'I Ill Hill WIIIMI1I— **&•» &* *t* #S>» r^> PLEASE HANDLE WITH CARE University of Connecticut Libraries 3 =1133 DlEflDDbb E GAYLORD RG ruummn ENGLISHWOMAN AMERICA. LIVERPOOL : liEO. SMITH, WATTS AND CO. PRINTERS. AN ENGLISHWOMAN AMERICA. SARAH MYTTON MAURY, AUTHORESS OF THE " STATESMEN OF AMERICA IN 1846. Je reviens parmi vous;— l'ame constante, le coeur fidele. APPENDIX CONTAINS THE HISTORY OF THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. LONDON : THOMAS RICHARDSON AND SON, AND 9, CAPEL STREET, DUBLIN : LIVERPOOL : GEO. SMITH, WATTS AND CO. 1848. ARGUMENT. A room in Antonio's Hoi Enter Antonio and Panthin Ant. Tell me, Panthino, what sad* talk was t\vdX//j , Wherewith my brother held you in the cloister ? * V £j jJO / Van. 'Twas of his nephew, Proteus, your son. Ant. Why, what of him ? Tan. He wonder'd that your Lordship Would suffer him to spend his youth at home ; While other men, of slender reputation, Put forth their sons to seek preferment out ; Some to the wars, to try their fortune there ; Some to discover islands far away ;T V. Some to the studious universities. V. For any, or for all these exercises, ^ He said that Proteus, your son, was meet ; > And did request me to importune you, ^-To let him spend his time no more at home, V Which would be great impeachment to his age, In having known no travel in his youth. Ant. Nor need'st thou much importune me to that Whereon this month I have been hammering. I have considered well his loss of time ; And how he cannot be a perfect man, Not being try'd and tutor'd in the world : Experience is by industry achieved, And perfected by the swift course of time: Then, tell me, whither were I best to send him ? Shakspeare — Tivo Gentlemen of Verona. * Sad, i.e. grave, serious. •f Iu Shakspeare's time, voyages for the discovery of the islands of America were much in vogue. And we find in the journals of the travellers of that time, that the sons of noblemen, and of others of the best families in England, went very frequently on these adventures. — Note by Warburton, TO THE HONOURABLE JAMES BUCHANAN : SECRETARY OF STATE, AT WASHINGTON. My Dear Mr. Buchanan, Visited in my household with sickness and sorrow, and surrounded by the deepest gloom that has ever been known in England, daily beholding my friends and neighbours plunged into irretrievable ruin ; it affords me some consolation to retrace my steps through a country which, though like all other portions of the globe it may be occasionally visited with reverses of fortune, yet contains in its robust youth the principle of regenerate pros- perity. The " Englishwoman in America/' grate- ful for your past kindness, has again adorned her pages with your name. I congratulate you on the return of Pennsyl- vania to her first love, and I hope her con- stancy will prove equal to her good sense. The Journals declare that Ohio is a tie ; and can it happily he true that an inkling of Democracy has crept into Massachusetts ? New York pre- sents a strange anomaly ; with the " most democratic government that has ever existed/' that eccentric State has appointed Whigs to the guidance of her administration. There is a tale extant of a certain Phaeton, a son of Phcebus, who for reasons of his own tormented his father to permit him for a single day to guide the chariot of the Sun. The miserable parent hav- ing sworn by Styx to grant his request could not retract. The inexperienced boy, positive in ■ - * his will, unconscious of the speed . and strength of the Coursers/ and ,of the weight of Wheels and Fire they' dragged along, regardless of the admonitions of the* disconsolate God of Day, with unheeding (confidence, but with uncertain hand, drove on until" the flying horses, becoming sensible of the confusion of their driver, de- parted from the track. Already Heaven and Earth were threatened with universal conflagra- tion, when Jupiter struck the ambitious Cha- rioteer with a thunderbolt, and hurled him into the Eridanus. .Now Jupiter forefend that such a catastrophe should ever happen in New York and the Hudson. The Session before you will be arduous ; and important in its bearings upon the future state of your continent. Mexico and Abolition seem the existing subjects of discussion, and divide the United States into many political factions. a 2 But the Ministers of America repose on beds of roses compared with the uneasy couch on which is tost the Government of England. Eecent Famines, Taxation, Kailway Speculation, Con- tracted Currency, the Bank and its Enormi- ties, ominous schisms between Church and State, the clamour of the unemployed labouring classes, the deficiency of Kevenue, and con- tinuance of the Income Tax, distant, and ex- pensive, and interminable Wars, the ruined West India Proprietors, Commercial and Manufac- turing Stagnation such as was never known before, aggravated by an entire want of confi- dence in the commercial capacity of the Administration ; the wrongs and woes and crimes of Ireland, and the perplexities of European politics; — all these lie heavy on the souls of her Ministers, and weigh down the mighty heart of England to the dust. It is boldly said, that English Whigs, like American Whigs, however learned in the Theory, do not understand the Practice of Government. As in a Bepublic, the fundamental and dominant party must he democratic, so in a Monarchy, the fundamental or dominant party must be conservative; when the reverse occurs, it is an experiment, and though a necessary is not always a successful one. Among other important changes, long antici- pated and now impending, it seems highly pro- bable that the Canadas will assert their Independ- ence. The injuries that Province received at the hands of the Mother Country, through the Immi- gration of disease and pauperism during the last season, are foil and sufficient reasons for declining her protection for the future. I am gratified to see that the accomplished Louis Lafontaine is the present representative of Montreal. The Canadas must very shortly present the interest- ing spectacle of a French and Catholic Com- munity asserting its Independence in the imme- diate vicinity of the Colonies of the English Pilgrims ; and soon that noble but ill-used Pro- vince will form an additional family in the great Continent of Piepublics. The Colonial Department in vain issue apo- logies for their supineness ; they have overlooked the all-important fact that there are two par- ties to a bargain ; and in their anxiety to get quit of the miseries of Pauperism at home, they have forgotten the results of imposing such an infliction upon the Provinces. A separation is however desirable on all accounts, and therefore it cannot be a matter of regret that England has neglected to profit by the lesson she received from the United States. The excellent regulations made for Passenger vessels by Mr. Walker, by reducing tbe numbers allowed to be carried about one-fourth, will greatly alleviate tbe miseries of tbe Emigrant to tbe United States, and will materially contribute to tbe safety of your citizens. We are in hopes that such a measure will shortly be enacted by our Government. They have hitherto been too much and too expensively engaged with measures concerning the Slave trade in Africa to think of their own outcasts. Some English and American Journals are reprobating the reported annexation of the Island of Cuba to the United States. Whether this should ever take place or not, to me, being equally the well-wisher of the white man and the black, it is satisfactory to know that America will never suffer the Cubanos and their slaves to become the spoil of English Abolitionists. The American demonstrations in favour of their country and their Pope have conferred happiness on the heart of many an Italian exile here. On my desk lies a letter from one who was for three years the inmate of an Austrian Dungeon at Parma, and an exile in England for ten. He begs me to offer to you and the American people his respectful and grateful homage. But there is a body of Englishmen who feel still more deeply the liberality of the Americans. Many of the most eminent Catholics of this country have expressed to me their high sense of the respect and regard which is paid to the professors of their Faith in the United States. During the past year I have learned the de- parture of many from the land of the living ; of several whom I knew. Their absence will be sorrowfully felt by me, when I again revisit the scenes which were graced by their society. With every respectful sentiment, every kindly wish, towards yourself and all those to whom such remembrance will be acceptable, I remain, My dear Mr. Buchanan, Your affectionate Friend And obedient Servant, SARAH MYTTON MAURY. Liverpool, 31st January, IS48 After diligent enquiry I have learned that the Declaration of American Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Farewell Address of General Washington ; have never been published in England. It is time that these noble Docu- ments should be made known to the British Public ; and I cannot too highly appreciate the distinction of being the first to present them in an English garb to my Countrymen and my Countrywomen. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. In Congress, July 4, 1/76- THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of man- kind requires, that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident : — that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that whenever any form of govern- ment becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, xiv DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves, by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw oif such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the neces- sity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the Present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this let facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his assent to laws the most whole- some and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of imme- diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. xv operation till his assent should be obtained ; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legis- lature — a risfnt inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly for opposing with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise, the State remaining, in, the mean time, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States ; for that purpose obstructing the laws of naturalization of Foreigners ; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the con- ditions of new appropriations of lands. xvi DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. He has obstructed the administration of Justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary- powers. He has made Judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers, to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military, independent of, and superior to, the Civil Power. He has combined with others to subject us to a juris- diction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation : For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punish- ment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States : For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world : For imposing taxes on us without our consent : For depriving us in many cases of the benefits of Trial by Jury : DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. xvii For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pre- tended offences : For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighbouring province ; establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies ; For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments : For suspending our own legislatures and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated government here by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow-citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to b2 xviii DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms : our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwar- rantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our Common Kindred to disavow these usurpations which would inevitably interrupt our connexions and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must therefore acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our sepa- DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. xix ration, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind — ENEMIES IN WAR, IN PEACE FRIENDS. We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, Free and Independent States ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connexion between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as Free and Independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with A FIRM RELIANCE ON THE PROTECTION OF DlVINE Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honour. John Hancock. New Hampshire. Massachusetts Bay. Samuel Adams, Josiah Bartlett, John Adams, William Whipple, Robert Treat Paine, Matthew Thornton. Elbridge Gerry. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. Rhode Island, &c. Stephen Hopkins. William Ellery. Connecticut. Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntingdon, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott. Delaware. Csesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas M'Kean. Maryland. Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, C. Carroll, of Carrollton. New York. William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris. New Jersey. Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark. Virginia. George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr. Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton. North Carolina. William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. Pennsylvania. Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross. South Carolina. Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr. Thomas Lynch, Jr. Arthur Middleton. Georgia. Burton Gwinnet, Lyman Hall, George Walton. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. PREAMBLE. We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America. ARTICLE I. — Of the Legislature. Section I. 1. All legislative powers herein granted, shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. Section II. Of the House of Representatives. 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states : and the electors in each state shall xxii CONSTITUTION have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most ' numerous branch of the state legislature. • 2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five years, and have been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen. 3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be appor- tioned among the several states which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole num- ber of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative ; and until such enumeration shall be made, the state of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three ; Mas- sachusetts eight ; Rhode Island and Providence Planta- tions one ; Connecticut five ; Neio York six ; New Jersey four ; Pennsylvania eight ; Delaware one ; Maryland OF THE UNITED STATES. xxiii six ; Virginia ten ; North Carolina five ; South Carolina five ; and Georgia three. 4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 5. The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment. Section III. Of the Senate. 1 . The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state, chosen by the legisla- ture thereof, for six years ; and each senator shall have one vote. 2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in con- sequence of the first election, they shall be divided, as equally as may be, into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expira- tion of the second year, of the second class at the expira- tion of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year ; and if vacancies happen, by resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the legis- lature of any state, the executive thereof may make xxiv CONSTITUTION temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen. 4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of Presi- dent of the United States. 6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall preside ; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present. 7. Judgment in case of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualifica- tion to hold and enjoy any office of honour, trust, or profit under the United States ; but the party con- victed shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to OF THE UNITED STATES. xxv indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law. Section IV. Manner of Electing Members. 1 . The times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators. Congress to Assemble Annually. 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. Section V. Powers. 1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members ; and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do busi- ness ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each House may provide. xxvi CONSTITUTION 2. Each House may determine the rules of its pro- ceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member. 3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House, on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. Section VI. Compensation, &c. of Members. 1. The senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to or returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either House they shall not be questioned in any other place. OF THE UNITED STATES. xxvii 2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased, during such time ; and no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office. Section VII. Manner of Passing Bills, &c. 1 . All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments, as on other bills. 2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States ; if he approve, he shall sign it ; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objec- tions at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, to- gether with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two- xxviii CONSTITUTION thirds of that House it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of hoth Houses shall he determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. 3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the con- currence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary, (except a question of adjournment,) shall be presented to the President of the United States ; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Represen- tatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill . Section VIII. Power of Congress. The Congress shall have power — 1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common OF THE UNITED STATES. xxix defence and general welfare of the United States ; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform through- out the United States : 2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States : 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes : 4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the United States : 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures : 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States : 7. To establish post offices and post roads : 8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and dis- coveries : 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court : 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies com- mitted on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations : c 2 xxx CONSTITUTION 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water : 12. To raise and support armies; but no appropri- ation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years : 13. To provide and maintain a navy : 14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces : 15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions : 16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplin- ing the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively the appointment of the officers and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress : 17. To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square,) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased, by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of OF THE UNITED STATES, xxxi forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings : and, 18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or any department or officer thereof. Section IX. Limitation of the Powers of Congress. 1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it. 3. No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, shall be passed. 4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration here- inbefore directed to be taken. 5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported xxxii CONSTITUTION from any state. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another ; nor shall vessels bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 6. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriation made by law ; and a re- gular statement and account of the receipts and expendi- tures of all public moneys shall be published from time to time. 7. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States, and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. Section X. Limitation of the Powers of Individual States. 1. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts ; or grant any title of nobility. OF THE UNITED STATES. xxxiii 2. No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lav any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may he absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws ; and the nett produce of all duties and imposts laid by any state on imports or exports shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States, and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of Congress. No state shall, without the consent of Con- gress, lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or com- pact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such immi- nent danger as will not admit of delay. ARTICLE II.— Of the Executive. Section I. i . The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows : — Manner of Electing. 2. Each state shall appoint, in such maimer as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, xxxiv CONSTITUTION equal to the whole number of senators and representa- tives to which the state may be entitled in Congress ; but no senator or representative, or person holding any office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector. 3. The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with them- selves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if there be more than one who have such a majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a majority, then, from the five highest on the list, the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by OF THE UNITED STATES. xxxv states, the representation from each state having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the elec- tors shall be Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice President.* Time of Choosing Electors. 4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same throughout the United States. Who Eligible. 5. No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty- five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States. * See Amendment, page 50. xxxvi CONSTITUTION When the President's Power Devolves on the Vice President. 6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President ; and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resigna- tion, or inability, both of the President and Vice Presi- dent, declaring what officer shall then act as President ; and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed or a President shall be elected. President's Compensation. 7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them. 8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation : — " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully OF THE UNITED STATES. xxxvii execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." Section II. Powers and Duties. 1. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States ; he may require the opinion in writing of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices ; and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. 