to the west¬ 
 ward indefinitely. In time our settlements will reach the borders of 
 the Pacific. The productions of the soil are as various as the cli¬ 
 mate. The middle states produce grain of all kinds; Maryland and 
 Virginia afford wheat and tobacco ; North Carolina, naval stores ; and 
 South Carolina and Georgia, rice, cotton, indigo and tobacco: to 
 these products, Louisiana and Mississippi add sugar and indigo, which 
 are now cultivated in Georgia likewise. Tennessee, Kentucky, 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 55 
 
 Indiana, and Ohio, are productive of the principal part of the fore¬ 
 going staples, together with hemp, coal, and such plants as are found 
 in the northern and middle states, to the eastward of the Alleghany 
 mountains. Over this great tract, the finest fruits grow in perfec¬ 
 tion; grain of every sort is in plenty; and “ he who puts a seed into 
 the earth is recompensed, perhaps, by receiving forty out of it/' We 
 are of opinion that those parts of the United States between the 35th 
 and 43d, or 37th and 42d degrees of north latitude, will he found 
 most congenial to the constitutions of Europeans. New York (prin¬ 
 cipally), Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, 
 the Illinois and Missouri territories, are spread within these parallels. 
 As the European is more patient of cold than of heat, he will be apt 
 to prefer the middle and western, or north-western states, to the 
 southern. There lie will form connexions with inhabitants whose 
 manners most resemble bis own. In some one of them we would 
 advise him, after a proper examination, to pitch his tent, and fix his 
 residence. 
 
 Farther to the south, where negro slaves are the only or principal 
 labourers, some white men think it disreputable to follow the plough. 
 Far be it from us to cast censure on our southern neighbours; yet, in 
 choosing a settlement, we would have emigrants take slavery, with all 
 oilier circumstances, into their consideration. 
 
 It is the opinion of some judicious men, that though persons newly 
 arrived ought to go without loss of time into the country, yet it would 
 not be prudent for them to retire all at once to the remote parts of 
 the west; that they ought to stop nearer tlie sea-hoard, and learn a 
 little of the mode of doing business. Perhaps this, in some instances, 
 may be adviseable; but we think that young men, whose habits are 
 not fixed, cannot post too speedily to the fine regions beyond the 
 Alleghany. The labourer, however, will find great difference between 
 them and Europe in every thing. The man who was accustomed to 
 the spade, must now use the axe; he who used to dig ditches, will 
 learn to maul rails and make fences. These are extremes that must 
 be met; and the sooner, perhaps, the better. 
 
 We omit annexing to these directions a table of roads ; as almanacks 
 are every where to be had for a trifle, and they contain accurate lists, 
 w ith the principal stages from east to west; there are also people 
 always willing to direct the stranger oil his path. 
 
 If ail European has previously resolved to go to the western country, 
 near the Ailegam or Ohio rivers, lie will have saved much expence 
 and travel by tending at Balt’more; from thence to Pittsburg, at the 
 head of the Ohio, is about 200 miles direct,—perhaps not more than 
 240 by the course of the road. A few days’journey will bring him 
 along a fine turnpike from Baltimore, nearly to Cumberland, in 
 Alleghany county, (Md.) from whence the public road begun by the 
 United States crosses the mountains, and is to touch the Ohio at 
 Wheeling. A smart feliow, in a little time, will reach Union, in 
 Fayette county, Pennsylvania. Here is a flourishing country adjoining 
 Green, Washington, and Westmoreland, in any one of which may be 
 found almost every thing that is desirable, and a population hos¬ 
 pitable and intelligent. From Union to Pittsburg is but a day’s 
 journey. There one may ascend the Alleghany river to the upper 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 56 
 
 countries; or he may follow the current, and descend the Ohio to 
 the state of that name, cross it to Indiana, or continue his voyage to 
 Kentucky. He may proceed to the Mississippi river, and go up it to 
 St. Louis, in the Missouri territory, or he may proceed a little farther 
 up, and ascend the Illinois river, in the Illinois territory. Such are 
 the facilities of going hy water from Pittsburg to various parts of the 
 west; and those states and territories named are among the most 
 fertile in America. 
 
 From Philadelphia to Pittsburg is about 300 miles, chiefly through 
 a fine, plentiful, and well-cultivated country. A gentleman in Penn¬ 
 sylvania, of high standing and information, writes to a member of 
 this society:—“ Pennsylvania, after all, is perhaps, the best field for 
 Irish capacity and habits to act in, with prospects for a family, of 
 for individual reward. Lands of the finest quality may be had in this 
 state for barely settling and remaining five years; the advantage de¬ 
 rived from the emigrant being the encouragement of others to settle 
 and purchase.” That is, by the laws of Pennsylvania, warrantees 
 must make an actual settlement on the lauds they claim to hold by- 
 deeds from the land-office. Hence, trusty persons obtain a deed for 
 a part, on condition of clearing a certain quantity, and building a 
 house and residing there. 
 
 In our state (of New York) the advantages are great, whether we 
 regard soil or situation, or roads, lakes, and rivers. Few, if any 
 states in the Union, have finer laud than the great western district of 
 New York. It has risen exceedingly in a few years, and the price, 
 will be much increased as soon as the intended canal fiom Lakes Erie 
 and Champlain to the Hudson river shall be completed. These most 
 useful and magnificent works will probably be begun next summer, 
 and afford, for several years to come, to many thousands of indus¬ 
 trious poor men an opportunity of enriching themselves. If prudent, 
 they may realize their earnings on the spot, and become proprietors, 
 in fee, of landed estates in the beautiful country they shall have so 
 greatly improved. 
 
 From no other city on the Atlantic can a person sooner reach the 
 country than by means of the Hudson, and the roads that branch 
 from the towns on either of its banks. Lands of good quality may 
 still be purchased, even in the midland parts of New York, at a rea¬ 
 sonable rate. 
 
 As every emigrant does not mean to turn farmer, and our wish is to 
 furnish useful hints to various classes, we will here, at the risk of re¬ 
 petition, state the ideas of a gentleman of much experience, respecta¬ 
 bility, and intelligence, concerning the pursuits of different persons. 
 
 Those who have acquired useful trades will, in general, find little 
 difficulty, either in our large cities, or the towns and villages all over 
 the country. There are vacancies for a large portion of them. 
 
 Clerks, shopkeepers, or attendants in stores, are seldom wanted ; their 
 occupation is an uncertain one; it requires some time, too, for such per¬ 
 sons to acquire the mode of doing business with the same expertness as 
 natives or long residents. In most cases a sort of apprenticeship is to 
 be served; and it would be w r ell for persons newly arrived to engage for 
 som&months at low wages, with a view' to procure the necessary experi¬ 
 ence. Six months or a year spent in this manner, and for this purpose, 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 57 
 
 \nll fit a man for making better use of his future years; and he will have 
 no occasion to repent his pains: we would press this on your con¬ 
 sideration. 
 
 The same observations are applicable, but in a less degree, to per¬ 
 sons who mean to apply themselves to husbandry. Some local pecu- 
 liarities must be learned even bv them ; the neglect of which would be 
 so much the more inexcusable, as the knowledge may be shortly and 
 easily acquired. 
 
 Those who have money, and intend to settle here in any line of busi¬ 
 ness, would do well to vest their funds in some publick stock, or depo¬ 
 sit them in a bank, until they have acquired such a knowledge of the 
 country, the modes of life and business, as shall enable them to launch 
 into trade, commerce, or manufactures, with safety. To loan money 
 securely, needs great care. It has been often seen, that persons arriving 
 in America w ith some property lose it before they prosper in the w'orld. 
 The reason of w hich is, that, in the first place, they begin some kind 
 of business without knowing how to conduct it; and in the next, that, 
 with less skill, they are less frugal and industrious than their compe¬ 
 titors. It is equally observable, that persons who arrive here with 
 little to depend on besides their personal exertions, become prospe¬ 
 rous at last; for by the time they have earned some money in the 
 employ of others, they w ill have learned there likew ise how to secure 
 and improve it. 
 
 The delay here recommended is all-important and necessary. No¬ 
 thing can be more ruinous to strangers in this country than headlong 
 haste in those plans and arrangements on which their future fortune 
 entirely depends. Many a fatal shipwreck has been occasioned by 
 precipitation; and many are they who can from sad experience bear 
 witness to this truth. Knowledge of modes and methods must be 
 acquired, before we think of hazarding, or dream of acquiring money. 
 A man ignorant of the use of the sword might as well fight a fencing 
 master with that weapon, as an unexperienced stranger enter the lists 
 in business with those who are adepts in their trade. But in giving 
 admonition, let us not be thought to present discouragements; a little 
 pains and observation will qualify a man of sense to .judge, and the 
 example of men here, in this or that occupation, is well worth regard¬ 
 ing. The people of this country are cast in a happy-medium, at once 
 liberal and cautious, cool in deciding, and ardent in performing; none 
 exceed them in acuteness and discernment, and their conduct is gene¬ 
 rally a pattern that may be followed with advantage. 
 
 III. Before any other step towards forming a settlement, the stran¬ 
 ger should take the proper measures for acquiring citizenship: and 
 the advantages of this are important and obvious, independently of its 
 conferring political privileges. Without it you will remain exempted, 
 indeed, by mild laws, from wrong; but destitute of some valuable 
 positive rights. The alien, in most of the states, is not entitled to hold 
 any lands, can obtain no office under the state, nor participate in the 
 shipping interest of the country. 
 
 It is fit the emigrant should be distinctly apprized (for it will con¬ 
 ciliate his attachment and gratitude to the country of his adoption), 
 that no where in the world is a well-conducted foreigner received into 
 the bosom of the state with equal liberality aud readiness as in Arne- 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 58 
 
 rica. When, on the 4th of July 1776, the Congress unanimously adopt¬ 
 ed a Declaration of Independence, and delivered their country from 
 the dominion of the king of England, this was one of the complaints 
 alleged against him: “He has endeavoured to prevent the population 
 of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization 
 of foreigners/' The same liberal feeling has prevailed in the govern¬ 
 ment of the United States, from that memorable day to this, with one 
 exception—during the administration of President Adams. The stran¬ 
 ger, however, is certainly exposed to incidents which may lead him to 
 doubt the truth of this assertion. He may light upon an ignorant, a 
 prejudiced, or illiberal wretch, who will manifest an ill w ill towards 
 him because he is a foreigner, and perhaps revive British and Royalists' 
 taunts in a new form; but these, the scum of a country, are totally 
 insignificant, compared with the mass of the people. The best men in 
 America have always been ready to welcome the valuable emigrant— 
 the stranger of moral and industrious habits. An author, eminent 
 as a statesman, a scholar, and philosopher, speaking, in his “Dis¬ 
 course to the Philosophical Society of New' York/' of the advan¬ 
 tages which Cicero boasted that Rome had derived from Athens, adds, 
 u We are perhaps more favoured in another point of view. Attica 
 was peopled from Egypt, but we can boast of our descent from a 
 superior stock: I speak not of families or dynasties; I refer to our 
 origin from those nations where civilization, knowledge, and refine¬ 
 ment have erected their empire, and where human nature has attained 
 its greatest perfection. Annihilate Holland, Great Britain, Ireland, 
 France, and Germany, and what would become of civilized man? 
 This country, young as it is, would be the great Atlas remaining to 
 support the dignity of the world. And perhaps our mingled descent 
 from various nations may have a benign influence upon genius. We 
 perceive the improving effects of an analogous state upon vegetables 
 and inferior animals. The extraordinary characters the United States 
 have produced may be, in some measure, ascribed to the mixed blood 
 of so many nations flowing in our veins; and it may be confidently 
 said, that the operation of causes, acting with irresistible effect, will 
 carry in this country all the improvable faculties of human nature to 
 the highest state of perfection.” 
 
 You will, however, observe that the privilege of citizenship is not 
 granted without proper precautions; to secure that, while the worthy 
 are admitted, the unworthy should, if practicable, be rejected. You 
 will from hence deduce the importance of good moral habits, even to 
 the acquisition of political rights. 
 
 The steps to be taken by a foreigner preparatory to, and for the 
 purpose of his being naturalized, are these:— 
 
 1st. He must, at least five years before he can be admitted a 
 citizen of the United States, report himself at the office of one of the 
 courts of record, within the state or territory where he may be; and 
 in that report set forth his name, birth-place, age, nation, and prior 
 allegiance, together with the country w hich he has left to come into 
 the United States, and the place of his intended settlement. In ge¬ 
 neral, forms of this report will be furnished by the clerk of the court, 
 who will also give a certificate, under the seal of the court, that the 
 report has been made and filed. This certificate must be carefully 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 59 
 
 kept, for the purpose of being produced at the time of application 
 for admission to citizenship. 
 
 This step of reporting one's arrival is indispensable, and ought to 
 be taken as soon as possible, because the five years of probation 
 begin to be counted only from the date of the report; and the time 
 which a foreigner may have previously spent in the country cannot 
 be rendered of any service towards his naturalization. 
 
 2d. At least three years before the alien can be naturalized, he 
 must appear before some one of the courts of record within the 
 state or territory where he may be, and there declare, on oath, or 
 affirm, that it is in good faith his intention to become a citizen of the 
 United States, to renounce for ever all allegiance and fidelity to any 
 sovereign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty whatever, and 
 particularly, by name, to the prince, potentate, state, or sovereign, 
 whereof he may at the time be a citizen or subject. This oath, or 
 affirmation, which must have been made at least three years before 
 admission to citizenship, may be made at any convenient time after 
 the report of arrival. Indeed, it is sometimes made on the same day, 
 so as to save trouble and prevent disappointment from future negli¬ 
 gence or forgetfulness. For another reason, that will be presently 
 pointed out, the sooner it is done, the safer and better. The clerk 
 of the court also gives a certificate that this oath or affirmation 
 lias been duly made, which, like the former, must be carefully kept, 
 for the purpose of being produced at the time of applying for natu¬ 
 ralization. 
 
 3 d. At this period the applicant, after producing both those certifi¬ 
 cates, must declare on oath, or affirmation, before some one of the 
 same courts, that he w ill support the constitution of the United States. 
 He must also satisfy the court (which cannot be done by the appli¬ 
 cant himself, and is usually done by the affidavits of two respectable 
 citizens, who know and can testify to the facts), that he has resided 
 within the United States five years at least, and within the state or 
 territory where he applies to be admitted at least one year, and that 
 during such time he has behaved as a man of good moral character, 
 attached to the principles of the constitution of the United States, 
 and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same. The 
 clerk will thereupon make out a certificate of naturalization, under 
 the seal of the court; which should be carefully kept, and ready to 
 be produced whenever it may be requisite. 
 
 The liberality of Congress has extended the benefits of this admis¬ 
 sion to citizenship beyond those who perform these requisites; for 
 the children of a person so naturalized, being under age, and dwell¬ 
 ing in the United States at the time of their parent's naturalization, 
 also become citizens. And, still further, if any alien w ho shall have 
 regularly reported himself, and made oath or affirmati n decla¬ 
 ratory of his intentions (which, as we have seen, must precede his 
 own admission by three years), should unfortunately die before he 
 was actually naturalized, his widow and children would thenceforth 
 be considered as citizens of the United States, and be entitled to 
 •all rights and privileges as such, upon taking the oaths prescribed 
 by law. This provision, therefore, furnishes a very strong induce- 
 
00 TIIE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 nient for losing no time in taking the oath declaratory of the party's 
 intention. 
 
 In the interval between the emigrant’s choosing a place of abode, 
 and completing the five years of probationary residence, which must 
 elapse before he can become a citizen of the United States, he will do 
 well to familiarize himself with the state of parlies, and acquire a 
 correct knowledge of our constitutions of civil government. He 
 will become a respectable and capable citizen in proportion to his 
 information and virtue. Liberality and justice are the leading prin¬ 
 ciples of our government, which, as it secures liberty and property, 
 neither makes nor suffers religious distinctions. 
 
 No emigrant ought to slay one week in the country without en¬ 
 deavouring to procure the constitution of the United States, and, at 
 least, that of the state in which he means to reside. The Federal 
 Constitution, and those of the several states, are printed and bound 
 together in a neat pocket volume, with the Declaration of Indepen¬ 
 dence, and form a political Bible, well deserving the study of every 
 reflecting republican. 
 
 The greater part of our state constitutions were formed soon after 
 the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed by Congress. By 
 them are regulated the internal local relations of citizens in each 
 :>tate; they constitute the main guards of our freedom. The general 
 government (whose constitution was formed by delegates from twelve 
 states, assembled in convention at Philadelphia, in 1787) has the 
 sole direction of our foreign affairs, and the mutual relations of tire 
 states. The government of the United States is administered bv a 
 President and Vice-President, elected for four years; by a senate, of 
 two members from each state, elected for six years; by a bouse of 
 representatives, chosen for two years, by the people; and by judges, 
 &c. appointed according to law. The senators are elected by the 
 states, and this feature of the constitution is deemed Federal; the 
 representatives are elected by the people, and here the constitution 
 is more particularly national. 
 
 In each of the states there is a governor and two legislative 
 branches chosen by the people, or their representatives, according 
 to each constitution. The governor in each state is, by virtue of his 
 office, commander-in-chief of the militia of the same. 
 
 When the Federal Constitution was formed, it was laid before the 
 people, who, in each state, chose a convention to adopt or reject it. 
 It was debated in every, convention with uncommon ardour, and 
 finally adopted in 1788. The speeches made on those occasions 
 shed streams of light on the science of government, and its just divi¬ 
 sion of powers; neither foreigners nor natives can read them too 
 carefully. ' 
 
 During the discussion of the Federal Constitution, advocates of 
 some of its most federate provisions were called Federalists; their 
 opponents Anti-Federalists. But when it was adopted, it became the 
 law to all, and was in all its parts sincerely agreed to by all; those 
 opposite terms, therefore, cease to be properly applicable any 
 longer. Yet a political party seized hold of the epithet, which was 
 merely occasional, and have made it perpetual. They are called 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 61 
 
 Federalists to this day, without any reference to the origin of the term; 
 the opposite party are known as Republicans or Democrats, terms 
 significant of their attachment to popular government. The Federal 
 party, on the contrary, or, to speak more correctly, many of their 
 leaders, are thought to have a leaning towards aristocracy. 
 
 We ought never to be the slaves or dupes of mere names; and it 
 will become the duty of a good citizen to act with one party or the 
 other, as far as he thinks its means more honourable, and its objects 
 more just. 
 
 When the Federal party were in power, a law was passed autho¬ 
 rizing the President of the United States to send friendly aliens out 
 of the country, on mere suspicion, without the intervention of judge 
 or jury ! This is remembered as the Alien Act. Moreover, citizen¬ 
 ship could not then be acquired w ithout a previous residence of four¬ 
 teen years. 
 
 On the 4th of March, 1801, a Democratic administration came into 
 power; President Jefferson having been chosen instead of i\Ir. Adams. 
 The acts of the government soon manifested a more liberal spirit. 
 The following passage, from Mr. Jefferson’s message to Congress, 
 December 8th, 1801, had its influence on, or harmonized with, the 
 general opinion as to the impolicy (to say the least) of the inhospitable 
 acts which we have just mentioned:— 
 
 “ I cannot omit recommending a revisal of the laws on the subject 
 of naturalization. Considering the ordinary chances of human life, 
 a denial of citizenship under a residence of fourteen years is a denial 
 to a great proportion of those who ask it, and controuls a policy pur¬ 
 sued from their first settlement by many of the states, and still be¬ 
 lieved of consequence to their prosperity, 6zc. &c. The constitution, 
 indeed, has wisely provided, that, for admission to certain oflices of 
 important trust, a residence shall be required sufficient to develope 
 character and design. But might not the general character and capa¬ 
 bilities of a citizen be safely communicated to every one manifesting 
 a benajide purpose of embarking bis life and fortunes permanently 
 with us?” 
 
 Let us not be suspected of indulging in narrow' prejudices, of in¬ 
 flaming party feelings, or saying that one set of politicians are exclu¬ 
 sively the friends of aliens, another entirely hostile; we have piven 
 you specimens of the policy of each. The sentiments of Mr. Jefferson, 
 just cited, reflect great credit on his head and heart. So far, how¬ 
 ever, from inviting aliens to plunge into politics, we dissuade them 
 from it. It is their duty to be modest observers of parties and prin¬ 
 ciples ; it is their part to form correct opinions, but not to meddle,—to 
 see, but not to touch,—to look on, but not to interfere, until, having 
 been five years spectators of the busy and important movements of. a 
 nation of freemen, they may become actors in their turn, under the 
 solemn obligation w hich citizenship imposes. 
 
 The source of every blessing, and itself the most valuable of all which 
 America offers to the emigrant, is a degree of civil and political 
 liberty more ample, and better secured, in this republic than any 
 where in the whole world besides. 
 
 The principles of liberty which are embodied in our frame of go¬ 
 vernment and in our laws, branch out likewise through every depart- 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 62 
 
 ment of society, mould our manners, and determine the character 
 even of our domestic relations. They have the effect of producing, 
 generally, in the deportment of individuals, who know neither supe¬ 
 riors nor inferiors, a certain degree of ease and dignity that is equally 
 removed from servility and arrogance. It is one of the practical re¬ 
 sults of those principles, that the poorer classes in this community 
 are more civilized, more polite and friendly, though not so submis¬ 
 sive, as persons of the same fortunes in Europe. They are also 
 usually followed by impartial justice in the equal distribution of 
 family property. Hence opulence is rarely seen to accumulate on 
 one branch, while others languish in genteel beggary. As there is 
 no where an aristocratic establishment, the amplitude of the community 
 is never broken up into little compartments, envious and contemptuous 
 of each other. Every man’s range of occupation is extended, while 
 every state is held worthy of respect. Honest industry no where 
 derogates; but the facility of providing for a family is everywhere 
 enlarged. 
 
 Nothing is more worthy of regard than the contrast between the 
 general demeanour of Europeans living here, and w hat is alleged of the 
 same people, and others similar to them, whilst under the yoke of trans¬ 
 atlantic governments. In New York city alone there are supposed 
 to be not less than 12,000 Irish, and the number of all other foreign¬ 
 ers may probably be as many; the other great cities of the United 
 States have an equal proportion, according to their population; and 
 emigrants from the old world are settled, and in progress of settlement, 
 every where throughout the Union: yet, here they are never accused 
 of sedition or rebellion, or conspiracy against the government; they 
 are never disarmed by a military force ; and no magistrate trembles 
 when they provide themselves with ammunition. They are, indeed, 
 among the most strenuous supporters of the government; and it is 
 evident, that a country may exist in the utmost good order, peace, and 
 prosperity, under such a system of law r as they are w illing to maintain 
 with their lives. It is manifest, therefore, that if the laws were in 
 Europe what they are here, Europe need not drive her children into 
 exile. The same men who are called rebels there, are esteemed and 
 tranquil citizens here, without having changed their nature or their 
 sentiments. But here the law is made by the majority, for the good 
 of the greater number; and, for this reason, it is essentially equal and 
 impartial. It prohibits nothing but what is in itself morally wrong. 
 Hence, there are fewer laws, and fewer transgressions: but when a 
 real transgression happens, an offended community is always prompt 
 to support the law; for it then vindicates its own decision, and its own 
 safety. It is often detested, because it seems to be the penalty of Pro¬ 
 vidence, that inordinate power shall always corrupt the hoider, and 
 can never be possessed without being followed by such a train of 
 evils, so much wretchedness to those who endure, and so much depra¬ 
 vity in those w ho exercise it, that it is felt to be a forced state, and a 
 perversion of nature. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 63 
 
 ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS.— III. 
 
 FROM CLEMENTS BURLEIGH, ESQ. 
 
 I ITio resided thirty years in the United States , to Persons who emi¬ 
 grate to that Country . 
 
 I proceed to give some instructions to my own Countrymen who 
 may hereafter emigrate to the United States of America. I shall 
 first take up the poor mechanic and day labourer; next, the farmer, who 
 may go there with money to purchase land ; and next, the merchant. 
 
 I will take the liberty, as an introduction, to point out some stum¬ 
 bling-blocks that have been in the way of many emigrants to this 
 country. We conceive the vessel coming to anchor, and the passen¬ 
 gers preparing for going ashore. On setting their feet on land, 
 they look about them, see flue houses, gardens, and orchards, the 
 streets crowded with well-dressed people, every one pursuing his own 
 business. Well, the question now is, Where shall I go? I meet a 
 person passing, and address myself to him, requesting him to inform 
 me where 1 can have accommodations for some short time. He will 
 point out a house which he thinks may answer my appearance, &c . 
 I get my goods conveyed to this house. The landlord and his family 
 receive me as a foreigner, and, so long as I have cash, will have a 
 watchful eye over me, and treat me according to what money I spend 
 with them. In the mean time, on the arrival of an Irish ship, a 
 crowd of poor Irish, who have been in that country for a number of 
 years, are always fond of meeting their countrymen on landing, and 
 of encouraging them to take a share of grog or porter, &c. The 
 feelings of the open-hearted Irishman are alive to the invitation, and 
 some days are spent in this way, in the company of men who are 
 a disgrace to the country they came from, and who are utterly inca¬ 
 pable to procure themselves work, much less the poor emigrant. I 
 warn emigrants, therefore, to be upon their guard. 
 
 The plan, therefore, which I would recommend, is, that upon land¬ 
 ing, as soon as convenient, they should divest themselves of any heavy 
 luggage, such as chests or boxes; and in the mean time, if they are 
 deficient of money to carry them to the inland parts of the country, 
 stop some time, and, if they can get w ork, apply to it, and use what 
 they earn with economy, and keep clear of all idle company, and also 
 be particular in keeping clear of a certain description of their own 
 countrymen. When they have acquired as much money as may help 
 to bear their expences, let them put their bundles on board one of the 
 waggons loaded with merchandize for the Western country. By be¬ 
 ing active and obliging to the carrier on the way, he will charge little 
 or nothing on your arrival at Pittsburg, or Greensburg, or any other 
 town in the western parts of Pennsylvania. You then take your pro¬ 
 perty from aboard of the waggon, if it suits, and make inquiry for 
 labour. The best plan would be to engage a year with some opulent 
 farmer, for which period of service you will receive 100 dollars, and 
 during that time be found in meat, drink, washing, and lodging. This 
 
THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. 
 
 64 
 
 will be an apprenticeship that will teach you the work of the country* 
 sucli as cutting timber, splitting fence-rails, and other work that is not 
 known in Ireland. Be temperate and frugal, and attend worship on 
 Sundays with vour employer s family. This will keep you clear of a 
 nest of vipers,"who would be urging you to go to tippling-houses with 
 them, to drink whiskey, and talk about Ireland. 
 
 At the expiration of the year, if your employer is pleased w ith your 
 conduct, he will not be willing to part with you, and will enter into 
 engagements with you, which is often done in the following way: viz. 
 He will point out to you a certain number of fields to be cultivated, 
 some to be under wheat, others in rye, Indian corn, oats &c.; he will 
 find horses and farming utensils, and furnish board, washing, and 
 lodging, during that year; and when the harvest is taken oft' the 
 ground, he has two-thirds for his share, and you have one-third. 
 Your share of wheat, rye, Indian corn, or any other produce of the 
 ground, which \ou have farmed in this wav, you will always meet a 
 ready market for. It is true, you must attend early and late to your 
 work, and do it in a neat, farming-like manner. Pursuing this plan of 
 industry a few years, you may save as much money as will purchase 
 150 acres of land in the state of Ohio, or the Indiana territory, or any 
 other part of these new states. It is necessary to guard against impo¬ 
 sition in the title, as titles are very uncertain in some places. 
 
 When you are now possessed of a farm of land in fee simple, clear of 
 all rents and annuities for ever, the next thing to be done is to clear the 
 land of the timber, which is done in the following manner:—First of 
 all, the underwood has all to be taken up bv the root with a maddock: 
 this is called grubbing. Every sapling less than four inches in diame¬ 
 ter must be taken out, and piled up in heaps and burned. When 
 this is done, you commence cutting down the timber; the straightest 
 of which, after being cut down, b measured off* in lengths of 11 feet, 
 so far as the body of the tree will admit, and cut and split into rails of 
 about four inches in diameter, for the purpose of inclosures. All other 
 timber is cut down, and raised up in heaps and burned, or hauled oft' 
 the grouud. You next commence building your fence, by laying three 
 rails horizontally on the ground, with one end resting on the other, iu 
 a zigzag manner, forming obtuse angles. A good fence requires to 
 bo at least seveu rails high. When this is done, you may then enter with 
 the plough, and plant your Indian corn, or wheat, or whatever vou 
 mean to plant in the field. It is now that every stroke you strike is 
 for your own advantage, as you are lord of this property. A log-house 
 and barn are easily built: your neighbours will come ten miles to help 
 you, as they will expect like favours from you in return. Each vear 
 you may at least clear 3 or 10 acres; and in the space of 10 or 12 
 years you may take your ease. This is pointing out to you the path 
 that industrious men have pursued, who now live rich and independ¬ 
 ent. And I am confident, that in America, without the most close 
 application to labour, and using frugality, land is not attained bv 
 those w ho emigrate to that country destitute of funds. I am convinced 
 almost to a certainty, that out of 20 emigrants from Ireland to the 
 United States, 15 have not able to procure one foot of land; but this 
 is owing to their own bad management. In many instances they are 
 often grossly deceived by false information relative to that country. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 65 
 
 painting to them advantages that never existed; and when the poor 
 disappointed emigrant lands on the American shore, he finds his 
 golden views have taken flight. He spends his time in brooding over 
 liis misfortunes till his money is gone, and then he must work or 
 starve; and in the cities there is always a number of poor emigrants, 
 that will not go into the country. The streets are often crowded with 
 them looking for work, so that it is very hard to obtain work for a 
 stranger that is not known. The last resource is to engage to work 
 upon the turnpike roads. Here the labourer will get one dollar per 
 day, and mu>t find himself meal, drink, washing, and lodging. Here 
 lie has for companions the mobt abandoned drunken Wretches that 
 are in existence, and whose example he must follow, or be he held 
 in derision by them. The day s work is tasked, and if not accom¬ 
 plished, his wages are docked. This sort of labour, and that of w orking 
 at furnaces and forges, employs a great number of Irishmen. I have 
 know n many hundreds of them w ho have w rought in this way for more 
 than 30 years, who at this moment cannot put a good coat on their 
 backs, and now are old, infirm, and past labour. 
 
 It may be objected by some, that it is dangerous to go to the fron¬ 
 tier country, on account of the Indians, wild beasts, &c. This is no 
 more than a scare crow. Indians in time of peace are perfectly inof¬ 
 fensive ; and every dependence may be placed on them. If you call at 
 one of their huts, you are invited to partake of what they have;—they 
 even will divide with you the last morsel they have, if they were 
 starving themselves; and while you remain with them, you are perfectly 
 safe, as every individual of them would lose their lives in your defence. 
 This unfortunate portion of the human race has not been treated with 
 that degree of justice and tenderness, which people calling themselves 
 Christians ought to have exercised towards them. Their lands have 
 been forcibly taken from them, in many instances without rendering 
 them a compensation ; and in their wars w ith the people of the United 
 States, the most shocking cruelties have been exercised towards them. 
 I myself fought against them in two campaigns, and was witness to 
 scenes, a repetition of which w ould chill the blood, and be only a mo¬ 
 nument of disgrace to people of my ow n colour. 
 
 Being in the neighbourhood of the Indians during the time of peace 
 need not alarm the emigrant, as the Indian will not be as dangerous 
 to him as idle vagabonds that roam the woods, and hunt. He has 
 more to dread from these people of his own colour than from the 
 Indians. 
 
 I have now given my advice to the poor single man .—I shall offer 
 some remarks to the poor man who has a family , and wishes to esta¬ 
 blish himself in the country. First, on landing, make no stay in the 
 sea-port, but, as soon as circumstances will permit, (as I hinted before) 
 sell off every thing that you can possibly spare, and by attending the 
 horse-market you may purchase a low-priced horse, which you may 
 convey vour effects on; and if you have more than it is convenient 
 for him to carry, you will always find farmers' waggons going back 
 into the country, that will carry it for you. When you arrive in the 
 western country, your best way to act would be to apply to some 
 wealthy man, who owns large quantities of land, and enter into an 
 engagement with him, on a lease of improvements. He will give land 
 
 k 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 66 
 
 seven years on the following terms:—that is, you are obliged to clear 
 50 acres of tillable laud, and ten acres of meadow, build a log-house 
 and barn; and all you make off the land is your own. I have known 
 many, who at the expiration of the term had decently maintained their 
 families, and had put up seven or eight hundred dollars, arising from 
 the sale of grain and cattle, and were able to move further back and 
 purchase land, as I have before mentioned. And now, likely, your 
 little family is grown up, and able to render you a great assistance, 
 clearing your land, and enabling you to be comfortable in the e\ening 
 of life. 
 
 My advice to mechanics is, to push back, aud take residence in 
 ^some of the inland towns; and as new' counties are every year dividing 
 off, and towns pitched upon to be the seat of justice for these counties, 
 work for all kinds of mechanics is plenty ; and money sufficient may 
 soon be earned to purchase a lot in one of these towns, where you 
 may, in a short time, be enabled to build a house on your own property, 
 and have no rent to pay. In these towns you will have an opportu¬ 
 nity of educating your children, and putting them to trades at a proper 
 time. But I am sorry to say, most of the tradesmen would suffer 
 cold and hunger, even death itself, rather than go from New' York or 
 Philadelphia into the country. 
 
 There is a number of young men who leave Ireland, and go to 
 America, intending to be clerks or merchants. Of all classes of 
 people, I can give these the least encouragement. We have ten people 
 of this description, where we cannot get employment for one; particu¬ 
 larly at this time, w hen all kinds of trade in the United States are at 
 so low an ebb. 
 
 I will now take notice of the man who emigrates to America, and 
 lias money with him, and means to become a farmer . First, it is 
 necessary to mention the price of land. East of the mountains, good 
 land will not be bought uuder from 80 to 120 dollars per acre, where 
 there are good improvements; other lands may rate from five dollars 
 to a higher amount, according to the quality of the land, and the im¬ 
 provements made thereon. Land at a lower rate tbau this is not azt 
 object of purchase, as the soil is so thin aud poor, that a living cannot 
 be made on it, without manuring every other year with dung or 
 plaster of Paris. West of the mountains, in all the old settlements, 
 land may be bought from 80 dollars per acre to two dollars. In the 
 state of Ohio, and other new r countries, very good land may be bought 
 at two dollars per acre: but this land is in a state of nature, and fax 
 distant from any inhabitants. I am well acquainted with people who 
 are improving plantations, that are six miles distant from their nearest 
 neighbour. This, however, they conceive no inconvenience,, as their 
 neighbours cattle do not trouble them, and the pea-vine and pasture 
 in the woods are so luxuriant, added to a short mild winter, that they 
 have it in their power to raise any quantity of horses, horned cattle,, 
 hogs, &c. which they please: these animals will provide for themselves- 
 during the year, without any attention being paid to them, except 
 giving them salt once a week; and when old enough to sell, they 
 always meet with a good market. But this continues only a lew' years, 
 as neighbours are daily settling around ; and in a short time the pas¬ 
 ture in the woods is cut down, and the cattle must be taken into the 
 fields, and fed during the w intef. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 67 
 
 A good market is always to be had in these new countries, on ac¬ 
 count of emigrants settling, who want all that the farmers have to 
 spare; so that the first settlers always have the advantage, and com¬ 
 monly become rich men. All lands purchased in this country are in 
 fee simple, and clear of all rent and annuities forever. 
 
 As to mercantile men emigrating to this part of the world, they 
 have their own difficulties as well as others. If they open in the 
 wholesale way, they have commonly to give six months credit to 
 country merchants, who make their purchases generally every fait 
 and spring; that is, what they purchase in the spring is payable in 
 the fall, and that bought in the fall payable in the spring; though it 
 is seldom that these engagements are punctually fulfilled, and rider* 
 and collectors are always out dunning, and often bringing suits at 
 law, for the recovery of their money. Goods are generally sold at a 
 large profit when bought on credit; and if the merchant has a capital 
 to support him, and forms a connexion with punctual country mer¬ 
 chants, he is in a fair way to do well. 
 
 I shall now make a few general remarks.—The description I have 
 been making of America is confined to the United States. Upper 
 and Lower Canada belong to the British government, as also Nova 
 Scotia. Since the peace of 1783, many hundreds of families have 
 sold their land in the Northern States, and went into Upper Canada, 
 and there obtained titles from the English government for lands of 
 the first quality, having to pay only a mere trifle ; and it is well 
 known, that at least three-fourths of the inhabitants of Upper Canada 
 are composed of emigrants from the United States, or the descendants 
 of such. The question will be asked, what is the reason the people 
 living under a republican form of government should transplant 
 themselves, and take refuge under a monarchical? 
 
 There are several reasons that may be assigned. First, during the 
 revolution, a number of Royalists, whose propeitv was confiscated by 
 the government of the United States, removed to Upper Canada, and 
 obtained land from the British government. The descendants of these 
 people now occupy these lands, and are in easy circumstances. Ano¬ 
 ther reason is, that the land in the Eastern States is generally poor 
 thin soil; whereas Upper Canada is more fertile, and land obtained 
 for little or nothing, and the fleets and army of the mother-country 
 able to protect them both at home and abroad, with full liberty of 
 the fisheries on the banks of Newfoundland, which we enjoyed a 
 right or privilege to previous to the late war, but is not granted to us 
 now. We have also been much curtailed in the East-India trade, by 
 the late peace wrth Great Britain. Another reason that may be 
 assigned for people of the U nited States moving into Canada, is, that 
 taxes are very light in Canada, whereas at present in the United States 
 taxation is heavy. Add to this, the violent contention and party- 
 spirit that prevails, which is always disgusting and disagreeable to 
 sober, industrious, well-disposed citizens, and ever has the tendency 
 to weaken the force of the country. Had the Americans been fully 
 united in sentiment as to the propriety of the last war, Canada w'ould 
 have been taken the first campaign. Although the Canadians are 
 very loyal, and fought with unexampled courage, yet they would have 
 been overwhelmed with numbers. Since the peace the emigration to 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 68 
 
 Canada has been very great, and that country is settling very fast. 
 There has also been an emigration from the southern states into the 
 Spanish province of East Florida, where they have settled themselves, 
 and taken the oath of allegiance to the Spanish government. 
 
 It is to be hoped, that those feuds and animosities that have hitherto 
 existed will now be shortly done away ; and that the unthinking class 
 of people who had urged on the war, having now suffered adisappoint- 
 ment, and been the means of loading the country with a national debt, 
 and by no means having bettered their own circumstances, will be con¬ 
 vinced of their error. 
 
 The Americans in general are a brave and generous people, well- 
 informed, hospitable, and kind; it would be, therefore, the duty of 
 emigrants, when settled in that country, not to be the first to lend a 
 hand in disturbing the peace of the country ; — it is the height of ingra¬ 
 titude, as they ought to consider that they have been received, and 
 granted the rights of citizenship; it is their duty, therefore, to lend a 
 hand to nothing that may be injurious to their adopted country. I 
 hope Irish emigrants, when they arrive, will copy after some of the 
 rules and instructions 1 have pointed out, which, if it should turn out 
 to their advantage, as 1 hope it may, would truly be a great happiness 
 and gratification to their countryman and friend, 
 
 Clements Burleigh. 
 
 ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS —IV. 
 
 LETTER FROM A SCOTSMAN SETTLED IN THE WESTERN 
 COUNTRY TO A NUMBER OF HIS COUNTRYMEN. 
 
 Lexington, November 4. 
 
 Dear Friends and Countrymen —I received your’s of the 
 6th of July; and what follows will, I hope, he a satisfactory answer 
 to all yonr queries. The general price of land here, at its first settle¬ 
 ment, is from two to three dollars. Land sold by Congress is two 
 dollars, to be paid in live years. The manuer of clearing is to cut 
 down all the timber below' a foot thick, and to notch the heavy timber 
 all round: thus the growth is stopped, and the land being every year 
 laboured, the roots gradually die, and are torn out; so that, in a few 
 years, the wdiole field is cleared. Unless what is used iu fencing, and 
 building, and fuel, and such purposes, all the wood is burnt upon the 
 ground. In the most of places, wood is no more thought of than 
 heath and rushes are with you. Two men, who are ordinarily expert 
 at hewing wood, can easily, in two months, clear as much land as will 
 produce food sufficient for the support of a family of six or eight for 
 a wdiole year. It is usual for those who bring families to settle, to 
 rent a house and a piece of clear land for a year or so, till they have 
 time to look about them, make a convenient purchase, aud get a house 
 of their own raised. The first houses which are built upon a planta¬ 
 tion arc usually raised in little more than a week or two. Thev are, 
 indeed, not very elegant; but they do \cry well for a year or so, till 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 (ft 
 
 t family has time to build a bettor.—Tho people arc every where 
 exceedingly kind and obliging to new comers, and render them all the 
 comfort and assistance in their power; they have all once known, in 
 heir own case, what it is to be strangers.—There are at no times anv 
 thing like a market for produce, such as that in the old country; but. 
 'here is always some little market, sometimes better, and sometimes 
 worse. The situation of society, however, is such, that very little 
 ash is needed. Every family who has tho least industry may, after 
 tne second or third year, easily raise within itself almost every thing 
 that is necessary. Salt, and iron, and the faxes of government, which 
 are by no means heavy, are almost the only things for which men 
 need to give money.— Men’s persons and properties are here as safe 
 as in any part of the world; while liberty, civil and religious, is fully 
 enjoyed ; law and justice are strictly and impartially executed.—Snakes, 
 and such like, are here no more dangerous than in Carnwath Muir* 
 In all my wanderings, I have not seen above half a dozen snakes, nor 
 met with many more who have been bit by them. When any are bit 
 by them, they have always a simple and efficacious cure at hand.— 
 Indians, where they are to be seen, are equally harmless.—Unless it 
 is along some of the large rivers, where the people are at certain sea¬ 
 sons liable to the fever and ague, the country is every where healthy; 
 tne people in general live as long, and are subject to as few diseases 
 as they are in Scotland. The weather, in summer, is considerably 
 hotter than it is at home; but neither I nor my partner have found 
 it the least disagreable. We have only worn our clothes a little 
 lighter, and have kept in the house, or the shade, a few hours while 
 it was hottest. To be out in the evenings and mornings is most de¬ 
 lightful.—A brewer or a smith along with you will be a valuable ac¬ 
 quisition. Each of these branches can be carried on with considerable 
 profit. 
 
 I could fill sheets in praise of the country ; but there is nothing like 
 fact. I am acquainted with hundreds who came here within these 
 twenty years, with nothing more than a sound constitution and an 
 industrious disposition, who have raised large families, and are now 
 living in ease and affluence. I would recommend unto you to come and 
 settle upon Eagle Creek (Adams county, state of Ohio), about 100 
 miles nearer you than Lexington. In that quarter there is plenty of 
 good vacant land. The length of the journey there is from Philadel¬ 
 phia or Baltimore to Pittsburg .300 miles; then about as much by 
 water down the river Ohio. In preparing for such a long journey, 
 dispose of every thing you have, except vour body and bed clothes, 
 Tire latter end of July, or the beginning of August, is the best time to 
 set sail. If the war continues, take an American bottom. It makes 
 very little matter whether you sail for Baltimore or Philadelphia. If 
 you cannot rind a convenient passage for one of these, Newcastle, or 
 Wilmington, or some other place upon the Delaware river, is the next 
 best shift. In packing up your clothes, it will be much to your ad¬ 
 vantage to have them put into as light trunks, or chests, as possible, 
 and to pack them very hard. Make your agreement with the cap¬ 
 tain, that you furnish your own provisions, water excepted; and see 
 that a sufficient stock of water is laid in, and that it be put into well- 
 seasoned vessels. When you have got about half way, it is likely 
 
70 
 
 THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 that the seamen, with consent of the captain, may set apart a few 
 hours to make themselves merrv, by working some antic tricks upon 
 you. If they take this liberty, by no means resent;—take a laugh 
 also: they hurt nobody. Being arrived in Philadelphia, let it be your 
 first thing to inquire for Scotsmen: from them you will receive a great 
 deal of useful information. If you land at Baltimore, ask for the Rev. 
 Robert Anon. Our church at Philadelphia is at present vacant; but 
 there is a Mr. Miller, a mason, a Scotsman, who will be exceedingly 
 happy to see you. I cannot tell you where he lives; but there is not 
 ■ shopkeeper but has a printed list of all the principal inhabitants. 
 There are waggons continually passing from these parts to Pittsburg; 
 make the best bargain you can with one or more of these waggons to 
 carry your women and children, and the men of you may travel on 
 foot. Set off in company with one of these carriers’ waggons. You will 
 usually travel twenty miles a-day. When you pass market-towns, pur¬ 
 chase a little provision for yourselves and horses. When vou have 
 advanced about 60 or 100 miles, the road will grow rougher, which 
 will likely render it necessary to purchase one or two more horses. 
 By this time you will have fallen in with other families in the same 
 situation with yourselves. You will find the people every where very 
 freely disposed to ask every thing, and tell you every thing. The 
 sooner you get into their manner, it will be the more' advantage to 
 you; but be always upon your guard against knaves. You will find 
 • great many difficulties and inconveniences; but with a good spirit, 
 and an indulgent Heaven, every thing becomes easv. Your expences 
 will depend a great deal upon little incidents, which human eve cannot 
 foresee; but if, after you have discharged all your accounts about 
 Greenock, you have the one-half remaining, I think you will have a 
 sufficiency; and, upon the word of an honest man, I positively give it 
 as my opinion, that, though you were to lav out every farthing of 
 your money, if it brought you in health to your destination, you will 
 be considerable gainers. 1 don’t think it will suit men in your situa¬ 
 tion to lay out any of your money in speculation, upon trading arti¬ 
 cles; but you may consult with the merchants in Greenock.” You 
 must likewise observe to have the money you bring into America 
 changed into dollars or gold coin. Take care and secure your liquor 
 well, else the sailors will use it as a common stock. If any of vou are 
 skilled in music, a fiddle, or some such instrument, to raise the spirits, 
 will be a valuable piece of furniture. Keep as much above deck as 
 possible. I commend you all to the care of the God of Abraham, who 
 went out not knowing whither; and remain, dear brethren, 
 
 Robert Hamilton Bishop. 
 
 ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS.—V. 
 
 Greatfield, (ScipiOf Cayuga County, State of New York.J 
 
 6 month 2, 1817. 
 
 Thy question, “ Whether a residence in Indiana will be favourable 
 to the health of Emigrants from higher latitudes?” should be con- 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 7f 
 
 tidered in two points of view, though in strictness it might be con* 
 fined to the elfeets of a warmer climate on the constitution. 
 
 I am aware of the difficulty of finding two places which differ 
 in nothing but in temperature, where the atmosphere is equally 
 dry, pure, elastic, heavy, electrical, and equal at all times in it* 
 currents. Without such agreement, comparisons must be imperfect? 
 but, from a general review of the warmer parts of the temperate 
 zone, 1 know of no series of facts which should determine that ques¬ 
 tion in the negative. The most remarkable instances of longevity on 
 record take their date from countries further south than the object 
 of this inquiry; and though the limits of human life have been 
 abridged since that day, 1 cannot discover why we may not assign a 
 full average of health to those parallels of latitude. 
 
 Clarke mentions in his Travels in Greece, that an English sea 
 captain had been long in search of a spot the most exempt from 
 disease, where he might pass the remnant of his life; and that, after 
 having visited various parts of the world with this object in view, 
 he fixed on the Isle of Scio. That author adds, he was not disap¬ 
 pointed. The south point of this island is in lat. 38* 14'; and making' 
 allowance for the difference of climate, we must pass far to the soutl* 
 of Indiana to find winters equally mild. 
 
 1 notice these instances, because many of our citizens appear to 
 have drawn their ideas of warm climates from the maritime parts of 
 the southern states. Rut the formation and climate of that district 
 is essentially different from those of the same parallels west of the 
 mountains. There the distressing heats of the day are often pro¬ 
 tracted till towards midnight, and the degree is so extraordinary a* 
 to prevent the refreshment of sleep, even to the native exhausted by 
 fatigue. During this time, oil the opposite side of the Alleghany, 
 evening is attended by a refreshing coolness; and while I was ia 
 Indiana, though near Midsummer, I passed no night in which a blan¬ 
 ket was not comfortable. 
 
 This coolness at evening appears to be peculiar to the country 
 north and west of the Alleghany mountains. Cramer informs us, that 
 it extends southwardly to Mobile. Why should the climate of New 
 York be more healthy than that of Indiana ? It is a fact well known 
 to many, that in summer we have weather as hot as in the West 
 Indies. This heat has been sufficient to produce from our marshes 
 every form of fever that has prevailed in our western waters. The 
 mortality attending dysentery in different parts of this state appears 
 to have been as great as in any cases of that malady to the south* 
 Typhus has ravaged our most airy situations; and in the northern 
 parts of our county epidemics have been uncommonly fatal. Emi¬ 
 grants suffering from rheumatism or consumption have much to hope 
 from that climate; and I know of no disease in that country to ba¬ 
 lance this advantage. 
 
 There are now living in Vincennes four Frenchmen who w r ere at 
 the defeat of General Braddock, who have lived in that place between 
 fifty and sixty years. There are also two French women between 
 eighty and ninety years old; and one person of the name of Mills 
 lately died, aged 115 years. These instances may shew, that there 
 is nothing peculiarly destructive to human life in that country; and 
 
72 
 
 THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE: 
 
 it should be remembered that these have not been selected from a 
 large city, but a frontier town of small population. 
 
 I shall now pass to a more important view of the subject. The 
 ease and safety with which families can descend the Ohio has mad* 
 that river the great thoroughfare of emigration to the south-western 
 states; and the loss of health, and often of life, experienced by new 
 comers, ought to be more frequently imputed to the injudicious 
 manner of performing that navigation, than to the unhealthiness of 
 those countries. 
 
 As the messenger is waiting, my remarks must be brief: but I her e 
 their importance will attract the notice of some of the thousands of 
 our citizens who heedlessly press on to destruction. 
 
 Descend the river in autumn, after the frosts have commenced ; 
 for by that time the offensive smell from the shores will have abated* 
 Use no river water without filtering. This operation is expeditiously 
 performed in a vessel like an upright churn with two bottoms. r ihese 
 are three or four inches apait; and the upper, in which a number of 
 small holes are bored, receives in the centre a tube, one inch in 
 diameter, extending above the vessel, and communicating with the 
 cavity between the bottoms. After spreading a cloth, fill the upper 
 part with well-washed sand, and let the water (from a vessel above) 
 down through the tube. In a short time it will rise through the 
 sand divested of its impurities or sediments in sufficient quantities 
 for every culinary purpose. In a few days the apparatus may need 
 cleansing; as the filth will be chiefly below, a hole opened in ibe 
 lower bottom will allow it to pass off*. If the water has not an agree¬ 
 able coolness, cyder or strong beer should be mixed with it for 
 drink; as the warmth, without such stimulus, will relax the tone of 
 the stomach, and predispose to disease. 
 
 Lay in plenty of good wholesome provisions. Travellers should 
 »ever change their diet for the worse. The fatigues of mind and 
 body, in most cases, require that it should be for the better. To 
 live economically is to live comfortably. Any additional expence 
 in provisions would not go fir in paying a doctors bill, without 
 taking into view loss of time and of comfort, or the expences of 
 nursing* 
 
 Go not in a vessel with a bad roof. A crowded boat is an incon¬ 
 venient place to dry wet clothes; and the damage sustained in furni¬ 
 ture would more than pay the expence of being comfortably shel¬ 
 tered, without considering the probable loss of health. Bending their 
 boards over head is not sufficient; I have seen none of these roofs 
 that would not admit a driving shower of rain. 
 
 If spirituous liquors are taken, let the quantity be cautiously re¬ 
 gulated. Every excess debilitates the system; and to think of 
 escaping disease by keeping always “full” is desperate folly. When 
 fever attacks such subjects, it is commonly fatal. Some men who have 
 travelled much, and who have no moral or religious scruples to 
 dissuade them, totally abstain from spirits in unhealthy situations. 
 Eating rich wholesome food guards the stomach much better from 
 infection: nor would I omit, in the list of such articles, well-cured 
 bam and strong coffee. 
 