2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two- thirds of the senators present, concur : and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public minis- ters and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law. But the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they xxxviii CONSTITUTION think proper in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 3. The President shall have the power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions, which shall expire at the end of their next session. Section III. 1 . He shall, from time to time, give to Congress in- formation of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them ; and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive ambassa- dors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed ; and shall commission all the officers of the United States. Section IV. Officers Removed. 1 . The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on OF THE UNITED STATES. xxxix impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours. ARTICLE III. Section I. Of the Judiciary. 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as Congress may, from time to time order and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour ; and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. Section II. 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity arising under this constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases affecting am- bassadors, other public ministers, and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to contro- versies to which the United States shall be a party ; to controversies between two or more states ; between a state and citizens of another state ; between citizens of different states ; between citizens of the same state xl CONSTITUTION claiming lands under grants of different states ; and between a state, or the citizens thereof and foreign states, citizens, or subjects. Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, and those in which a state shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original juris- diction. In all the other cases before mentioned the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as Congress shall make. Of Trials for Crimes. 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeach- ment, shall be by jury, and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall have been com- mitted ; but when not committed within any state, the trial shall be at such place or places as Congress may by law have directed. Section III. Of Treason. 1. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their OF THE UNITED STATES. xli enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or confession in open court. 2. Congress shall have power to declare the punish- ment of treason ; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. ARTICLE IV.— Miscellaneous. Section I. State Acts. 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. Section II. Privilege of Citizens. 1. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states. 2. A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice and be found d 2 xlii CONSTITUTION in another state, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed from the state having jurisdiction of the crime. Runaways to be Delivered up. 3. No person held to service or labour in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be dis- charged from such service or labour ; but shall be deli- vered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due. Section III. New States. 1 . New states may be admitted by Congress into this Union; but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state, nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned, as well as of Congress. Territorial and Other Property. 2. Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory, OF THE UNITED STATES. xliii or other property belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any par- ticular state. Section IV. 1 . The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion ; and, on applica- tion of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence. ARTICLE V. Amendments. 1 . Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this constitution ; or, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this con- stitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three- fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three- fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratifica- tion may be proposed by Congress ; provided, that no xliv. CONSTITUTION amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article ; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. ARTICLE VI.— Miscellaneous. Debts. 1 . All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this constitution, as under the confederation. Supreme Law of the Land. 2. This constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding. Oath — No Religious Test. 3. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and OF THE UNITED STATES. xlv all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this constitution : but no reli- gious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, under the United States. ARTICLE VII. Of the Ratification. 1 . The ratification of the conventions of nine states shall be sufficient for the establishment of this consti- tution between the states so ratifying the same. Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the states present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names. GEORGE WASHINGTON, President, and Deputy from Virginia. NEW HAMPSHIRE. MASSACHUSETTS. John Langdon, Nathaniel Gorham, Nicholas Gilman. Rufus King. xlvi CONSTITUTION NEW JERSEY. William Livingston, David Brearly, William Patterson, Jonathan Dayton. PENNSYLVANIA. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Governeur Morris. DELAWARE. George Read, Gunning Bedford, jun. John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. NEW YORK. Alexander Hamilton. MARYLAND. James M 'Henry, Daniel of St. Tho. Jenifer, Daniel Carroll. VIRGINIA. John Blair, James Madison, jun. NORTH CAROLINA. William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson. SOUTH CAROLINA. John Rutledge, Chas. Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler. CONNECTICUT. GEORGIA. William Samuel Johnson, William Few, Roger Sherman. Abraham Baldwin. Attest, WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary OF THE UNITED STATES. xlvii AMENDMENTS To the Constitution of the United States, ratified according to the Provisions of the Fifth Article of the foregoing Constitution. Free Exercise of Religion. Art. I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Right to Bear Arms. Art. 2. A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. No Soldier to be Billeted, &c. Art. 3. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered xlviii CONSTITUTION in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. Unreasonable Searches Prohibited. Art. 4. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated ; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Criminal Proceedings. Art. 5. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be put twice in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation. OF THE UNITED STATES. xlix Mode of Trial. Art. 6 In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an im- partial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be con- fronted with the witnesses against him ; to have com- pulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favour ; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. Right of Trial by Jury. Art. 7. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no fact tried by jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States than according to the rules of the com- mon law. Bail, Fines. Art. 8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor ex- cessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 1 CONSTITUTION Rights not Enumerated. Art 9. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Powers Reserved. Art. 10. The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people. Limitation of Judicial Power. Art. 1 1 . The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state. Election of President. Art. 12. § 1. The electors shall meet in their re- spective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inha- bitant of the same state with themselves ; they shall name OF THE UNITED STATES. li in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice President ; and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President and of all persons voted for as Vice President, and of the number of votes for each, which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate ; the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted ; the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no person have such a ma- jority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose im- mediately by ballot the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the represen - tation from each state having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two- thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Repre- sentatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth lii CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. day of March next following, then the Vice President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. 2. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice President shall be the Vice President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list the Senate shall choose the Vice President : a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice Presi- dent of the United States. WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. Friends and Fellow Citizens, The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in desig- nating the person who is to be clothed with that im- portant trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprize you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured, that this resolution has not been taken e 2 liv WASHINGTON'S without a strict regard to all the considerations apper- taining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country ; and that, in withdrawing the tender of sendee which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest ; no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both. The acceptance of, and the continuance hitherto in the office to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been an uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I con- stantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as inter- nal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incom- patible with the sentiment of duty or propriety, and FAREWELL ADDRESS. lv am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire. The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust, were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say, that I have, with good intentions, contributed towards the organization and administration of the government, the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious in the outset of the infe- riority of my qualifications, experience, in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strength- ened the motives to diffidence of myself; and, every day, the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. In looking forward to the moment which is to ter- minate the career of my political life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved lvi WASHINGTON'S country, for the many honours it has conferred upon me ; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me ; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolahle attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging ; in situations in which not unfre- quently, want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, — the constancy of your support was the essen- tial prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans, by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows, that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its benificence — that your union and brotherly affection may be per- petual — that the free constitution which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained — that its ad- ministration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue — that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these states, under the auspices of liberty, FAREWELL ADDRESS. lvii may be made complete by so careful a preservation, and so prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it. Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments, which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can pos- sibly have no personal motives to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your in- dulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion. Interwoven as is the love of Liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attach- ment. The Unity of Government which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so ; Iviii WASHINGTON'S for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real inde- pendence ; the support of your tranquillity at home ; your peace abroad ; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But, as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes, and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the convic- tion of this truth ; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively, though often covertly and insidiously directed, it is of infinite moment, that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness ; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it ; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety and prosperity ; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety ; dis- countenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be abandoned ; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to sever one portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens by birth, or choice, of FAREWELL ADDRESS. lix a common country, that country Las a right to concen- trate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism, more than any appel- lation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, man- ners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause, fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess, are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes. But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. Here, every portion of your country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole. The north, in an unrestrained intercourse with the south, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the latter, great additional resources of maritime and commercial enter- prise, and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The south, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the same agency of the north, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the north, it finds its particular lx WASHINGTON'S navigation invigorated; and while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the pro- tection of a maritime strength, to which itself is un- equally adapted. The east, in a like intercourse with the west, already finds, and in the progressive improve- ment of interior communications by land and water, will more and more find a valuable vent for the commo- dities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The west derives from the east supplies re- quisite to its growth and comfort — and what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions, to the weight, influence, and future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the miion, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as One Nation. Any other tenure by which the west can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious. While then every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts, greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from FAREWELL ADDRESS. lxi external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations ; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union, an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neighbouring countries not tied together by the same government ; the rivalships alone of which would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues, would stimulate and imbitter. Hence likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establish- ments, which, under any form of government, are inau- spicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is, that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other. These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the con- tinuance of the union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common govern- ment can embrace so large a sphere ? let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorised to hope that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will f lxii WASHINGTON'S afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demon- strated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who, in any quarter, may endeavour to weaken its bands. In contemplating the causes which may disturb our union, it occurs, as matter of serious concern, that any ground should have been furnished for charac- terising parties by geographical discriminations — northern and southern — Atlantic and western ; whence designing men may endeavour to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the ex- pedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burnings which spring from these misrepresentations : they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head : they have seen in the negociation by the executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at the event FAREWELL ADDRESS. briii throughout the United States, a decisive proof how un- founded were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the general government and in the Atlantic states, unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi. They have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with Great Britain and that with Spain, which secure to them everything they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards con- firming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the union by which they were procured? will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens 1 To the efficacy and permanency of your union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts, can be an adequate substitute ; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances, in all times, have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of government better calcu- lated than your former for an intimate union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of our own choice unin- fluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and lxiv WASHINGTON'S mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties en- joined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the constitution which at any time exists, until changed by an authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish govern- ment, pre-supposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government. All obstructions to the execution of the laws ; all Combinations and Associations under whatever plausible character, with the real design, to direct, con- trol, counteract, or awe, the regular deliberations and actions of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force, to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and FAREWELL ADDRESS. lxv according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill- concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common councils, and modified by mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men, will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and usurp for themselves the reins of government ; destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. Towards the preservation of your government and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppo- sitions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its prin- ciples, however specious the pretext. One method of assault may be, to effect, in the forms of the constitu- tion, alterations which will impair the energy of the system ; and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments, as of f 2 lxvi WASHINGTON'S other human institutions, — that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country : — that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion ; and remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigour as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property. I have already intimated to you the Danger of Parties in the state, with particular references to the founding them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. This spirit, unfortu- nately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind — it exists FAREWELL ADDRESS. lxvii under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries, has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism — But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual, and, sooner or later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty. Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight j the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public counsels, and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies, and false alarms ; kindles the animosity of one part against another; ferments occasional riot and insurrection. It opens the door to lxviii WASHINGTON'S foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facili- tated access to the government itself through the chan- nels of party passions. Thus the policy and the -will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another. There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the govern- ment, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true ; and, hi governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favour, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in govern- ments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their national tendency, it is certain there will alwavs be enough of that spirit for every salutary pur- pose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, demands an uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest instead of warming, it should consume. It is im- portant likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those intrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exer- cise of the powers of one department, to encroach upon FAREWELL ADDRESS. Ixix another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consoli- date the powers of all the departments into one, and thns to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power and proneness to abuse it which predominate in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions of the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern : some of them in our own country and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected in the way which the constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation ; for, though this in one instance may be the instrument of good, it is the cus- tomary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in per- manent evil, any partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield. Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are lxx WASHINGTON'S indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked where is the security for pro- perty, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? and let us with cau- tion indulge the supposition that Morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be con- ceded to the influence of refined education, on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true, that Virtue or Morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indiffer- ence upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric ? Promote, then, as objects of primary importance, Institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. FAREWELL ADDRESS. bcxi In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion it should be enlightened. As a very important source of strength and security, Cherish Public Credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also, that timely disbursements, to prepare for danger, fre- quently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions, in time of peace, to discharge the debts which unavoid- able wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue ; that to have revenue there must be taxes ; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant ; that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of diffi- culties) ought to be a decisive motive for a candid con- struction of the conduct of the government in making lxxii WASHINGTON'S it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate. Observe good faith and justice towards all nations ; cultivate peace and harmony with all ; religion and morality enjoin this conduct ; and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it ? it will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnani- mous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt but, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ; can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue ? the experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which en- nobles human nature. Alas ! is it rendered impossible by its vices ? In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipa- thies AGAINST PARTICULAR NATIONS, AND PASSION- ATE ATTACHMENT FOR OTHERS, SHOULD BE EX- CLUDED ; and that, in the place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual FAREWELL ADDRESS. Ixxiii hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity, or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another, disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject ; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hos- tility, instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes the liberty, of nations has been the victim. So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another pro- duces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favourite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducements or justifica- g Ixxiv WASHINGTON'S tion. It leads also to concessions to the favourite nation, of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions ; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained ; and by exciting jealousy, ill will, and a dispo- sition to retaliate in the parties from whom equal privi- leges are withheld ; and it gives to ambitious, corrupted or deluded citizens who devote themselves to the favourite nation, facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity ; gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. As avenues to foreign influence in innu- merable ways, such attachments are particularly alarm- ing to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils, — such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles of Foreign Influence, (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy FAREWELL ADDRESS. lxxv of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove, that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial ; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Excessive par- tiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike for another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil, and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favourite, are liable to become suspected and odious ; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests. The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our com- mercial relations, to have with them as little Political connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith — Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence, she must be engaged in frequent con- troversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns — Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combina- lxxvi WASHINGTON'S tions and collisions of her friendships or enmities. Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient govern- ment, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance ; when we may take such an altitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected ; when belligerent nations, under the impossi- bility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation ; when we may choose Peace or War, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. Why forego the advantages of so pecu- liar a situation 1 why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground ? why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humour, or caprice ? It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it ; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. FAREWELL ADDRESS. lxxvii But in my opinion, it is unnecessary, and would be unwise to extend them. Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments, in a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. Harmony, and A LIBERAL INTERCOURSE WITH ALL NATIONS, ARE RECOMMENDED BY POLICY, HUMANITY, AND IN- TEREST. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand ; neither seeking nor grant- ing exclusive favours or preferences ; consulting the natural course of things ; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing ; establishing with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit ; but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied as experience and circumstances shall dictate ; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favours from another ; that it must pay with a portion of its inde- pendence for whatever it may accept under that charac- ter ; that by such acceptance it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal g2 lxxviii WASHINGTON'S favours, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate upon real favours from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish ; that they will control the usual current of the passions ; or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations, but if I may even flatter myself, that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good ; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism ; this hope will be a full recompence for the solicitude for your welfare by which they have been dictated. How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by the principles which have been deli- neated, the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is that I have, at least, believed myself to be guided by them . FAREWELL ADDRESS. l xx ix In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the 22nd of April, 1793, is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your representatives, in both houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me ; uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. After a deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound, in duty and interest, to take a neutral position — Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it with moderation, perseverance, and firmness. The consider- ations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail — I will only observe that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all. The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without any thing more, from the obliga- tion which justice and humanity impose upon every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate, the relations of peace and amity towards other nations. The inducements of interest for observ- ing that conduct will best be referred to your own re- lxxviii WASHINGTON'S favours, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate upon real favours from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish ; that they will control the usual current of the passions ; or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations, but if I may even flatter myself, that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good ; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fuiy of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism ; this hope will be a full recompence for the solicitude for your welfare by which they have been dictated. How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by the principles which have been deli- neated, the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is that I have, at least, believed myself to be guided by them. FAREWELL ADDRESS. lxxix In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the 22nd of April, 1793, is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your representatives, in both houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me ; uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. After a deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound, in duty and interest, to take a neutral position — Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it with moderation, perseverance, and firmness. The consider- ations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail — I will only observe that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all. The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without any thing more, from the obliga- tion which justice and humanity impose upon every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate, the relations of peace and amity towards other nations. The inducements of interest for observ- ing that conduct will best be referred to your own re- lxxx WASHINGTON'S flections and experience. With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavour to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institu- tions, and to progress, without interruption, to that degree of strength and consistency, which is neces- sary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes. Though in reviewing the incidents of my administra- tion, I am unconscious of intentional error ; I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or to mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence ; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service, with an upright zeal, the faults of incompe- tent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as I must soon be to the mansions of rest. Relying on its kind- ness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations ; I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment FAREWELL ADDRESS. lxxxi of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free govern- ment — the ever favourite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labours, and dangers. GEORGE WASHINGTON. United States, September 17, 1/96. PREFACE The " Statesmen of America in 1846," had the honour of being the most abused book of the last season. This was so exalted a distinction for a " first book/' and an " author's book/' that I may perhaps be indulged with a short hearing upon a subject to me so full of interest. When <( Critics" try to be profound they sometimes overshoot the mark, and expose both to the authors they try to put down, and the public they try to mislead, the shallowness of their pretensions. lxxxiv PREFACE. The (( Literary Gazette," the most exquisite bit of mousseline de laine that ever was printed, yielded ten columns (I believe) to the " Statesmen of America." These Honourable Gentlemen have requested me to present their best acknowledgments to the polite "Mous- seline" The Quondam " Examiner " is elevated to the Board of Trade ; the Members thereof are happy in the addition of so much urbanity, con- sistency, wisdom, and elegance to their Table. It is to be hoped they are aware that all prac- tical commercial men consider those Essays on the Bank as the effusions of a schoolboy. I mention this also for the information of my American friends, lest they should suppose that we deem such lucubrations, gospel. The ques- tion of Currency has perplexed the minds of Pitt and Huskisson : — " Currency is so very simple ". a question that a child, who purchases a shil- ' ' ling's worth of toys at a fair, understands it as " well as Locke and Bicardo themselves;" PREFACE. lxxxv quoth the superficial, pedantic, flippant and uncommercial " Examiner.""'" The London Correspondent of the " New York Courier and Enquirer," describes the " States- men" as written "in very bad language." This erudite professor informs the readers of that Journal, in a letter dated i( London, April 3, 1847" — that his " letters are adapted for the " meridian of London ; " and duly sensible of his own incapacity, he expressly adds, " that " he generally gives the views which obtain " here (i. e., in London) in regard to American * "The Prose Writers of America," a work executed by Rufus Wilmot Griswold, Esq. of Philadelphia, has been forwarded to me by Messrs. Deighton and Laughton, of Liverpool. This Book is published by Richard Bentley, of London, and is very well got up, with the exception of a few of the portraits. Audubon, though a good likeness, is badly executed, and the portraits of Webster and Prescott are far from rendering justice to the originals. 1 had seen the hastj r , ill-written, and disparaging review of the Examiner, and congratulate the Author upon such a notice; what- ever is excellent in American literature, society, or government, is sure to rouse the anger of the sneering anglo-Frenchman. Mr, Griswold may be sure that there is much good in a collection that has called down such censure. I have perused the Work with much pleasure, recognising the productions of many personal friends; and beg to congratulate the Author and his English Publisher on their courage and success. Every attempt to make America known to England is deserving of the highest praise h lxxxvi PREFACE. " affairs." He does wisely, and having never read the " Statesmen of America in 1846/' in this case he certainly could not do otherwise ! Should he honour the "Englishwoman" with his critical, and grammatical, and philological observations, I would try however to impress upon his mind beforehand, that in British English " bad language" is "profane language." It is certainly somewhat unpleasant for " Statesmen " to be accused of holding profane language ; it would be shocking for a Lady ! The " North American Eeview" first attacks, then ridicules, then copies the London " Spec- tator." It is truly somewhat derogatory to the dignity of a stately quarterly Periodical to break a lance, still less to bandy words, with a seven day's newspaper; — but that is not my affair. Chacim a son mauvais gout. The Whig Editor afterwards rises into an attack extraordi- nary on the Administration at Washington. Take comfort, Oh, ye Democrats ! the arrows are not poisoned. PREFACE. lxxxvii I have never been able to wade through the twenty pages of criticism bestowed upon me by that venerable Periodical the (i Church of England Quarterly" — but from the numerous blunders which in three pages I encountered, I came to the conclusion long ago arrived at by wiser heads than mine, that the Church cannot be expected to understand either Commerce or Politics. I quite coincide with a sprightly young curate of my acquaintance, a son of Mother Church, who with more wit than reve- rence observed ; " That the ' Church of England " Quarterly ' is perfectly orthodox for that its " dullness surpasses all understanding !" The Editor of the Classic " Tribune" of 2s T ew York has my thanks for the zeal which prompted him to send his ideas on Free Trade and Labour across the Atlantic for my edification. I have reason to believe that he is a very well inten- tioned individual though a very unsound poli- tician ; and for an American he is singularly deficient in the esprit de corps of a gentleman. Ixxxviii PREFACE. In reply to his remarks I Lave only io refer him to an article in the " New York Journal of Com- merce" of April 29, 1847. This paper is the first authority in the United States for commer- cial details. " The Movement of Capital towards the " business of Manufacturing, now in progress 11 in the State of New York. A phenomenon il wholly incompatible with the oft repeated pro- " testations of the manufacturers, in view of the " contemplated effects of the Tariff of 1846." I have the satisfaction to inform the bereaved and disconsolate Protectionist, that Free Trade ivill everywhere advance ; and nowhere recede. The " Tribune" fain would deprive me of the esteem of William Henry Seward. It is beyond his power ; our friendship will abide the test of mortal enmity ; nor shall I hesitate again to praise that Statesman, and in the words of an Englishman ; " Few things I assure you ever told more on PREFACE. Ixxxix " my feelings than that scene you introduced in " the e Statesmen.' Nothing can be more noble " and more touching than Seward's speech on " behalf of poor Freeman. There is a great " future for America foreshadowed by the ap- ee pearance of such men as Seward in the early " stage of her history." — Letter from Dr. Sutherland, of Liverpool, to Mrs. Maury. Should Governor Seward even be successful in those political measures which to my appre- hension are fraught with danger to his country ; so implicit is my trust in his virtue and his fidelity, that I still should hold him altogether worthy of the Civic Crown. Of Mr. Calhoun I can only say as I have said before ; " Go search the land of living men Ye look not on his like again !" Of Mr, Ingersoll I shall say, for I have a carte blanche from my Guardian, that on public even more than on private grounds, on NATIONAL even more than on personal con- h2 xc PREFACE. siderations, I owe to him a debt of gratitude and affection which time and I cannot repay ; but contented I shall remain for ever his debtor. Neither the Philippics nor the Jeremiads of the " Tribune " can induce me to withdraw one iota from my former words. The consolation administered to authors by their friends is very satisfactory, though it may lack somewhat of reverence for their Critics.""" Wishing these Dominies good day, and strength * el Go on ! by all means," said an eminent bookseller, " never think of what they say, your book is read and will be read." " Laugh at their precious crudities," said another ; " we never take any account of newspapers. Nothing is better for you than abuse ; a thousand excellent books die daily because nobod j' has the good nature to abuse them." " I congratulate you on your critics ; they nearly flayed me ; but unluckily yours are all second rate" — writes an old acquaint- ance of the Press, who holds a high place among the men of letters of England. " When the Journalists have had a run of dull numbers of their papers they are thankful for some opportunity of writing an abusive article — it sells their paper." " This season it is the fashion to abuse every work that appears— next season, probably, it will be the fashion to praise every one that is published — and they all hang together for the profession's sake." c: How could you expect the 'Statesmen' and Institutions of America to be praised ? Have you forgotten that the existing PREFACE. xci to cry " Prodigious" \ so long as unto them it may seem good, I turn to my neighbours and my friends, — And first I have to thank the Press of Liver- pool for their consideration to a townswoman ; and the Editor of the " Journal " for his cordial good wishes in favour of my future merchant sons. I have to state, on the authority of Mr. Willan, the highly respected Proprietor of the Circulating Library in Liverpool ; that in this order of things in England must be supported — and that the Press is pledged to its defence ?" " Critics do not always think what they write — nor do their readers believe them." " Provided they do not injure your own peace of mind, they are of no consequence." " If I had known that you were publishing, I would have procured you some favourable reviews." " Whatever they may say, your critics know that your book is full of truths." " Do you wish to know," said a literary friend, " how Reviews of Books are manufactured?" — " There is a person employed who is called a taster; this man is seated daj 7 by day at a table on which is heaped all the new publications. — Previously instructed of the line of criticism he is to pursue, the taster commences his task; opens the Works before him in two or three places, quotes a sentence or two, calls the author foolish or wise as he has been directed, designates the book as " new," " striking," and "a valuable addition," &c. or as " weary," « flat," " stale," and « unprofitable," xcii PREFACE. town, where American affairs of every kind are better understood than they are either in London or elsewhere ; " That the i( ' Statesmen of America' have heen more read "than any book of its class" — and that it is pronounced " to be a capital book, written " on the worst subjects ; Slavery, Popery, "and the AMERICANS." Mr. Willan has been connected with the Circulating Library for a period of forty years ; and I as an authoress would prefer his report of the public taste to and having misguided the public on matters he knows nothing about, judgematically considers himself " a Critic." Sometimes the " maker up of notices" never opens the Book, and I have often heard of reviews being written by persons who had never seen the Works from which they predicate. And as Criticism, like Fortune, is blind, perhaps this is the surer method of proceeding. Messrs. Saunders and Otley have published a very useful little book called the " Author's Printing and Publishing Assistant." The concluding paragraph informs authors " who may wish to obtain a critical opinion on their productions, that those gentlemen have arranged to place any Manuscripts which may be submitted to them with that view in the hands of a competent critic, who will offer such remarks and suggestions as may be likely to secure to the Work a more favourable reception with the Public." Where, after this, is the independence or originality of the Author? Between the Critic and the Public he has indeed almost ceased to exist. PREFACE. xciii that of any other ; no man has had "better opportunities of testing it. " The Statesmen of America" have honestly paid their expenses, both in England and in America, though in the latter country no copy- right was taken out, and the sale consisted only of such English copies as were sold before the appearance of the American reprint. I wish the "Englishwoman" may follow so praiseworthy an example. I have understood that some American Jour- nals have written complimentary notices on the " Statesmen ;" though I have not seen them, I gratefully acknowledge my obligation. I have to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Catholic Press of this country. In propor- tion as I hold revile rs in contempt, so do I prize the praise, and the reproof of my friends. The Catholics are the most patriotic body in this country. Other Eeligions love her for the loaves and fishes, for the respect and liberty which they enjoy — " Do not the Heathen so ?" xciv PREFACE. But the Catholics love her through grief and through danger, in spite of wrongs and scorn. By vindicating slavery, and lauding America, I sinned against their feelings and prejudices as Englishmen, equally with all the rest — hut they have elevated criticism into its legitimate office. If they have differed in opinion they have done so in a manly liberal spirit, they have honoured me ahove my hopes or expectations, have re- garded me as critics should regard an author, have treated me as men should treat a woman."" * After having been the subject of a highly complimentary notice in a former number of the Dublin Review, I am somewhat chagrined to find the Bishop of New York and myself the joint subjects of a very unmeaning kind of commendatory notice in a recent number of that Periodical. For statistics of the Catholic Church in America I beg to refer the reviewer to the "Catholic Almanac" published annually in the United States; and am surprised that he should expect from a resident of sixteen months more accurate accounts than can be found in the recognised Reports of the Authorities. It is high time, however, that the reviewer should become acquainted with the " Catholic Almanac" and statistics in the United States. I refer to the Dublin Review of July, 1047, for a totally different opinion in regard to the " novelty of Mrs. Maury's views." This opinion will be found among the Notices at the end of this Work- For their own sakes, reviewers should be of one mind in one book. But the heartburning, evidently, is the position occupied by the PREFACE. xcv I have also received much commendation from some of the most illustrious and most accomplished professors of This, the most learned of all Eeligions. From the shores of Lake Michigan I have Irish Bishop in the American Hierarchj r ; and I will allow that it is somewhat galling to an Englishman, though I had hoped that the large heait of the Catholic rose above such feelings. " The Bishop of New York," I repeat my words advisedly and em- phatically, " The Bishop is the greatest temporal Prince in America, and he is the greatest spiritual Prince in the world" If the reviewer had understood the trammels, both temporal and spiritual, both domestic and foreign, which impede the steps of the exalted Pius IX.; — if he had recollected all the difficulties, legal and social, which lie in the pathway of the Catholic Prelates of England; and if he had been in the smallest degree conversant with the Ecclesiastical polity of the United States, and the con- ditions of the country; most certainly he would never have com- mitted himself to words betraying such hopeless ignorance of his whole subject. " Truly there are more things in America than are dream'd of in the philosophy of this reviewer." I rejoice to say that my revered friend, not having attained the age of fifty, is as yet wholly unentitled to be saluted as the venerable Bishop. It is unquestionably true that he had never seen my eulogium upon his meiits. In this respect the notice does justice to his Lordship and to me. Possibly the same critic has pronounced the sentence upon Prescott, (contained also in the recent Dublin Review,) which introduces an abstract of the History of Peru. Truly, Mr. Prescott ma3 r say with his own Spaniards; " From my Friends, Just Heaven! deliver me." It is only fair to acknowledge that this Review is generally dis- tinguished for learned and impartial criticism, and for miscellaneous articles of the highest order of merit. xcvi PREFACE. already received sympathy and approval at the hands of many. From a friend in Liverpool I have learned that the Eight Eev. the Catholic Bishop of New Zealand went out in a vessel commanded hy a Captain who had on hoard a copy of the " Statesmen ;" the Bishop read the hook, and on landing claimed it for his own, and would not part with it. From the Nuns of Maracaybo I have received three beautiful drink- ing cups made of bark, and painted. — These are things which come home to the heart of a writer. And again, the Secretary of State at Wash- ington has not disdained to protect my absent name ; and the approbation of the Statesmen themselves has rendered me invulnerable to the censure of all meaner pens. Where interest and prejudice rule, truth is a libel, and finds no mercy. The progress of America is the great bugbear of England, and the pens that write in her praise are sure of persecution. I was prepared " to be hewn up PREFACE. xcvii as a carcase for the hounds ;" and I do not feel very particularly uncomfortable under the inflic- tion, considering all things. " Politics in petticoats ! " exclaims one of those ejaculates — (I forget which.) Yes, Poli- tics in petticoats — and let us ask, Why not ? To every thinking mind, politics must be a sub- ject of interest, and particularly so to a Mother who has a stake of eight sons and three daugh- ters in the country. Besides, Politics are but present History, and History is but past Politics. Why do you in the education of girls make them far better Historians than you ever make boys, and then deny them the use of their knowledge ? You give your sons far less preparation for the study of politics than you give your daughters, and yet you deny the latter the privilege of giving an opinion on the vicissitudes of the day, while you expect the former to be the Eulers of the Land. Is this consistency ? In conclusion I wish to observe, that in no one attack upon the " Statesmen of America in xcviii PREFACE. 