 If the weather become warm, guard well against the smell of 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE*. 7$ 
 
 bilge water. But if you must descend in the spring, go early. Avoid 
 all delay; and remember you are fleeing for your lives. I have seen 
 the havoc, and I believed not till then. Nail boards over head, to 
 keep oflf the heat of the roof; for sometimes it will remind you of an 
 oven. 
 
 On landing, you ought first to secure yourselves from the inclemency 
 of the weather. Water from brooks should be filtered; but depend 
 uot on these during summer. If springs are not convenient, dig 
 wells: it is much cheaper to do this than to be sick. Much of the 
 sickness of new countries proceeds from bad water. 
 
 Let nothing tempt you to fish in warm weather immediately on 
 changing your climate. The effluvia of the shores is poison. To get 
 wet, and lie out all night, is little short of madness. Fresh fish are 
 unwholesome, unless it be for a slight change of diet. We know of 
 no country that has been healthy where the inhabitants live on fresh 
 fish. But if you must have them, buy them ; any price is cheaper than 
 health. If you must fish, do it in the day time, and be comfortably 
 sheltered at night. Be also cautious of using much fresh meat from 
 the woods. 
 
 If you feel indisposed, wait not till you are down sick , but take 
 medicine without delay. If the stomach be foul, which is the case 
 at the commencement of all fevers, take an emetic, and then brace 
 up with bark. If this is too bad, take pearl-ash dissolved in water* 
 half a gill, not too strong, three times a day, fasting. Whatever may 
 be the offending cause (except the case be mechanical ), it will in 
 some measure neutralize it, though there may be cases in which it 
 will be insufficient. I have seen no medicine quicker in its operation ; 
 and on myself the most distressing symptoms were relieved in half 
 an hour. Since that it has been tried with equal success by others* 
 In dysentery it has been considered a specific , and probably no me¬ 
 dicine will better merit that character; for we know of no case of 
 this disease where relief was not obtained by the use of it. It may 
 be procured at Vincennes, and probably at Cincinnati; but it is 
 scarce and dear in the western country. 
 
 Keep away from the flats on the rivers; and let not the fertility 
 of the soil induce you to cultivate it, until you are naturalized to 
 the climate, or, more properly, recovered from all the fatigues at¬ 
 tending emigration, for it is necessary that the mind should be com¬ 
 posed as w ell as the body. Land of an inferior quality in a high, airy 
 situation, will yield greater real profits. 
 
 Let me caution the emigrant on one point more, and I have done. 
 The water in the Ohio country, as in this (which is only a continu¬ 
 ation of it) is in many places strongly impregnated by lime. The 
 effects of this on children just weaned have often proved fatal, by 
 inducing diarrhoea, which soon exhausts the patient; and no medicine 
 can give relief while the occasional cause is not removed. This is 
 easily done, by refusing water, and giving cow's milk. If the disease is 
 far advanced, paregoric may be necessary to abate the irritability. 
 I first discovered the benefit of this treatment on one of my children, 
 who seemed wasting to a skeleton, and have witnessed much of its 
 good effects since. Very respectfully, thy friend, 
 
 S. R. Brown, David Thomas. 
 
 Auburn, State of New York # L 
 
74 
 
 THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. 
 
 ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS.—VI. 
 
 Emigrants who prefer the southern parts of Ohio, Indiana, Ten¬ 
 nessee, and Mississippi, and who remove from the northern parts of 
 New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Province of Maine, &c. would 
 do well to embark at Hamilton, on the Alleghany river, where they 
 ought to arrive about the 20th of March, in order to descend the 
 river the first freshets. Boats are easily procured on the spot, of va¬ 
 rious sizes: the navigation of the Alleghany is easy and safe; only 
 two or three accidents have happened since the settlement of the 
 country. Those who intend settling near the banks of the Ohio, or 
 Mississippi, would do well to descend on rafts of white pine boards, 
 which, if properly constructed, are as safe and more convenient for 
 a family, than a common boat. Boards of an excellent quality can 
 be purchased at Hamilton for 75 cents per 100 foot. If not wanted 
 for building by the emigrant, they will command a ready sale at all 
 the villages and towns between Pittsburg and Louisville. Provisions 
 are scarce and extravagantly high at Olean Point; consequently tra¬ 
 vellers and families ought to lay in a stock in the rich and populous 
 counties of Cayuga and Ontario. It would be ruinous for families to 
 embark as late as the first of May. 
 
 The road from Geneva to Hamilton is good in winter, horrible in 
 April, tolerable in summer. The distance from Hamilton to Pitts¬ 
 burg, by water, is 300 miles. 
 
 The distance from Pittsburg to the mouth of the Ohio, by water, 
 is 1183 miles. 
 
 There arc two great leading roads to the western country; the one 
 through the interior of Pennsylvania, the other through New York : 
 families moving to the western country generally take the one most 
 contiguous to them. The most common mode is to travel by waggons 
 of their own; in which case they provide food for themselves and 
 their horses, and are accommodated with lodgings at the different 
 houses where they stop all night. The charge for this accommodation 
 is generally very moderate; and when the moving family is poor, the 
 payment is often dispensed with. 
 
 There are so many different points from whence emigrants set out, 
 and to which they go, that it is difficult to form an estimate that will 
 apply to them all. Probably the following view may be the most 
 intelligible. 
 
 A waggon with two horses can accommodate seven persons, and 
 can travel with tolerable ease twenty miles a day, the Sundays being 
 devoted to rest; and, by travelling economically, the whole expence 
 will not exceed tw'o dollars per day, or fourteen dollars per week, in 
 which the family can travel 120 miles. At this rate, a family of seven 
 can travel from Connecticut to Cleveland, 600 miles, for 70 dollars; 
 or from Philadelphia to Zanesville, in the interior of the state of 
 Ohio, 425 miles, for about 60 dollars. On the latter route, a great 
 many waggons travel between Philadelphia and Pittsburg; and it was 
 before stated, that waggon-hire was about five dollars per cwL 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 75 
 
 for both persons and property. The carriage of a family of seven, 
 by this conveyance, would cost about 45 dollars, besides their board; 
 which appears more in proportion than by the other inode: but it is 
 to he observed, that in this way it is unnecessary to purchase horses 
 or waggons, which in the Eastern states are pretty dear, and there is 
 no wear and tear. A considerable saving can frequently be made on 
 both routes by water conveyance; on the north by Lake Erie, and 
 on the south by the Ohio river. The stage between Philadelphia and 
 Pittsburg is the most agreeable and expeditious mode of travelling on 
 that road, and is preferred by such as can afford the expence. 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PRINCIPAL 
 
 WESTERN STATES. 
 
 Emigration is almost confined to the Western States. Not only 
 emigrants from Europe, but residents in the Eastern States, proceed in 
 multitudes to the Western Territory, which presents immense space 
 to the activity and industry of new settlers, with advantages superior 
 to any other parts of the United States. The limits of this publi¬ 
 cation will not permit a full description of these portions of the 
 New World. Their situation, boundaries, extent, produce, &c. will 
 be found in the topographical description of each state, page 28; and 
 it is presumed, an additional view, though a hasty one, will be service¬ 
 able to the inquirer. To this end an account of each of the principal 
 Western States follows : — 
 
 ALABAMA. 
 
 The best part of this territory is to be found between the 
 Alabama and Tombigbee. Between the Alabama waters and those of 
 the Conecah is an extensive tract of rich land, the timber large, 
 and cane abundant, liberally watered by creeks : this tract is thirty 
 miles long, including the plains, and twenty wide. The plains are 
 waving, hill and dale, and appear divided into fields, interspersed 
 or bounded with clumps of woodland; soil lead-coloured or dark 
 clay, very rich, and covered with weeds and tall grass.—Most kinds 
 of game are scarce throughout the territory.—Stone coal abounds on 
 the Cahaba, Black Warrior, &c.—The land is generally rich, well 
 watered, and lies well, as a waving country, for cultivation, the 
 growth of timber, oak, hiccory, and the short leaf pine, pea 
 vine on the hill sides and in the bottoms, and a late (or autumnal) 
 broad leaf grass on the richest land ; the w hole a very desirable 
 country.—The population, 22,794 whites, and 10,493 slaves, is scat¬ 
 tered in lines over an immense extent of territory. It is rapidly 
 augmenting by emigrants from Georgia, the Carolinas, and from 
 Kentucky, and Tennessee, A writer well acquainted with the 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 76 
 
 country predicts, that five years will not elapse before the population 
 of this territory will exceed 60,000 free white inhabitants, the 
 number which gives a right to admission into the Union as an inde¬ 
 pendent state.—The Creek Indians inhabit the territory, and reside 
 chiefly on the waters of Alabama and Catahouchy, in about thirty 
 towns; they are brave, raise stock, and cultivate the soil; and, 
 although greatly reduced by war and famine, in 1813-14, their 
 number exceeded 20,000. 
 
 MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 A writer speaking of this state says, “ On the same planta¬ 
 tion I have seen the apple, cherry, orange, fig, quince, Irish 
 potatoe, wheat, rye, buck-wheat, flax, cotton and sugar-cane, grow 
 well, nearly all of which excel. The productions of our country, 
 that we find on the surface of the earth, merit an earlv attention. 
 The lumber of our rivers are a source of wealth sufficient to enrich 
 the country, had we no other. The groves of white oak are immense, 
 immediately on the margin of our rivers, the lumber of which is 
 highly prized in the foreign markets. The groves of red cedar are 
 extensive; also live oak, a variety of pines, cypress, &c. calculated to 
 execute commercial enterprize. The cotton of our country was the 
 first that was sold in the New Orleans market in 1816, for the enormous 
 sum of thirty Jive dollars per hundred. It ought never to be for¬ 
 gotten that when our produce or lumber is on hand, it is at once at 
 market. The ease with which stock of every description is raised 
 is alone a source of wealth, when attended to. The farmer may 
 calculate for years to come on having no other trouble in raising his 
 cattle, hogs, sheep, &c. than that of looking after. The mutton, 
 veal, and lamb of our country, is certainly superior to any animal 
 food I ever tasted. The fowling of our rivers is not surpassed by 
 any country in the United States. The oysters and fish of the bay of 
 Mobile have been much admired by the citizens of even New' York ; 
 and were I to point out a situation best calculated to meet every 
 source of advantages, and furnish the best access to enjoyment, I 
 Lave no hesitation in giving the vicinity of St. Stephens and Fort 
 Claiborne as affording it; lying in the high country, affording high 
 and river bottom land of the first quality, within two days ride of 
 the margin of the Ocean from Mobile to Pensacola, over an excellent 
 level road. Between these two places are found situations capable of 
 giving all the gratifications expected from a residence in the vicinity 
 of the Ocean; amongst those the bay of Perdido has arrested much 
 attention, and has been announced by many intelligent travellers 
 and persons of taste, as one of the most desirable on any continent 
 explored ; its scenery, productions, and uncommon salubrity of cli¬ 
 mate, has caused many to call it the Montpellier of America. The 
 constant prevalence ot the sea breeze tempers the heat of summer, 
 so as to make these situations very desirable. The ease with which 
 southern fruits are obtained at all seasons, the flavour of fish, oysters, 
 crabs, and lobsters, w ould court the residence of the most voluptuous 
 epicures ot our country. As to the valuable productions of our 
 country brought to perfection by common day-labourers, the profits 
 are not to be surpassed by the agriculturalists of any country. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 77 
 
 LOUISIANA. 
 
 Late experiments prove that the sugar-cane can be success¬ 
 fully cultivated in any part of Louisiana, except in the swampy 
 or t( unripe" alluvial soils. Sugar lands yield from one to 
 two hogsheads of a thousand weight, and 50 gallons of rum, 
 per acre; the value is about 100 dollars a hogshead. It is con¬ 
 fidently stated, that two young French gentlemen made in one 
 season, with 28 hands, 200 hogsheads of sugar; and the same 
 letter states, that an old man, assisted only by his two sons, carried 30 
 hogsheads to market, the produce of their own hands, in one season. — 
 The cotton lands of Louisiana yield from 500 to 2000 pounds 
 weight of seed cotton per acre. A hand will cultivate ten acres. Rice 
 is cultivated with the greatest facility, as water is easily diverted 
 from the rivers and bayous into the fields. The use of water on 
 rice is more to suppress the growth of noxious weeds and grass, 
 which would otherwise stifle the grain, than for promoting the growth 
 of the rice itself; for none of the grasses can stand the water, but rice 
 does, as long as it is not totally immersed. Therefore it is, that after 
 weeding, the planter, if he has it convenient, lets on water to about 
 half the height of the grain.— The exports of Louisiana already exceed 
 those of all the New' England states by more than 150,000 dollars a 
 year. Between 3 and 400 sea vessels arrive and depart annually. 937 
 vessels of all denominations departed during the year 1816, from the 
 Bayou St. John, a port of delivery in the district of Mississippi ; the 
 tonnage of these vessels is calculated at 16,000; they are chiefly 
 employed in carrying the produce of that part of the Floridas belong¬ 
 ing to the United States, consisting in barks, coals, cotton, corn, 
 furs, hides, pitch, planks, rosin, skins, tar, timber, turpentine, sand, 
 shells, lime, &c. The quantity of suuar made on the Mississippi 
 alone is estimated, by a late writer, at ten millions of pounds. Twenty 
 thousand bales of cotton were exported in 1812. —Perhaps there is 
 no country in the globe where so much wealth is divided among so 
 few individuals as in Louisiana. Its resources are immense, while its 
 population is comparatively small. The yearly income of many of the 
 planters amounts to 20,000 dollars : and it is said to be not uncom¬ 
 mon to mark from one to three thousand calves in a season, and to 
 have from 10 to 20,000 head of fine cattle. 
 
 TENNESSEE. 
 
 The greater part of the country is broken, free from swamps, 
 and remarkably healthy. The fertile cotton lands produce forest 
 trees of an extraordinary growlh. Cane abounds in the valleys, 
 and on the rich hills. Saltpetre, tobacco, cotton, hogs, and cattle, 
 are the grand staples. There is a large body of rich land belonging 
 to the United States, between Duck river and the Muscle shoals, and 
 south of the Tennessee river, below the shoals, extending to the 
 Mississippi, and dow n that river to the mouth of the Wolf, containing 
 about 6,000,000 of acres. This part of the state affords fine situations 
 for enterprising emigrants. Fevers are almost unknown to the inha¬ 
 bitants, except on the bottoms of the Cumberland, Tennessee, and 
 Mississippi rivers* I know of no country where diseases are so rare. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 78 
 
 or where physicians have so little employ: children, remarkably robust 
 and healthy. The climate proves congenial to northern constitutions. 
 
 KENTUCKY. 
 
 The bottoms of the Kentucky side of the Ohio, from its mouth 
 to that of Big Sandy, will average one mile in width. The tim¬ 
 ber is beech, sugar maple, sycamore, cotton wood, hackberry, paw¬ 
 paw, and honey locust. These bottoms are in some places subject to 
 periodical inundation, but are nevertheless susceptible of cultivation; 
 about one sixth part of this land is cleared. This extensive tract is 
 intersected by Little Sandy, Licking, Kentucky, and Salt rivers, 
 and their numerous forks. There are no swamps; and the hills 
 are of such easy ascent, that the fields shew to the best possible 
 advantage. The small streams are numerous, and have gullied 
 the earth into sharp hills, long crooked ridges, deep glens, dark hollows, 
 and frightful gulfs. The hills are covered with oak, chesnut, hickory, 
 gum, and poplar; and the valleys with beech, sugar maple, elm, poplar, 
 black walnut, and hackberry. In the bottoms of the gulfs, or “ coves ” 
 as the inhabitants call them, the trees are thickly planted, and grow 
 to a most extraordinary size, particularly the poplars, which frequent¬ 
 ly measure eight feet in diameter, and of immense height. It is in 
 these unfrequented recesses that Solitude may be said to hold her 
 court; for the light of heaven is not able to penetrate the eternal 
 gloom which reigns beneath the impervious foliage. What a scene 
 for Walter Scott! His description of the woods of Soignies is stri¬ 
 kingly appropriate to the coves and gulfs of Kentucky and Tennessee— 
 
 u Thy wood, dark Soignies, holds us now, 
 
 Where the tall beeches' glossy bough, 
 
 For many a league around, 
 
 With birch and darksome oak between, 
 
 Spreads deep and tar a pathless screen, 
 
 Of tangled forest ground." 
 
 The areas of these gulfs are from one to £fty acres, perfectly level 
 at the bottom, and covered, when in a stale of nature, with a thick 
 growth of cane; they have gaps or outlets on oue side, through 
 which flows the brook created by the numerous springs issuing 
 from the base of the almost surrounding hills. The water of these 
 springs is excellent and durable; the sides of the hills, when not 
 too steep for the plough, yield flue crops of corn, potatoes, Arc. 
 The soil is exceedingly rich, and the inhabitants often locate 
 themselves in these peaceful retreats. They afford a pleasant resi¬ 
 dence in winter, but are too confined and sultry in the summer.— 
 The horse, noble and generous, is the favourite animal of the 
 Kentuckians, by whom he is pampered with unceasing attention. 
 Every person of wealth has from ten to thirty, of good size and con¬ 
 dition, and upon which he lavishes his corn with a wasteful pro¬ 
 fusion. A common work horse is w r orth 50 dollars, and a genteel 
 saddle-horse 100 dollars. Cattle are raised in great numbers in every 
 part of the state; large droves are annually bought up for the new 
 territories, and for the Atlantic markets. Oxen are very little used on 
 the farm, and are mostly reared for the drovers. A large-sized ox can 
 be purchased tor 25 dollars, aud a cow for ten or twelve dollars. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 79 
 
 Sheep have multiplied greatly since the Merino mania of 1810. Ho"» 
 are raised with great ease, and in vast numbers, on the oak and ches- 
 nut lands in the southern counties. The farm-yards swarm with do¬ 
 mestic fowls; and hens lay and sit in winter as well as in spring and 
 summer; they can be multiplied to almost any number, and with a 
 trifling expence. The quail is the most common of the feathered 
 tribe,—they are to be seen at every step, singly and in flocks. Wild 
 turkeys are still numerous in the unsettled parts. The robin of the 
 northern states is almost a stranger in Kentucky and Tennessee. 
 Bears, deer, wolves, and foxes, are numerous in the eastern and 
 southern counties. Rabbits and grey squirrels are very plentiful in 
 the settlements.—The manufactures consist of cloths and stuffs, 
 bagging for cotton and hemp, iron, castings, nails, earthenware, glass, 
 leather, cordage, paper, distilled spirits, oil, saltpetre, gunpowder, and 
 maple sugar. There are about 60 rope-walks, 7 paper-mills, 5 furnaces, 
 upwards of *20 powder-mills. Between 2 and 800 bushels of salt are 
 yearly made at the different licks. Almost every plantation ha 9 a 
 sugar-camp. The sap is sweeter than that produced from the sugar 
 trees in the northern states. The quantity of maple sugar annually 
 produced in the state is supposed to exceed two millions of pounds. 
 The Kentuckians are generally brave, patriotic, and hospitable. The 
 rich hold labour in contempt, and frequently make the possession of 
 slaves a criterion of merit.—No country can offer greater induce¬ 
 ments to the industrious, enterprising emigrant, if we regard the soil, 
 the climate, the low price of lands, the goodness of the title, and 
 certain prospect of a market for the surplus produce; for the outlet 
 to the sea is both ways, viz . by the Lakes and the Ohio. Improved 
 land sells from 4 to 25 dollars per acre.—The average produce of 
 lands in this county is about as follows: corn, 50 bushels to the 
 acre; wheat, 25 bushels; oats, 30 bushels; hemp grows remarkably 
 well, but there is little raised. Crops of hay are very heavy, and the 
 country is well adapted to grass of all kinds.—Emigrants approach¬ 
 ing this country from New York, or the states east of that, would save 
 much labour and expence, to land at Fort Meigs or Lower Sandusky ; 
 from the former to proceed by water up the Miami of the Lakes to 
 Fort Defiance or Fort Wayne, and ascend the Auglaize or St. Mary's. 
 If their destination was the new state of Indiana, from Fort Wayne 
 they could pass a portage of eight miles, haul their craft over, and 
 descend the Wabash to any given point below. 
 
 MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 
 
 There are no mountains in this territory; the interior is table¬ 
 land, having a western and northern inclination, interspersed with 
 small lakes and marshes, from which issue the head branches 
 of the rivers. Prairies exist of an excellent soil; others sandy 
 sandy, wet, and sterile. There are extensive forests of lofty timber, 
 consisting of oak, sugar maple, beach, ash, poplar, white and yellow 
 pine, cedar, plum, &c. The bottoms, and high prairies are equal to 
 those of Indiana. The timbered uplands are well adapted to the 
 production of most kinds of grain, and appear to bear a long series 
 of crops. There is no part of the world with better soil for wheat 
 and fruit.—The Indians of this territory have been estimated at 3000 
 
80 
 
 THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 souls. Their trade is very valuable to their white neighboursthey 
 all cultivate Indian corn, and some of them wheat, as well as most 
 kinds of garden vegetables and fruit; raise horses, cattle, hogs, and 
 poultry, but nevertheless derive a principal part of their subsistence 
 from the waters and forests. 
 
 INDIANA. 
 
 The northern half of this state is a country of lakes; thirty- 
 eight of which, from two to ten miles in length, are delineated on 
 the latest maps; but the actual number probably exceeds one hun¬ 
 dred: many of these, however, are mere ponds, less than one mile in 
 length. Some have two distinct outlets, one running into the northern 
 lakes, the other into the Mississippi. — There are two kinds of mea¬ 
 dows called prairies, the river and upland prairies: the first are found 
 upon the margins of rivers, and are bottoms destitute of timber; most 
 of these exhibit vestiges of former cultivation. The last are plains, 
 from thirty to one hundred feet higher than the alluvial bottoms, and 
 are far more numerous and extensive, but are indeterminate in size 
 and figure; since some are not larger than a common field, while others 
 expand beyond the reac h of the eye, or the limits of the horizon. 
 They are usually bounded by groves of lofty forest trees; and not 
 unfrequently adorned with islands or copses of small trees, affording 
 an agreeable shade for man and beast. In spring and summer they 
 are covered with a luxuriant growth of grass and fragrant flower*, 
 from six to eight feet high, through which it is very fatiguing to force 
 one's way with any degree of celerity. The soil of these plains is 
 often as deep and as fertile as the best bottoms. The prairies border¬ 
 ing the Wabash are particularly rich : wells have been sunk in them, 
 where the vegetable soil was twenty-two feet deep, under which was 
 a stratum of fine white sand, conlaining horizontal lines, plainly in¬ 
 dicating to the geologist the gradual subsidence of water; yet the 
 ordinary depth is from two to five feet.—Steam mills, without doubt, 
 will be in operation as soon as the country is sufficiently settled for the 
 purpose of making flour for exportation. — There are some excellent 
 tracts of land in Indiana and Illinois. Corn is raised pretty easy ; and 
 stock with little attention, and in some plaees with little or no fodder. 
 The prairies are destitute of water; but it can be obtained by digging 
 twenty or thirty feet. — Wheat yields the inhabitants, who are neat 
 farmers, GBlbs. a bushel, and never gets w inter-killed or smutty ; the 
 only difficulty they experience in its culture is, that the land in many 
 places is too rich until it has been improved. Apple-trees bear every 
 year. Peaches some years do exceedingly well; so do cherries, 
 currants, and most kinds of fruit. Wheat is 75 cents a bushel; flour, 
 dollars a hundred, — delivered at Fort Harrison, 4; corn, 25 cents a 
 bushel; pork, 4 dollars; beef, 4 dollars; butter and cheese, from 12£ 
 to 25 cents; honey, 50 cents per gallon; maple sugar, 25 cents; 
 European goods exorbitantly high. — The winters are mild, compared 
 with those of the northern states. The weather is very fine till 
 Christmas; then changeable until about the middle of February, 
 when winter breaks up, and spring soon commences. Peaches are iu 
 blossom by the 1st of March, and by the 10th of April the forests are 
 clad in green. The flowering shrubs and trees are in full bloom 
 

 THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 8] 
 
 some days before the leaves get their growth, which gives the woods 
 a very beautiful appearance.—Farms, containing a log-house and 
 fifteen or twenty acres, sell as high as eight or ten dollars; in some 
 instances the necessities or rambling dispositions of the inhabitants 
 induce them to dispose of their plantations at a trifling advance upon 
 the original price. —The forests are abundantly stocked with game. 
 
 THE ILLINOIS TERRITORY. 
 