1846 " have I seen a single fact denied, or an argument confuted. In other respects the reviewers have acted with a marked want of candour. The Extracts from the speeches and works of the Puhlic Men of America which appeared in the " Statesmen" were unknown in England — they spoke for them- selves, and vindicated the fame of their authors. Not one syllable has ever been said of them in such of the English newspapers as I have chanced to see. For this omission the writers of these articles are justly subject to reproach. I have been accused, both by the English and by the American Press, of having bestowed excessive and indiscriminate praise upon the Statesmen. The animadversions of the London Press go for nothing, because it is notorious that they are profoundly ignorant, not only of the politics, but of the very names of the distinguished men of the United States. The accusations of the American Press are of still less account ; if these gentlemen deny that PREFACE. xcix among their millions not two and twenty men of talent, virtue, and honour can be found; — these remarks reflect not upon me, but on their country. If the praise of the British Press is to be procured only by ministering to their national prejudices — give me their censure ! If the praise of the American Press is to be obtained only by yielding to their party jea- lousies — give me also their censure ! " For I can raise no credit by vile means; a By Heaven, I had rather coin my heart, tt And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring " From the hard hands of hirelings, their vile praise " By any indirection." I have praised excellence wherever I have found it, for my esteem and my friendship are of no politics, of no religion. My Creed is that of a Puseyite Protestant ; and while I am an uncompromising Piepublican or Democrat in America ; in England alas ! through base and vile and ignominious fear, I am a strict Conser- vative ; for, " Better it is to bear the ills we have, " Than rush on others that we know not of." c PREFACE. When Time and Death shall set their seal upon the "Statesmen of America;" and when the faithful though feehle woman that traced their portraits shall like them he resting in her long last home ; — it is her humble and affec- tionate hope that these tributes may be recorded when the calumnies of their enemies, the taunts of their rivals, and the envious whisperings of their false friends shall be forgotten. Thus much in behalf of " The Statesmen ; " — " The Englishwoman " expects no more golden opinions than they obtained ; but sharing the fortune of their honoured names, and associated however faintly with their fame, she will be content with the award ; " Dat veniam corvis, vexat censura columbas.''" INTRODUCTION. Vcxatse per multa pcricula vitae. In visiting America I had two important objects in view ; the first regarded the health of "my Son (the Doctor) and myself; * the second, the future establishment of a numerous family in life. * Before committing these pages to the Press, I consulted a well known and experienced medical man as to the usefulness of these details of my own indisposition and that of my son; and as to the propriety of publishing what would certainly provoke the ill nature of criticism. "I consider," said the Surgeon, "these " details as not only highly interesting, but very instructive and " valuable — publish them, by all means; if your experience is of " use to one sufferer, have the good sense to despise your critics." I therefore beg to present them in the shape of a Medical Report. i2 cii INTRODUCTION. I am the Mother of eleven children — of eight sons and three daughters. Twelve years had scarcely elapsed between the births of the oldest and the youngest, and during a period of seventeen years my life had been exclusively devoted to the nursery and the school-room. I was the slave of my children ; no hireling rocked their cradle, or soothed their infant tears ; no stranger was their nurse or their instructor. Mine has been the toil and mine the thought ; mine is the reward, for as yet no cloud darkens their bright future. But this unceasing anxiety and labour at length undermined a naturally powerful constitution. Six years ago my mother died, and six weeks after she had been taken from the sorrow to come, my husband, by the caprice of commerce, found himself pennyless ; three weeks after this event my youngest child was born. Sorrow and over-exertion had nearly completed the ruin of my health, when fresh calls were made upon my exhausted powers. Nine of the children, during the winter of INTRODUCTION. ciii 1844-5, were seized with the whooping cough, and after nursing them successfully through it, I was myself attacked, and suffered of course severely. It left me in a state of nervous depression which I could not have conceived, had I not heen myself the sufferer ; and for the benefit of those who are the victims of so cruel a malady, I venture to narrate the effects which I experienced, not only from this disease (for such it is) of the nerves, hut also the benefit which I derived from a sea voyage, and the change of climate and of scene. The suffering was constant ; I was the cause of misery by day and by night to all around me. I fancied the bed shook under me at night, and I never ven- tured to sit longer than ten minutes on the same chair, believing that it would immediately break down, or else that the floor was giving way under my weight. My household duties were a source of indescribable difficulty — to order dinner required an exertion of mind quite above my capacity, and the household accounts were as overwhelm- civ INTRODUCTION. ing and perplexing to my bewildered apprehen- sion as those of the Treasury of the United Kingdom, or that monument of monetary con- fusion, the Bank of England. I wearied my friends with personal complaints, and my hus- band with tears. At last I thought that I carried a weight on my head, my sight became impaired, I fancied that I was deaf, had a noise of water in my ears, and, pour comble, I at length became satisfied that I should immedi- ately have some kind of fit or attack in my head. Often after hours of wakefulness I have nearly sunk to sleep, and then started up in sudden and horrid fright, convinced that I was struck with palsy, and that when I should awaken my limbs would be found deprived of motion and my mind divested of intelligence. Sometimes I have risen in these moments of agony fearful of resigning myself to sleep, lest it should prove the sleep of death, looked on my husband and my children for the last time, and thought of the grief they would endure when in INTRODUCTION. cv the morning I should be discovered paralysed or dead. This state at length became intolerable, and Mr. Maury, who is at all times a firm believer in the efficacy of a sea voyage, determined that, accompanied by our second son, I should try the experiment of a passage across the Atlantic. Upon consulting our medical friends, Mr. Law- rence, of Whitehall- place, London, and Mr. Stevenson, of Birkenhead, Liverpool, they gave a decided approval to the suggestion of Mr. Maury, and it only remained to make the neces- sary arrangements. Our second son was the only child whose con- stitution was not robust ; — he was not what is called a delicate child, but there were certain irregularities in the system, which until the age of fourteen had baffled all the medical treatment which had been bestowed upon him. The diges- tion was extremely rapid, and his food, though always of the most nourishing description, did not produce the growth and strength which cvi INTRODUCTION. should naturally be developed at Ms age. This hurried digestion was accompanied by an irregu- larity in the circulation of the blood, and conse- quently, if in order to add to his strength I fed him too highly, the consequences were a frequent and excessive discharge of blood from the nostrils. Thus the two peculiarities of his constitution were perpetually at variance ; when I checked the one, I produced the other evil consequence ; and their combined effect was a cramped and diminished growth, palpitations, great suffering from the ear-ache, and a general disinclination to the exercises and sports of his age. His father and myself had frequently discussed the advantage of a sea voyage, and Mr. Maury had suggested a year's sojourn in Kentucky among his own relatives, where the child should have entire freedom from all the restraints of study ; but naturally, I who had so long watched each changing symptom from his birth to his boy- hood, could not resolve to part with him — for none could do for him as I had done. His INTRODUCTION. cvii absence had therefore ceased for a while to he discussed, until my own illness made it conveni- ent and satisfactory to me, as well as desirable for us both. With the concurrence of Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Stevenson, it was resolved, on the 25th of April, 1845, that the Doctor and I should embark on the 6th of May follow- ing, in the ship Hottinguer, Captain Ira Bursley, for New York ; ten days being thus allowed for preparation. We gave the preference to a sail- ing vessel, because the longer we remained upon the ocean the better for the purposes of health. After thus briefly explaining the reasons so far as health was concerned of my visit to America, in the sincere hope that all these details may be of service to others who are similarly situated, I will now allude to the second object I had in view; viz., — that of ascertaining if a removal to the United States would or would not present advantages exceed- ing those to be found in England for the esta- blishment in life of eight sons and three daugh- cviii INTRODUCTION. ters ; and also if, finding that such advantages do exist in the United States, whether a resi- dence in that country would he congenial to my health and happiness ; to my long-estahlished pursuits, and my inveterate habits of society. This last enquiry was peculiarly dwelt upon by Mr. Maury, who frequently recalled the tender and melancholy reflection of his father, prompted by the sad experience of his own widowhood and also of my husband's — the father and the son had each borne to the shores of England a daughter of their country — had borne them thither but to die ; and the emphatic words of that venerable man still ring in my ear, as he thus addressed my husband, who had alluded to his wish to carry me his English partner to America ; ( ' My son, every exotic will thrive in " a foreign land except a woman." England is full to overflowing ; * her sole but * I was strongly tempted, yesterday, to go on board the Steamer for Boston, for it appears to me that you have such a strange struggle for existence going on here, that it would be a relief to be away, even in the woods." — Letter from an English- man, ivho had in a few years realized a fortune in America, and INTRODUCTION. cix unnatural relief is found in the exile of her people — the reflection of a parent upon the birth of his child is no longer one of joy but of doubt, and not unfrequent in this country is the song of thanksgiving that the Almighty in his mercy has removed from hunger and thirst, the children of the peasant and the artisan. The Session of Parliament of 1847 was con- sumed in providing for paupers, and the Minis- ters and Eepresentatives of a great country were resolved into a Committee of Poor Law Com- missioners. The result of their deliberations and proceedings convinces all thinking minds that the evils which absorbed their attention, though forced into prominence by the Famine, have their roots in causes over which man has no control, and over which the mere annual cir- cumstances of a limited or of an abundant har- vest can exercise but an evanescent influence. had recently returned home to spend it. And another friend at the same time, who had just returned from the continent of Europe, exclaimed; "It is impossible for a foreigner to understand the oppression and depression of mind under which the English con- tinually labour." k ex INTRODUCTION. The artificial prosperity of the British Empire I grant you is immense, her wealth is countless, and her grandeur imposing ; but her real pros- perity, — the happiness of her people, their solid comfort, and their consequent virtue, — where shall we seek these ? or rather, where shall we find them ? Let practical Englishmen and Englishwomen reply — for these attributes alone can constitute the real prosperity or greatness of a People, and to the actual welfare of her POOR must this country be awakened, if she wishes to preserve her throne and sceptre invio- late among the nations of Europe ; because it is the Majorities or Masses who must ever ulti- mately overcome ; — and who will sooner or later make good then* righteous claims. The splendour of our Monarchical and Aristo- cratical Spectacle is unparalleled in any court of any age ; but withdraw the curtain, and behold with pity and dismay the scene- shifters and candle- snuffers of this gorgeous pageant. Labouring hard for scanty pay, taxed and INTRODUCTION. cxi despised, the millions of England's Poor and Labouring Classes have for many years been struggling fiercely with each other for sordid employment and scanty wages. They have been compelled to share the one cake of bread and the one cruse of oil among many households, and, as we live no longer in the age of miracles, this measure has been found insufficient. i( They " cannot feed five thousand on five barley " loaves and two small fishes." Too numerous for the produce of the soil, too numerous for the employment furnished by the wants and luxuries of the rich, and ruined by the inordinate and increasing expenses of the Government and Court, the poor of England have become an impracticable mass of paupers — their best, their sole relief is in flight, and in the certain reward which their labours and their talents will receive in that broad continent whose inhabitants as yet, and long may they be blest with such abundance, " muzzle not the ox as he treadeth out the ,l corn. cxii INTRODUCTION. I have spoken of the Poor — hut are the Middling Classes in a more thriving - or more easy position ? The same incurable complaint of too many mouths for the same loaf, prevails among them as among their meaner neighbours. I have known this from sad and well- remem- bered experience. I was nursed in the lap of luxury, but I have seen a father and brothers vainly toiling for a competence, have seen a husband, after years of commercial anxiety and difficulty, years too much like each other, and to the general lot of all, to be interesting to my kindly readers, at length become independent, through a visitation of Providence ;* and again four months ago, when he supposed himself in affluence, he has, through the misgovernment and the misfortunes of this country, been hurled with thousands of others into comparative poverty. I have seen my various friends bankrupt, — my- self have known the anguish of hunger and * The deficiency of the Cotton crop in the Southern States of America. INTRODUCTION. cxiii want ; — and what indeed is worse, I have been long a sufferer from the stupid and cruel pre- judices of my country, which exclude all females who labour either with their fingers or with their heads, for remuneration, from the rank and privileges of gentlewomen. By reason of these purse-proud and vulgar prejudices, I was condemned by a Father's pride, and a Mother's tenderness, to abstain from every effort which might have contributed to their comfort or my own, and from gratifying my own feelings of independence by being actively useful.* A woman in England, in consequence of the highly artificial state of our society, who rises superior to the frowns of fortune, in fact she who works, is looked upon as degraded, as sepa- rated for ever from the class in which she was * Nor was I wholly unprepared for the duty of teaching; — my education had been directed by a distinguished Barrister, who was appointed by Mr. Canning to the Recordership of Bombay, and I was three years in London under the tuition of the first masters of the metropolis. The consciousness that I was able to fulfil the trust and employ- ment I craved, was an aggravation of my forced but mortifying inactivity. k2 cxiv INTRODUCTION. born ; this false pride, and this abject fear of the loss of caste, warp and destroy tbe ener- gies of many of my countrywomen. Poverty, whether inherited or accidental, is no reproach in America — personal exertion, mental or phy- sical labour, is regarded with respect and honour whether in a man or in a woman. Success is rewarded with congratulation, and disappoint- ment is alleviated by sympathy, and by the aid which each is ready to extend to his neighbour. Since I became a parent, and that hopes and fears for the future welfare of my children have become the ruling thought, the controlling mo- tive of each act of my present existence, I have looked around, and thought if their prospects were brighter than my own and those of my father's family had been. I enquired among Merchants — they were sickened of Trade, and recommended Farming to their sons. I asked the Farmer, he recommended Trade. I sought the opinions of Lawyers, Physicians, and Clergy- men, of Professors and Scholars — all were INTRODUCTION. cxv overstocked, and I rarely have met with a man who advised his son to follow his own profession. What is the alternative ? Go to America. But America is as much crowded as we are with merchants, and professions. True, but they have still the soil, fresh and vast, which offers her bosom to the plough, and her golden fruits to the reaper. Disappointed in the Church, the Law, and Physic, and ruined in Trade, a man may yet seek the primitive forest, the SOIL may yet be his possession and his inheritance, he may fall back on Agriculture, and by the sweat of his brow he may live, and offer to those whom Heaven has bestowed upon him the blessed bread of abundance. This is the privi- lege of America — this is her present portion upon earth. Thus was I informed by all who had seen and known America. A higher motive then than mere curiosity has made me scrutinize with jealous eye, the country, the climate, the insti- tutions, the society ; the past history, the pre- cxvi INTRODUCTION. sent condition, and the future prospects, of a country before whose ripening destinies the glory of ancient and of modern empires must fade away. I went to America, and I returned convinced " that in all the essential advantages of life she <( is superior to England." * The course of travel and observation which led me to this con- clusion I hope to relate in the following pages ; having thus as briefly as the subject would per- mit explained the reasons and motives which led me to forsake for sixteen months my children, my husband, my country, and my home. I sailed in sickness and in doubt — I returned in health, and in the full assurance of ample pro- vision for my children, should Providence ever guide them as settlers to America. The busy East, the exuberant South, the daring West, have each their peculiar attraction — and if each or either obtain the affection of a child of mine, I shall feel fully satisfied that there he will * Dedication of " The Statesmen of America in 1846." INTRODUCTION. cxvii receive the best incentives to do well, and the least temptation to do evil. If we remain in England, my sons must seek their bread, some in the United States, some in China, some in India, some perhaps in England ; they may suffer, they may die far away from my care ; but could I carry them to America, there is room for all ; and many friends to welcome them : and in their sorrow, or their sickness, while the Almighty leaves me on this earth, I could in a few days be at their side. I see English parents daily parting from their sons, without a hope of seeing them on this side of the grave. Surely it is wiser and happier and more in accordance with the laws of God for all to seek together a land where they may retain the blessings of kindred, and of domestic and undivided intercourse. If you are possessed of rank and money, stay in England ; no where are these advantages so available. If you have neither rank nor money, get away from it as fast as possible. cxviii INTRODUCTION. " I am tired of Europe," writes the Bishop of New York from London, in January 1846. " The wretchedness of some and the heartless- s ' ness of others make me desire to return to the f country of medium condition." This desire is truly mine ; and the commer- cial reverses of the last few months to me are scarcely evils, when I think that they may hasten my return. From the distinguished Statesman to whom this work is gratefully inscribed, I have received through our mutual friend General Armstrong this generous, hospitable message : " Tell her to bring her husband and her " children, and to come back among us, and to " be happy." 1 beg a blessing on his name. PART I. CONTAINING THE LADY'S LOG. THE SMALL POX. NEW YORK— General Observations. AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN AMERICA. Chapter I. THE LADY'S LOG. The Sea is his.— and he made it. For many days in April, 1845, unfavourable winds had prevailed, and prevented the departure of vessels from the port of Liverpool. At length, on the morning of the 6th May, an easterly wind sprung up, and the Mersey presented a magnificent spectacle. Several hundred ships, adorned with the colours of ever} 7 nation on the globe, were moving onwards in their pride, rejoicing in emancipation B 2 THE LADY'S LOG. from the wind bound and wearisome port, and seeking once again either their homes, or some foreign mart ; visions of happiness and gain filling the hearts of all on board them. Among these beautiful and triumphant wanderers, conspicuous for her perfect form and gallant trim, was the Hottinguer. Her commander, Captain Ira Bursley, is an accomplished seaman ; he walked her deck with rapid step, and with eager eye and busy hand watched the manoeuvres of his crew, and assisted in their exertions. We had ascended the ship in the dock entrance in order to avoid the crowd, and to spend the few precious moments which yet were ours, with those from whose lin- gering looks we so soon should vanish, and whose farewell blessing we so soon should crave. Poets have versified the parting hour, and philosophers have tendered to more sensitive natures, con- solation drawn from reason and religion ; but all have felt that, compared to the sad reality, the poet's fancy waxeth faint, and the sage's wisdom is but folly. But time and the hour run through the rough- est day — and this mortal agony had passed. I THE LADY'S LOG. 3 now sought to enter into the sights and sounds around me ; on each side were still the homes of England; beneath, the unknown sea, and above me fluttered in the sun and breeze the star-spangled banner : with the perplexity of mingled regret and hope I looked on all. An incident of rather an amusing kind had occurred when we were getting on board. The ship was slowly moving out of the dock entrance, and I was prepared to climb up her side, when, suddenly, the distance became rather too wide for a lady's step, and Captain Bursley, who stood waiting to assist us up the plank, called loudly to Mr. Maury, " No, hand me up the Doctor first."