 The form of this extensive country is that of an imperfect 
 triangle; its base being the northern boundary of the territory, 
 or the parallel of the southern extremity of Lake Michigan, and 
 the Mississippi its hypothenuse.—The present population is esti¬ 
 mated at 20,000 souls, all whites. It increases, it is supposed, in the 
 ratio of 30 per cent, annually; which is accelerating. Slavery is not 
 admitted. The inhabitants principally reside on the Wabash below 
 Vincennes, on the Mississippi, Ohio, and Kaskaskia.—No state or 
 territory in North America can boast superior facilities of internal 
 navigation.—The banks of the Illinois are generally high. The bed 
 of the river being a white marble or clay, or sand, the waters are re¬ 
 markably clear. It abounds with beautiful islands, one of which is 
 ten miles long; and adjoining or near to it are many coal mines, salt 
 ponds, and small lakes, it passes through oue lake, 210 miles from 
 its mouth, which is 20 miles in length, and 3 or 4 miles in breadth, 
 called Illinois Lake.—The Kaskaskia is the next river in magnitude, 
 and waters the finest country I have ever seen: it is neither flat nor 
 mountainous, but maintains a happy undulating medium between the 
 extremes; it is suited to the growth of Indian corn, wheat, rye, oats, 
 barley, hemp, tobacco, &c. The climate is too cold for cotton as a 
 staple, or for sugar. On the** streams of this river there are already 
 built, and now building, a great number of mills. It is navigable at 
 least 150 miles on a straight line. It is generally conceded, that 
 the permanent seat of government for the state will be fixed on this 
 river, near a direct line from the mouth of Missouri to Vincennes, in 
 the state of Indiana. The inhabitants residing on this river and its 
 waters may not be as polished as some; but I will say, without fear 
 of contradiction, that no people have a more abundant stock of hospi¬ 
 tality and good qualities. Above the mouth of this river is situated 
 the town of Kaskaskia, the present seat of government. The great 
 American bottom of the Mississippi begins at the mouth of the Kas¬ 
 kaskia river, extending nearly to the mouth of the Illinois river, sup¬ 
 posed to contain COO square miles. No land can be more fertile ; 
 some of it has been in cultivation one hundred and twenty years, and 
 still no deterioration has yet manifested itself: it is unquestionably 
 the Delta of America. Great numbers of cattle are bought in that 
 country for the Philadelphia and Baltimore markets; it is, undoubt¬ 
 edly, a very fine stock country.—There are many small lakes in this 
 territory. Several of the livers have their sources in them. They 
 aboundWith wild fowl and fi4iT !:: niere are six distinct kinds of land 
 in Illinois: 1. Bottoms, bearing honey locust, pecan, black walnut, 
 beach, sugar maple, buck-eye, pawpaw, &c. This land is of the first 
 quality, and may be said to be ripe alluvion, and is found in greater 
 er less quantities on all the rivers before enumerated. It is called 
 
 M 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 82 
 
 the first bottom. It is almost invariably covered with a pretty heavy 
 growth of the foregoing trees, grape vines, &c.; and in autumn the 
 air of these bottoms is agreeably impregnated witIi an aromatic smell, 
 caused no doubt by the fruit aud leaves of the black walnut. Thii 
 land is inexhaustible in fecundity, as is proved by its present fertility 
 where it has been annually cultivated without manure for more than 
 a century. It varies in w idth from 50 rods to two miles and upwards. 
 2. The newly formed or unripe alluvion. This kind of laud is always 
 found at the mouths and confluences of rivers; it produces syca¬ 
 more, cotton wood, water maple, water ash, elm, willow oak, willow, 
 &c. and is covered in autumn with a luxuriant growth of weeds. 
 These bottoms arc subject to inundations, the banks being several 
 feet below high-water mark. There are many thousand acres of this 
 land at the mouth of the Wabash, and at the confluence of the Mis¬ 
 sissippi. Woe be to the settler who locates himself upon this dele¬ 
 terious soil! 3. Dry prairie, bordering all the rivers, lies immedi¬ 
 
 ately in the rear of the bottoms; from 30 to 100 feet higher, and 
 from one to ten miles wide, a dry rich soil, and most happily adapted 
 to the purposes of cultivation, as it bears drought and rain w ith equal 
 success. These prairies are destitute of trees, unless where they are 
 crossed by streams and occasional islands of wood-land. The 
 prairies of the Illinois river are the most extensive of any east of the 
 Mississippi, and have alone been estimated at 1,200,000 acres. This 
 soil is in some places black, in others of the colour of iron ru^t inter¬ 
 spersed with a light white sand. In point of productiveness, it i> 
 not inferior to the first rate river bottoms, and in some respects supe¬ 
 rior. 4. Wet prairie, which are fouud remote from streams, or at 
 their sources; the soil is generally cold and barren, abounding with 
 swamps, ponds, and covered with a tall coarse grass. 5. Timbered 
 land, moderately hilly, well watered, aud of a rich soil. G. Hills, of 
 a sterile soil, and destitute of timber, or covered with stinted oaks 
 and pines.—Between the mouths of the Wabash and the Ohio, the 
 right bank of the Ohio in many places presents the rugged appearance 
 of bold projecting rocks. The banks of the Kaskaskia and Illinois 
 in some places present a sublime and picturesque scenery. Several 
 of their tributary streams have excavated for themselves deep and 
 frightful gulfs, particularly those of the first-named river, the banks 
 of which near the junction of Big Hill Creek, present a perpendicular 
 front of 110 feet high, of solid limestone. The north-western part 
 of the territory is a hilly, broken country, in which most of the 
 rivers emptying into the Wabash from the north have their heads. 
 A great part of the territory is opeu prairie, some of which are of 
 such vast extent, that the sun apparently rises and set within their 
 w idely extended borders. The large tract of country through which 
 the Illinois river and its branches meander, is said not to be exceeded 
 in beauty, levelness, richness, and fertility of soil, by any tract of 
 land, of equal extent, in the United States. From the Illinois to the 
 Wabash, excepting some little distance from the rivers, is almost one 
 continued prairie, or natural meadow', intermixedl.jvilli groves, or 
 copses of wood, and some swamps and small lakes. These beau¬ 
 tiful, aud to the eye of the beholder unlimited fields, are covered 
 with luxuriant growth of grass, and other vegetable productions. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 83 
 
 Travellers describe the scenery skirting the Illinois as beautiful be¬ 
 yond description. There is a constant succession of prairies, 
 stretching in many places from the river farther than the eye can 
 reach, and elegant groves of wood-land. The trees are represented 
 as peculiarly handsome; having their branches overspread with rich 
 covering ot the vine. Nevertheless, it is the empire of solilude; for 
 the cheering voice of civilized men is seldom heard on this delightful 
 stream.—Copper and lead are found in several parts of the territory. 
 
 I am not intormed as to the existence of iron ore. Travellers speak 
 of an alum hill a considerable distance up Mine river, and of another 
 hill, producing the fieche or arrow stone. The French, while in 
 possession of the country, procured millstones above the Illinois 
 lake. Coal is found upon the banks of the An Vase or Muddy 
 river, and Illinois, 50 miles above Peoria lake; the latter mine ex¬ 
 tends for half a mile along the right bank of the river. A little 
 below the coal mines are two salt ponds, one hundred yards in cir¬ 
 cumference, and several feet in depth; the water is stagnant, and of 
 a yellowish colour. The French inhabitants and Indians make good 
 salt from them. Between two and three hundred thousand bushels 
 of salt are annually made at the U. S. Saline, 20 miles below the 
 mouth of the Wabash. These works supply the settlements of In¬ 
 diana and Illinois. The salt is sold at the works at from fifty to 
 seventy-five cents a bushel. Government have leased the works to 
 Messrs. Wilkins and Morrison, of Lexington. Beds of white clay are 
 found on the rivers Illinois and Tortue. The prevailing stone is 
 lime.—There are several old French villages on both banks of the 
 Illinois, which are antique in appearance, inhabited by a people 
 inured to the habits of savage life.—Corn is at present the sta¬ 
 ple; no country produces finer. The traveller often meets with 
 cornfields containing from 100 to 1000 acres; these are cultivated in 
 common by the people of a whole village, or a settlement. By this 
 method the inhabitants obviate the expence of division fences, where 
 it would be necessary to haul timber several miles to the centre of a 
 vast prairie. Cotton is raised for domestic use. There is no doubt, 
 that ultimately considerable quantities will be produced for exporta¬ 
 tion. Tobacco grows to great perfection. Wheat does well, when 
 properly managed, except on the bottoms where the soil is too rich. 
 Flax, hemp, oats, Irish and sweet potatoes, do as well as in Ken¬ 
 tucky. There is abundance of wild grapes in the forests, which war¬ 
 rants the belief that vineyards, at no remote period, will embellish the 
 hills of the southern half of this territory.—The public lands have 
 rarely sold for more than five dollars per acre, at auction. Those 
 sold at Edwardsville, in October 1810, averaged four dollars. Pri¬ 
 vate sales at the land oftice are fixed by law at two dollars per acre. 
 The old French locations command various prices, from 1 to 50 dol¬ 
 lars. Titles derived from the United States’government are a ways 
 valid; and those from individuals are sometimes false.—Illinois is 
 capable of sustaining a denser population than New York, and con¬ 
 tains nearly as many acres. Comparatively speaking, th> re are no 
 waste lands. It would, therefore, allowing twenty souls to the square 
 mile, conveniently sustain a population of 1,000,000. But on the 
 ratio of 54 to a square mile, which was that of Connecticut at the 
 
THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. 
 
 84 
 
 census of 1310, it would contain in time 2,600,000. The Illinois, 
 which hitherto has been little navigated, except by the North-West 
 Company’s boats, must in a few years become the theatre of an ac¬ 
 tive commerce. 
 
 MISSOURI. 
 
 There arc extensive alluvial tracts on all the rivers. This 
 land, where it is not subject to inundation, is of the first quality, 
 and apparently experiences little or no deterioration from producing 
 a long series of crops. The emigration to this country continues to 
 an unparalleled extent. This is probably the easiest unsettled country 
 in the world to commence farming in. The emigrant has only to 
 locate himself on the edge of a prairie ; and he has the one-half of 
 his farm a heavy forest, and the other half a fertile plain or meadow, 
 covered with a thick sward of fine grass: he has then only to fence 
 in his ground, and put in his crop. The country abounds with 
 salines and salt works sufficient to supply the inhabitants with good 
 salt: a navigation to almost every man’s door, which will give him a 
 market for all his surplus produce, and bring to him all the necessary 
 articles of merchandize. The soil and climate are favourable to the 
 grow th of Indian corn, wheat, rye, oats, cotton, tobacco, hemp, flax, 
 and almost all kinds of vegetables which grow in the United 
 States. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Emigrants with small capitals, particularly if from Europe, are 
 liable to great inconveniences. For money, although abundantly 
 competent to the purchase of land, is soon consumed iu the expenccs 
 of travelling, which are great. The settlers in the new country are 
 generally needy adventurers, and exposed to difficulties which, in 
 addition to unhealthy situations, shorten life. The emigrant having 
 paid his eighty dollars for a quarter section, is often left pennyless, 
 and repairs to his purchase in a waggon, containing his wife and 
 children, a few blankets, a skillet, a rifle, and an axe. After erecting 
 a little log but, he clears, with intense labour, a plot of ground for 
 Indian corn, as bis next year’s subsistence; depending in the mean¬ 
 time on his gun for food. In pursuit of game, he must often, after 
 his day’s work, wade through the evening dews up to the waist in 
 long grass or bushes, and, returning, lie on a bear’s skin, spread on 
 the damp ground, exposed to every blast through the open sides, 
 and to every shower through the open roof of his dwelling, which is 
 never attempted to be closed until the approach of winter, and often 
 not then. Under such extreme toil and exposure, many of the set¬ 
 tlers speedily perish. 
 
 Sometimes he has to carry his grain fifty miles to a mill to be 
 ground, and wait there some days till his turn comes. These diffi¬ 
 culties, of course, diminish as the settlements thicken; and the num¬ 
 ber of emigrants increases each successive year with incredible rapi¬ 
 dity Land cleared commands fr< m twenty to thirty dollars an acre; 
 and thus, in the course of the last fifteen years, a tract of country four 
 times as large as the British Isles has been decupled in value. The 
 towns in the western country, as is particularly the case with Zanes- 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 85 
 
 ville, Lancaster, and Chilicothe, in Ohio, are often situated without 
 any regard to the health of the inhabitants, provided they be well 
 located for profit; gain being the chief object of pursuit with our 
 American adventurers. Cincinnati itself stands too low on the banks 
 of the Ohio; its lower parts being within reach of the spring floods. 
 But it has grown up as by enchantment, and promises soon to become 
 one of the first cities of the west. Within the little space of five 
 years the greatest part of its present dimensions and wealth has been 
 produced. 
 
 It exhibits now, where within the memory of man stood only one 
 rude cabin, several huudreds of commodious, handsome brick houses, 
 spacious and busy markets, substantial public buildings, thousands of 
 industrious thriving inhabitants, gay carriages, and elegant females, 
 shoals of craft on the river, incessant enlarging and improvement of 
 the town, a perpetual influx of strangers and travellers; all sprung up 
 from the bosom of the woods, as it were, but yesterday. Twenty years 
 ago the immense region comprising the states of Ohio and Indiana 
 numbered only thirty thousand souls, less than are now contained in 
 the little county of Hamilton, in which Cincinnati stands. 
 
 Probably the time is not far distant, when the chief intercourse with 
 Europe will no longer be through the Atlantic States, hut he carried 
 on through the great rivers, which communicate by the Mississippi 
 with the ocean, at New Orleans; in consequence of the ascending 
 navigation of these streams being subdued by the power of steam. 
 
 Full two thousand boatmen are regularly employed on the Ohio, 
 and are proverbially ferocious and profligate. The settlers along the 
 line of this great navigation exhibit similar habits; and profligacy and 
 fierceness appear to characterize the population on the banks of these 
 mighty rivers. 
 
 Indiana is more recently settled than Ohio, and its settlers supe¬ 
 rior in rank and character; the first founders of Ohio being very 
 needy adventurers. The inhabitants of Indiana have generally 
 brought with them from their parent states habits of comfort, and 
 the means of procuring the conveniences of life. They are orderly, 
 peaceable citizens, respect and obey the laws, are kind and neighbour¬ 
 ly to each other, and hospitable to strangers. The mere hunters, who 
 rely for subsistence on their rifle, and a scanty cultivation of corn, and 
 live in a state of poverty and privation nearly equal to that of the 
 Indians, always retire at the approach of the regular settlers, and keep 
 themselves on the outside of the cultivated farms. 
 
 There is no striking difference in the general deportment and ap¬ 
 pearance of the great body of Americans in the towns from Norfolk 
 in Virginia, to Madison in Indiana. The same well-looking, well- 
 dressed, tall, stout men, appear every where, pretty much at their 
 ease, shrewd and intelligent, and not too industrious. When asked 
 why they do not employ themselves? they answer, “ We live in free¬ 
 dom, we need not work like the English as if idleness itself were 
 not the worst species of slavery. In the country are to be found 
 several back-woodmen, who are savage and fierce, and view new¬ 
 comers as intruders. They, however, must quickly yield to the rapid 
 growth of civilization. The great body of the western settlers are, 
 beyond all comparison, superior to the European farmers and pea- 
 
8(5 
 
 THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 santry, in manners and habits, in physical capacity and abundance, 
 and, above all, in intelligence and political independence. 
 
 The activity and enterprise of the Americans far exceed those of 
 any other people. Travellers continually are setting out on journeys 
 of two or three thousand miles, by boats, on horses, or on foot, with¬ 
 out any apparent anxiety or deliberation. Nearly a thousand persons 
 every summer pass down the Ohio, as traders or boatmen, and return 
 on foot; a distance by water, of seventeen hundred, by land, of a thou¬ 
 sand miles. 
 
 Many go down to New-Orleans from Pittsburg, an additional five 
 hundred miles, by water, and three hundred by land. The store or 
 shop-keepers of the western towns resort to Baltimore, New York, and 
 Philadelphia, once a year, to lay in their goods. But in a short time, 
 probably, these journeyings eastward will be exchanged for visits down 
 the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans. The vast and growing 
 produce of the western states, in grain, flour, cotton, sugar, tobacco, 
 peltry, lumber, Arc. which finds a ready market at New Orleans, will, by 
 means of steam boat navigation, be returned through the same chan¬ 
 nel in the manufactories and luxuries of Europe and Asia, to supply 
 the constantly-increasing demands of the west, and render New 
 Orleans one of the greatest commercial cities in the universe. 
 
 THE ILLINOIS AND MR. BIRKBECK. 
 
 Mr. Morris Birkbeck, a practical English farmer with capital, 
 and an intelligent and honest man, removed with his family from one 
 of the most fertile and loveliest spots in England, and crossed the 
 Atlantic Ocean to settle in America. He has communicated most im¬ 
 portant information respecting the Western country, where he is now 
 stationed; and from his “ Letters from Illinois/' ubich have been 
 published, some portions, of great interest to every person likely to 
 emigrate, immediately follow. 
 
 Emigration to the extreme limits of this western America will not 
 repair a bad character. If a man would recover a lost reputation, let 
 him reform, and remain at home. In no part of the world, I believe, 
 is it more difficult to assume the position of an honest and correct man, 
 with a tainted reputation. There are people in England so uninform¬ 
 ed of (he state of society here, as to imagine that men may abscond 
 for their misdeeds in that country, and be received in this as though 
 nothing had happened: but the best they can hope for is obscurity, 
 and that is a privilege they very rarely obtain. 
 
 Grain is cheap in America; hut every other article of necessity 
 and convenience is dear, in comparison. 
 
 All agree in one sentiment, that there is no part of the Union, in 
 the new settlements or the oLd, where an industrious man need be at 
 a loss for the comforts of a good livelihood. One of them, a hatter, 
 resolves to remain in his old position, in Philadelphia, There are 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 87 
 
 in this western country, he says, more artisans than materials. Shoe¬ 
 makers are standing still for want of leather, and tanners for want of 
 hides. 
 
 The grand in scenery I have been shocked to hear, by American 
 lips, called disgusting, because the surface would be too rude for the 
 plough; and tiie epithet of elegant is used on every occasion of com¬ 
 mendation but that to which it is appropriate in the English lauguage. 
 An elegant improvement is a cabin of rude logs, and a few acres with 
 the trees cut down to the height of three feet, and surrounded by a 
 worm-fence, or zig zag railing. You hear of an elegant mill, an 
 elegant orchard, an elegant tan-yard, &c. and familiarly of elegant 
 roads, meaning such as you may pass without extreme peril. The 
 word implies eligibility or usefulness in America, but has nothing to 
 do with taste; which is a term as strange to the American language, 
 w here I have heard it spoken, as comfort is said to be to the French, and 
 for a similar reason:—the idea has not yet reached them. Nature 
 has not yet displayed to them those charms of distant and various 
 prospect, which will delight the future inhabitants of this noble 
 country. 
 
 I am fully convinced, that those who are not screwed up to the full 
 pitch of enterprise had better remain in Old England, than attempt 
 agriculture, or business of any kind (manual operations excepted), in 
 the Atlantic states. Emigrants from Europe are too apt to linger in 
 the eastern cities, wasting their time, their money, and their resolu¬ 
 tion. They should push out westward without delay, where they can 
 live cheaply until they fix themselves. Two dollars, saved in Penn¬ 
 sylvania, will purchase an acre of good land in the Illinois. The 
 land carriage from Philadelphia to Pittsburg is from seven to ten 
 dollars per cwt. (1001b.) Clothing, razors, pocket-knives, pencils, 
 mathematical instruments, and light articles in general, of constant 
 usefulness, ought to be carried even at this expence; and books, 
 which are scarce, and much wanted in the west. Good gun-locks are 
 rare, and difficult to procure. No heavy implements will pay car¬ 
 riage. A pocket compass is indispensable for every stranger who 
 ventures alone into the woods of America; and he should always 
 carry the means of lighting a fire; for the traveller, when he starts in 
 the morning on a wilderness journey, little knows where next lie may 
 lay his bead. Tow rubbed with gunpowder is good tinder. A few 
 biscuits, a phial of spirits, a tomahawk, and a good blanket, are 
 necessary articles. Overtaken by night, or bewildered, if thus pro¬ 
 vided, you may be really comfortable by your blazing fire; when with¬ 
 out them you w'ould feel dismal and disconsolate. A dog is a pleasant 
 and useful fellow-traveller in the back woods. You should make your 
 fire with a fallen tree for a back log, and lie to leeward, with your feet 
 towards it. The smoke flying over will preserve you from the damp 
 air and musquitoes. Tie your horse with a long rein to the end of a 
 bough, or the top of a young hickory tree, which will allow him to 
 graze or browse; and change his position, if you awake in the night. 
 
 Emigrants with small capitals are liable to great inconvenience, 
 unless they have a particular situation provided for them by some 
 precursor on whom they can depend. Money is powerful in this 
 country in purchasing land, but weak in providing the means of 
 
88 the emigrants guide. 
 
 living, except as to the bare necessaries of life. Thus the travelling 
 expences of emigrants are heavy, in addition to the waste of time in 
 long peregrinations. 
 
 We lodged in a cabin at a very new town called Mount Vernon, on 
 the banks of the Ohio. Here we found the people of a cast con¬ 
 firming my aversion to a settlement in the immediate vicinity of a 
 large navigable river. Every hamlet is demoralized ; and every plan¬ 
 tation is liable to outrage, within a short distance of such a tho¬ 
 roughfare. % • ' 
 
 It was impossible to obtain for ourselves a good position, and the 
 neighbourhood of our friends, in the state of Ohio, at a price which 
 common prudence would justify, or indeed at any price. Having 
 given up the Ohio, we found nothing attractive on the eastern side of 
 Indiana; and situations to the south, on the Ohio river bounding 
 that state, were so well culled as to be in the predicament above 
 described,—offering no room for us without great sacrifices of money 
 and society. The western side of Indiana, on the banks of the 
 Wabash, is liable to the same and other objections. The northern 
 part of Indiana is still in possession of the Indians. But a few miles 
 farther west opened our way into a country preferable in itself to any 
 we bad seen, where we could choose for ourselves, and to which we 
 could invite our friends; and where, in regard to communication with 
 Europe, we could command equal facilities, and foresee greater, than 
 in the state of Ohio, being so much nearer the grand outlet at New 
 Orleans. I am so well satisfied with the election we have made in the 
 Illinois, that 1 have not for a moment felt a disposition to recede; and 
 much as I should lament that our English friends should stop short of 
 us, some amends even for that would be made by the higher order of 
 settlers, whom similar motives bring constantly into our very track. 
 Society we shall not want, I believe; and with the fear of that want 
 every other fear has vanished. The comforts and luxuries of life we 
 shall obtain with ease and in abundance: pomp and state will follow 
 but too quickly. 
 
 Extract from a Letter to a Friend .—Make an effort, and extricate 
 yourself and family completely, by removing into this country. 
 When I last saw you, twelve months ago, I did not think favourablv 
 of your prospects: if things have turned out better, I shall be re¬ 
 joiced to hear it, and you will not need the advice I am preparing 
 for you. But if vexation and disappointments have assailed you, 
 as I feared, and you can honourably make your escape, with the 
 means of transmitting yourself hither, and 100 pounds sterling to 
 spare,— don’t hesitate. In six months after I shall have welcomed 
 you, barring accidents, you shall discover that you are become rich, 
 for you shall feel that you are independent ; and I think that will 
 be the most delightful sensation you ever experienced ; for you will 
 receive it multiplied as it were by the number of your family, as 
 your troubles now are. It is not, however, a sort of independence 
 that will excuse you from labour, or afford you many luxuries, that 
 is, costly luxuries. I will state to you what I have learnt, from a 
 good deal of observation and inquiry, and a little experience; then 
 you will form your own judgment. In the first place, the voyage—• 
 That will cost, to Baltimore or Philadelphia, provided you take it. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 89 
 
 as no doubt you would, in the cheapest way, twelve guineas each, for 
 a birth, fire, and water, for yourself and wife, and half price or less 
 for your children; besides provisions, which you will furnish. Then 
 the journey—Over the mountains to Pittsburg, down the Ohio to 
 Shawnee Town, and from thence to our settlement, 50 miles north, 
 will amount to five pounds sterling per head. If you arrive here as 
 early as May, or even June, another five pounds per head will carry 
 you on to that point, where you may take your leave of dependence 
 on any thing earthly but your oun exertions. At this time I suppose 
 you to have remaining oue huudred pounds (borrowed probably from 
 English friends, who rely on your integrity, and who may have di¬ 
 rected the interest to be paid to me on their behalf, and the principal 
 in due season).—We will now, if you please, turn it into dollars, and 
 consider how it may be disposed of. A hundred pounds sterling will 
 go a great way in dollars. With 80 dollars you will “ enter a quarter 
 section of land;” that is, you will purchase at the land-office 160 
 acres, and pay one-fourth of the purchase-money, looking to the 
 land to reward your paius with the means of discharging the other 
 three-fourths as they become due, in two, three, and four years. 
 \ou will build a house with 50 dollars and you will find it ex¬ 
 tremely comfortable and convenient, as it will be really and truly 
 yours. Two horses will cost, with harness and plough, 100. 
 Cows, and hogs, and seed corn, and fencing, with other ex- 
 pences, will require the remaining 210 dollars. This beginning, 
 humble as it appears, is affluence and splendour, compared wdth 
 the original outfit of settlers in general. Yet no man remains in 
 poverty, who possesses even moderate industry and economy, and 
 especially of time. You would of course bring with you your sea¬ 
 bedding and store of blankets, for you will need them on the Ohio; 
 and you should leave England w ith a good stock of wearing apparel. 
 Your luggage must be composed of light articles, on account of the 
 costly land-carriage from the eastern port to Pittsburg, which will 
 be from seven to ten dollars per 100 lb. nearly sixpence sterling per 
 pound. A few simple medicines of good quality are indispensable, 
 such as calomel, bark in pow der, castor oil, calcined magnesia, and 
 laudanum : they may be of the greatest importance on the voyage and 
 journey, as well as after your arrival. Change of climate and situation 
 will produce temporary indisposition ; but with prompt and judicious 
 treatment, which is happily of the most simple kind, the complaints to 
 which new comers are liable arc seldom dangerous or difficult to 
 overcome. 
 
 Household furniture is to be procured at a moderate price, and 
 pretty well made. The woods furnish cherry and black walnut, and 
 probably various other kinds of timber suitable for cabinet-making; 
 and workmen of that description are not very rare. Beds and bed¬ 
 ding should be brought out. Kitchen furniture is found at the stores. 
 Groceries in general have been received from your city or Baltimore; 
 now they come from New Orleans: coffee is about forty cents per 
 pound; sugar, from twenty-two to fifty cents ; tea, two dollars fifty 
 cents; salt is found or made in abundance, and of good quality, in 
 various parts of the western country. Vast quantities of pork and 
 
 N 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 90 
 
 beef are cured for the southern market. The demand for all the 
 necessaries of life increases so rapidly, that the supply does not 
 always keep pace with it; and those who want money or foresight are 
 sometimes compelled to pay high prices. High prices stimulate the 
 producer; supply is increased ; and the articles soon recover their 
 due level, until a similar cause operates in again occasioning a tem¬ 
 porary scarcity. Thus, salt which might be afforded at seventy-five 
 cents per bushel, now sells at two dollars and upwards. 
 