* Whereupon the Doctor, arrayed in a complete suit of pepper and salt, consisting of a surtout coat with tails reaching nearly to the ground, and trou- sers made with feet so as to cover the stockings, a low crowned, broad brimmed, straw hat upon his head, and a pair of yellow slippers, was mounted up to the gaze of the crowd, who regarded with curiosity the urchin that was supposed to be the Esculapius of the ship ; they could have no diffi- *■ My Son, at that time a shrimp for fourteen years of age. 4 THE LADY'S LOG. culty in arriving at this conclusion, because the false Hottinguer carried in her rigging a board, on which was painted or chalked in large letters — " A Surgeon sails in this Ship." Our actual surgeon was deterred from offering his services, until requested to lend his aid by the captain, from having seen this deceitful board, and from having also accidentally heard the "Doctor" spoken of. Afterwards, when I was enquiring from Captain Bursley about the law for carrying surgeons, I asked him " Who had put up that board in the rigging." He said ee He did not know." I saw a poor emigrant who had been too late for the ship engage a boat to bring her alongside ; it was a very little distance ; the men demanded three shillings for carrying herself and her sack of potatoes ; she, poor soul, possessed but a few r halfpence, which she offered — they were rejected with a loud laugh, and the men rowed away with the potatoes. At 11, a.m. we got clear of the dock, and almost immediately, at the suggestion of Captain Bursley, the Doctor and I mounted on the top of the house on deck, that we might be out of THE LADY'S LOG. 5 the way while the muster roll was called. Captain Bursley, with four assistants, stood on high casks, or something of the sort, in different positions among the emigrants, who were all assembled on deck, and each loudly repeated the name until it was responded to. The Hottinguer is 993 tons burthen; she had on board Manchester goods, cutlery, and fancy goods to the amount of 700 tons, and 433 persons, consisting of the captain, first, second and third mates, the steward, (a coloured man,) two black cooks, carpenter, black- smith, and twenty-four sailors, 397 steerage pas- sengers, including adults, children and infants, and three cabin passengers, myself, my son, and Mr. King, a Prussian Pole, resident in New York. We had 26,000 gallons of water, and provisions for ten weeks — the provision for every steerage passenger being, according to the act of parlia- ment, lib of bread stuffs, or 5lbs of potatoes, daily. The rations of food were distributed two or three times a week, the days being regulated occasionally by the weather ; they were apportioned on the deck by the ship's clerk, and were all excellent of their kind. The use of water was abundant, and I b 2 6 THE LADY'S LOG. have frequently seen Captain Bursley presiding in person over the washing and scouring of the " between decks : " the poop deck was " swobbed" frequently, and every part of the vessel into which I ever went was perfectly clean and fresh. But on no occasion ivould Dr. Fraser ever allow me to go doivn into the steerage, holding it not only dangerous and unwholesome, but as being a spec- tacle wholhj unfit for the eyes of a female unac- customed to behold the strange, and sorry, and demoralizing economy which prevails in those dens of disease and misery — emigrant vessels. Of the actual condition of the between decks I cannot therefore speak, but have often heard Dr. Fraser express the loathing which he felt on visiting his patients there ; and when the skylight of the saloon was opened to give air below, the effluvia was such as to compel me in all weathers to £0 on deck. After bein«; three or four davs on board I was asked by Captain Bursley if I would give up the ladies' cabin to some of the better class of emigrants, which I willingly did, because, be- sides myself and son, Mr. King alone occupied the saloon. THE LADY'S LOG. J To return to the muster roll 5— some of these people seemed unacquainted with their own names, and remained forgetful or unconscious when they were called over,— never stirred, nor thought of opening their tickets, though frequently desired to do so. Fell hunger and thirst had blunted their faculties, and all that roused them was either the mere satisfying of their appetites, — or, indeed, watchfulness over their children, — for let not misery be wronged ; the care of the rich for their children is scarcely a virtue, comfort being the easy inheritance of wealth; but how pure and self-sacrificing is the love of the destitute for their offspring ! — and these men and these women of Ireland, themselves epitomes of misery, would give their all of food or clothing to secure a moment's relief to the infants they carried on their backs, or the children they led by the hand. Often have I watched their conduct, and humbly thanked my God that he has never proved my uncertain virtue by afflicting my children with actual want. What- ever may be the law of the world, and whatever the contempt of men for the mother who steals bread for her hungry child, I believe that there is an 8 THE LADY'S LOG. appeal for her which will be heard ; " if she sin " against thee (for there is none that sinneth not), " hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and " forgive ; for thou, even thou only, knowest the "hearts of the children of men." Thou, O God ! alone canst comprehend a mother. As I then contemplated my poor compagnons de voyage I did not imagine how infinitely happier would be their existence, once landed on the shores of America, But during my travels I arrived at the conviction that all persons who emigrate from Great Britain to the United States have it in their pow r er to im- prove their condition in life, provided they strictly p>ractise sobriety and industry. The calling of names continued. There was one Rose Mahon in a black hood and scarlet petticoat, with six children, — it was half an hour before they were collected, and Rose looked upon them in their rags with as much pride as though they had been Princes and Princesses of the blood royal. There were Patricks and Phelims, and Judys and Cathe- rynes innumerable. Occasionally several shouted at once to the same name, and it required time and ingenuity to discover its real owner. THE LADY'S LOG. 9 " Thomas O'Leary 1" shouted Captain Bursley. "Thomas O'Leary I" exclaimed severally the Mate, the Overseer, and the Secretary. " Here he is !" roared out three fellows at a time. " Which of you is the real one?" " Oh ! Pm only Daniel O'Leary/' and " I'm only " Patrick O'Leary — but it's himself that's the real "one, and Pm his cousin." " Stand down, all of you, and nobody answer " except to their own names." Here all stood down from the spot where the Captain was stationed, and stood stock still in the passage. " Keep open that passage ; we shan't have done " for a week. Sam Slick 1" « Please your honour, Captain, Sam Slick isn't "aboard; but Pm Robert Slick." " That will do. Mick Flannegan 1" " That's myself," said a poor fellow with a dozen children. "'Julia ditto 1" No answer. "John ditto!— « Patrick ditto /— Catheryne ditto /" After a long pause, "If you please, Mr. Captain, " sir, there's none of they ditto's on board." 10 THE LADY'S LOG. Here a sailor stood up on a platform above the crowd, a huge fierce looking Spaniard, with gold rings of an inch diameter in his ears, deeply seamed with small pox, and with a frame like a Hercules ; he held aloft in his brawny naked arms a mannikin baby, and stroking its small head with his enormous fist, shouted in bad English, "A babby." No claimant appearing, he repeated the announcement in Spanish ; still no answer, — and the good natured fellow was becoming somewhat perplexed, when Bursley took the screaming infant, and at last discovered the mother, overcome with weariness, asleep on the deck. It had been left to take its chance among the luggage, wrapped up carefully in an Irish great coat. This is a specimen of the interrogatory, which continued without intermission for four hours, when the steerage were dismissed to cook their dinners at four enormous grates placed amidships, at the several corners of the main deck. There were discovered on board five men and two boys, with two dogs, stow-aways, who had concealed themselves among the water casks in the hope of getting out free of expense ; they were locked up THE LADY'S LOG. 11 until the steam tug left us, and sent home in her. This is a constant occurrence.* At 4, p.m. the steam tug and pilot left us at the Bell Buoy ; at six the watches were divided, half of the crew went to the starboard or right hand of the ship, and half to the larboard or left hand ; the Captain called alternately a name from each side ; the starboard were ordered to keep the first watch, and the larboard dismissed to supper. It afterwards appeared that we had a crew com- posed of ten nations, — Englishmen, Americans, Spaniards, Italians, one Frenchman, one Dane, one Prussian, one Portuguese, two Dutchmen and a Scotchman; and I discovered the circumstance by hearing the Captain call out, during the gale, " stand alongside all you that don't understand * Captain Bursley mentioned that on one occasion a boy stowed himself away, and, escaping undiscovered, acted without suspicion as cabin boy. One morning Bursley was informed that a cabin boy had fallen while carrying a pan of fried bacon, and had been severely scalded; the boy, added the messenger, was afraid to appear, having been a stow-away. Bursley immediately prescribed for him, and enquired his story. His father lived in London; he had given him five shillings, and turned him out to seek his fortune. The Captain was kind to him during the voyage, and three years afterwards a well dressed youth of eighteen came on board his ship, and asked if he remembered the stow-away cabin boy? He was then a clerk with a good salary. 12 THE LADY'S LOG. English." Some of the Spaniards were fine look- ing men, and knew the ship's duty. All the foreigners agreed well with the English and Americans. The first mate was a martyr to the inordinate use of tobacco; his appearance was melancholy and his countenance abstracted; he seemed stupified as with opium. I heard that he was endeavouring to give up the habit, but the effort was more than he could accomplish : they told me that men of small size are more acutely affected by the use of tobacco than those of larger proportions. We paced the deck till 9, p.m.* and watched * Era gia l'ora che volge '1 disio A' naviganti, e intenerisce '1 cuore Lo di, ch' han detto a' dolci amici, a Dio; E che lo nuovo peregrin d'amore Punge, se ode squilla di lontano, Che paja '1 giorno pianger che si muore. Dante— *Divina Commedia. 'Twas now the hour, That on the day when they have said Adieu To their fond friends, softens the hearts of those Who navigate the seas, and the desire Of home recalls; piercing with acutest love The bosom of the fresh departed Pilgrim, If he should hear from far the Vesper Bell Seeming to mourn over the dying day. Such is the meaning of these verses;— but their intense beauty is untranslatable. THE LADY'S LOG. 13 the receding shores of England; observed the Black Rock, Leasowe, Bidston and Point of Ayr lights, with the remoter coast of Wales. At mid- night we passed Holyhead, and on the succeeding day we saw the coast of Ireland, backed by a fine outline of hills; passed the Tuskar, and lastly Cape Clear. On the morning of the 8th, forty- three hours after departure, we were beyond sight of land. The 7th of May was the eighteenth anniversary of our wedding day, and Captain Bursley, whom I had known for fifteen years, produced a bottle of his choicest Madeira in honour of the occasion, informing the officers of the ship that we possess the quiver which holds the blessing. At an early hour this morning the colony had begun to sing and dance ; they had a pair of bag- pipes, two or three fiddles, and some flutes, and a whole chorus of singers ; they formed their jigs on each side of the caboose, where of course they were constantly in the way of the sailors. " My men, if you set to dancing in that kind of a manner you'll upset the ship," exclaimed the Cap- tain, and the tractable creatures at once sat down. c 14 THE LADY'S LOG. te You may dance as much as you please when the fires are put out •" and well they profited by the permission, for we had a ball every evening, which usually ended in a fight. We were now ahead of all vessels leaving Liver- pool. At 4, p.m. on the 7th of May, we saw a cloud of smoke, and soon perceived the forest of masts of the Great Western steamer, which had been expected in Liverpool for two days. We saluted her, showing first our Holyhead signals, 1294, and, being answered, then displayed our private signal, red and white, and were glad to be reported under such favourable circumstances, for we had then passed the Tuskar, and were going at about ten knots an hour, under a fine north west wind. The Captain, in all his hundred and sixty voyages across the Atlantic, had never passed the Tuskar so early by four or five hours. Scarcely had we glided past the steamer when the ship gave a long heave, and Bursley exclaimed with the enthu- siasm of a seaman, " Ha ! ha ! there is the first " roll of the Atlantic." And truly it was unlike all other motion that I had ever experienced in a ship; prolonged, and breathing, and swelling, while the THE LADY'S LOG. 15 vessel, plunging gently onwards, seemed to recog- nise with joy the friendly welcome of the ocean billow. I watched and waited for the repeated greeting of the wave, and for the first time I felt and understood the rapture of the sea. The night was breezy, with a brilliant crescent and stars ; the wind, which had been north west, suddenly became north, and grew violent; then began a gale. We had come down the Channel with all our studding sails set, so that we had much sail to shorten. I lay on a sofa in the cabin, and there listened to such a collection of noises as nothing on land can rival ; the sea roared and the wind howled ; the belaboured ship creaked and moaned, and shrieked and sighed like a living thing, for she was light upon the waters, and therefore fully at their mercy ; the men were stamping and the blocks banging, and the sails flapping in the wind and dropping upon deck ; above all was heard the Captain's voice of thunder, shouting his orders and cheering his men. The unhappy creatures in the steerage who had passed the day before in singing and dancing, were now screaming with fright, and sick to death ; the children cried, the 16 THE LADY'S LOG. mothers wept, and the men uttered prayers and imprecations by turns. Presently the Doctor and I felt that we were not to be exempted from the penalty, so I sent the Doctor to bed, desiring the steward to give him a stiff dose of brandy and water, and then thought I would lie still on my sofa ; but soon I became sick and sore, a dead alive wretch, neither hearing nor seeing, nor knowing any thing around me. The good steward managed to drag me to my state room,* and here I lay for thirty-seven hours in mortal sickness. I then recovered, and slept almost incessantly for two days, when I contrived to rise, and crawl upon deck with the Captain's aid ; here I was lashed to my chair with the ship's colours, and the chair to the capstan ; I sometimes fainted, from weakness, but nobody had time to watch my condition ; left to myself, and sprinkled by the waves, and fanned by the winds, I soon recovered my consciousness, and, being tied fast, was never injured. The Doctor had now also recovered, and we began to enjoy the " blowing out " of the gale ; it was favourable * Fortunately my berth had sacking under the mattresses, not wood, which, to an invalid, is a valuable hint. THE LADY'S LOG. \J to our course, and the scene was one of the greatest excitement. The Hottinguer flew before the wind at eleven knots an hour, her bowsprit dipping in the sea, her sails full stretched, the waves on all sides rising high, sometimes crested with white foam, and sometimes coming on like a moving mountain, and threatening to overwhelm us; but as they approached, the winged ship called forth her courage and her strength, and rose calmly and triumphantly upon their bosom. The water was of the deepest blue and green on the side of the ship farthest from the sun, and on the side between us and the sun the whole expanse looked like a sea of moving silver. Two men were still at the helm. I remained the whole day on deck, lashed to my steady friend the capstan — dined heartily — felt better than I had done for months before, and slept all night. The storm was termed, according to its degree of violence, a heavy gale, and, had we not been in the open sea, would have been dangerous. The topsails were close reefed ; the spanker and the royals were shivered to rags, and the main royal got adrift, and c 2 18 THE LADY'S L06. was cut down to save it. Several strongly twisted ropes snapped like threads. On Sunday having rested,, on Monday we began to repair our damage and to mend our rags. The sailors squatted on the deck in the sunshine, sung and stitched away, and I admired their skill in patch- ing amazingly. They never lost an inch of stuff. Being in latitude 45° N, — saw a shoal of black fish or porpoises ; they look like small whales from six to ten feet long, and were sporting away in the now calm sea for many hours. There were many hundreds tumbling about their unshapely carcasses, and spouting up water in uncouth play, the noise of which we heard distinctly in the ship. The colonists began to cook and wash, many having only one change, and to mend their tattered gar- ments (there was a Scotch tailor on board), and they renewed their acquaintance among each other ; with the enviable facility of their nation they instantly looked quite happy, and forgot their sickness and their terror. The steward, also, re- sumed his professional functions, which had been suspended from the total want of demand; his customers having come to a dead lock in regard THE LADY'S LOG. 19 to that universally recognised feature in all legi- timate consumption, — appetite. This man had a most extraordinary, and, in his vocation, an invaluable faculty of walking horizontally as it were ; no matter how the ship might pitch and toss he would carry up the saloon a full glass in each hand without spilling a drop — he seemed to crawl along, his body extended forwards, his legs extended behind, and his hands not a foot from the ground; — dressed in a checked shirt and white apron, with a red and green bandanna tied round his head — he was verily a most whimsical object ; — but he was also a very clever cook, as all black and coloured people are said to be. He was kind, but singularly apathetic : — " Oh! Steward, I'm so sick !" " Well Ma'am, you can't help it, — nobody can't." He is a distinguished linguist, and speaks English, French, Spanish, and sundry African dialects. • 13th May. The swell had gradually subsided, the sea went down and lost his foaming and dazzling crest ; the mild and peculiar heaving of the Atlantic was again perceptible, and the ocean seemed to say in his benignity, " Go free once 20 THE LADY'S LOG. more and scatheless." We now had time to listen to the complaints of some of the sufferers in the steerage ; one man had cut his lip most cruelly, another could not walk upright, many had rheuma- tism and toothache; — the women and children had suffered most grievously from sea-sickness, many indeed were internally injured from its effects ; and several children were nearly dead from cold and neglect; some of the sailors had cut their hands with the ropes — many begged the aid of a surgeon ; alas ! we did not know that there was one on board, and they were compelled to suffer on ; — several asked for physic of any kind, castor oil, or brandy, or tea, or jalap, or whiskey, or gruel; to them it was indifferent. Two Irishmen crept up to me and enquired after my health : — " Bless " you, my Lady, we made bold to come and ask " if you were not frightened with the ship ? for " all we was drunk as thunder ?" Some of the people were so injured by the violent straining that for several days they went on all fours. At stated hours ropes were stretched along the deck, and those ladies and gentlemen who possessed the advantage of shoes were privileged to walk there. THE LADY'S LOG. 21 We have a grotesque assortment of nations. Ame- ricans from all the coasting States, English, Irish, Scotch and Welsh — Germans and Flemings, Spaniards, Poles, West Indians, and native Afri- cans all were there, and all speaking their several tongues in this Babel of men, women, and children ; — we had tradesmen, mechanics, farmers fiddlers, barbers, and gentlemen bagmen ; besides a Baptist Missionary, and, as we most fortunately discovered afterwards, a Surgeon ; the women were cooking, washing, knitting, and most of them were going out on speculation to better their fortunes ; some hoped to find places, some to find husbands ; I often conversed with them, they were uniformly polite, and rarely complained of their lot ; there were many promising girls among them, and I engaged two as servants for the Captain. I had constant amusement in looking down into the scene amidships ; they were for ever " at it ;" and whether singing, dancing, or fighting, it was all for sociability. One Sunday night, immediately after prayers, (for the Captain and the Missionary read the service regularly every Sunday after- noon,) there was a desperate engagement, which 22 THE LADY'S LOG. was thus reported by the " Daily News" of the ship, the Steward, the next morning, at the break- fast table : — " The people had a fight last night after prayers ; " first fight they've made, for they've been pretty " decent." "What did they fight about? " " About the fire ; same thing they always fight " about, — all will cook at a time." " Did they make a noise ? " " Yes, yes, a wonderful noise." " Did it last long ? " " About five minutes." "Did they hurt one another ? " " No, no, they only threw the hot stirabout at " one another, — when it's all spilled then they " can't never fight no longer." On the whole, this was a very consolatory account of the belligerents, and of the extent of their warlike resources. " 15th May. Strong wind from the S.S.E. with " thick weather ; no observations ; ship under a "press of sail, averaging about nine knots per "hour. This is our best day's work yet; two THE LADY'S LOG. 23 " hundred and fifteen miles on our course, — so far, " at the rate of twenty four days' passage ; lat. by " dead reckoning, 46° 10' N, long, by ditto 29° W." Extract from Captain's log. Wind, though violent, was soft and warm, coming from Spain and Por- tugal and the Azores, from which we are only about four hundred miles. I was sitting on deck early this morning when I saw an old man from the steerage approach Captain Bursley, who became much excited ; the wind carried their voices to my ear, and I heard the man say " I believe it is the Small Pox!" The tem- pest had not shaken the firm nerves of the Captain, but he quailed at the hideous name of this scourge of God. Mr. King, our fellow passenger, had been amusing himself with visiting the steerage, and had informed me that among them was a surgeon. Bursley came up, and said " Have you heard this " horrid report? " "Yes, but you are more fortunate "than you think, for you have a medical man "on board. I am not afraid, for the Doctor has "been vaccinated twice, and so have I." A messenger was sent down to Dr. Fraser, who immediately volunteered to take charge of the 24 THE LADY'S LOG. ship. He proceeded with the Captain to examine the child; who was one of two boys named Hickey, in charge of their grandfather Andrew May lone, their father being in New York. The supposition was too true ; the small pox was indeed amongst us.* The patient was seven years old, and the disease was confluent, the throat severely ulcerated, the eyes closed up, the fever violent, with delirium, and the whole body a mass of corruption ; the tongue was so swollen and pustulated that the afflicted child was incapable of articulating the incoherencies of his tortured brain, and the wild unmeaning motions of this dumb and blinded victim alone revealed his agony. The aged grand- father nursed him with the greatest tenderness and patience, sung him to sleep, careless of himself lay by his side in the infected berth, and procured all he could of comfort to assuage his sufferings. Presently his younger brother caught the infection, and two other children sickened. The dismay * Vaccination appears to be almost unknown to these victims of ignorance and neglect. Of the steerage passengers, one eighth were infants, and very few either of these or of the adults had been vaccinated. These children of course brought the disease on board with them. THE LADY'S LOG. 25 which prevailed in the ship surpasses description. For many days we thought and spoke of nothing but the Small Pox. The goodnatured Mr. King was much perplexed. " If," said he, " I had been " at home, there I have as good a physical man " as any body — but here, in the chip" And he consulted me upon the probability of his being a sufferer; "having had," he observed, the Scarlet ec fever, the vaccination twice, the Measles, the " Dropsy ; was it likely after these, that he should " have the Small Pox?"* Dr. Fraser directed the constant use of tar burned as a fumigator ; vessels were placed full of it in various places in the ship, and hot irons constantly put into them ; we used immense quantities of water, and frequent ablutions were commanded in the steerage. When it was known among these forlorn beings that there was a "Doctor" on board, their wants were numberless ; to be sure they were as grateful as they were implor- ing, and they regarded him as a kind of guardian angel. Scarcely a day passed without some opera- tion or other ; while tooth ache, bruises, cholera, low fever, flux, in turn presented themselves. * He escaped while at sea, but was attacked by the disease after landing, D 26 THE LADY'S LOG. Our medicine chest was stored with useless old rubbish; we had neither bark of any kind nor castor oil good for use ; it was rancid and only fit to be thrown into the sea ; Epsom salts in abund- ance ;* neither tape nor lint ; — in fact the medicines furnished to emigrant vessels by some quacking apothecary in New York are well known to be supplied from the cast off stores of the United States' Navy. On the 17th of May we had run fifteen hundred miles of the distance — or the first half, less seventy- five miles — sixteen hundred and fifty remaining. The weather varied between light breezes and occasional squalls, somewhat contrary, causing frequent tacking of the ship, until the 22nd May, when a fresh breeze sprung up from the south- ward, but, as the fog continued, we could take no observation. To prevent as far as possible the spread of the infection we had kept to the north- ward, and for the last two days the temperature had become intensely cold. Ice supposed to be near ; fortunately we kept aloof from it during the * I recollect that these most economical of medicines were in a huge three pint glass bottle — the bottle probably cost Is and the physic 6d. THE LADY'S LOG. 27 fog ; sounded in fifty fathoms, oozy bottom, lat. by account 43° 28', long, by ditto 50° 55'. Steerage very sickly ; a child dangerously ill of inflammation on the chest. No leeches on board. Many suffering from rheumatic pains and gatherings in the ear ; a woman scalded dangerously.* Conversed with a very respectable woman, who, with her child, was walking on the deck. " Oh ! Madam/ 5 said she, " we suffer terribly from the want of room and " comfort, Sometimes we cannot cook, for all the " fires are put out by the spray, and the wind, " and the rain, and we have nothing to warm and " nourish us after this dreadful sickness." Children in the Small Pox became rapidly worse ; as yet, no other positive cases appear, though several are suspected. About 6, p.m. of the next day, 23rd May, the Captain came into the cabin with a look of some perturbation, and said, " After all my care, we are among the ice." All ran upon deck ; the evening was clear and cold, and behold in the East, full in the face of the setting sun, arrayed in dazzling whiteness, and enthroned upon the * Cured with cotton wool. 28 THE LADY'S LOG. waters, appeared the glorious Iceberg. In length, it was supposed to be about one hundred and fifty feet ; in height, sixty feet ; the depth below the water is calculated at two-thirds of the height above. The form was that of a gigantic castellated edifice, with turrets at the two corners and a loftier one in the centre, all perfect in their figures and proportion. The horizon beyond this enchanted island was of deep grey approaching to black, and the sea below it was the colour of sapphire ; on the side between the sun and the ship the surface of the water was of dancing silver. In silence, in solitude, and in mystery, refulgent with light, and armed with strength, the majestic form held on its irresistible way, luring all living things to destruc- tion, and bearing in its spotless bosom — shipwreck, and famine, and murderous frost, and relentless and insatiable death. The Scylla and Charybdis of ancient story, the snares of the tideless Mediter- ranean are forgotten in the contemplation of the sublimity and beauty — the treachery and cruelty of the Iceberg of the Frozen Zone. We gazed enraptured until dusk, and some among us felt that had we been the first mariners to whom such THE LADY'S LOG. 29 vision had been vouchsafed, how hardly we should have abstained from rushing headlong into its fascinating snare, and thus appeasing the insatiable curiosity of rinding out what miracle of the Almighty's power was thus presented to our view. Recollecting ourselves, we rejoiced in thankfulness that we had escaped the danger, for the Iceberg was only about three leagues to the eastward of our course, and had it been night, or had the fog still continued, we might have been unconsciously driven against the invisible mass — lat. 42° 10', long. 52° 0'. Next morning saw a second Iceberg, but much larger, and at a great distance. Read the curious pamphlet upon this interesting sub- ject, and examined the u Chart of Ice" which accompanies it. The Captain had not seen ice before for five years ; he says that these islands of ice are of all forms, sometimes rugged like rocks, sometimes smooth like mountains, sometimes pointed like steeples ; he does not believe that they are annually loosened from the masses of ice accumulated at the North Pole ;* but that a * Because it would be impossible for the ice to be loosened so early in the season as some vessels have seen it; thus, the ship Roscius, this year, 1845, made a passage in March and April, and D 2 30 THE LADY'S LOG. portion being formed or detached, other masses are, by the action of the sea, shoved upon it ; fogs alighting upon these fields of ice become instantly- frozen. Many ships have been lost among them. Bursley saw ice in the Cambridge, in 1840; and an iceberg was seen by the Roscius, supposed (I believe,) to be three miles long, and two hundred feet high. The interviews of the Roscius with the ice have been very frequent, and are all laid down in the " Ice Chart." Saturday, 24th. — Foggy and cold, with a head wind ; tried to get southward of the ice ; read Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, and dined on pilau. Played at chess, solitaire and whist. The Doctor improves rapidly in health and spirits ; in fine weather he spent his time entirely upon deck, and was often seated for hours together in the rigging. I was also comparatively strong and cheerful. At 9, p.m. we went on deck to see the phosphoric appearance of the waves ; I think the wind was from the south, and there was a kind of crispness in the sound of the waters as they saw much ice. It is most frequently seen in May and June ; rarely, I was told, in the summer, and never in November and the winter months. THE LADY'S LOG. 31 rushed -by the ship. The light is pale moonlight colour, and diverges in waves and streaks from the bows of the ship ; hanging over the stern we saw our way behind us like a track of fire, studded with innumerable stars. Some water was pumped up, and we saw the bright spots run over the deck as it was poured out. A little way to the eastward we saw a large immovable body, which we supposed to be a whale ; it was illumi- nated, but was less brilliant than our track. Dr. Fraser told me this evening that we should lose one of the infants afflicted with inflammation on the chest ; its constitution could not stand the severity of the weather, and of the privations it was subject to; — close air, cold drafts, want of nourishment, of clothing, of clean linen, of quiet, &c; it was three years old, the age of the youngest born that I had left behind me. The night was rough; I thought all along of the dying child. About 4, a.m. Captain Bursley, much disturbed, came to my state room door, to tell me of the ill news ; the wearied spirit of the little sufferer had been released. Sunday. — The interest of the ship is incessant ; 32 THE LADY'S LOG. every hour brings excitement and amusement. Her time, unlike most merchantmen, is kept like a Man of War's ; the clock is regulated so as to strike the bells ; the sounds are repeated by the steersman, who strikes a bell hung just before him ; this is again repeated forwards by the mate, so that every part of the ship knows the time, and the watches regulate themselves. These bells are very musical, and were distinctly heard during the storm. So exact are sailors that even in the hour of danger they are passively or rather instinctively obedient to their accustomed habits, and to the orders which are given them; they rang the bells as regularly in a storm as in a calm. This evening saw a Portuguese man of war, so called because the Men of War of that nation are the frailest and least sea worthy of all. Such I was informed is the origin of this whimsical appel- lation. What a reflection upon the present naval degradation of the Portuguese, whose maritime knowledge (actually whose skill in ship building), rendered the fifteenth century so important in the annals of the world ; was the means of checking the influence of the Crescent, and vindicating the THE LADY'S LOG. 33 power of the Cross ; and which, guiding De Gama round the Cape of Tempests,* poured into the lap of Europe the treasures of the Indies. That country which gave birth to the hero, and likewise to the author of the Lusiad. This little creature is white, and looks like a semi-transparent mem- brane ; it is of oblong shape, but frequently curls its end round ; the inside looks like a collection of threads, and floating upon the water it resem- bles a large bubble. But in any description I attempt of the animal or vegetable world, I must observe, that I have no knowledge of natural his- tory whatever, and merely relate the things which I have seen and heard from those around me. We saw also this evening a single specimen of the Stormy Petrel ; these birds are called by sailors Mother Cary's Chickens ; it flew round and round the ship, sometimes alighting, a familiarity they rarely indulge in. In shape and size they re- semble the house swallow, and before a storm are often seen clustering round the ship in multitudes. This bird has a fan tail, is web footed, and can walk on the water with the aid of its wings. The * The original name of the Cape of Good Hope. 34 THE LADY'S LOG. plumage is black and white, and the flight is peculiarly dipping and graceful. The little stranger followed the ship at least two hours, and flew as if much exhausted. At dusk we lost sight of it. With what extraordinary powers of flight these birds must be gifted ! At three in the after- noon the Baptist Missionary, (who was on his way to Canada,) performed divine service upon deck; he was a good reader and a fair preacher, and it was a beautiful sight to behold at least three hundred people, separated from all other Christian com- munities, kneeling at their devotions on the decks of a vessel, far far at sea. Many held their children in their arms, and it is to be wished that the true spirit of religion, which prompted people of all nations, of all sects in that ship, to unite in prayer at the word of a Baptist preacher, might be inculcated on land among the church goers and the chapel goers who throng the streets of crowded cities. The coloured steward, however, did not assist at our devotions ; he inquired from me whether the " preacher spoke from the book, or without it?" « From the book." " Oh ! then," rejoined this most critical judge of preaching, " I THE LADY'S LOG. 35 " dont think much of him ; besides, I was washing " up the dishes, and could not go to church " very conveniently." The African race are en- thusiastic admirers of extempore preaching. Monday, 26th of May. — At eleven we committed the body of Matthew Hickey to its long last home in the deep sea. The carpenter, who is always the ship's undertaker, had previously stitched it up in canvass, and tied to the feet a heavy bag of coals, in order to sink it at once. The sailors and passengers all contended that the luminous im- movable body seen on Saturday night was the shark waiting for his prey. The parents, being Quakers, did not wish for much display. The Baptist Missionary again lent his aid, he read a chapter from St. PauPs Epistle to the Corinthians ; " This corruptible must put on incorruption, and " this mortal must put on immortality." He then sung a hymn, in which he was joined by all who could sing, and made a short and impressive address. The ceremony took place on the poop deck, the people stood all round, and a small space was left for the Captain and ourselves. The Captain, Surgeon, and Missionary, all put on such 36 THE LADY'S LOG. slight badges of mourning as they could find in their chests, and all present were clean and in their best clothes ; the sailors whose work could not, of course, be interrupted, were as gentle and quiet as their various avocations permitted ; and one, I saw, who reverently bent his head as he stood aloft in the rigging, when the Missionary closed the Sacred Book from which he had renewed to all the living present, the promise of that brighter and happier world, which the departed infant had been summoned from his earthly woes to enjoy. A port hole was opened in the deck amidships, and there, on an inclined plank sloping to the water, wrapped up in the ship's colours, lay the small dead creature. The chief mate stood by the body, ready to launch it down at the signal ; the service ended, the Captain said aloud, " All is finished \" and the Mate raised the plank, and stripped off the colours. The little body looked like a bundle of straw tied up in a sack ; it rose for an instant, then sunk, and disappeared for ever. — — — — We were cold and sorrowful ; and all retired to their state rooms till dinner time. No funeral in a consecrated church THE LADY'S LOG. 37 yard could be more decent in its circumstance, more affecting in its details, and I think sometimes, for like Angelo, I cannot separate consciousness from death, that I would rather dissolve in the Ocean than moulder in the Earth ; — -" 'Tis too horrible! " To lie in cold obstruction and to rot; " This sensible warm motion to become " A kneaded clod;" e( This day was a complete calm; it was cold " and drizzling. Withfour hundred steerage passen- " gers a calm at sea is much more uncomfortable " than can be imagined by any one who has not " been an eye witness of such a scene. Some of " these evils are an unmanageable ship rolling to " and fro, and baffling all the skill and exertions " of Captain and men to keep her head the right " way ; sailors in constant requisition to brace the " yards about, which seems all in vain, and they " being wet and cold are any thing but amiable. " The filth of the steerage washing about the wet " decks without any chance of escape. The coal " smoke from five different fires filling all parts of " the ship without the slightest draft of air to ignite " the coal or drive the foul odours away ; the wear E 38 THE LADY'S LOG. " and tear of rigging is greater than in a storm, ie and formerly, when vessels were built short and " tub like, it has occurred that vessels have been w dismasted in a calm. Mutinies are almost always " started in calms." — Captain Bursley' s log. I profited by the calm to discourse much with Captain Bursley, for the conversation of a man of natural strong sense and good feeling, especially when he has become experienced both in human life and in his profession, is often far more instruc- tive than that of the scholar, and more amusing than that of the wit. We spoke of Reid's Law of Storms. Mr. Reid had been on board the Hot- tinguer the day before we sailed to inquire about a great storm in March. Bursley is of opinion that Lieutenant Reid's system of the successions of storms being circular is correct ; for instance, our gale began from the South, changed to West, and then to North. The deductions, however, of Captain Reid, that this theory may enable ships to avoid storms by calculating their recognised course will never be of use to sailing vessels, though it may assist steamers. Bursley has no opinion of economical seamen ; THE LADY'S LOG. 39 he contends that a man who has heen three months at sea, working hard, and living on salt beef and dry biscuit, is led by his feelings to spend his £12 or £15 among his friends in merriment on land ; and that he who has not heart for this at home, would be good for nothing at sea. (I do not know how this will suit our modern moralists, and educationalists.) In twenty-eight years of seafaring life, he has only had two men overboard. On one occasion, he was carrying out a large company of females and a professor of divinity, when a man, who was slightly tipsy, in hauling a rope, overbalanced himself; great excitement prevailed; the women laughed and cried in hysterics, and called for brandy ; the divine walked up to the poor fellow, and gravely asked, while he was yet dripping — " What were you thinking of while you were in "the sea?" "Why," returned the sailor, "I was thinking that they would be sure to put the " boat out and take me in." A grievous disap- pointment to the divine, who expected a text to preach from. On another occasion, a man fell overboard in the Mersey ; he, also, was tipsy, and 40 THE LADY'S LOG. was in a boat carrying some newspapers from one ship to the other — the boat upset, and the fellow instantly presented himself astride upon it, bottom upwards, with the utmost coolness and sobriety ; he was picked up by the other ship. " Do you see what that man is doing there ?" pointing to a sailor, who, with a strong tarred twine, was attaching behind the rigging a piece of oak hollowed out like a splint to keep the ropes from being chafed. " He is putting on a Scotch- man/' But if he should leave a fag end after he has done his work, the mate will say to him, " Take away that Irishman." Between the English and the American sailor there is no difference in point of excellence ; the Irish, as seamen, are the worst of all, and this is one of the many incomprehensible incongruities in the composition of Paddy, " God help him \" Captain Ira Bursley was born, 1798, near Taunton, Massachusetts, and was the son of a yeoman ; he led a farming life until the age of eighteen, when he was seized with the desire of going to sea. He has now made about one hundred and sixty-eight passages, and was never in danger. THE LADY'S LOG. 41 Once, having realized a competence, he retired from a sea-faring life to a farm, but, though happy in his domestic relations, he could not rest on land, and returned to his ship. He is a man of immense physical strength, weighing sixteen stone ; and I do not know any one who lives so abstemiously, preferring farinaceous food to all others. I never saw him take either wine, or malt liquor, or spirits, with the single exception of one glass of Madeira. He slept generally about four hours every after- noon, from three to seven — but was up the whole of every night, and in the darkness it afforded the most perfect feeling of security to hear his heavy measured tread on the deck above me. He never played at cards, excepting at solitaire, and occa- sionally spent many hours during a calm in that most quiescent entertainment. I have been induced to give these particulars of the life of Captain Bursley, and these details of his opinions, because he is an excellent specimen of American ship Captains ; I may add, that he is a consummate navigator, both practically and theo- retically, and a perfect disciplinarian. To me, whose birthplace was on the shores of E 2 42 THE LADY'S LOG. the Mersey, the adventures of a seaman are full of interest ; and perhaps some of my friendly readers may find amusement in the following short sketch of a sailor's life, and a sailor's death. — Captain Allen Bursley, the younger brother of Ira Bursley, was born in 1S01 — he was a brave sailor, and a man of great capacity; but constantly unfortunate. He had been twice wrecked before his final doom; once at the age of eighteen, on the coast of France, when he could not swim : the vessel struck on a reef of rocks. He was the mate, and happening to have the watch, he and the rest ran up the rigging ; the vessel went down under them in an instant ; the other watch never came on deck, and were all drowned. Bursley clung to the top mast ; then caught another and a larger spar ; then a larger one still ; after being seven hours in the water, he and four others were picked up alive seven miles from the place where they went down. This fearless man told his brother that during this time he had no sensation of alarm ; he never thought of it, his only idea was to cling to his frail spar as fast as he could. Afterwards, going out of the Havana, the vessel being laden THE LADY'S LOG. 43 with sugar, in a squall, she turned bottom upwards ; he, and several men got on the bottom, where they lived many days without food; at length they caught a fish or two, and Bursley described the horrid eagerness with which he bit the throat of the yet living fish, and sucked its blood ; he never after- wards could eat fresh fish. At last, in a tremen- dous fog, in January, 1835, he had been beating and floundering about in the upper part of the Irish Channel, when a gale came on ; he tried to make the Mull of Galway, but having no point to take a departure from, he mistook the lights, and the ship went right against the rocks. The mate and four men got on the bowsprit and were saved. Bursley, it was supposed, had turned back for some reason, and was never seen again : — " Yet still shall he find pleasant weather When He, who all commands Shall give, to call life's crew together, The word to pipe all hands : Thus death, who Kings and Tars despatches In vain his life has doff'd, For though his body's under hatches His soul is gone aloft." Tuesday, 27th May. — Strong winds from W. to S.W. New York, W.