 Nothing but fencing and providing water for stock is wanted to 
 reduce a prairie into the condition of useful grass land; and from 
 that state, we all know, the transition to arable is through a simple 
 process, easy to perform, and profitable as it goes on. Thus no 
 addition, except the above on the score of improvement, is to be 
 made to the first cost, as regards the land. Buildings, proportioned 
 to the owner's inclination or purse, are of course requisite on every 
 estate. The dividing a section (six hundred and forty acres) into 
 inclosures of twenty-five acres each, with proper avenues of com¬ 
 munication, each inclosure being supplied with water in the most 
 convenient manner, and live hedges planted or sown, will cost less 
 than two dollars per acre. This, added to the purchase money, when 
 the whole is paid, will amount to eighteen shillings sterling per acre, 
 or five hundred and seventy-six pounds for six hundred and forty 
 acres. Calculations on the capital to be employed or expended on 
 buildings, and stock alive and dead, would be futile, as this would be 
 in proportion to the means. The larger the amount within the limits 
 of utility, the greater the profit; but, as the necessary outgoings are 
 trifling, a small sum will do. Two thousand pounds sterling for 
 these purposes would place the owner in a state of comfort, and even 
 affluence. 1 conclude from these data, that an English farmer, pos¬ 
 sessing three thousand pounds, besides the charges of removal, may 
 establish himself well as a proprietor and occupier of such an estate. 
 I have no hesitation in recommending you to do as I have done ;—that 
 is, to head the tide of emigration, and provide for your friends 
 where the lands are yet unappropriated. After traversing the states 
 of Ohio and Indiana, looking out for a tract suited to my own views, 
 and those of a number of our countrymen who have signified their 
 intentions of following our example, I have fixed on this spot in 
 Illinois, and am the better pleased w ith it, the more I see of it. As to 
 obtaining labourers: a single settler may get bis labour done by the 
 piece on moderate terms, not higher than in some parts of Euglaud ; but 
 if many families settle together, all requiring this article, and none sup¬ 
 plying it, they must obtain it from elsewhere. Let them import Eng¬ 
 lish labourers, or make advantageous proposals to such as are con¬ 
 tinually arriving at the eastern ports. Provisions are cheap of 
 course : wheat 3s. 4rf. sterling, per bushel; beef and pork 2 d. per 
 pound; groceries and clothing dear. Building moderate, either by 
 wood or brick: bricks are laid by the thousand, at eight dollars or 
 under, including lime.— Ilorscs , 60 to 100 dollars, or upwards; cows, 
 10 to 20 dollars; sows, 3 to 5 dollars .—Society is made up of new r 
 comers chiefly, and of course must partake of the leading characters 
 of these. There is generally a little bias of attraction in # a newlv- 
 settlcd neighbourhood, which brings emigrants from some particular 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 91 
 
 state or country to that spot; and thus a tone is given to the society. 
 Where we are settling, society is yet unborn as it were. It will, as 
 in other places, be made up of such as come ; among whom English 
 farmers, I presume, will form a large proportion.— Mechanics wages, 
 1 dollar to 1J. Carpenters, smiths, shoemakers, brick-makers, and 
 bricklayers, are among the first in requisition for a new settlement; 
 others follow in course, — tanners, saddlers, tailors, hatters, tin- 
 workers, &c. <fec.—We rely on good markets for produce, through 
 the grand navigable communication we enjoy with the ocean.—The 
 manufactures of cotton, woollen, linen, &c. are not at present eligible. 
 Beer, spirits, pottery, tanning, are objects of immediate attention. 
 Implements are cheap, till you commence with the iron. A waggon, 
 35 or 40 dollars, exclusive of tier to weels. A strong waggon for the 
 road complete will amount to 1G0 dollars or upwards. — The best 
 mode of coming from England to this part of the western country is 
 by an eastern port, thence to Pittsburg, and down the Ohio to Shaw¬ 
 nee town. Clothing, bedding, household linen, simple medicines of 
 the best quality, and sundry small articles of cutlery and light tools, 
 are the best things for an emigrant to bring out.-—I can hardly reply 
 to your inquiry about the manner of travelling ; it must be suited to 
 the party. Horseback is the most pleasant and expeditious; on foot 
 the cheapest: a light waggon is eligible in some cases; in others, the 
 stage is a necessary evil. 
 
 This is a small portion of the valuable information contained in Mr. 
 Birkbeck’s Notes on his journey in America, and Letters from the Illi- 
 nois y where he appears to be founding a New State of Society, practically 
 beneficial. His excellent little books are depositories of hints and 
 advice, of which every person desiriug to emigrate should avail 
 himself. 
 
 PRICE OF PROVISIONS, LABOUR, &c. 
 
 IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Washington — Columbia. 
 
 Provisions—Meat, 12| cents per lb.; butter, 37J; flour, 75 per 
 stone; beer and porter, 12| per bottle; cyder, 6^ per quart; milk, 
 10; strawberries, 8. liiver fish, fowls, and wild fowl dear; vege¬ 
 tables very dear. 
 
 Labour is dear in the city and neighbourhood. Stone-masons, 
 carpenters, and bricklayers, have been much wanted. 
 
 Shawnee Town, 
 
 (The land-office for the south-east district of Illinois.) 
 
 Wheat sells at 3s. 4 ^d. sterling per bushel, Winchester measure; 
 oats. Is. 4 d .; Indian corn, llrf.; hay, about 35s. per ton; flour, per 
 barrel, 36s. (3961b. nett.); fowls, 4 \d, each; eggs, Id.) butter, dd. 
 
92 
 
 THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 per lb.; cheese, rarely seen, 13 Id.; meat, 2*/.; a buck, 4s. 6 d. with¬ 
 out the skin; salt, 3s. 4d. per bushel; milk, given away; tobacco, 
 3d. per lb. 
 
 Lexington— Kentucky . 
 
 Articles for export—Wheat, 50 cents per bushel; rye, 40; oats, 
 36 ; barley, 30; whiskey, 25 to 33 per gallon; peach brandy, 33 to 
 40; cyder, 4 dollars per barrel; beer, 8; salt, 1 dollar 25 cents per 
 bushel; hemp, 3 dollars 50 cents to 5 dollars per cwt.; tobacco, 1 
 dollar 50 cents to 2 dollars; good horses, 50 to 100 dollars each; 
 cows, 12 to 20; sheep, 1 dollar 50 cents ; negroes, (a black trade) 9 
 from 14 to 30 years of age, 350 to 400 dollars; cordage, 8 to 10 
 cents per lb.; town lots, 66 feet in front and 219 deep, from 2000 to 
 3000 dollars; fire wood, I dollar per load. 
 
 Houses, containing four good rooms, 100 to 200 dollars per annum ; 
 houses for mechanics, 30 to 50 dollars ; but that class have mostly 
 houses of their own. 
 
 Provisions reasonable.—Flour, 2 dollars per cwt.; meal, 40 cents; 
 potatoes, 25 per bushel; turnips, 16; beans, 12$ per peck; onions, 
 G$ ; beef, 3 cents per lb.; mutton, 83 per side ; veal, 1 dollar per side ; 
 bacon, from 6 to 8 cents per lb.; venison, 25 per ham; fowls, from 
 12$ to 16 per pair; ducks, 25 to 33; geese, 33 each; turkeys, from 
 25 to 50; cheese, 12$ per lb.; butter, 12$; eggs, 6$ per dozen. 
 
 Beautiful land in the immediate neighbourhood of Lexington, 200 
 dollars per acre ; from thence to the distance of one mile, 180; to one 
 mile and a half, 100; to two miles, 50; to two miles and a half, 30; 
 to three miles, 25 ; to four miles, 20; to eight, from 20 to 12. Very 
 little good land to be had under 12 dollars per acre. 
 
 Louisville— Kentucky . 
 
 Flour, 5 dollars 50 cents per barrel; meal, 50 cents per cwt. 
 Boarding, from 1 dollar 25 cents to 2 dollars per week. Wheat, 
 62$ cents per bushel; corn, 50; rye, 42; oats, 25; hemp, 4 
 dollars 50 cents per cwt.; tobacco, 2 dollars. Horses, 25 to 100 
 dollars; cows, 10 to 15 dollars; sheep, 1 dollar 25 cents to 5 dollars; 
 negroes, about 400 dollars; cotton bagging, 31 $ cents per yard. 
 
 Price of labour nearly as at Cincinnati. 
 
 Hagerstown— Maryland. 
 
 Meat, 8 cents per lb.; butter, 16; cheese, 13; whiskey, 50 per 
 gallon; flour, 50 per stone; milk, 8 per quart; beer, 12$ ; cyder 6$. 
 
 The size of farms near Hagerstown is 200 acres, often half in 
 wood. The soil is of excellent quality. Price of farms, with improve¬ 
 ments, near 100 dollars per acre. Farm horses, 100 dollars; cows, 
 from 10 to 30 each. Labour, if a w hite inau, twelve to fourteen dol¬ 
 lars a month, and board ; or one dollar per day. 
 
 Taxes, of all sorts, do not exceed three dollars to 1000 dollars 
 worth of property owned. 
 
 Wheat produces from 25 to 30 bushels per acre, which sells for 1 
 dollar 40 cents per bushel; oats, 20 to 25, at 40 cents; rye, 25, at 
 1)0; buck wheat, 15, at 35; corn, 35, at 60; clover, 2 ton, at 12 
 dollars. 
 
THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. 
 
 93 
 
 Geneva —New York. 
 
 House-rent for mechanics is about 50 dollars per annum; wood, 1 
 dollar 25 cents per cord, laid down; flour, 2 dollars 50 cents per cwt,; 
 beef, mutton, <tc. 3 to 5 cents per lb.; poultry, 6 cents per lb.; 
 mechanics' board, 2 dollars per week. 
 
 Wages —Masons, 1 dollar 50 cents per day; carpenters, the same; 
 labourers, 1 dollar; smith's work is 25 cents per lb. 
 
 Utica —New York. 
 
 House-rent for mechanics is about 60 to 100 dollars; wood, 1 dollar 
 25 cents per cord; flour, 8 dollars per barrel; potatoes, 25 cents per 
 bushel; turnips, 31 cents; cabbages, 4 cents each; beans, 62 cents 
 per bushel; onions, 75 cents; beef, mutton, and veal, 5 cents per lb.; 
 venison, 4 cents; fowls, 9 cents each; ducks, 25 cents; geese, 50 
 cents; turkeys, 62 cents ; butter, 12 cents per lb.; cheese, 7 cents; 
 hog's lard, 6 cents; beer, 5 dollars per barrel; whiskey, 45 cents per 
 gallon ; boarding, 2 dollars 50 cents per week. 
 
 \\ heat is 1 dollar 12 cents per bushel; corn, 44 cents; barley, 75 
 cents; ashes, nominal; cotton, 21 cents; horses, 50 to 100 dollars; 
 cows, 15 to 22 dollars ; sheep, 2 to 2 dollars 50 cents. 
 
 Average of a Tavern Bill in the State of Neiv York , Sept. 1817.— 
 Breakfast, 37 cents ; dinner, 50 ; lodging, 25 ; claret, 1 dollar 50 cents 
 per bottle; Lisbon, 1 dollar; Teneriffe, 1 dollar; cyder, 6| cents 
 per quart; strong beer, 12 \ cents; oats, 16 cents per gallon; Indian 
 corn, 24 cents per gallon; hay, and stabling, 31 cents per night; 
 ditto, 37 cents for 24 hours; pasture, 25 cents for 24 hours. 
 
 * New York (City). 
 
 There are five public markets in the city, of which the principal is 
 the Fly-Market; and these are well supplied with wholesome provisions, 
 vegetables, fruit, and fish; and the prices are generally reasonable. 
 Beef, mutton, veal, 9 to 12 cents per lb.; a turkey, 75; a goose, 62; 
 ducks and fowls, about 25 each ; eggs, 14 per dozen ; butter, 22 per 
 lb.; tea—souchong, 75; hyson, 125; coffee, 20 per lb; sugar, 12, 
 refined 20. Bread is regulated by flour, which is at present 8 dollars 
 per barrel. Fish and fruit plenty and cheap. Madeira wine 2£ dollars 
 per gallon; claret, 3 dollars per dozen; brandy, rum, and gin, 1J dol¬ 
 lars per gallon. 
 
 Cincinnati — Ohio. 
 
 Labour is one dollar per day: Mechanics earn two dollars. Board¬ 
 ing, from two to three and five dollars per week : five dollars per 
 week is the price of the best hotel in the city. Mr. Palmer with a party 
 paid three dollars per week; had a room to themselves; and their 
 living was excellent. At breakfast , plenty of beef-steaks, bacon, eggs, 
 white bread, johny cakes (of Indian meal), butter, tea, and. coffee; 
 dinner , two or three dishes of fowls, roast meat, -kidney-beans, 
 peas, new potatoes, preserves, cherry-pie, &c.; supper nearly the 
 same as breakfast. Good board, washing, and lodging, by the year, 
 for 150 dollars. 
 
 Provisions at Cincinnati, in July, 1817.—Beefc 6| cents per lb. 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 94 
 
 pork, 6i; mutton, 5; veal,6£; hams, 9; fresh venison, 2; butter, 18^; 
 cheese, 12J ; wheat, fine flour 3 dollars per cwt; corn flour, 50 cents 
 per bushel; salt, 1 doliar per bushel; potatoes, 31^ cents; coals, 12|; 
 venison hams, 37£ each ; turkeys and geese, 80 per pair; pullets, I 
 dollar per dozen; partridges, 25 cents per dozen; eggs, 9; milk, 25 
 cents per gallon ; honey, 1 dollar per gallon; whiskey, 50 cents per 
 gallon ; peach brandy, I dollar per gallon; porter, mead, and spruce 
 Deer, 12£ cents per quart. 
 
 A cord of wood, two dollars fifty cents. Preserved, or dried 
 fruit, as apples, peaches, &c. about one dollar per bushel. Vegetables 
 dear. French and port wine, sugar, tea, and coflee, dearer than in 
 England. Woollen, cotton, and European goods very dear. Cher¬ 
 ries, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, and apples, very reasonable. 
 River fish of various sorts, plentiful and cheap. The general price 
 of a barrel of flour (10G pounds) three dollars and fifty cents, or 
 four dollars. Farm labour, fourteen or sixteen dollars per month, 
 and board. 
 
 Cleveland— Ohio. 
 
 Wheat, 1 dollar per bushel; rye, 75 cents; oats, 37^ ; potatoes, 50; 
 flour, 7 dollars per barrel; beef, 3 dollars 50 cents per cwt.; mutton 
 and veal, 5 to 6 cents per lb.; pork, 5 dollars per cwt.; cheese, (good 
 Hudson) 10 cents per lb.; butter, 12£ ; whiskey, 50 cents per gallon; 
 cyder, 7 dollars per barrel; salt, one dollar 20 cents per cwt. Fish 
 plenty in the lake, and white fish are put in barrels at 10 dollars 
 per barrel. Horses sell from 50 to 100 dollars; cows, 20 to 25 
 dollars; sheep, two dollars 50 cents. Boarding at a tavern is three 
 dollars per week. 
 
 G alliopolis— Ohio. 
 
 Flour, 2 dollars per cwt.; beef, 3 dollars; pork, 3 dollars; corn, 
 33 cents per bushel; butter, cents per lb.; eggs, 6^ cents per 
 dozen; fowls, cents each. 
 
 Miami County— Ohio. 
 
 The price of produce, in 1817—Corn, 33 cents; wheat, 75 cents ; 
 buck-wheat, 37£ cents; and oats, 33 cents per bushel; pork, 4 dol¬ 
 lars and 50 cents per hundred ; beef, 3 dollars and 50 cents; whiskey, 
 62J cents per gallon; a good milch cow, 15 dollars; a good working 
 horse, 40 dollars; s|ieep, 3 dollars and 50 cents each; butter, 12^ 
 cents per pound; cheese, 12J; flour, for market, delivered at St. 
 Mary’s and Wapaghkanetta, 6 dollars 50 cents per barrel. The prices 
 of 1817 were higher than usual, the season being very unfavourable 
 to crops of wheat, corn, and grass. Corn is usually purchased in the 
 fall for 25 cents; buckwheat and oats, the same; wheat, 50 cents; 
 pork and beef, 2 dollars 50 cents to 3 dollars. 
 
 Zanesville— Ohio. 
 
 The price of labour is nearly the same all over the western country : 
 a common labourer has 75 cents per day; brick-makers have 5 dol¬ 
 lars per 1000 for bricks, and 2 dollars 50 cents for laying.) Stone- 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 95 
 
 cutters and carpenters work at the Philadelphia prices. Other trades 
 have about one dollar per day. 
 
 The markets are favourable to tradesmen and labourers. House- 
 rent may be quoted at 36 to 50 dollars per annum; coals, 5J cents 
 per bushel, delivered ; wood, 1 dollar per cord, delivered; flour 7 , 4 
 dollars per barrel; meal, 33 cents per cwt.; potatoes, 25 cents per 
 bushel; turnips 12^; other vegetables plenty and cheap. Beef, 
 mutton, and veal, 3 to 4 cents per lb; pork, 2 dollars 50 cents per 
 cwt.; bacon, 10 cents per lb.; venison, 25 per ham ; fowls, 6| each; 
 ducks, 12J ; geese, 37 J ; wild turkeys, 25 ; hog’s lard, 3 per lb; 
 cheese and butter, 12J ; whiskey and peach-brandy, 40 per gallon; 
 cyder, 5 dollars per barrel; salt, 1 dollar 50 cents per bushel; fish, 
 very plenty and cheap. Boarding, from 1 dollar 75 cents to 2 dollars 
 50 cents per week. 
 
 Pennsylvania ( City ). 
 
 Raspberries, 25 cents per quart; strawberries, ditto; peaches, 25 
 to 50 per peck ; plums, damascines, and mountain-cheries, 12J per 
 quart; apples, 1 dollar per bushel; pears, 2; dried apples, 2; dried 
 peaches, 2; ditto pealed, 4; eggs, 25 cents per dozen; butter, front 
 20 to 30 per lb.; cheese, 10 to 12£; English ditto, 25 to 30; milk, 
 Gl per quart; salt, l dollar per bushel; honey, 1 dollar to 1 dollar 59 
 cents per gallon; honey in the comb, 25 cents per lb. ; candles, 
 15 to 21; Virginia coals, 7 dollars per chaldron; Liverpool ditto, 8; 
 wood, 6 to 10 per cord. 
 
 Tea, coflfee, chocolate, and sugar, are about 20 per cent cheaper 
 than in Great Britain. Furniture and wearing apparel, especially 
 ornamental, 20 to 30 per cent, dearer. 
 
 Philadelphia (City). 
 
 Provisions—Beef 6| to 10 cents per lb.; veal, ditto; pork, 7 t# 
 12J; mutton, 4 to 6£ ; hams, 18f; venison ditto, 25; superfine 
 flour, 10 dollars per barrel ; Indian corn meal, 1 dollar per bushel; 
 buckwheat meal, 3 dollars per cwt.; turkeys, 1 dollar to 1 dollar 
 50 cents each; geese, 50 cents to 1 dollar; ducks, 40 to 62 \ cents; 
 Canvasback ditto, 1 dollar; Guinea fowls, 75 cents; pullets, 25 to 
 31; partridges, 12j; hares, 25; river fish, various, 8 to 12 per lb.; 
 sea fish, uncertain, often dear; lobsters, ditto; oysters, 50 cents a 
 hundred; terrapins, or bay tortoises, 1 dollar per dozen; sweet 
 potatoes, 2 to 4 cents per lb.; potatoes 50 per bushel; turnips, 30 ; 
 carrots, G\ per dozen; parsnips, 18J; onions, 1 dollar to 1 dollar 
 50 cents per bushel; cabbages, 5 cents each; garden currants, 
 12| per quart; gooseberries (scarce), 25. 
 
 Philadelphia (County). 
 
 Produce and average price of corn and grain—Wheat, 16 to 30 
 bushels per acre, at 2 dollars per bushel; barley, not much grown, 
 could not get the produce; oats, 30 to 40 bushels, at 50 cents; rye, 
 20 to 30 bushels, at 1 dollar 25 cents; corn, 30 to 40 bushels, at 
 1 dollar; clover, 1^ to 2 ton, at 25 to 30 dollars per ton. 
 
 Wheat is sold by the bushel, and should weigh 60lbs; if it weighs 
 but 57lbs. it is held to be unmarketable, and a buyer may call off. 
 
96 
 
 THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 Pittsburgh — Pennsylvania. 
 
 Provisions—Beef, 5 cents per lb.; flour, 3 dollars per cwt.; In¬ 
 dian corn, 40 cents per bushel; potatoes, 40; turnips, 18; cab¬ 
 bages, 5 cents each; butter, 20 per lb.; ducks, 50 per pair; geese, 
 60| do.; turkeys, 1 dollar do.; pullets, 25 cents do.; venison, 8 
 per lb.; pork, 5; hog’s lard, 8; mutton, 4; veal, 5; cheese, in¬ 
 different, 12; eggs, 10 cents per doz.; onions, 87£ per bushel; In¬ 
 dian corn meal, 50; soup beans, 1 dollar; bacon, 8 cents per lb.; 
 whiskey, 50 per gallon; cyder, 3 dollars per barrel; peach brandy, 
 1 per gallon; table beer, 5 per barrel; dried apples, 1 dollar 25 
 cents per bushel; dried peaches, 1 dollar 25 cents; green ditto, 
 80 cents; Salt, 1 dollar; river fish, cents per lb.; maple sugar. 
 12J; hams, 10 cents per lb.; venison ditto, 50 cents each, if fine ; 
 cord of wood, eight feet long, four feet by four feet, 2 dollars 
 50 cents; coals, 8 cents per bushel. 
 
 West India sugar, tea, coffee, and cotton and woollen goods, ra¬ 
 ther dearer than in England. Vegetables dear: taxes slight. Farms 
 within a few miles, if improved, ten to thirty dollars per acre. 
 
 Labour—Carpenters, a dollar per day; cabinet-makers are paid 
 by the piece, and can make above a dollar; smiths and tanners, 
 12 dollars per month, with their boashoemakers, 94 cents for 
 making a pair of shoes, and 2 dollars 50 cents for boots; shipwrights, 
 1 dollar 50 cents per day; other mechanics, about 1 dollar; labour¬ 
 ers, 75 cents. 
 
 RlCHMON d — Virginia. 
 
 Mr. Birkbeck was here in May 1817, and he says, the market is 
 badly supplied : the common necessaries of life are excessively dear, 
 and, excepting the article of bread, of bad quality. Eggs are 2 \d. 
 each; butter, 3s. 6d. per lb.; meat, of the worst description, Is. per 
 lb. ; milk 4Jrf, a pint: hay is two dollars (Os.') per 100 lb. It is worse 
 supplied, and at a dearer rate, than in any other place of equal size in 
 the United States, or perhaps in the world. 
 
 House-rent is high beyond example; that in which Mr. B. had 
 apartments, though in a back street, and not very large or well finish¬ 
 ed, let at 1400 dollars, or 300 guineas a-year: a warehouse, or store, 
 is commonly j£200 a-year. The demand for town accommodation* 
 of every kind, arising from the accession of strangers, greatly exceeds 
 the supply, though building is going on in every direction. Ground 
 sells currently, on building speculations, at 10,000 dollars per acre ; 
 and in some of the streets near the river, at 200 dollars per foot in 
 front. 
 
 Burlington— Vermont . 
 
 Flour, 12 dollars per barrel of 196 lbs.; meat, 9 cents per lb. ; 
 oats, 30 cents per bushel; wheat, 1 dollar, 35 cents. 
 
 There are no butchers’ shambles, or market-house, in Burlington ; 
 butchers kill an animal, and dispose of it by going their rounds with 
 a cart. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 07 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CONSTITUTIONS OF THE DIFFERENT STATES* 
 
 Virginia has the oldest constitution in the United States. 4t It was 
 framed, says Mr. Jefferson, " when we were new, and unexperienced 
 in the science of government. No wonder, then, that time and trial 
 have discovered very capital defects in it.” 
 
 The elective franchise is here confined to persons having 100 acres 
 of cultivated land, or property of equal value. The consequence is, 
 that faction prevails, and the principle of a division of pow r er is 
 materially neglected. 
 
 As might be expected, the great body of the people do not con¬ 
 cern themselves with politics; so that their government, though 
 nominally republican, is in fact oligarchical or aristocratical. 
 
 In Massachusetts and Connecticut, property to the value of <£40 or 
 <£30, or a freehold of ,£2 or <£3 yearly value, qualifies. 
 
 In Rhode Islaud and New' Hampshire no qualification is necessary, 
 except the payment of taxes. 
 
 New York and New'Jersey require a small qualification of property. 
 
 Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the Carolinas, Georgia, Ver¬ 
 mont, Kentucky, Tenessee, Ohio, and Indiana, require no greater 
 qualification than either a certain period of residence, the payment of 
 a state tax, or such a trifle of property as may bar the right of paupers. 
 
 It is to be observed, that a right to vote for State representatives 
 confers a right to vote for the members of the General government; 
 therefore, in the same degree that equality of rights in this particular 
 is preserved or violated in the State governments, it is also preserved 
 •r violated in the General government. 
 
 The Elective Franchise represents the right of each citizen to 
 dispose of his own portion of the public power. His right to become 
 the depositary of the portions of others is represented by Eligibility. 
 
 This right seems to have the same natural limits with the other; 
 any other restriction operates as a double injustice. First, on the 
 giver; since a limitation of the right to receive is equally a limitation 
 on the right to bestow, and, if carried to an extreme, destroys it 
 altogether; as for instance, if none should be eligible but persons 
 above seven feet high. Secondly, on the receiver; for though no 
 man has a right to power, and therefore cannot complain if others 
 do not confer it on him, yet if the law declares him disqualified to 
 receive, on account of some contingency over which he has no con- 
 troul, he is in fact deprived of a portion of his natural right. 
 
 The General government requires as qualifications, age, residence, 
 and natural-born citizenship. The first is rather a delay than a de¬ 
 struction of the right. A Representative must be 25, a Senator 30, 
 a President, 35 years of age; and though, doubtless, prudence would 
 commonly adhere to this rule, there seems no adequate reason that 
 the national w ill should be restricted in the exercise of a right, merely 
 because it might possibly use it imprudently. 
 
 Every Senator and Representative must be'a resident in the state 
 for which he is chosen. The same observation seems to apply to 
 
 o 
 
98 THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 this, as to the former limitation. It is more probable, a citizen of a 
 different state should be a fit representative for any particular state, 
 than that he should be chosen by it. A Representative must have 
 been seven years a citizen, a Senator nine years, the President a 
 natural-born citizen. Here, too, it would be more natural to suppose 
 prudence in the use , than to limit the extent of the right. But though 
 these restrictions may be marked as deviations from the positive rule 
 of equality, there seems no reason to conclude, they are either oppres¬ 
 sive or injurious in practice. It is possible to suppose abundance of 
 limitations, all of which would violate the principle, and yet not one 
 of them operate as a hardship. 
 
 There are, however, two species of qualification required by some 
 of the State Governments, which seem not equally indifferent; these 
 are, Property and Religion. First, of Property: Almost ,all the Old 
 States, except Connecticut,* require a certain property to qualify for 
 the offices of Governor, Senator, and Representative. The value of 
 £1000 in freehold estate is required by New Hampshire, Massachu¬ 
 setts, and North Carolina, in candidates for the first; Maryland re¬ 
 quires. £5000, and South Carolina, <£10,000. For the office of Sena¬ 
 tor, an average of <£400 is requisite in most of the old states; and of 
 £150 for a Representative. All persons, therefore, not possessing 
 property to this amount lose their civil right to receive these offices 
 at the hands of their fellow-citizens. It is true, that were the law 
 otherwise, the practice would be most generally the same. The natural 
 influence of wealth will be always felt; nor would electors be dis¬ 
 posed to degrade themselves, and hazard the public business, by choo¬ 
 sing such men as from their stations in life could hardly be supposed 
 capable of the information and leisure necessary for transacting it. 
 But the more likely these reasons are to prevail, the less cause is 
 there for enforcing them by a constitutional precept, especially by 
 one which implies a falsehood, in supposing a natural connexion be¬ 
 twixt property and merit or trust-worthiness. The qualification of 
 property seems, therefore, a deviation from the principle of equably 
 in civil rights.f 
 
 If however, the qualifications of Property be not free from objec¬ 
 tion, still less is that of Religion. The constitutions of New Hamp¬ 
 shire, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the 
 Carolinas, require a profession of belief in Christianity; and several of 
 them limit the species of it to Protestantism. An act of the Virginia 
 Assembly requires a belief of the Trinity in Unity. Here we have a 
 right subjected to a contingency over which the disqualified person 
 has no controul. If the evidence of certain doctrines be insufficient 
 to establish his belief, doubting is not a matter of option : but lie may 
 pretend to believe; and a legislative premium is thus offered to 
 hypocrisy :—and for what purpose ? To exclude Infidels from offices 
 
 * By the constitution of Connecticut, all freemen arp eligible to all offices. I 
 am not acquainted with the regulation of the Western States in this particular; but 
 1 doubt if they require any other qualification than the people's choice. 
 
 f It 13 not intended to advocate the idea of bestowing power on the lowest 
 member of the community ; but it seems that the end would be equally answered 
 without violating the principle. ’In England the qualification foramemb-r, though' 
 not great for a wealthy country, proves so inconvenient, that it is found necessary 
 to evade it by no very honest fiction. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. QQ 
 
 trust.—But if the people perceive them to be unworthy, they will 
 not elect them, and if they do no not perceive this, why are Electors 
 to be deprived of the right to confer, as well as Infidels to receive? 
 
 AMERICAN ELECTIONS. 
 
 An election, says Mr. Mellish, took place while I was at Zanes¬ 
 ville, and it was conducted with the greatest harmony imaginable. 
 Each voter handed in a slip of paper containing the names of the can¬ 
 didates of his choice: it was deposited in a ballot box, and the name 
 of the voter was recorded. The polls were kept open trom 10 till 4 
 o’clock, when all the votes were counted, and the candidates who had 
 the greatest number were declared to be duly elected. I was told 
 that the election was general throughout the state on the same day, 
 between the same hours, and that there was a poll in every township. 
 This I consider a wise regulation. It is of great consequence, in a 
 popular government, that the sentiments of the people be fairly ex¬ 
 pressed; and this can be done in no way so completely as by small 
 districts, in which the citizens can transact the whole business in a few 
 hours; and, being few in number, and all known to each other, the 
 whole is conducted without tumult or noise, or any of those disgrace¬ 
 ful scenes which often attend elections on a large scale. 
 
 Mr. Palmer says, the business of canvassing is very simple in 
 Tennessee, and the western states generally. At a tavern where lie 
 stopped during the day, a plain-looking farmer rode up to the door; 
 after having dismounted, and lighted his pipe, he inquired for the 
 landlord byname; when lie appeared, the farmer addressed him:— 
 
 Farmer .—Mr.-I suppose you have heard that I have declined 
 
 standing poll at the election for representatives? 
 
 Landlord .—Yes. 
 
 Farmer .—Tis no such thing.—As I heard my political opponents 
 had given .out the report, I am just riding round to let the neighbours 
 know I shall stand for the election. 
 
 Landlord .—Why not, Sir? I calculate you’ll do the best you can 
 for us, as far as you know. 
 
 Farmer .—I have lived in the state twenty-five years, and believe no 
 one knows any thing wrong of me. If I am elected, I shall do what’s 
 right as far as my vote goes. 
 
 After some farther discourse, the candidate, requesting to be re¬ 
 ported as standing poll, rode off to make similar calls elsewhere. 
 Here was no’cringing, no bribing, no art; all was plain, and as it 
 should be. When poll day arrives, he stands upon the opinion the 
 electors have of his merit, and on that alone he is elected or rejected. 
 
 LIBERTY OF THE PRESS IN AMERICA. 
 
 There.is no restraint on political discussion in America. This is a 
 triumph, both in principle and practice, which belongs to the demo¬ 
 cratic party. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 100 
 
 In the year 1778, during Mr. Adams’s administration, a sedition law 
 was passed ; by the second section of which, the writing, printing, or 
 publishing any false, scandalous, and malicious writing, against the 
 Government of the United States, either House of Congress, or the 
 President, with intent to defame and bring either of them into con - 
 tempt , was made punishable by fine and imprisonment. 
 
 The author of The Olive-Branch commenting in favour of this 
 law, observes, that it created a senseless and disgraceful clamour; in 
 which, however, he admits were engaged vast numbers of the best and 
 most intelligent members of the community. He then subjoins—“ It 
 would be uncandid not to state, that the trials under this act, for 
 libels against the President, and, as far as my recollection serves me, 
 against some of the other public functionaries, were managed with 
 very considerable rigour; and, from the abuse of the law, tended to 
 give an appearance of propriety and justice to the clamour against it. 
 The cases of Thomas Cooper, and Matthew Lyon, Esqrs. who were 
 both treated with remarkable severity, excited a high degree of sym¬ 
 pathy in the public mind. Of these two cases it may be justly said, 
 summum jus summa injuria” Mr. Carey concludes by observing, that 
 a neglect on the part of Mr. Jefferson to procure the re-enactment of 
 this law casts an indelible stain on his administration. 
 
 This statement, taken altogether, forms an invaluable commentary 
 on the justice and wisdom of libel and sedition laws. It has ever 
 been the policy of the Federalists to strengthen the hands of govern¬ 
 ment: no measure can be imagined more effectual for this purpose, 
 than a law which gifts the ruling powers with infallibility; but no 
 sooner was it enacted, than it revealed its hostility to the principles of 
 the American system, by generating oppression under the cloak of de¬ 
 fending social order: for instance, in New Jersey, a man was found 
 guilty, and punished under this law, for the simple wish, that the wad¬ 
 ding of a gun discharged on a festival day had made an inroad into, or 
 singed the posteriors of Mr. Adams. 
 
 If there ever w as a period w hen circumstances seemed to justify w hat 
 are called energetic measures, it w r as during the administrations of 
 Mr. Jefferson and his successor. A disastrous war began to rage, not 
 only on the frontiers, but in the very penetralia of the republic. To 
 oppose veteran troops, the ablest generals, and the largest fleets in the 
 world, the American government had raw recruits, officers who had 
 never seen an enemy, half a dozen frigates, and a population unaccus¬ 
 tomed to sacrifices, and impatient of taxation. To crow n these disad¬ 
 vantages, a most important section of the Union, the New England 
 States, openly set up the standard of separation and rebellion; a Con¬ 
 vention sat for the express purpose of thwarting the measures of 
 Government; while the press and pulpit thuudered every species of 
 denunciation against whoever should assist their awn country in the 
 hour of danger. All this was the w ork, not of Jacobins and Demo¬ 
 crats, but of the staunch friends of religion and social order, who had 
 been so zealously attached to the Government, while it was adminis¬ 
 tered by their ow n party, that they suffered not the popular breath to 
 visit the President’s breech too roughly. 
 
 The course pursued, both by Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Maddison, 
 throughout this season of difficulty, merits the gratitude of their 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 101 
 
 country, and the imitation of all governments pretending to be free. 
 So far were they from demanding any extraordinary powers from Con¬ 
 gress, that they did not even enforce to their full extent those with 
 which they were by the constitution invested. The process of rea¬ 
 soning on which they probably acted may be thus stated. The ma¬ 
 jority of the nation is with us, because the war is national. The 
 interests of a minority suffer, and self interest is clamorous when in¬ 
 jured. It carries its opposition to an extreme, inconsistent with its 
 political duty. Shall we leave it an undisturbed career of faction, or 
 seek to put it down with libel and sedition laws? In the first case, it 
 will grow bold from impunity, its proceedings will be more and more 
 outrageous; but every step it takes to thwart us will lie a step in 
 favour of the enemy, and consequently so much ground lost in public 
 opinion; but as public opinion is the only instrument by which a mi* 
 nority can convert a majority to its views, impunity, by revealing its 
 motives, affords the surest chance of defeating its intent. In the 
 latter case, we quit the ground of reason, to take that of force; we 
 give the factions the advantage of seeming persecuted : by repressing 
 intemperate discussion, we confess onrselves liable to be injured by it. 
 If we seek to shield our reputation by a libel-law, we acknowledge, 
 either that our conduct will not bear investigation, or that the people 
 are incapable of distinguishing betwixt truth and falsehood ; but for a 
 popular government to impeach the sanity of the nation’s judgment, 
 is to overthrow the pillars of its own elevation. The event trium¬ 
 phantly proved the correctness of this reasoning; the Federalists 
 awoke from the delirium of factious intoxication, and found themselves 
 covered with contempt and shame. Their country had been in dan¬ 
 ger, and they gloried in her distress: she had exposed herself to pri¬ 
 vations, from which they had extracted profit: in her triumphs they 
 had no part, except that of having mourned over and depreciated 
 them. Since the war Federalism has been scarcely heard of. 
 
 I proceed to consider the principle of libel-laws, as set up against 
 freedom of political discussion. 
 
 The language of despotism is honest and consistent on this point. 
 In Turkey she says, You (the people) have no business with govern¬ 
 ment, but to obey it; with religion, but to believe it. Th Koran 
 suffices both for your faith and moral conduct; you have therefore 
 no business with discussion, except it be to discuss the arching of 
 a Circassian’s eye brows. Sleep and smoke in quiet: we answer for 
 your souls and bodies. 
 
 Libel-law, in a free government, says, Being freemen, you have ?. 
 right to discuss the conduct of your government, whether it be 
 right or wrong: provided always you conclude that it is right; 
 otherwise you tend to bring it into contempt, and therefore shall be 
 punished. But it is only intemperate discussion we object to, say 
 politicians: so far from blaming, we are friends to a moderate oppo¬ 
 sition. Yes, provided it injure you neither in profit, pow-r, nor 
 reputation. You would be tickled, not wounded. A well-regulated 
 opposition preserves a shew of freedom. Two factions are struggling 
 for place; the Outs blame all the measures of the Ins , but they 
 would not therefore diminish the perquisites of the places they hope 
 one day to fill* 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 102 
 
 Discussion may attack persons or principles. 
 
 The American constitution, by confining treason to overt acts, 
 leaves the utterance of opinions free, however they may tend to bring 
 the constitution into contempt. Why? Because discussion being 
 free, it supposes truth will prevail. 
 
 If therefore the constitution could be shewn to be bad, it seems 
 more rational to amend or change it, than to punish those who re¬ 
 veal its defects. Libel-law supposes, either that falsehood is, in fair 
 fight, more potent than truth; or, that political systems may possess 
 the first attribute of the Deity, perfection. 
 
 They set up a political idol, and say, “ Behold your god ; bow 
 down to it: you may find fault with the trappings of its throne, or 
 the pavement beneath its feet; or even, provided it be done tenderly, 
 with the ministers of its altar: but beware of proclaiming that it is 
 itself the work of hands, wood and stone.” 
 
 A constitution which permits the free examination of itself falls 
 into an absurdity, when it passes a law to shield its agents from a 
 similar freedom. It is still more absurd to erect a man into a god 
 than a constitution : it is also more dangerous ; for the living idol will 
 not be long satisfied with empty prostrations; it must be fed with 
 lives and property. 
 
 Is therefore every species of calumny to be poured out against a 
 government, without restraint or punishment? Calumnies against 
 the theory of a government injure no one; nor the government itself, 
 except it be founded on evil moral principles. The evidence of facts 
 would bear it out, even were there not more persons interested in its 
 defence than in its attack. The annals of the world offer not a 
 single instance of a good government overthrown, or brought into con¬ 
 tempt, by discussion. Mankind are not too prone to change habits, 
 even of the worst description: they have gone on for ages and cen¬ 
 turies enduring tyranny and oppression, for no better reason than 
 because their fathers endured them before. Libel laws are, indeed, 
 essential to the security of governments founded on force and fraud, 
 as masks and daggers protect thieves and cut-throats. 
 
 OF THE AMERICAN CHARACTER. 
 
 Notwithstanding the important differences of climate, habits of 
 life, and religion, there exists throughout the Union a feature of simi¬ 
 litude countervailing all these : this feature is government. Poli¬ 
 tical institutions have in other countries a feeble and secondary in¬ 
 fluence; the duties of a subject are for the most part passive: those 
 of the American citizen are active, and perpetuallv acting; and, as 
 they operate equally on every member of society, their general con- 
 troul over the whole community must, iu most instances, exceed that 
 of any partial habit or opinion" 
 
 The common qualities which may be said to be generated by this 
 influence are, intelligence, or a quick perception of utility, both ge¬ 
 neral and individual; hence their attachment to freedom, and to 
 every species of improvement both public and private: energy, and 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 103 
 
 perseverance in carrying their plans into effect; qualities in fact 
 deduciblc from the former; we are steady in pursuing, when tho¬ 
 roughly convinced of the value of the object: gravity of manner 
 and deportment, because they are habitually occupied upon matters 
 of deep interest: taciturnity, which is the offspring of thought. 
 They appear deficient in imagination, or the poetry of life, because 
 all its realities are at their disposal. They seem to have little sym¬ 
 pathy, because their social system does not compel them to suffer. 
 Oppression engenders pity; disease and death require only resig¬ 
 nation. 
 
 Character of the New England States .—The author of “ Letters 
 from Virginia” thus pourtrays the New Englanders, or Yankees:— 
 
 “ My young friend Manly came in to see me last evening. * You 
 are a traveller/ said he, ‘ and make it a point to see every things 
 Pray, have you seen a Yankee yet about our wharves?* * A Yankee / 
 said I, ‘ what sort of an animal is that?* * A very strange animal, I 
 assure you,' said he, with a smile. ‘ It has the body of a man, but 
 not the soul . However, I mean one of our New England friends, 
 who visit us in small crafts, to get our money. These are certainly a 
 very strange race of people. You will see them with their eel-skins 
 upon their hair, to save the expence of barbers; and their ear-rings 
 in their ears, to improve their sight, to see how to cheat you better, I 
 suppose. They would die sooner than part with one of these orna¬ 
 ments, unless you pay 'em well for it. At the same time they live 
 upon nothing. A rasher of pork is a feast for them, even on holi¬ 
 days. Their favourite drink is nothing but switchel, or molasses 
 and water, which they will tell you is better than burgundy or cham¬ 
 paign. They are, however, better taught than fed, and make the 
 finest bold sailors in the world. They can sail to the north pole 
 and back again in an egg-shell, if the ice does not break it. Indeed, 
 they are seamen by birth, and box the compass in their cradles. You 
 know our genteel laziness unfits us for the drudgery of commerce. 
 So we leave it all to the Yankees. These crafting part of them come 
 here at all seasons in their sloops and schooners, bringing a miscel¬ 
 laneous cargo, of all sorts of notions , not metaphysical, but material; 
 such as cheese, butter, potatoes, cranberries, onions, beets, coffins — 
 You smile, but it is a fact, that, understanding some years ago that 
 the yellow fever was raging here with great violence, some of them 
 very charitably risked their own lives to bring us a quantity of ready¬ 
 made coffins, of all sizes, in nests, one within another, to supply cus¬ 
 tomers at a moment's warning: an insult which we have hardly for¬ 
 given them yet. You will see them sailing up into all our bays, 
 rivers, and creeks, wherever the water runs. As the winter comes 
 on, they creep into some little harbour, where they anchor their ves¬ 
 sels, and open store on board, retailing out their articles of every 
 kind to the poor countrymen who come to buy. Towards the 
 spring, they sail away with a load of plank or shingles, which they 
 often get very cheap. Indeed, the whole race of Yankee seamen are 
 certainly the most enterprising people in the world. They are in all 
 quarters of the globe where a penny is to be made. In shoit, they 
 love money a little better than their own lives. What is wont, they 
 are not always very nice about the means of making it; but are 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 104 
 
 ready to break laws like cobwebs, whenever it suits their interest. 
 You know, we passed an embargo-law sometime ago, to starve the 
 English out of house and home, and made all our coasting captains 
 give bond, and take oath, that they would not sail to any foreign port 
 or place whatever. Suddenly there began to blow a set of the most 
 violent gales that had ever been known; and what was rather sin¬ 
 gular, they all insisted upon blowing towards the West Indies, in the 
 very teeth of the law, as if on purpose to save the penalty of the 
 bonds. It looked indeed, to good people, as if Providence had de¬ 
 termined to take those islands under his care, and send them supplies 
 to save them from famine, in spite of the American Congress. Our 
 rulers, however, who had learned from history that these Yankees 
 used formerly to deal with witches, began to suspect that all these 
 storms were raised by the black art, or at least were manufactured 
 in a notary’s office, expressly for the occasion, and therefore resolved 
 to lay them at once. So they passed a law, which declared in sub¬ 
 stance that no kind of accident or distress should be given iu evi¬ 
 dence, to save tbe penalties of the bonds. This act poured sweet 
 oil upon the ocean at once, and produced a profound calm, in spite 
 of witches and notaries; and the winds soon went on to blow 
 from all points of the compass as formerly, any thing in the acf 
 entitled, An Act laying nn embargo , &c. to the contrary notwith¬ 
 standing/ ” 
 
 This is confessedly a caricature ; but its distorted lineaments may 
 help us to some of the true features of the New Englanders. They 
 are the Scotchmen of the United States. Inhabiting a country of 
 limited extent, and incapable of maintaining its ow n population, their 
 industry naturally and successfully directed itself to commercial pur¬ 
 suits; but as even these became gradually insufficient to maintain their 
 growing numbers, they began, at an early period of their history, to 
 seek for settlements among their neighbours to the south and west. 
 As it is probable that those who first began to have recourse to that 
 expedient, were such as preferred the exertiou of their wits, to an 
 increase of manual toil, reckless adventurers, who were well spared 
 at home, they were far from being acceptable guests. The plodding 
 Dutch and Germans of New r York and Pennsylvania held them in par¬ 
 ticular abhorrence, and, as far as they could, hunted them from their 
 neighbourhood, whenever they attempted to gain a footing in it. “ It 
 is/' says Mr. Cary, the author of The Olive Branch 9 “within the 
 memory of those over whose chins no razor has ever mowed a harvest, 
 that Yankee and sharper were regarded as nearly synonimous; and 
 this was not among the low, and the illiberal, the base, and the 
 vulgar; it pervaded all ranks of society. In the Middle and Southern 
 states, traders were universally very much on their guard against 
 Yankee tricks, when dealing with those of the Eastern/' It is, there¬ 
 fore, in this class of adventurers and emigrants we are to look for the 
 least favourable traits of the New England character. Patient, in¬ 
 dustrious, frugal, enterprising, and intelligent, it cannot be denied ; 
 but that they are frequently knavish, mean, and avaricious, as men w ho 
 make gain the master-spring of their actions. 
 
 Here we perceive the force and meaning of the Virginian satire; 
 but here too its application must be restricted. Even emigration 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 105 
 
 seems to be so far moulded intoft system, that it is no longer the resort 
 merely of rogues and vagabonds, but is embraced as an eligible mode 
 of bettering their condition by the young and enterprising of all 
 classes; it is a wholesome drain to the exuberance of population, and 
 preserves at home that comparative equality, on which public happi¬ 
 ness and morals so entirely depend. The New Englanders should be 
 seen at home, to be correctly judged of: as far as testimony goes, it is 
 universally in their favour. “ I feel a pride and pleasure,” says Mr. 
 Carey, “ in doing justice to the yeomanry of the Eastern states; 
 they will not sutler in a comparison with the same class of men in 
 any part of the world. They are upright, sober, orderly, and regu¬ 
 lar ; shrewd, intelligent, and well-informed; and I believe there is 
 not a greater degree of genuine native urbanity among the yeomanry 
 of any country under the canopy of heaven.” This is the character 
 niv own experience, Capt. Hall observes, recognized in the inha¬ 
 bitants of the beautiful Genessee country, which has been entirely 
 cleared and settled by New Englanders. 
 
 Character of the Central States .—There is no portion of tins 
 Union which contains more enlightened individuals, more useful insti¬ 
 tutions, or a stronger spirit of literary and scientific improvement, 
 than the cities of New York and Philadelphia; but there are several 
 reasons which prevent the citizens of the Central states from ac¬ 
 quiring a general character, as strongly marked as in that of the 
 Eastern. They are composed of several heterogeneous bodies. The 
 ancient Dutch race still exists, with many of its primitive habits, 
 towards the centre of the state of New York; towards the north 
 and west, its population consists chiefly of New Englanders. A 
 large portion of Pennsylvania is inhabited by Germans, who are still 
 unacquainted with the English language, and are consequently rather 
 a social circle existing within the state, than a portion of the com¬ 
 munity amalgamating with it. The Quakers, too, are a body whose 
 distinctive habits necessarily operate against the formation of a ge¬ 
 neral character, because they are stronger than any general causes by 
 which such a character is engendered. These circumstances are 
 hardlv, however, felt as disadvantages; in some respects, they are 
 probably the contrary. 
 
 As citizens, the Dutch and Germans are peaceable and industrious, 
 though not very enlightened ; the New Englanders introduce the best 
 qualities of their characters; the Quakers are intelligent and humane. 
 Adventurers from all countries constitute the most unsound part of 
 the population, and are likely to give a stranger an unfavourable opi¬ 
 nion of the whole; in other respects, the Central states seem those 
 in which foreigners will find the tone of manners, and spirit of 
 society, most accommodating and easy. 
 
 Character of the Southern States— It is impossible to consider 
 the character of the Southern states, without adverting to the per¬ 
 nicious effects of slavery. 
 
 The same distribution of property, which renders labour unneces¬ 
 sary to its proprietor, is no less fatal to his mental improvement. Ex¬ 
 perience informs us, that means and leisure are less powerful excite¬ 
 ments to study than the spur of necessity, and hope of profit. In¬ 
 formation will be first sought, that it may be useful; it will afterwards 
 
 p 
 
THE EMIGRANT’S GUIDE. 
 
 106 
 
 be pursued for the pleasure of the acquisition only. The planter 
 has, therefore, been ever reckoned among the least enlightened mem¬ 
 bers of society; but, says a proverb, “those whom the devil finds idle, 
 he sets about his own work.” Dissipation must be always the resource 
 of the unoccupied and ill-instructed. 
 
 Natural effects will follow their causes. The manners of the 
 lower classes in the Southern states are brutal and depraved. Those 
 of the upper, corrupted by power, are frequently arrogant ai^d 
 assuming: unused to restraint or contradiction of any kind, they are 
 necessarily quarrelsome; and in their quarrels the native ferocity of 
 their hearts breaks out. Duelling is not only in general vogue and 
 fashion, but is practised with circumstances of peculiar vindictive¬ 
 ness. It is usual, when two persons have agreed to fight, for each to 
 go out regularly, and practise at a mark, in the presence of their 
 friends, during the interval which precedes their meeting; one of the 
 parties therefore commonly falls. 
 
 Did the whole of the above causes operate with undiminisbed 
 influence, the result would be horrible; but there are several cir¬ 
 cumstances continually working in mitigation of those evils. 
 
 The American form of government as powerfully impels to energy, 
 as slave-proprietorship does to indolence. The example of neigh¬ 
 bouring states continually urges on improvements. The learned and 
 mercantile professions have little direct interest in the slave system, and 
 are therefore less infected by its contagion. I have already noted a 
 distinction betwixt the farmers of the upper country, and the planters 
 of the lower. There is thus a considerable portion of comparatively 
 untainted population. Even among the planters there are individuals, 
 who, by a judicious use of the advantages of leisure and fortune, by- 
 travel and extensive intercourse with the world, have acquired manners 
 more polished, and sentiments more refined, than are the common lot of 
 their fellow-citizens in other portions of the Union: but these are 
 rare exceptions,—stars in darkness, which shine, more sensibly to mark 
 the deep shadows of the opposite extreme, where the contrast is 
 strong, perpetual, and disgusting. 
 
 Character of the Western States .—The inhabitants of Kentucky 
 are, or at least were (for in America the wheel of society turns so 
 swiftly, that twenty years work the changes of a century ) considered as 
 the Irishmen of the United States; that is to say, a similar state of 
 society had produced, in a certain degree, similar manners. 
 