^S. 750 miles;— at night, it 44 THE LADY'S LOG. blew hard ; some tables and chairs got adrift in the cabin, and a bucket over my head on the deck ; the racket was intolerable ; at twelve, the Captain called to me, that " it would blow a gale." — At five we were making eleven knots the hour. The scene in the morning was magnificent ; the sea ran so high as to be sometimes sixty feet above the sides of the ship ; no one on the deck amid- ships which was constantly filling ; the bowsprit was frequently under water for many minutes ; sometimes I was lashed to my old ally the capstan, sometimes I clung to the rigging, and sometimes I lay on a sail upon deck. We shortened sail as much as possible, going sometimes twelve knots the hour ; saw a ship about a mile off, bound east- ward ; she had only her small storm sail, and the main royal on ; at times we saw her hull labouring and kicking, and at times we could distinguish only her mast heads apparently only about a yard above water. " Give me the trumpet, and we'll hail her," said the Captain, who was standing forward. But, before he could put the trumpet to his mouth, " Ship ahoy !" — roared out a hundred Irishmen, thus entirely defeating the object of hailing her. The THE LADY'S LOG. 45 wind, though so violent, was soft and pleasant. No object can convey a finer idea of uncontrolled and unlimited power than the approaching wave of the ocean, rising high above the ship, and with stooping crest preparing to engulph her; suddenly the proud swell lowers, bends to the hull, and suffers her to rise unharmed and pass away, as if in generous disdain to injure such a trusting and harmless guest. " She breasts each wave ;" " How " gaily she skims along ;" said the Captain, as his eye glanced down from stem to stern. During the wind, the Doctor sat up in the main mast enjoying the scene ; he pulled away at the ropes very often and evidently gained strength daily. This was the greatest day of trial to the Steward ; — at breakfast we did but clumsily — toast, milk, and mutton chops, and salt fish and eggs, and coffee and tea, reeled on the table in glorious confusion, and at last a basin full of soft sugar fell into an Irish stew. In addition, all his various allies are incapacitated, one of the black cooks being " sick/' the other having fallen down and hurt his knee. My attendant, Mary, for some purpose of female cu- riosity, visited the steerage, and shortly afterwards 46 THE LADY'S LOG. reported herself in my state room as drownded — I sent her to bed. The cow has been sea sick, and the pigs, of which we have a numerous family, have taken to quarrelling, the elder and stronger ones, like so many schoolboys, abusing the little ones and biting their ears off. The pet kitten of the cabin, sometimes our sole consolation in a calm, had vanished. On board ship, a cat becomes an " individual" and we mourned long and loudly for unfortunate Pussey. After some days she re- appeared, but starved and terrified, with bright glaring eyes, and perfectly nervous or hysterical. Of the subjects of Mr. Pratt (the clerk of the ship,) nothing was to be seen but about forty pairs of trowsers hanging to dry ; the poor creatures are all sick again — and cannot eat or drink. This day much sickness was reported, several women were in continued fainting fits from sickness, many children were much bruised by knocking against chests and other things during the lurches of the ship. An alarming case of flux. A violent storm of thunder and lightning, followed by excessive rain, took place at 6, p.m. ; the lightning played in capricious streaks about the mast head, and seemed THE LADY'S LOG. 47 to dance upon the yards. Made poor progress on our course. At 9, p.m. Dr. Fraser came to my state room, in much agitation, and told me that one of the children in the Small Pox was dying of convulsions ; he requested me to inform Captain Bursley (whose horror of this complaint it Avas distressing to witness,) while he returned to the child ; but, before he could reach the steerage, they told him it was dead, and he returned to request that I would use my influence with the Captain that it might be instantly stitched up in canvass, and thrown, without any burial service, overboard ; the parents, being Catholics, were of opinion that no burial service was better than one read by a heretic, and the Captain fully acquiesced in the propriety of the measure. Orders were there- fore at once given to the mate, who sent a Spaniard, deeply seamed with the Small Pox, to sew up the little victim, and in twenty minutes after life had fled, the body was cast into the sea. Dr. Fraser considered this the very worst case he had ever seen of Small Pox ; the whole body was incrusted in matter like a shell. The other child much the same. Two or three sailors attacked with scurvy, 48 THE LADY'S LOG. from exposure to cold and wet. Steward attacked with some violent internal complaint. // had frequently occurred to me during these scenes that there should have been a regular Surgeon on board the Hottinguer, attached to the ship, for, unless Dr. Fraser had been accidentally on board, I cannot conceive the amount of death and destruc- tion that ivould of necessity have ensued. He was employed, without intermission, the whole of the day with patients in the steerage and with the ship's crew ; and, he told me, that he was always called every night three or four times. The Captain, in the meantime, knew nothing of all that went forward in the steerage pest house ; he ivas properly and fully occupied in attending to his ship, as were also his mates. They knew as much of physic and surgery as they did of the man in the moon, and all with propriety and modesty gave every possible attention to the directions of the Doctor. The carpenter is entitled to especial mention. On Dr. Fraser's representing to him the extreme indelicacy of his prescribing for female jiatients in the general refuge, he gave up his small berth for their use ; (and he was likewise a humane and efficient aid in all THE LADY'S LOG. 49 cases requiring an assistant.) These various circum- stances fully convinced me that every ship carrying passengers should be provided with a medical man ; and to assure myself that such was not the case, I asked Captain Bursley to show me the Passenger Book. I looked through it again and again in search of some regulation to this effect — but nothing of the kind, nor in any way alluding to the subject, could be discovered. I asked the Captain, who said there was no such regulation existing. I then resolved in my own mind, to expose, so far as I could, this hideous grievance, and if it lay in the power of so humble a member of society as myself, to obtain some provision in the way of medical assistance for the suffering emigrants. After many difficulties, I have the exceeding- happiness to say that, to a certain degree, my efforts have been successful ; and in order to attain so desirable an end, I shall, at the risk of being dull and prolix to my readers, and probably offensive to ears polite, relate in the Appendix all the steps taken, and their results, both in America and in England. May 28th. A few symptoms of insubordination. 50 THE LADY'S LOG. Captain went on deck at 6, a.m. — found both watches below, and no one on deck but the helms- man. A man directed to sweep the decks; he refused : ordered instantly to the house on the poop deck, where he stayed four hours — returned to his duties. Another man ordered aloft, replied, that he could not obey the orders ; " Go up, and " stay there till you can. Stay there for a week." The orders were promptly obeyed. Considerable excitement on board in consequence of the Steward and Cook having been detected in receiving money from the steerage passengers for cooking for them. Captain searched their boxes and found £16, which he took possession of, but gave back to them on landing at New York. Saw a variety of fish of the Grampus kind ; there were many hundreds, and as the sun shone, their dark red spots looked like gold below the water ; the stormy petrel, with their wild cry and graceful flight, surrounded the ship before the gale : it is said that this bird lives on blubber, and that it can, when attacked, spout a quantity of oil from its bill. Harpooned a porpoise, but could not get him on board. THE LADY'S LOG. 51 Wednesday, 28th May. — This was a day of enjoyment, the gale still lingered from the west- ward, enabling us to go about three knots an hour, one on our course ; gradually it became calm, and again we saw the ocean in its gentleness, and decked in the rainbow hues imparted by the full blaze of day. The sun set gorgeously in purple and gold, and, in the East, stretched forth a long and unbroken line of azure from one end of the horizon to the other. I remembered the exquisite stanzas of Childe Harold, which, all of us, probably, know by heart, and felt that until I had crossed the Atlantic I never understood their truth, their beauty, and their power : — " Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow; Such as Creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now." And I wished the poet had looked upon the Ice- berg which would have furnished a magnificent stanza for the poem which, of all others, the most nearly approaches in its descriptions to the sub- limity of the Book of Job. As charity covers a multitude of sins, so do these inspired lines atone for many errors, both in the life and writings of this gifted man. We were well ; and the Doctor 52 THE LADY'S LOG. and I began to feel the pleasurable excitement of our anticipated landing in a new country and among a stranger people. The next day was Muster Day — the crew and passengers were examined, and the average of actual sickness found to be less than might have been anticipated. There is no doubt that the atmosphere of the sea is highly conducive to health, and that the proportion of disease and death averages less at sea than on land. The people were ordered to produce themselves in clean and neat dresses ; they were happy, also, thinking of the El Dorado they were seeking. Saw their pro- visions served out to them — all excellent; they give a decided preference to potatoes.* The Mates and Clerk of the ship being very busy, the Doctor and I assisted materially in writing out the ship's manifests. Passed a vessel with all sail set going to New Brunswick. She looked very well, though only * The love of the Irish for this article of food sometimes approaches to the pathetic; last winter, I inquired from a serving man in the employ of the warehouse — " What is the price of potatoes?" " Why, Ma'am," said he, " I can only afford to buy one apiece " for us on Sunday; ihey are a halfpenny each, and I buy six." THE LADY'S LOG. 53 600 tons burthen. The Hottinguer in full sail must look splendid. 30th May. — This day I began to sicken — violent headache and much fever; but I could still keep up. At night, heard my Scotch attendant Mary moaning fearfully ; and calling out, " Oh ! Mrs. Murray " dear, I'm dying." On rising, I could do nothing for her, and proceeded to desire the carpenter, who had the watch on deck, to call Dr. Fraser. Pre- sently the Doctor knocked at my door requesting me to lend him a tape for the purpose of bleeding Mary. " I have neither tape nor lint," said he. " I have nothing but this," rejoined I, handing him my knitted woollen garter : " But who will " help you to bleed the girl !" (i Oh ! the car- " penter." And with this time honoured bandage, and a bit of a pocket handkerchief for lint, he proceeded with his willing helpmate, the carpenter, to perform the operation. The next day I had much fever and loss of appetite. On Sunday, we coasted along the low sandy shore of Long Island, and soon saw the graceful pilot boats and many other kinds of beautiful craft flitting around us. At length we f 2 54 THE LADY'S LOG. were boarded by our pilot, and all gathered round him for letters and news. The Oregon Question was already the universal theme, and the belligerent manifestos of the President of the United States and of Sir Robert Peel, then Prime Minister of England, had awakened apprehension in the minds of many. The causes of the Presidential Election also had not ceased to be warmly debated ; and I heard the public and private qualifications of the several competitors sharply argued upon by these Republicans ; not more freely, however, than we Monarchists in England are wont to discuss the merits of crowned Heads, and of the various Pretenders to their thrones. The colonists in the steerage now began to make preparations for their approaching departure, and it was wonderful to see the various baggage, almost all good for nothing, with which they were incum- bered — every other bundle was a great coat rolled up with a frying pan tied on the top of it. The tatterdemallion* finery which appeared when the * In these hypercritical days it may be discreet to state that this most excellent word, now almost obsolete, is drawn from the " well of English undefiled." Its origin is Anglo Saxon and Italian; and the example of Dryden authorises its use. THE LADY'S LOG. 55 ladies turned out full dressed was curious indeed; hats and gowns of indescribable shapes and dimensions made their appearance ; high crowns, and low crowns, long waists, and short waists, flounces, and furbelows, and flowers and feathers of the most venerable and original fashions were paraded by these simple hearted people on the decks with as much self complacency as a Peacock surveys all the eyes in his tail. Generally, they were not a robust set of people, but then truly they appeared under every disadvantage. The Queen of the ship was Kilkenny Mary, a fine woman of twenty-eight, who is carrying out her aged mother, to whom she is devoted. Mary has a pair of raven black eyes, and a redundant head of raven black hair. Her voice is very melodious, and she is the best singer, fighter, dancer, washer, and cook in the whole shij); knocks all the men about, and invariably subdues them into obedience. On one occasion the ladies had made a wash extraordinary, and as was their usual habit, suspended their garments, in spite of rule, on all the ropes indiscriminately around them. Suddenly an order was given to tack the ship, and 56 THE LADY'S LOG. away flew all these indescribable articles half mast high, where they flapped and fluttered in the sight of the dismayed washerwomen and owners. The ladies, headed by Kilkenny Mary, made a desperate onslaught on the mate, who apologized, and at the earliest convenience released the pendant petti- coats from their aerial struggles. Mary is the very person to emigrate, being a practical and sensible woman, who never hesitates to put a helping hand to the work in progress, of whatever kind, Monday, 2nd June. — The Pilot mentioned at the breakfast table that he had seen a comet about three o'clock that morning ; the stranger was not announced in the Almanacs, and we determined to rise at three the next morning, and to be our- selves convinced that the portentous sign was indeed visible. So we assembled on deck about half past three, on Tuesday morning, the 3rd of June, and saw a fair looking comet, without a tail. The morning was clear and bright, and I watched the sun rise for the last time above the Atlantic. On our arrival in New York we spoke of the incident, but nobody believed us, and at length we THE LADY'S LOG. 57 began to be ashamed of our comet, and spoke of it no longer. I had, indeed, ceased to allude to the circumstance, when Mrs. Cushing, of Ithaca, about two months afterwards, accidentally mentioned that a friend of hers had seen a comet on the 3rd of June, while travelling on the Railroad. It afforded the Doctor and myself great satisfaction to find at length some corroborative testimony in our favour, and we immediately claimed acquaintance with our celestial friend. I afterwards enquired from Lieutenant Maury, of the Observatory, at Wash- ington, if there hadbeen such a comet? "Certainly," said he, " and what is singular, that comet will never be seen again, for the figure of its orbit* is such as to preclude the possibility of a return/' Here indeed was an event in our lives ; to have thus met, by accident, so eccentric and universal a traveller, who was visible but a few hours to this Earthly planet, and whose hurried matchless flight rapt him at once beyond the reach and ken of millions of Suns, and sun-chained systems. Dashing through time and space, the unshackled Comet mocks the calculations of star gazing men ; * A parabola, or hyperbola. 58 THE LADY'S LOG. for he is unaccountable ; and girt with fire and vapour, he laughs to scorn their terrors, for he is harmless. Controlled by the laws of Him alone who commandeth the ordinances of Heaven, he flies the bands of Orion, and steals from the sweet influences of Pleiades ; he sets his heel on Maz- zaroth and his Seasons, and disdains to guide Arcturus with his Sons ! What shall be his destiny? And when and where shall it be accom- plished? How curious but how contemptible a feeling of self complacency was engendered by the circumstance of having seen what so few did then behold, and what no mortal eye shall ever look upon again. Professor Mitchell, of Cincinnati, afterwards gave precisely the same report of the Comet which we had received from the Lieutenant. The excessive headache continued, and grievous pains throughout the whole body supervened ; and it was with much difficulty that I went on deck the following morning to look at the shores of New Jersey,* wooded down to the edge of the water, and looking like the Garden of Eden, after an absence from the sight of land of nine and twenty * Long Branch was the first land we descried. THE LADY'S LOG. 59 days. Suffering and overcome with the horrid nausea and aching pains which precede the Small Pox, (though I did not then suspect the disgusting malady of which I was the victim,) I yet had self possession enough to contemplate with eager curiosity my approach to this unknown world, of which I had heard so much, and knew so little. " Finalmente," says Alfieri, "vidi la sospirata Porta del Popolo, " e benche fortemente indisposto, pure quella " superba entrata mi racconsolo f* and with such sensations did I behold this gorgeous approach to New York, the brilliant and exciting metropolis of the Commonwealth. We were now in the Bay, passed Sandy Hook on the left, and on the right Rockaway Beach, celebrated for its exhilarating sea bathing, and Coney Island; then saw Forts Hudson and Richmond, on Staten Island, entered the Narrows, f defended by Fort Hamilton, on Long Island, and arrived at the Quarantine Ground opposite to Staten Island ; a lovely spot * " At last," says Alfieri, " I beheld the People's Gate, which " I so long had yearned to see, and though very very ill, this " superb entrance delighted and revived me." f At low water the entrance by the Narrows is somewhat diffi- cult for large ships. 60 THE LADY'S LOG. to be profaned by such a name. Here we anchored about noonday on Wednesday, the 4th of June. And now was enacted a most curious scene ; the ship had been duly prepared for the reception of the Surgeon from the Quarantine ; and the people ordered to wash and dress themselves, as on the Muster Day, in their clean clothes. The sapient Functionary came on board — stayed about an hour — looked among the crowd of emigrants — never saw me nor entered my state room — reported us clean — gave us permission to go up to New York immediately, and very obligingly took his departure.* The Montezuma (I believe,) lay near us in quaran- tine, having brought eleven patients in the Small Pox. The Quarantine Station is about six milesfrom New York, and there is attached to the establish- ment a general Hospital, a Small Pox Hospital * The Quarantine Regulations and the mode in which they are carried into effect are universally allowed to be most inefficient. The subject was brought before the House of Assembly of the State of New York, in 1846, and a Special Committee appointed to enquire into these abuses. A very able and comprehensive docu- ment was published in 1846, entitled " Report of a Special Com- " mittee of the House of Assembly of the State of New York, on " the present state of the Quarantine Laws." Some extracts from this Pamphlet will be found in the Appendix ; but I have no knowledge of how far the representations contained in it have been acted upon. THE LADY'S LOG. 61 and a Yellow Fever Hospital. A number of schooners carried up the emigrants to the city. I watched the debarkation from my state room window, and now ensued that scene of helter skelter* haste which is usual when people are released from ships, or coaches, or theatres, or churches, or confinement of any sort. Men and women after having spent twenty-nine days at sea, hazarded breaking their necks and limbs to get on shore twenty minutes before their neighbours, just as people who loiter away three or four hours daily, leap over the paddle boxes to escape from the steamer which ferries them across a river in ten minutes, or elbow their way in a crowd getting out of a ball room, and break one another^ arms to find their carriages five minutes sooner than is possible. But in this Irish scramble the children were always thought of. I never heard a single cry. Many of these schooners being constantly em- ployed in conveying passengers from the vessels which arrive at the Quarantine Station up to * Helter Skelter is Anglo Saxon. As Dryden furnishes the precedent for Tatterdemallion; so Swift, another great master of the English language, disdains not to cast the shield of his name over Helter Skelter. 62 THE LADY'S LOG. New York are no doubt infected with various diseases, and this must be one ready means by which Fever, Small Pox, and other infectious maladies are communicated to the city. The Custom House Officers came on board. Be- sides a scanty wardrobe, I had only a few books, of which no account whatever was taken ; pro forma, I was asked for the keys of my trunks, but if they ivere ope?ied not a thing of any description was touched. On my return to England, I shall recall this gentlemanly conduct on the part of the American Officers to the remembrance of my readers. The ship being cleared, was ordered to prepare for going up to the Wharves of the city. The Doctor went on shore with Dr. Fraser and returned with ice and lemonade, and some enormous oysters, called Blue Pointers, some bananas, and some strawberries, the last of which I thought delicious. About noon, my brother and sister-in-law came to take leave of us, as they were to sail the next day for England. I was now in a high fever, and suffered excruciating pains in my back and limbs, and the account they would carry home was not very pleasant. General VanNess, then Collector THE LADY'S LOG. 63 of the Customs, had the politeness to send down a Custom House barge for me and my son, but I was too ill to proceed otherwise than in my comfortable state room in the Hottinguer. On Saturday, the 7th June, she reached the Wharves. I was with great difficulty brought up stairs, put on shore, lifted into a carriage, and driven to the house of my brother in law, in Fourth-street. And thus I landed in America; unconscious that she would soon divide my heart with England ; and that it should become my earnest hope, my ceaseless prayer, that, to her social equality, and certain greatness ; to her sunny skies and unex- hausted soil, I might bequeath my children. To my great regret I have never since been on board the Hottinguer ; but I always learn of her out-goings and her in-comings, and with grief have heard of her sufferings from fever and other sickness ; and of the death of one of our old messmates. Her success and her misfortunes will ever affect me strongly, for we must be cold hearted indeed if we have no sympathy with the timbers that formed our nutshell home upon the 64 THE LADY'S LOG. seas ; " Health to her Captain and her Crew ; and " swift-sure be the course, and steady be the helm " of the Hottinguer." NEW YORK Chapter II. THE SMALL POX. -e stranieva. The heat of the weather, at that time, the first week of June, was intense, the thermometer being about 98° in the shade; the sun poured vertically upon the seemingly interminable Bowery, and the roughness of the pavement was death to me — but still I kept up with much exertion, and after dinner took a drive. The next morning being Sunday, I could not rise, and supposed that the heat was the cause of this burning fever. On Monday morning, however, I felt much better, and prepared to rise, when, looking in the glass, G 2 66 THE SMALL POX. I saw that my face was covered with the pustules of the Small Pox. I then discovered that my head and body were also full of these spots, and in much more mental than bodily suffering, (for the system was relieved when once the disease had determined to the surface,) I returned to bed. My position was a very painful one; the pro- bability was that the Doctor also would have imbibed the infection ; we were alone, and in a house where there were two children, the older between two and three years old, the younger not yet twelve months old. Fever is the demon of America, the heat of the climate causing it to spread like wildfire, and it was a horrible feeling to have brought such a disease into the house of my sister-in-law, whose unselfish character would have been the last to inflict such a trial on another. I now began to feel surprise that the suspicion had never crossed my mind that my complaint might be the Small Pox ; but probably the reason of my obtuseness was my confidence in the second vaccination. I waited until Mr. Fraser came up to see me, and then consulted him on the best arrangement that, under the circum- THE SMALL POX. 6f stances, could be made, It was my decided wish to be taken to the Hospital, and it is the course which I would advise any person arriving in similar circumstances to adopt. It is the only asylum which they can seek with the certainty of admission, and it is the only abode in which fever patients may be accommodated, without feeling themselves a nuisance, and forfeiting their inde- pendence. But, Dr. Fraser, feeling himself in some degree responsible for the safety of the child and myself, thought that such a step would dis- tress my husband, and recommended that I should go to the Astor House, This proceeding was attended with much risk, and involved many hazardous consequences; but no time was to be lost, and to stay where I was, utterly impos- sible. We now sent for my sister, and no words can convey her look of terror when I said — " Elizabeth, I have the Small Pox !"