 The Kentuckians inhabited a fertile country, with few large towns 
 or manufactories; they had therefore both leisure and abundance, as 
 far as the necessaries of life went: they w ere consequently disposed 
 to conviviality and social intercourse; and as the arts were little 
 understood, and the refinements of literature and science unknown, 
 their board was seldom spread by the graces, or their festivity re¬ 
 stricted within the boundaries of temperance. They were in'fact 
 hospitable and open-hearted, but boisterous, and addicted to those 
 vulgar, and even brutal amusements, which were once common in 
 Virginia, and have been common in all countries, as long as man 
 knew no pleasure more refined than the alteruate excitement and 
 dissipation of his animal spirits by feats of physical strength and 
 coarse debauchery. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 107 
 
 To a certain extent, therefore, there were points of similitude 
 betwixt the Kentucky farmers and the Irish gentry; but there was 
 always this point of distinction : in Kentucky, leisure and abundance 
 belonged to every man who would work for them ; in Ireland, they 
 appertained only to the few for whom the many worked. 
 
 Kentucky has of late years become a manufacturing state; towns 
 have grown up rapidly, and the luxuries of social intercourse are 
 scarcely less understood in Lexington than in New York : manners 
 must therefore have undergone a considerable change; and those 
 peculiarities of character, which were once supposed to mark the Ken¬ 
 tuckians, must probably now be sought among the more recent inha¬ 
 bitants of Tennessee or Indiana. It may safely be affirmed, that 
 between the Alleghanies and the Missouri every degree of civilization 
 is to be met with which shades the character of social man, from a 
 state of considerable luxury and refinement, until, on the very verge 
 of the pale, he almost ceases to be gregarious, and attaches himself to 
 a life of savage independence. There are settlers, if they may be so 
 called, who are continually pushing forward, abandoning their recent 
 improvements as fast as neighbourhood overtakes them, and plunging 
 deeper into primeval wildernesses. Mr. Boon is a person of this 
 description: he explored Kentucky in 1760; since this period he 
 has constantly formed the advanced patrole of civilization, until he 
 is now, I believe, on the Missouri. It is a maxim with him, that a 
 country is too thickly peopled, as soon as he cannot fall a tree 
 from the forest into his own inclosure. 
 
 It seems a very simple process to go and settle in a fertile country, 
 where land may be procured for two dollars per acre: a glance, how¬ 
 ever, over an uncleared and heavily-timbered tract is sufficient, not 
 only to correct our notions of the facility of the enterprise, but to 
 render it astonishing, that men are found sufficiently venturesome 
 and enduring to undertake the task. The stoutest labourer might 
 well shrink at the prospect; but hope and freedom brace both soul 
 and sinews. The manner in which the young adventurer sets out 
 upon his prilgrimag 0 has been already described in livelier colours 
 than mine. There is something almost poetical in the confidence 
 and hardihood of such undertakings ; and I have heard a kind of 
 ballad-song, which turns upon them with some such burthen as this:— 
 
 “ Tis you can reap and mow, love, 
 
 • A nd I can spin and sew, 
 
 And we’ll settle on the banks of 
 The pleasant Ohio.” 
 
 How these adventurers have thriven is well known. 
 
 It may be supposed that, with a rapidly increasing population, the 
 demand for labour through the Western states is very great: even in 
 Upper Canada the want of mechanics and artificers is severely felt. 
 The cause is easily assigned. Whenever great facilities exist for 
 becoming a land-owner, men will unwillingly submit to the drudgery of 
 menial or mechanical occupations; or, at least, submit to them so long 
 only as will afford them the means of taking up what they will con¬ 
 sider a preferable mode of life. Wages are therefore very high 
 through the whole of the continent: in the new states, from the natu¬ 
 ral scarcity of labourers; in the old, from the competition of the new. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 108 
 
 I saw the following terms offered to journeymen tailors in a Knoxville 
 newspaper:—Three dollars for making a coat; one for each job; 
 their board and lodging found them ; and certain employment for one 
 year. Knoxville is the capital of East Tennessee. 
 
 The views and feelings of the Western states are naturally in¬ 
 fluenced by their local position. All their streams, the Ohio, the 
 Wabash, the Miami, the Kanhawa, and the Monongahela, discharge 
 themselves finally into the Mississippi; the Missouri coming from the 
 opposite direction, finds the same vent. The inhabitants look there- 
 foie to the gulf of Mexico as the natural outlet of their commerce; 
 to them the Atlantic states are the back country. What changes 
 this feeling may eventually work in the Union, it is now useless to 
 inquire; but it seems evident that, at no distant date, the Westeri 
 states will have far outgrown their neighbours in power and popu¬ 
 lation. 
 
 It is curious to observe, for bow much, or rather for how little, 
 the rights of the real proprietors of the soil, the Indians, count in 
 these convenient distributions. They are in fact considered as a 
 race of wild animals, not less injurious to settlement and cultivation 
 than wolves and bears; but too strong, or too cunning, to be exter¬ 
 minated exactly in the same way. Their final extinction, however, 
 is not less certain. 
 
 SPECIMENS OF INDIAN ELOQUENCE. 
 
 When the Indians in the district of New York sold their lands, 
 they reserved certain portions for themselves and their families to re¬ 
 side on, amounting in the whole to upwards of 200,000 acres. The 
 pre-emption right, namely, the right to purchase from the Indians, 
 was sold by the Holland Company to certain gentlemen in New York; 
 and they sent a Mr. Richardson, as agent, to endeavour to make a 
 bargain with the Indians for their reserved territory. At the same 
 time the Missionary Society of New York appointed a Mr. Alexander 
 on a mission to the Seneca Iudians, to endeavour to convert them to 
 Christianity; and these two gentlemen addressed them on the subject 
 of their respective missions about the same time. The council was 
 held at Buffalo, in May, 1811, and was attended by Mr. Granger, 
 agent of the United States for Indian affairs; Mr. ParrLsU, Indian 
 interpreter; and Mr. Taylor, the agent of the Society of Friends for 
 improving the condition of the Indians. Buffalo is a sort of head¬ 
 quarters for transacting Indian business; where several very brilliant 
 specimens ot Indian intellect and eloquence had been exhibited. On 
 this occasion Red Jacket , who is called by the Indians Sagu-yu- 
 rvhatta, which signifies Keeper awake , in answer to Mr. Richardson 
 the land-agent, spoke as follows :— 
 
 Brother—We opened our ears to the talk you lately delivered to 
 us at our council-fire. In doing important business, it is best not 
 to tell long stories; but to come to it in a few words. We, therefore, 
 shall not repeat your talk, which is fresh in our minds. We have 
 well considered it, and the advantages and disadvantages of your 
 oflers. We request your attention to our answer; which is not from 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 109 
 
 the speaker alone, but from all the sachems aud chiefs now around 
 our council-fire. 
 
 “ Brother—We know lhat great men, as well as great nations, 
 having diftereut interests, have different minds, and do not see the same 
 subject in the same light; — but we hope our answer will be agreeable 
 to you and to your employers. 
 
 “ Brother—Your application for the purchase of our lands, is to 
 our minds very extraordinary. It has been made in a crooked 
 manner; you have not walked in the straight path pointed out by the 
 great council of your nation. You have no writings from our great 
 father the President. 
 
 *' Brother—In making up our minds, we have looked back, and 
 remembered how the Yorkers purchased our lands in former times. 
 They bought them piece after piece for a little money paid to a few 
 men in our nation, and not to all our brethren our planting and 
 hunting grounds have become very small; and if we sell these, we 
 know not where to spread our blankets. 
 
 “ Brother—You tell us, your employers have purchased of the 
 council of Yorkers a right to buy our lands. We do not under* 
 stand how this can be; the lands do not belong to the Yorkers; thej 
 are ours, and were given to us by the Great Spirit. 
 
 * e Brother—We think it strange that you should jump over the land* 
 of our brethren in the .east, to come to our council-fire so far off, to 
 get our lands. When we sold our lands in the east to the white peo¬ 
 ple, we determined never to sell those we kept, which are as small a i 
 we can live comfortably on. 
 
 “ Brother—You want us to travel with you, and look for other 
 lands. If we should sell our lands, and move off into a distant 
 country, towards the setting sun, we should be looked upon in the 
 country to which we go as foreigners and strangers, and be despised 
 by the red as well as the white men; and we should soon be sur¬ 
 rounded by the white men, who will there also kill our game, come 
 upon our lauds, and try to get them from us. 
 
 “ Brother—We are determined not to sell our lands, but to continue 
 on them. We like them; they are fruitful, and produce us corn in 
 abundance, for the support of our women and children, and grass and 
 herbs for our cattle. 
 
 “ Brother—At the treaties held for the purchase of our lands, the 
 white men, with sweet voices and smiling faces , told us they loved us, 
 and that they would not cheat us; but that the king's children on the 
 other side of the lake would cheat us. When we go on the other 
 side of the lake, the king's children tell us your people will cheat us; 
 but, with sweet voices and smiling faces, assure us of their love, and 
 that they will not cheat us. These things puzzle our heads; and we 
 believe that the Indians must take care of themselves, and not trust 
 either in your people or in the king’s children. 
 
 “ Brother—At a late council we requested our agents to tell you 
 that we would not sell our lands; and we think you have not spoken 
 to our agents, or they would have informed you so, and we should 
 not have met you at our council-fire at this time. t 
 
 “ Brother—The white people buy and sell false rights to our lands. 
 Your employers have, you say, paid a great price for their right: 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 110 
 
 they must have plenty of money, to spend it in buying false rights to 
 lands belonging to Indians. The loss of it will not hurt them, but 
 our lands are of great value to us ; and we wish you to go back with 
 your talk to your employers, and to tell them and the .Yorkers, that 
 they have no right to buy and sell false rights to our lands. 
 
 u Brother—We hope you clearly understand the words we hate 
 spoken^ This is all we have to say.” 
 
 In answer to Mr. Alexander, the religious missionary. Red Jacket 
 addressed himself to him thus 
 
 “ Brother—We listened to the talk you delivered to us from the 
 council of black coats'* in New \ r ork. We have fully considered 
 your talk, and the offers you have made us; we perfectly understand 
 them, and we return an answer, which we wish you also to understand. 
 In making up our minds, we have looked back, and remembered what 
 has been done in our days, and what our fathers have told us was 
 done in old times. 
 
 “ Brother—Great numbers of black coats have been amongst the 
 Indians, and, with sweet voices and smiling faces , have offered to 
 teach them the religion of the w'hite people. Our brethren in the 
 east listened to the black coats—turned from the religion of their 
 fathers, and took up the religion of the white people. What good 
 has it done them? Are they more happy and more friendly one to 
 another than we are? No, brother; they are a divided people—we 
 are united; they quarrel about religion—we live in love and friend¬ 
 ship ; they drink strong water, have learned how r to cheat, and to 
 practise all the vices of the w hite men (w hich disgrace Indians), w ith¬ 
 out imitating the virtues of the white men. Brother, if \ou are our 
 well-wisher, keep away, and do not disturb us. 
 
 “ Brother—We do not worship the Great Spirit as the white men 
 do, but we believe that forms of worship are indifferent to the Great 
 Spirit—it is the offering of a sincere heart that pleases him ; and we 
 worship him in this manner. According to your religion, we must 
 believe in a Father and Son, or we will not be happy hereafter. We 
 have always believed in a Father, and we worship him, as we were 
 taught by our fathers. Y'our book says, the Son was sent on earth 
 by the Father;—did all the people who saw the Son believe in him? 
 No, they did not; and the consequences must be known to you, if you 
 have read the book. 
 
 “ Brother—You wish to change our religion for yours: w'e like our 
 religion, and do not want another. Our friends (pointing to Mr. 
 Granger, Mr. Parrish, and Mr. Taylor) do us great good—they 
 counsel us in our troubles, and instruct us how to make ourselves 
 comfortable. Our friends, the Quakers, do more than this;—they 
 give us ploughs, and shew us how to use them. They tell us we are 
 accountable beings, but do not say we must change our religion. We 
 are satisfied with what they do. 
 
 4t Brother—For these reasons we cannot receive your offers; we 
 have other things to do, and beg you to make your mind easy, and not 
 trouble us; lest our heads should be too much loaded, and by and 
 bye burst/' 
 
 • The appellation given to clergymen by the Indians. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 AMERICAN MANNERS AND MORALS. 
 
 The great body of the American people are of English origin, and 
 resemble their parent country in morals, manners, and character,— 
 modified, indeed, by the diversities of government, soil, climate, and 
 condition of society. Being, however, all under the influences of the 
 same language, religion, laws, and policy, the several states which 
 compose the Union present substantially the same character, with 
 only a few shades of local variety. All the governments are elective 
 and popular, the plenary sovereignty residing in the people; who, 
 therefore, feel a sense of personal importance and elevation, unknown 
 to the mass of population in any othir country. To which add their 
 general intelligence, abundance, enterprise, and spirit, and we see a 
 people superior to those of every other nation in physical, intellec¬ 
 tual, and moral capacity and power. 
 
 In New England, property is more equally divided than in any 
 other civilized country. There are but few overgrown capitalists, 
 and still fewer plunged into the depths of indigence. Those states 
 are alike free from the insolence of wealth on the one hand, and the 
 servility of pauperism on the other. They exhibit a more perfect 
 equality in means, morals, manners, and character, than has ever else¬ 
 where been found. With the exception of Rhode Island, they all 
 support religion bylaw: their numerous parish-priests, all chosen by 
 the people themselves, moderately paid, and, in general, well-informed 
 and pious, are continually employed on the sabbaths, and during the 
 week days, in the instruction and amendment of their respective con¬ 
 gregations : their elementary schools are established in every town¬ 
 ship ; and perhaps not a native of New England is to be found, who 
 caunot read, and write, and cast accounts. They live universally in 
 villages, or moderately-sized towns ; and carry on their commercial, 
 manufacturing, and agricultural operations, by the voluntary labour of 
 freemen, and not by the compelled toil of slaves. In sobriety of 
 morals and manners, in intelligence, spirit, and enterprise, the New- 
 England men and the Scottish are very much alike. Dr. Currie, ia 
 his profound and elegant biography of Burns, enters at length into 
 the causes which have rendered the great body of the Scottish peo¬ 
 ple so very superior to those of any other European country: the 
 result of his reasoning is, that this national superiority is owing to the 
 combined efforts of the system of parish-schools , giving to all the 
 means of elementary education; and of a moderately paid, able, and 
 well-informed clergy, coming into constant contact with, and instruct¬ 
 ing and regulating the people; to which he adds, as no small aux¬ 
 iliary, the absence of those poor laws , which have impoverished, and 
 deteriorated, and corrupted the whole people of England. 
 
 But some parts of the Union have unfortunately adopted the Eng¬ 
 lish poor-law system; which, so far as it yet operates, is a canker- 
 worm, gnawing at the heart's- core of the national morals, prosperity, 
 and strength. The American people, however, possess one decided 
 advantage over those of Scotland and every other country; namely, 
 that of the political sovereignty residing in them; whence they exhi¬ 
 bit, in their own persons, a moral fearlessness, confidence, and eleva- 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 112 
 
 tion, unknown and unimagined elsewhere. A native free-born Ame¬ 
 rican knows no superior on earth; from the cradle to the grave he is 
 taught to believe that his magistrates are his servants; and while, in 
 all other countries, (he people are continually flattering and praising 
 their governors, the American government is compelled to be eter¬ 
 nally playing the sycophant, and acting the parasite, to the majesty 
 Of the people. It may, on the whole, be safely asserted, that the 
 New-England population surpasses that of all the rest of the world in 
 steady habit9, dauntless courage, intelligence, enterprise, perseve¬ 
 rance—itij nil the qualities necessary to render a nation first in war, 
 and first in peace. Upon inquiry, I was informed by one of our 
 southern generals, who paiticularly distinguished himself on our 
 northern frontiers during the last war, that the New-England regi¬ 
 ment in his brigade,was peculiarly conspicuous for its exact disci¬ 
 pline, its patient endurance of fatigue and privation, its steady, un¬ 
 yielding valour in the field; while his own native Virginians were 
 more careless, more reckless, more inflammatory, more fit for a for¬ 
 lorn hope, or some desperate, impracticable enterprise. He added, 
 that he regularly found that all the rum dealt out as rations to his 
 New-England soldiers had glided down the throats of his Virginian 
 regiment; whose pay, in return, had been regularly transferred to 
 the pockets of the more prudent eastern warriors. 
 
 In the Middle States the population is not so national and un- 
 mixed as in New England, whose inhabitants are altogether of Eng¬ 
 lish origin. They do not support religion by law; and a consider¬ 
 able portion of their people are destitute of clergymen, even in the 
 state of New York, and a still greater proportion in some of the 
 other Middle states. In some of them elementary schools are not 
 numerous, particularly in Pennsylvania; many of whose people can 
 neither write nor read. Property is not so equally divided, and the 
 distinction of rich and poor is more broadly marked than in New 
 England. Many of their settlements are more recent, and exhibit 
 the physical, intellectual, and moral disadvantages of new settle¬ 
 ments, in the privations, ignorance, and irreligion of the settlers, 
 who w r ere composed of many different nations, having no one common 
 object in view, either in regard to religious, or moral, or social in¬ 
 stitutions. The English, Dutch, Germans, French, Irish, Scottish, 
 and Swiss, have not yet bad time and opportunity to be all melted 
 down into one homogeneous national mass of American character. 
 The slaves in this section of the Union are more numerous than in 
 New England; and in Maryland sufficiently so, io influence and 
 deteriorate the character of the people. The moral habits of the 
 Middle states, generally, are more lax than those of New England. 
 New York, indeed, partly from proximity of situation, but chiefly 
 from its continual acquisition of emigrants from the Eastern states, 
 is rapidly assuming a New-England character and aspect. 
 
 In the Southern States religion receives no support from the law; 
 and a very large proportion of the inhabitants are destitute of regular 
 preaching and religious instruction. The elementary schools are 
 few, and in general not well administered; many of the white inha¬ 
 bitants cannot even read. Labour on tbe sea-board is performed 
 ehiefly by slaves ; and slavery there, as every where else, has cor- 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE, 
 
 313 
 
 rupted the public morals. The mnlattoes are increasing very 
 rapidly; and, perhaps, in the lapse of years, the black, white, and 
 yellow population will be melted down into one common mass. 
 Duelling and gaming are very prevalent; and, together with other 
 vices, require the restraining power of religion and morality to 
 check their progress towards national ruin. 
 
 AMERICAN FEMALES. 
 
 When speaking of the gradual relaxation of morals in the United 
 States, as we pass from the north and east to the south and west, it 
 is to be understood, that the American ladies are not included in this 
 geographical deterioration. In no country under the canopy of 
 heaven do female virtue and purity hold a higher rank than in the 
 Union. There are no instances there of those domestic infidelities 
 which dishonour so many families in Europe, and even stain the na¬ 
 tional character of Britain herself, high as she peers over all the other 
 European nations in pure religion and sound morality. The Ame¬ 
 rican ladies make virtuous and affectionate wives, kind and indulgent 
 mothers, and are, in general, easy, affable, intelligent, and w'cll bred ; 
 their manners presenting a happy medium between the too distant 
 reserve and coldness of the English, and the too obvious, too obtru¬ 
 sive behaviour of the French women. Their manners have a strong 
 resemblance to those of the Irish aud Scottish ladies. 
 
 MECHANICAL SKILL AND LABOUR. 
 
 Few nations can boast of skill and ingenuity in manufactures, and 
 especially improvements in labour-saving machinery, equal to those 
 which have been exhibited and discovered in the progress of the me¬ 
 chanical arts in the United States. The causes of this superior inge¬ 
 nuity and skill are various. The high price of labour, and the compa¬ 
 rative scarcity of labourers, offer a continual bounty of certain and 
 immediate remuneration to all those who shall succeed in the construc¬ 
 tion of any machinery that may be substituted in the place of human 
 labour. Add to this," the entire freedom of vocation enjoyed by every 
 individual in the country. There are no compulsory apprentice¬ 
 ships; no town and corporation restraints, tying each man down to 
 his own peculiar trade and calling, as in Europe—the whole, or nearly 
 the whole of which, still labours uuder this remnant of feudal servi¬ 
 tude. In the United States every man follows whatever pursuit, and 
 in whatever place, his inclination, or opportunity, or interest, prompts 
 or permits; and consequently a much greater amount of active talent 
 and enterprise isemployed in individual undertakings here than in any 
 other country. Many men in the United States follow various call¬ 
 ings, either in succession or simultaneously. One and the same per¬ 
 son sometimes commences his career as a farmer, and, before he dies, 
 passes through the several stages of a lawyer, clergyman, merchant, 
 congress man, soldier, and diplomatist. Uiere is also a constant mi¬ 
 gration hither of needy and desperate talent from Europe, which helps 
 to swell the aggregate of American ingenuity aud invention; and the 
 
 e 
 
114 The emigrants guide. 
 
 European discoveries in art and science generally reach the United 
 States within a few months after they first see the light in their own 
 country, and soon become amalgamated with those made by Americans 
 themselves. 
 
 T PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF THE AMERICANS. 
 
 The high wages of labour, the abundance of every kind of manual 
 and mechanical employment, the plenty of provisions, the vast quan¬ 
 tity and low price of land, all contribute to produce a healthy, 
 strong, and vigorous population. Four-fifths of tbe American people 
 are engaged in agricultural pursuits, and the great majority of these 
 are proprietors of the soil which they cultivate. In the intervals of 
 toil their amusements consist chiefly of hunting and shooting in the 
 woods, or on the mountains; whence they acquire prodigious muscu¬ 
 lar activity and strength. They have no game laws, such as exist in 
 Europe, to prohibit the possession and use of fire-arms to the great 
 body of the people. The boys carry a gun almost as soon as they 
 can walk; and the habitual practice of shooting at a target with the 
 rifle, renders the Americans the most unerring marksmen and the 
 most deadly musquetry in the world; as was singularly evidenced at 
 Bunker's Hill, in the commencement of the revolutionary conflict, and 
 at New Orleans at the close of the last war. Every male, from the 
 age of eighteen to forty-five, is liable to be enrolled in the militia; of 
 which the President’s message of the 2d of December, 1817, informs 
 us, the United States have now 800,000. These men make tbe 
 best materials for a regular army; as they learn the use of 
 arms in platoons, and the elements of military discipline, in their 
 militia exercises and drills. The Americans are excellent engineers 
 and artillerists, and serve their guns well, both in the field and on the 
 flood, as their enemies can testify; whereas the people in Europe are 
 not suffered to be familiar with the use of arms, w hence neither their 
 seamen nor their soldiers fire with any thing like the precision and exe¬ 
 cution of the American army and navy. 
 
 SHREWDNESS OF THE AMERICANS. 
 
 The people of the United States possess, in an eminent degree, the 
 physical elements of national greatness and strength. The political 
 sovereignty of the nation residing in the people, gives them a personal 
 confidence, self-possession, and elevation of character, unknown and 
 unattainable in any other country, and under any other form of 
 government; and renders them quick to perceive, and prompt to 
 resent and punish, any insult offered to individual or national honour. 
 Whence, in the occupations of peace, and the achievements of war, 
 they average a greater aggregate of effective force, physical, intellec¬ 
 tual, and moral, than ever has been exhibited by a given number of 
 any other people, aucient or modern. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 115 
 
 Sagacity and shrewdness are the peculiar characteristics of Ameri¬ 
 can intellect, and were in nothing more pre-eminent, than in the advice 
 of President Washington’s secretary of the navy, that the United 
 States should build their ships nominally of the same rate with those 
 of Europe, but really of greater strength, of more speed, tonnage, and 
 guns, than the corresponding classes of European vessels, that they 
 might insure victory over an enemy of equal, or nearly equal force, 
 and escape, by superior sailing, any very unequal conflict. This was 
 (good policy; as it served materially to raise the naval character of 
 the country, to lessen that of England, and to put out of use and ser¬ 
 vice the European navies, and compel other nations to construct their 
 ships anew, after the American model. This policy is still persisted 
 in ; and American seventy-fours are equal in tonnage, bulk, strength, 
 guns, and crew, to any hundred-gun ships in the British navy. The 
 American crews, also, are far superior to those in Europe: every sea¬ 
 man is a good gunner, and the ships are manned with picked men, 
 and a full complement of real, able-bodied, skilful sailors; whereas 
 the European ships seldom have more than one-third of their crews 
 able seamen, the other two-thirds generally consisting of landsmen 
 and boys. When the Americans get a navy in proportion to their 
 long line of sea-coast, their immense lake and river navigation, and 
 their rapidly-augmenting resources, it will not be easy to man their 
 fleets and squadrons as they uow do a few single ships; nay, it is 
 doubtful if they can be manned at all, without the aid of impressment, 
 which iudeed was strongly recommended to Congress by the secre¬ 
 tary of the navy towards the close of the last war, as the only possi¬ 
 ble mode of filling up the complement wanted for the two and twenty 
 vessels, of all sizes, frigates, sloops, and brigs, then in commission. 
 
 There are, however, drawbacks upon the high elements of national 
 greatness above enumerated to be found in some political and social 
 institutions of the Union. For example, slavery demoralizes the 
 Southern, and those of the Western states which have adopted this 
 execrable system; and lotteries pervade the Middle, Southern, and 
 Western states, and spread a liorribly-increasing mass of idleness, 
 fraud, theft, falsehood, and profligacy, throughout all classes of the 
 labouring population. 
 
 AMERICAN SOCIETY. 
 
 The wealthier classes, particularly in the large cities, exhibit as 
 great an average of real politeness and good breeding, as the corre¬ 
 sponding orders in Europe: for example, the middle class of Britain, 
 whose intelligence, good manners, and virtue, have always been 
 reckoned the bulwark aud ornament of the empire; and which class 
 includes within its range the learned professions, the army and navy, 
 the merchants, agriculturists, and men of letters. 1 he incomes of 
 deqeot livers, in America, as they are called, reach from five hundred 
 to ten thousand sterling a year; although very few individuals in the 
 Union possess revenues sq large as the latter sum indicates. Ameri¬ 
 can ladies are in their persons lovely, in their manners easy and grace- 
 
116 , THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 ful, in conversation lively and sensible, in their various relations of 
 wives, daughters, and mothers, exemplary and excellent. The aspect 
 of society in the United States is somewhat clouded by the marvellous 
 facility with which foreigners of every sort, species, and complexion, 
 gain access to the most respectable circles. A pattern-card, a pair of 
 saddle-bags, and a letter of credit, appear to be all the qualifications 
 necessary to enable the agents of European traders to mingle inti¬ 
 mately with company in America, far superior to any that they could 
 ever command in their own country. 
 
 Although the origin of the American people is not homogeneous, 
 yet the primary causes of their migration were similar; and the 
 liberal freedom of their social institutions, their general intelligence, 
 and common interests, have approximated their habits and manners 
 so much, that, notwithstanding a comparatively small population is 
 spread over an extensive territory, there are fewer provincial diver¬ 
 sities of character and behaviour in the United States than in any 
 other country. Nine-tenths of the people speak the same language, 
 without any variety of dialect; which is, in itself, a bond of national 
 unity, not to be found in any part of Europe; every different section 
 of which, even in the same nation, speaks its own peculiar provincial 
 patois . The laws, government, policy, interests, religion, and opi¬ 
 nions, of the inhabitants of all the different states essentially corre¬ 
 spond and coincide. They are all bound together by the same mighty 
 bands of political and commercial liberty. The civil institutions, and 
 religious toleration, tend to produce habits of intelligence and inde¬ 
 pendence: there is no division into the higher, middle, and lower 
 orders; there are no grandees, and no populace; they are all 
 people f 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF PROPERTY. 
 
 Natural equality there cannot be even in America; because some 
 nen will be taller, or stronger, or richer, or wiser than others, in spite 
 of every effort of human legislation. But political equality is pos¬ 
 sessed there, in a degree far superior to what has been known in any 
 other country, ancient or modern. All the civil and religious institu¬ 
 tions are framed in the spirit of social equality. By the high wages 
 of labour, the abundance and facility of subsistence, the general 
 diffusion of elementary education, and the extensive right of suffrage, 
 every man (not black) is a citizen, sensible of his ow n personal import¬ 
 ance. Not more than one million of the people reside in the large 
 cities and towns; the other nine millions live on farms or in villages; 
 most of them are lords of the soil they cultivate, and some are wealthy. 
 This subdivision of property, operating as a kind of Agrarian law, 
 and aided by the abolition of the rights of primogeniture, the repeal, 
 of the statutes of entails, and the equal distribution of land and 
 money among all the children, gives an individual independence and 
 an equality of manner to the population, unknown in Europe; every 
 country of which is yet deeply scarred by the stabs and gashes of 
 baronial dominion and feudal vassalage. 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 117 
 
 PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 The personal independence which every one in the United States 
 may enjoy, in any calling, by ordinary industry and common pru¬ 
 dence, is in itself one of the greatest of political blessings. So long 
 as a man obeys that injunction of Scripture, to “ owe no one any 
 thing,” (and in this country debt must arise from idleness, or vice, or 
 misfortuue, or folly), he is as free as the air lie breathes; he knows 
 no superior, not even the President, whom his vote lias either helped 
 or hindered in the career of exaltation. But this personal independ¬ 
 ence can only be supported by a man's cleaving exclusively to his 
 own calling, and diligently discharging its duties and demands; for 
 the moment he wants the aid of his fellow-citizens, in any capacity or 
 character, and has competitors for that aid, he is subjected to a 
 scene of intrigue, electioneering, influence, and cabal, that would not 
 have disgraced a conclave of cardinals, w hen ihe popedom was worth 
 having. 
 
 Generally speaking, those are most attached to a country who 
 ow n a part of its soH, and hare therefore a stake in its welfare. But 
 a great majority of the American people have this stake. In other 
 countries, low wages and unremitted labour stupefy the understanding, 
 break the spirit, and vitiate the virtue, of the great body of the popu¬ 
 lation. In the United States the price of labour is high, and con¬ 
 stant toil merely optional; for the ocean and the land offer continual 
 incitements to industry, by opening inexhaustible regions of enterprise 
 and wealth. In consequence, all is motion; every one follows some 
 vocation, and the whole counlry is in perpetual progress; each in¬ 
 dustrious individual feels himself rising in the scale of opulence and 
 importance; and the universal nation, growing with the growth of its 
 aspiring children, hastens onward, with continually-augmenting ve¬ 
 locity, towards the maturity of resistless strength and unrivalled 
 power. 
 
 CONSEQUENCES OF PERSONAL WEALTH. 
 
 As a natural consequence of the sudden influx of wealth into the 
 United States, too many of the Americans have departed from the 
 salutary habits of economy which characterized their English and 
 Dutch ancestors, and have become the most extravagant people on 
 earth. In proportion to its wealth and population, the city of 
 New York far surpasses all the rest of the civilized world in its rate 
 of expenditure, and amount of insolvencies, of which last upwards ot 
 six thousand occurred in 1811. It costs, at least, one third more 
 to live there than in London ; which, on the w hole, is perhaps the 
 dearest place in Europe. To be sure, there is no occasion in Ame¬ 
 rica to feel that perpetual anxiety about pecuniary matters, which is 
 entailed upon all the people in England, excepting a few overgrown 
 capitalists, by the enormous expenditure of the government, and the 
 
THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. 
 
 118 
 
 pressure of universal taxation. But the people, generally, and par¬ 
 ticularly in the large cities, have fallen into habits of personal and 
 family expence, not only far surpassing those of the corresponding 
 classes in Europe, but also far exceeding the fair earnings of the mer¬ 
 chants and professional men ; many of whom become their own ex¬ 
 ecutors, and leave their children paupers, and the more helpless for 
 having been brought up in idleness and extravagance. It is the 
 more surprising that the Americans should hasten to impoverish 
 themselves with such heedless prodigality; because, as there is nei¬ 
 ther birth nor rank in the United States, wealth is the only mark of 
 distinction ; it is in fact, in America, the greatest social virtue, as 
 poverty is the unpardonable crime; and in no part of the world is 
 the “ learned pate” required to “ duck to the golden fool,” with 
 more obsequious servility than in the free and independent republic 
 of the United States. 
 
 FLUCTUATION OF PROPERTY AND FAMILIES. 
 
 The abolition of the common law of descent prevents the forma¬ 
 tion of new, and insures the extinction of old families. There are 
 scarcely a dozen of the ancient Dutch and British stocks now re¬ 
 maining in the city of New York. Suppose an industrious frugal 
 man amasses wealth by a longlife of successful trade, or laborious law, 
 or lucky land-jobbing, he dies, and all bis property is divided 
 among his children ; of which a large family is generally left, and the 
 share of each is about enough to make them all idle, and not suffi¬ 
 cient to afford a decent independence. In numerous instances they 
 sink eventually into paupers, and new men from the country gra¬ 
 dually rise into eminence and wealth, and leave their offspring to run 
 a course of idleness, folly, extravagance, aud ruin. Whence, a per¬ 
 petual fluctuation of property, and of family, takes place throughout 
 the Union. Some great men in Europe, among whom Mr. Burke is 
 one of the most conspicuous, have undertaken to demonstrate, that 
 the power of perpetuating property is essentially necessary’ to give 
 strength and ballast to a nation, and link the present with the past 
 and future generations of men. But this right of primogeniture was 
 know n only to the artificial unnatural state of society called the feudal 
 system. And it seems contrary to the first principles of natural jus¬ 
 tice, that the eldest son should take all the real estate, and the other 
 children be left destitute, for no other crime than being younger than 
 he. This scheme also bears peculiarly hard upon the daughters, 
 w ho are doubly helpless, on account of their luxurious habits, as well 
 as their poverty. 
 
 SOCIAL SUBORDINATION. 
 
 Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as social subordination iu 
 the United States. Parents have no command over their children, 
 nor teachers over their scholars, uor lawyers, nor physicians, over 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE, \\g 
 
 ttieir pupils, uor farmers over their labourers, nor merchants over 
 their clerks, carmen, and porters, nor masters over their servants* 
 All are equal;—all do as they list;—and all are free not to work, ex¬ 
 cept the master, who must be himself a slave, if he means his busi¬ 
 ness to prosper; for he has no controul over any other head, eyes, or 
 hands, than his own. Owing, perhaps, to the very popular nature 
 of the American institutions, its children are seldom taught that pro¬ 
 found reverence for, and strict obedience to their parents, which are 
 at once the basis of domestic comfort, and of the welfare of the chil¬ 
 dren themselves. Of course, where there is no parental authority, 
 there can be no discipline in schools and colleges. If a preceptor 
 presume to strike, or effectually punish a boy, he most probably 
 loses at least one scholar, perhaps more. And as no inconvenience 
 attaches to a boy’s being expelled from school or college, the 
 teachers have no authority, nor learning any honour, in the United 
 States. 
 
 Nay, the independence of children on their parents is carried so 
 far, as to raise doubts if a father or mother has any right to interfere 
 in the marriage of a sou or daughter. This question was publicly 
 discussed at one of the New York debating clubs, for the edification 
 of a numerous audience, both male and female; and it was deter¬ 
 mined, by a stout majority, that in a free and eulightened republic 
 children are at liberty to marry whom they please, without any inter¬ 
 ference on the part of the parents, either in the shape of advice or 
 command, or otherwise,—and for this most sagacious reason, that the 
 child, and not the parent, is about to commit matrimony; it being 
 quite an exploded prejudice, that parents can have any possible con¬ 
 cern in the welfare and happiness of their offspring. This doctrine, 
 doubtless, is palatable to every needy and unprincipled adventurer, 
 who wishes to persuade some silly daughter of an opulent father to 
 accompany him to the next trading justice, w ho, for a few shillings, 
 will perform the marriage ceremony, and consign her to a husband, 
 and disgrace and misery, for life. 
 
 There is no such relation as master and servant in the United 
 States : indeed, the name is not permitted ;—“ help ” is the designa¬ 
 tion of one who condescends to receive wages for service. This help 
 is generally afforded by free blacks and Irish; the natives seldom 
 lowering the dignity of free-born republicans so much as to enter a 
 house in the capacity of servants. Even Mr. Birkbeck is somewhat 
 troubled at what he calls the bigoted aversion of the Americans to 
 domestic service; and that they, confounding the term servant with 
 that of slavey should prefer keeping their children at home in idle¬ 
 ness, and often in rags, when they might be profitably and pleasantly 
 employed in attending upon their more affluent fellow-citizens. He 
 concludes with the discovery, that if a gentleman wishes to be waited 
 on and served in the United States, he must wait upon and serve him¬ 
 self; which is true enough. I remember at Boston, a few years 
 since, the mistress of the house where I lodged desired her negro man 
 to go on some errand for her; the answer was, “ I cannot, for I am 
 engaged to meet some gentlemen and ladies (all negroes) at an 
 
 assembly this evening, in- Street.” And the lady was obliged to 
 
 have her service unperformed, while a stout fellow, to whom she 
 
120 THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 gave twelve dollars a month wages, was regaling himself at a black 
 ball in the neighbourhood. 
 
 The national vanity of the United States surpasses that of any 
 other country, not even excepting France. It blazes out every where, 
 and on all occasions,—in their conversation, newspapers, pamphlets, 
 speeches, and books. They assume it as a self-evideut fact, that the 
 Americans surpass all other nations in virtue, wisdom, valour, liberty, 
 government, and every other excellence. All Europeans they profess 
 to despise, as ignorant paupers and dastardly slaves. Even during 
 President Washington's admininistration, Congress debated three days 
 upon the important position, that “America was the most enlightened 
 nation on earth," and finally decided the affirmative by a small ma¬ 
 jority. At the breaking out of tbe late war with England, General 
 Moreau, who then resided in this city, was asked, if our officers did 
 not seek to avail themselves of his military skill and experience, by 
 propounding questions to him? He replied, “ There is not an ensign 
 iu the American army, w ho does not consider himself a much greater 
 tactician than General Moreau." The present President, in his recent 
 tour through the Union, told the people of Kennebunk, in the district 
 of Maine, “ that the United States were certainly the most enlightened 
 nation in the world." 
 
 The causes of this national vanity are obvious: the popular insti¬ 
 tutions, vesting the national sovereignty in the people, have a direct 
 tendency to make that people self-important and vain. Add to 
 which, the incessant flattery they receive in newspapers, and public 
 talks, about their collective majesty, wisdom, power, dignity, and so 
 forth ; their unexampled prosperity in the occupations of peace; and, 
 lastly, their actual achievements in war. Twice have they grappled in 
 deadly encounter with the most powerful, the bravest, and the most 
 intelligent nation in Europe; and twice have they triumphed over 
 the most skilful commanders and best-appointed troops of that 
 nation, in the battle-field and on the ocean. 
 
 The result of all is, that the American people possess physical, in¬ 
 tellectual, and moral materials of national greatness, superior to 
 those of any other country : and, in order to render the United States 
 the greatest nation in the world, they have only gradually to augment 
 the power of their general government; to tighten the cords and 
 strengthen the stakes of their Federal Union; to organize a judicious 
 system of internal finance; to provide for the more general diffu¬ 
 sion of religious worship; to enlarge and elevate their system of 
 liberal education; and to increase the dimensions, and exalt the 
 standard of their literature, art, and science. 
 
 CITY OF NEW YORK. 
 
 A great proportion of the emigrants laud at New r York, the first city 
 in the United States for wealth, commerce, and population, as it also 
 the finest and most agreeable for its situation and buildings. It has 
 
THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. 121 
 
 neither the narrow and confined irregularity of Boston, nor the monoto- 
 nous regularity of Philadelphia, but a happy medium between both. 
 >> lien the intended improvements are completed, it will be a very 
 elegant and commodious town, and worthy of becoming the capital 
 of the United States; for it seems that Washington is bv no means 
 calculated for a metropolitan city. New York has rapidly improved 
 'Mthin the last twenty years; and land which then sold in that city for 
 20 dollars, is now worth 1500. 
 
 I he Broadway and Bowery road are the two finest avenues in the 
 citv, and nearly of the same width as Oxford Street in London. The 
 first commences from the grand battery, situate at the extreme point 
 • of the town, and divides it into two unequal parts. It is upwards of 
 two miles in length, though the pavement does not extend above a 
 mile and a quarter; the remainder of the road consists of straggling 
 houses, w hich are the commencement of new streets already planned 
 out. The Bowery road commences from Chatham Street, which 
 branches off from the Broadway to the right, by the side of the Park. 
 After proceeding about a mile and a half, it joins the Broadway, and 
 terminates the plan which is intended to be carried into effect for the 
 enlargement of that city. Much of the intermediate spaces between 
 these large streets, and from thence to the Hudson and East rivers, is 
 yet unbuilt upon, or consists only of unfinished streets and detached 
 buildings. 
 
 The houses iu the Broadway are lofty and well built. They are 
 constructed in the English style, and differ but little from those of 
 London at the west end of the town, except that they are universally 
 ot red brick. In the vicinity of the battery, and for some distance 
 up the Broadway, they are nearly all private houses, and occupied by 
 the principal merchants and gentry of New York; after which the 
 Broadway is lined w ith large commodious shops of every description, 
 well stocked with European and India goods, and exhibiting as splen¬ 
 did and varied show in their windows, as can be met with in London. 
 There are several extensive book stores, print-shops, music-shops, 
 jewellers, and silversmiths, hatters, linen-drapers, milliners, pastry¬ 
 cooks, coach-makers, hotels, and coffee-houses* The street is well 
 paved, and the foot-paths are chiefly bricked. In Robinson Street, 
 the pavement before one of the houses, and the steps of the door, 
 are composed entirely of marble. 
 
 New York contains thirty-three places of worship, viz. nine Epis¬ 
 copal churches, three Dutch churches, one French church, one Cal¬ 
 vinist, one German Lutheran, one English Lutheran, three Baptist 
 meetings, three Methodist meetings, one Moravian, six Presbyterian, 
 one Independent, two Quakers, and one Jews’ synagogue. 
 
 Every day, except Sunday, is a market-day in^NewYork. Meat 
 is cut up and sold by the joint, or in pieces, by the licensed butchers 
 only, their agents or servants; each of these must sell at his own 
 stall, and conclude his sales by one o’clock in the afternoon, between 
 the 1st of May and the 1st of November, and at two, between the 
 1st of November and the 1st of May. Butchers are licensed by the 
 mayor, who is clerk of tire market: he receives for every quarter of 
 beef sold in the market, six cents; for every hog, shoat, or pig, above 
 14 lbs. weight, six cents; and for each calf, sheep, or lamb, four 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 122 
 
 cents; to be paid by the butchers, and other persons, selling the same. 
 The sale of unwholesome and stale articles of provision, of blown 
 and stuffed meat, and of measly pork, is expressly forbidden. Butter 
 must be sold by the pound, and not by the roll or tub. Persons 
 who are not licensed butchers selling butchers’meat on commission, 
 pay triple fees^ft* the clerk of the market. 
 
 There are upwards of twenty newspapers published in New York, 
 nearly half of which are daily papers, besides several weekly and 
 monthly magazines, or essays. The high price of paper, labour, and 
 taxes, in Great Britain, has been very favourable to authorship and 
 the publication of books in America. Foreign publications are also 
 charged with a duty]of 13 per cent.; and foreign rags are exempted 
 from all import. These advantages have facilitated the manu¬ 
 facture of paper, and the printing of books, in the United States; 
 both which are now carried on to a very large extent. The new 
 works that appear in America, or rather original productions, are 
 very few; but every English work of celebrity is immediately reprinted 
 in the States, and vended for a fourth of the original price. The book¬ 
 sellers and printers of New York are numerous, and in general men 
 of property. Some of them have published very splendid editions 
 of the Bible. For several years past, a literary fair has been held 
 at New York and Philadelphia. This annual meeting of booksellers 
 has tended greatly to facilitate intercourse with each other, to cir¬ 
 culate books throughout the United Sates, and to encourage and' 
 support the arts of printing and paper-making. 
 
 LITERATURE IN AMERICA. 
 
 The state of literature in a country may be partly inferred from 
 the quantity of paper manufactured. Mr. Thomas says, the mills 
 for manufacturing paper are as follows:— 
 
 Virginia. 4 
 
 South Carolina. l 
 
 Kentucky .. 6 
 
 Tennessee.. 4 
 
 Pensylvania about ..60 
 
 In all the other states and 
 territories.. 16 
 
 New Hampshire .... 
 
 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 
 Rhode Island. 
 
 
 Connecticut... 
 
 
 Vermont. 
 
 
 New York. 
 
 .... 12 
 
 Delaware. 
 
 
 Maryland. 
 
 
 . Total 18a 
 
 From Dr. Mitchell’s report, the numbers appeared to be 190. 
 
 The paper manufactured annually at these mills is estimated as 
 
 follows:— 
 
 tons. reams. value. 
 
 For newspapers 500 50,000 150,000 
 
 For books .... 630 70,000 245,000 
 
 For writing ... 650 111,000 333,000 
 
 For wrapping.. 800 100,000 83,000 
 
 2580 Tons, or 331,000 Reams , Value 811,000 dollars , 
 
THE EMIGRANTS GUIDE. 
 
 123 
 
 RATES OF POSTAGE IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 For Single Letters, composed of one piece of paper, 
 
 Any distance not exceeding 38 miles, 6 cents. 
 
 Over 36 and not exceedin 
 
 g B0 
 
 — 10 
 
 Over 80 
 
 do. 
 
 150 
 
 — 12 1 
 
 Over 150 
 
 do. 
 
 400 
 
 — 181 
 
 Over 400 
 
 do. 
 
 
 25 
 
 Double Letters, or those composed of two pieces of paper, are 
 charged with double those rates. 
 
 Triple Letters, with triple those rates. 
 
 Quadruple Letters, with quadruple those rates, provided they weigh 
 one ounce ; otherwise with triple postage. 
 
 Packets composed of four or more pieces of paper, and weighing 
 one ounce or more, are to be charged with single postage for each 
 quarter of an ounce; except letters conveyed by water-mails, which 
 are not to be charged with more than quadruple postage, unless the 
 packets actually contain more than four distinct letters. 
 
 Newspapers carried not over 100 miles,. 1 cent. 
 
 Over 100 . 1| 
 
 But if carried to any Post-Office in the state in which 
 it is printed, whatever be the distance, the rate is 1 
 Magazines and Pamphlets, per sheet. 
 
 Carried not over 50 miles,.1 cent. 
 
 Over 50 and not over 100 — . 1| 
 
 Any greater distance . 2 
 
 The mail is transported, each day in the year, 20,737 miles. 
 
 MONEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The money of the United States consists of eagles, (ten dollars); 
 half-eagles, (five dollars); quarter eagles, (two dollars and fifty cents). 
 The eagle is worth forty-five shillings sterling, and weighs 270 grains; 
 the gold of which they are coined is eleven parts pure, and one alloy. 
 The silver coins, equally fine, are dollars, halves, and quarters; dimes, 
 or ten cents, and half dimes, or five cent pieces. The dollar is worth 
 4s. 6d. sterling. The copper coins are cents (of which 100 make a 
 dollar) and half cents. Thus, 1000 cents is 10 dollars, or 1 eagle; 
 1,000,000 cents is 10,000,000 dollars, or 1000 eagles, and so vice 
 versa. To reduce cents into dollars, strike off two cyphers; to re¬ 
 duce dollars into eagles, strike off one cypher. 
 
 In the New England States, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, 
 Indiana, and Mississippi, the currency of the dollar is 6s.; in New 
 York and North Carolina, 8s.; New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, 
 and Maryland, 7s. 6d. ; South Carolina and Georgia, 4s. 8 d. ; Canada 
 and Nova Scotia, 5s.; Great Britain, (sterling) 4 s.6d. 
 
 THE END, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ADVICE and information, important, 
 to Emigrants, 40 to 75. 84 to 89. 
 
 Alabama d< «crihed, 37. 75. 
 
 America, — United States, — compared 
 with I orapeftn stales, 18. Increa¬ 
 sing population, 19. Agricultural 
 exports, 2 2. Navigable facilities, 22, 
 Mineral-, 23. Sol, 23. Produce, 
 
 24 ( l» ;iate. 24. Government and 
 
 laws, 25. Religion, 25. Land laws, , 
 25. Apportionment of land, 26. Land 
 officer , 27. 
 
 American character, 85. 102. In the 
 New I ngland state*, i03 Central 
 Stales 105. Southern Slates, 105. 
 We*t< m state-, 106. TVJanne*s md 
 mortis. III Sk I , 113 Activity, 
 114. Shrew dues*, 114. P« r-onal in¬ 
 dependence, 117 National vanity, 
 120 Femali s, 113. Society, 115. 
 
 Birkbe- k, Morris, particular? by him 
 m-ptM ting America, and the Illinois, i 
 86 . 
 
 Bishop’s, R. H letter of advice respect* 
 ing emigration, 68. 
 
 Bui leigh's, CU tm«ts, advice to Emi¬ 
 grants, 63. 
 
 Burlington, prices at, 96. 
 
 Canada (Lower) described, 2. 
 
 Canvassing, a specimen of, in the West¬ 
 ern States, 99 
 
 Certificate to be obtained by Emigrants 
 before leaving England, 40. 
 
 Character, a bad one from Europe, soon 
 known in America, 86 
 
 Cincinnati, prices at, 93. 
 
 Cleve and, prices at, 94. 
 
 Columbia described, 32. 
 
 Conneciit ut described,29. 
 
 Constitution- of the States, 97. 
 
 Delaware described, 31. 
 
 Elections in America, 99. 
 
 Elegance unknown in America, 87. 
 
 Emigrants -see Adviet f#. 
 
 Galliopolis, prices at, 94. 
 
 Geneva, price sat, 93. 
 
 Georgia described, 36. 
 
 Gourlav (Mr.) on Emigration from 
 Britain, 14. 
 
 agerstown, prices at, 92. 
 ints to Emigrants from Europe by the 
 Shamrock Society of New York, 49. 
 
 Illinois described, 38. 81. 86. 
 
 Indian eloquence, specimens of, 108. 
 
 Indiana described, 37. 80. 85. 
 
 Kentucky described, 34, 78. 
 
 Land, how obtained in Canada, 17, 
 
 Land offices in America, 27. 
 
 Lexington, prices at, 92. 
 
 Libel law, 100. 
 
 Liberty of the Press in America, 99, 
 Louisiana described, 36. 77. 
 
 Louisville, prices at, 92. 
 
 Maine described, 28. 
 
 Maple sugar, how manufactured, 6. 
 Maryland described,32. 
 
 M;issachu*etfs described, 28 
 Miami, prices at, 94. 
 
 Mic igan described, 3?. T9. 
 
 Mississippi described, 37. 76. 
 
 .Missouri Territory described, 39. 84. 
 Money of ihe United States, 122* 
 
 New Hamp'hire described, 28. 
 
 New ler-ev de-cribed, 30. 
 
 New York (State) described, 30. 
 
 -(City) described, 120.— 
 
 prices at, 93. 
 
 North Carolina described, 35. 
 
 North West Territory described, 39. 
 
 Ohio described, 33. 
 
 Pennsylvania d« scribed, 31. 
 
 --- (City) prices at, 95. 
 
 Philadelphia, prices at, 95. 
 
 Pittsburgh, prices at, 96. 
 
 Population of United Slates, 20. 
 
 Pos age in the United Slates, rates of, 
 
 122 . 
 
 Price of provisions, labonr, land, &c. 
 
 in different States, 91 to 96. 
 
 Property in America, d'stribution of, 
 116. Fluctuation of, 118. 
 
 Quebec, prices at, 4. 6. 10. 12. 
 
 Red Jacket, eloquent speeches by him, 
 108. 
 
 Rhode Island described, 29, 
 
 Richmond, prices at, 96. 
 
 Shawnee Town, prices at, 91. 
 
 South Carolina described, 35. 
 Subordination, and insubordination in 
 America, parents and children, 118, 
 masters and servants, 119. 
 
 Tennessee described, 34, 77. 
 
 Thomas’s, D. advice to Emigrants, 70. . 
 Topographical description of each of 
 the United States; its situation, boun¬ 
 daries, extent, area, face of the coun¬ 
 try, rivers, minerals, soil, produce, 
 and climate, 28 to 40. 
 
 Vermont described, 29. 
 
 Virginia described, S3. 
 
 Utica, prices at, 93, 
 
 Washington, prices at, 91. 
 
 Wealth, personal, consequences of, in 
 America, 117. 
 
 Western States described, 75. 
 
 Zanesville, prices at, 94. 
 
 Printed by Macdonald and Son, 46, Cloth Fair, London, 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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