— I thought she would have fainted. — She retired and sent for her husband, but, having decided upon the course which appeared the only feasible one, I did not enter into any further consultation, but lay quietly in bed, and cunningly devised my plans. Dr. 68 THE SMALL POX. Fraser had gone to engage apartments for us at the Astor House, where he himself was staying, and I had obtained his permission to take a warm bath if I wished. I, therefore, determined to take a bath at Niblo's on the way, and instead of returning, to proceed to the Hotel. Informing my sister of the bathing part of the plan, and be- speaking the aid of her maid, Catherine, carrying also the Doctor with me, we set off; I was too ill to look around me, and only felt the terrible jolting of those uneven streets. I could not have gathered strength for the bath ; and we, therefore, ordered the driver to the Astor House ; and I sent for the proprietor, and told him that I was a great invalid, and wished for rooms ; that, with regard to myself, I should like a room looking to the back, and that I did not care how high up it might be. " If you will wait, Madam/' said he, " till five o'clock, " when the railway cars go out, we shall be happy to " accommodate you." I then sent back the servant to relieve the mind of my sister from anxiety.* And * I have, since my return to England, attended on the deathbed of this affectionate Irish girl— and it is sad to reflect that the benevolent and well-judging Priest, the Reverend Mr. Gillow, who soothed the departing spirit of poor Catherine, has died a martyr to the late awful visitation of fever in Liverpool. THE SMALL POX. 69 now ensued an awful interval, for it was not yet two, and I was ushered into the Ladies* Reception Room, where, covered with an old blue veil that I had worn on the passage, I lay on the sofa three miserable hours. I was then led up stairs, and deposited in the fourth gallery, in a comfortable and quiet room, with a window looking into the garden of the Hotel; a fountain played in the centre ; the green outside shutters gave the apart- ment an air and feeling of coolness, and I thank- fully partook of some lemonade. A housemaid who happened to be marked with the Small Pox was in attendance in my gallery ; I desired her to be always near my door and to answer my bell ; which she did, and paid every attention during my whole illness which I required. Dr. Fraser visited me twice a day, and administered my medi- cines ; and to him I am indebted for the care and kindness, not usually met with from a stranger, but that which we are accustomed to look for and to expect from the long tried friends of our house. Those who have suffered from the Small Pox well know the distress of my position, and to those who have not, I will spare the infliction of such a 70 THE SMALL POX. diary as the next ten days would present ; they have my truest wishes that they may for ever escape so horrid an experience. I recollect to have heard in my youth a tradition that before the discovery of vaccination, it was considered a sin against good manners to name the Small Pox in society ; Pope, in his terrible Satire on Women, alludes to it as the most dreaded foe to beauty, temper, and life itself, that existed in his day. After a fortnight's suffering and seclusion from all save my good housemaid and physician, for I only saw my son two or three times a day, when he opened the door for an instant, and peeped at me, I began to recover. The most distressing pustules were in my hair, and we contrived to cut it all off. I had several most vexatious marks on my fore- head. Now, however, it became desirable that I should be removed from my diminutive apartment, and change the air and scene. On Sunday, the 22nd June, I prepared to go down stairs, for the first time, to dinner in the Ladies' Ordinary at the Astor House. My attire was somewhat grotesque, being the winter fashion of England, both in make and in material; for I had intended to replenish THE SMALL POX. 71 my wardrobe from the spring fashions of New York. But a far greater difficulty was the obsti- nacy of the spots on my forehead; they were exactly mid-way, just above my nose, and truly were any thing but ornamental. We first tried a little caustic, but, forgetful of its effects, I put my finger to my forehead, and drew down a streak so long and black as to render my appearance on that day an impossibility. We determined the next day to cover this unseemly sight with court plaister, and, accordingly, a piece two inches long and half an inch wide was applied over the caustic. In the fireside costume of December, 1844, in England, with my hair cropped short like a boy, a night cap on, and the stupendous black patch stretching diagonally along my forehead, pale, and lank, and ugly, did I venture to make my first appearance in public among the fair Americans. Unfortu- nately, as the guests take precedence in this Hotel according to their date of arrival, a seat had latterly been ticketed for me at the head of one of the tables, and I was thus under the very disagree- able necessity of walking up the room with this most remarkable patch, and my antiquated foreign 72 THE SMALt POX. woollen gown, with the atmosphere at ninety-six in the shade, and while the fairy forms of the American ladies were arrayed in gossamer robes of the most immaterial texture that could be invented. They looked upon me, my patch and my oppressive garments with commiseration; it was charitably supposed that I had fallen down in the Hottin- guer in a gale of wind, or had been bruised by something that had got adrift. At table, I heard many speak with horror of the Small Pox, and a lady observed that Dr. Hosach had ordered some of the streets in the city where the infection was raging without measure or pity, to be blocked up. Unhappy soul ! I felt like a culprit ; but confession would have been the cause of such a panic as would have scattered the four hundred inhabit- ants of that house, in less than a day, to other habitations ; they would have vanished like chaff before the wind. Gradually, the mark, which, like that of Cain, seemed to separate me from my fellow beings, began to disappear, and I soon felt more at ease in society, and ceased to take it for granted that whoever looked at me mentally ejaculated, " Oh, Heaven ! She has the Small THE SMALL POX. 73 " Pox." I began to converse with those around me, and made acquaintance with my excellent friend Miss Mary Williams, who gave me much information on the various persons around me, the habits, and tastes and manners of the Ame- ricans. I went out in a carriage very soon, and once in the fresh air, I speedily recovered my usual strength. In the meantime, my elopement occasioned much surprise among our various friends in New York. They had many of them heard of our arrival, and were anxious in their enquiries from my sister on the Sunday at church ; she replied that I was some- what indisposed from the effects of the voyage, but that in a few days I should be extremely happy to see my friends. Certainly, they never suspected the Small Pox ; neither did we ; and, early in the week, the many friends of my husband flocked to the house of my brother-in-law to welcome me. Strange were the answers made to their enquiries. " Mrs. Maury, of Liverpool, is not here !" " We " do not know where she is !" " She was here, " but is gone !" These mysterious replies raised extraordinary curiosity; and this was increased 74 THE SMALL POX. when my sister withdrew from the heat of the city to Nyack, leaving me wholly unaccounted for. The Doctor not being known roamed about without being the cause of any awkward dis- coveries, until he was himself seized with a slight attack of varioloid ; and, subsequently, Dr. Fraser himself, suffered also slightly from this inveterate and insinuating poison. Eleven passengers from the Hottinguer applied to Dr. Fraser for advice after landing in New York, and several of these cases were malignant. (I now learned from Dr. Fraser that the second child attacked had died on board the Hottinguer, which fact, his fear of increasing my excited apprehensions, had caused him at first to conceal from me.) It would seem that the cool atmosphere of the sea kept down the disease in the system, but when we landed in the burning temperature of the city that it was ripened into maturity, and thus we lent our aid to infect and destroy the hospitable country that afforded us a refuge. And now let me render justice to one whose merits have been perhaps too long neglected. I had on board ship, in the conduct of Dr. Fraser, THE SMALL POX. 75 been presented with an opportunity of observing in a layman of the Catholic Church, the effects of that forgetfulness of self so powerfully inculcated in Catholic teaching. My own obligations to him were many and great, and I wished if possible to render him any aid in the furtherance of his pros- pects that lay in my power. Having enquired one day into his past life and future plans; " Madam/* said he, " I have lost father and mother, and a " yet dearer tie ; I have also lost my property, " and I came on board the Hottinguer by a mere " chance, because I had made up my mind to " leave England, and she was the first vessel that " presented herself; two hundred pounds is the " wreck of my fortune, and with it I hope to " strike out some means of life. I think of going " either to California or on a whaling voyage/* This appeared to me but a forlorn prospect, and I rejoined, — " Can you not try to practise your " profession in New York?'* " I have no connexion, "and besides I am a Catholic, and I might ex- perience many difficulties. I have had much "pleasure in attending you and the Doctor, for I " had accidentally heard you say that you were a 76 THE SMALL POX. " friend of Dr. Lingard." I had heard since my arrival in New York of the influence of Dr. Hughes, the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese, and I determined to go and enquire from him whether there was in the city any Catholic physician or surgeon of repute. So accordingly, about nine one morning, I called at his house, and announced myself as a friend of the English Historian. "You " are most welcome/' said the Bishop, " what have " you to ask ?" " That you will listen to my ie story, and, if you approve of all I relate, that " you will give my physician the aid of your tc recommendation." I then related the history of the voyage, and the Bishop having patiently listened to the end ; " Send him to me," said he ; and, accordingly, two days after, Dr. Fraser pre- sented himself. The Bishop enquired into his views ; directed him to select a portion of the city in which he would find a growing population and the fewest competitors, and promised to befriend him. Dr. Fraser has been mentioned by his Lordship in the high terms which his benevolence and skill deserved. He has, of course, had some struggles in establishing his position, but the last T.HE SMALL POX. 77 time I heard from him he was in the receipt of nearly £400 per annum. He had been appointed surgeon to the Sisters of Charity ; had obtained their approbation, and had moreover the promise of being appointed Physician to their new Hos- pital. Thus to the name alone of a Catholic Priest I was indebted for the care bestowed upon myself and son during our sufferings, by a professor of his Faith, to me a perfect stranger; and to the powerful and charitable influence of a Catholic Bishop I am indebted for the means of expressing my gratitude to Dr. Fraser in a more substantial manner than by mere assurances. It was during my conversations with Dr. Hughes both with regard to Dr. Fraser and to the Report on the Hottinguer (for which see Part II. of this volume, No. 2. page 12.) that I began to per- ceive the differences which exist between the ministration of the Catholic Priesthood and that of the Established Church of England. In the case of emigrant exigencies, who but the ministers of the former religion would, or indeed could, be the comforters of the sick and needy ? The H 2 78 THE SMALL POX. superiority of the Catholic dispensations, with regard to the active duties of the Clergy, became distinctly perceptible even to my then preju- diced and ignorant estimation of circumstances, and I listened with chained and wondering ear to" the accidental remarks of the Bishop. It was now that I made a solemn determination to enquire, with a candid and courageous spirit, into the truth or untruth of the scandals which I had read and heard from my youth upwards of the Priesthood of the Catholic Church; of those men who bear the griefs and carry the sorrows of their infirm and ignorant neighbours, and who assuredly come nearer, in their walk through life, to the Saviour's model, than any Clergy of any Religion whatever. In my own home I could not, for various reasons which all will understand more intimately than I could explain them, pursue my enquiries so searchingly and so constantly as I could in a stranger land, where I was unobserved and independent in my movements, and unre- stricted as to place and time. And well this honourable body sustained the scrutiny ; well they proved the falseness of their accusers, and well THE SMALL POX. 79 their diligence and devotion proclaimed that their kingdom is not of this worlds but of the world to come. I came like a thief in the night, unlooked for, undreamed of by all; — but each man was awake, each was keeping his appointed watch with unalterable constancy beneath the eye of God. In this very case of attendance upon ship loads of plague, the advantages of a single life for the Priesthood became evident ; what ministers of any church, save Catholics, and they alone, may ven- ture into the abodes of disease from which they run the risk of probable sickness and of possible death ; they run this risk unmurmuring and un- flinching ; not with the hardness of the stoic, but with the meekness of the Christian ; yet not in fear or trembling, but with the self-sacrificing courage of a soldier of Christ. And the reason is obvious, they do not fear to carry sickness to the wife of their bosom, or the children of their hearth ; they have renounced domestic ties, that they may open their hearts more fully to those extended sympathies which include the whole of the human race. And cer- 80 THE SMALL POX. tainly this is the vocation of a Priest; of one professing to imitate that Saviour who forsook his earthly parents to do the will of his Heavenly Father. Many there are who exclaim with sanctified horror at the increase of Popery in the world, and especially in England. Mistaken in their con- ceptions of Christianity, these persons found their opinions on what they hear in fashionable Churches from the lips of a beneficed Clergy, trembling not for the faith but the form, not for the per- version of the poor, but for the reversion of their own rich livings. But I would not slander pious men, and especially those of my own denomina- tion. I do believe that, peradventure, there are ten righteous among them who relieve the oppressed, who judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow! The Doctor, with the elasticity of boyhood, speedily shook off the effects of the varioloid, and being now pronounced to have passed the period at which we could communicate infection, I sent some of my letters of introduction to the various friends for whom they were destined, and ex- plained our mysterious flight. Several called to THE SMALL POX. 81 see us, but it was apparent that we were still objects of apprehension, and I observed that ladies were careful " to keep to wind-ward" of us, and that it required an effort on the part of gentlemen to put forth a friendly hand for a cordial shake; one lady candidly refused to extend this latter courtesy until our return in three months. I therefore determined that as soon as we could safely proceed on our travels we would go North,* and become thoroughly purified by a sail on the waters of the Hudson, and a tour through the State of New York. In the meanwhile, we mingled more freely with the guests at that ex- cellent hotel, the Astor House, and occupied our time in surveying leisurely the city and the places of interest in the vicinity. * The Americans use the cardinal points of the compass to ex- press their destination in travelling. " Go North, go South, or " East, or West;" these terms convey a singular idea of the extension and space of a country. NEW YORK Chapter III. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. " His nee metce rerum, nee tempora." This mighty City is an emblem of the Union ; and in the " People of the Whirlpool*" are con- centrated many of the leading elements of the general American character. Here are combined in a degree not perceptible elsewhere, the love of enterprise, the adventure of commerce, the ambi- tion of politics, and the luxury of wealth — a vast assemblage of distinct nations, religions, societies and interests maintains here an everlasting excite- * " The island of NeAV York was discovered in 1609, by Hendrich " Hudson, who was then sailing in the service of the Dutch. It " was formerly called Manhattan, from the native inhabitants, a " name descriptive of the whirlpool of " Helle Gat," on the northern verge of the East River. Hence the " People of the Whirlpool." GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 83 ment. The original population was the most heterogeneous, and New York is now the most variously peopled State in the Union ; the im- pulses, moral, intellectual and social, which urge and guide her individual progress, are vitally the same which, throbbing throughout the Western Hemisphere, have given birth to new elements of Empire, unknown and unattainable in the land which the " Pilgrim Fathers" left behind. No State possesses the natural advantages of position so eminently as New York. In extent of surface she is surpassed by two or three States only ; in beauty and variety of scenery by none. The St. Lawrence, the most majestic of the North American Rivers, forms her northern boundary ; her western shores are guarded by inland seas ; Champlain, in the bosom of his mountains, divides her from Vermont ; the picturesque and useful Hudson, fresh and strong with the tides of Ocean,* flows through her eastern territory, a river of life ; her central vallies are fertilized by the Severn-like Mohawk and the Genessee, while * The tide ascends at least 120 miles up the Hudson, and thus far the river is navigable for ships. 84 NEW YORK. her surface is studded with Lakes, which alike contribute to her prosperity and her beauty. Far in her north eastern limits lies the romantic Lake Horicon, miscalled Lake George, to whom the French, enchanted with the purity of the water, gave the name of Lac du Sacrement. Lakes Oneida, Seneca, Cayuga, Oswego, Canandaigua, and many others, are now adorned with aspiring cities, and, by their vast extent, facilitate and increase the mutual intercourse of all portions of the State. On the West, Buffalo commands the navigation of the great Lakes, and on the South East, the City of New York monopolizes the larger portion of the Foreign Commerce of America. The commodious and beautiful Bay is rarely frozen, and therefore, to New York, in preference to less certainly open ports, are consigned the manufactured treasures of Europe in return for the inexhaustible produce which is poured into her storehouses for the supply of the Eastern Hemis- phere. The mercantile shipping surpasses in excellence that of any sea port in the world. Her canals, railroads, telegraphs, and other public works, taken in their aggregate, exceed those of any other GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 85 State, and her steam navigation is of immense extent. The traffic of New York with her sister States is very great, and as it is of coarse based on that most excellent system of Free Trade, is annually increasing. The climate in this State is subject to the variableness experienced generally in the northern portions of this continent — the winters are extremely severe, and the sum- mers intensely hot ; but the atmosphere is clear, and the fogs of the sea-girt Isle are here unknown. The soil of New York is various ; in the eastern parts I saw excellent wheat lands, and good farming. The careless waste of land in fences, roads, and adjoining dwellings, appeared to my English eyes, (yet unacquainted with the lavish West,) unpardonable, when I reflected upon the jealousy with which our squires and farmers — nay, our noblemen themselves, contend for a few roods of earth. There appeared a considerable portion of uncleared land as we approached the neighbourhood of Buffalo. Salt and coal are found in the State of New York. The Adiron- dack, or Peruvian Mountains, are said to contain i 86 NEW YORK. iron ore, and they are, many of them, covered with fine and profitable timber. Viewed from the City of Burlington, on the eastern side of Lake Champlain, these hills present an imposing and crowded assemblage of outlines ; and they com- pose, with the Green Mountains of Vermont, a scene of which I know not the equal in the United States ; and I have seen them one day glowing in the radiance of an October sun, and the next crowned with the snows of winter ; again I saw them covered with verdure, and again the hail- storm, bursting from black and malignant clouds, swept along their summits. Niagara, the Monarch of Cataracts, alone and unrivalled among the hitherto discovered wonders of the earth, adorns the boundary of the Empire State. The Falls of the Cohoes, the Genessee, the Kaaterskill, and the exquisite successions of the Trenton Falls, where every step leads to a fresh scene of beauty, are all the enviable possessions of this favoured State. Nor among her many advantages must it be omitted that her adjoining neighbours are Massa- chusetts and Pennsylvania ; and that each is a GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 87 rival worthy of her noblest and most earnest emulation. The rank and position of New York present an anomaly existing in no other country in the world. This City is the metropolis of the United States, but not the capital; the centre of movement, but not the seat of government ; even for the State bearing the name, and on whose soil it is situated. A sort of London and Liverpool combined, New York possesses all the imperial importance of the former, while, like the latter, this City is the head quarters of commerce. The number of States at present comprised in the Union is twenty-nine, each of which sends two Members to the Senate. The House of Representatives is elected by the people of each State, according to the population each contains, as recorded in the census directed to be taken every ten years. The existing Senate numbers 58 House of Representatives in 29th Congress. . 234 The constitution of the Federal Government limits the number of members of the Senate to two only for each State. This wise limitation 88 NEW YORK. was appointed in order to equalize the legislative power of the States — to give the weak and lesser members of the Union their due influence, and the power of appeal from the overwhelming majorities of the great and stronger States in the popular branch or division of government. The present influence also of New York in the Senate, is exceeded and curbed by the southern democracy, and their sagacious and devoted leader ; but this State, when her power is skilfully wielded, is despotic in the House of Representatives by reason of her overwhelming population. Forty members* compose the august delegation en- trusted with her guardianship in the Halls of Congress, while Pennsylvania, the next important State in point of numbers, commands but twenty- eight. Of course the influence of New York in the Standing Committeest of the House is very great, * Consequently, one sixth of the House. + To some of my American friends it may be a matter of interest to hear that suggestions have been thrown out by a very practical English journal, the Economist, concerning the ultimate necessity which may arise for " dividing the British Houses of Parliament " into Committees, each with a department, which should sift every " Bill belonging to that department before submitting it for " general discussion." While the Economist admits that in con- GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 89 preventive, and perhaps controlling. There are of these Committees about three or four and thirty, the members of which are appointed at the commencement of every Session; and the number of members in the chief Committees is nine. In all the Committees in the first and second Sessions of the twenty-ninth Con- gress, with two or three unimportant excep- tions, New York had a vote, in some of them a double vote ; and it must be remembered that when a Senator, or Representative of the People, is appointed a member of a Committee, his usefulness and his importance are increased in twofold proportion, because he then not only re- presents his State and his Constituents, but he is a recognised adviser of the Senate or the House, Her restless desire of improvement has led New York to make frequent modifications in her own sequence of the increased pressure of business, and the increased difficulties of getting through it, occasioned by the Reform Act, some such change may be necessary in the arrangement of Parlia- mentary business, he at the same time " warns the Legislature "and the Public against another tendency of the Democratic " influence." It is remarkable that the suggestions of the Econo- mist, Vol. 5, No. 203, are couched in terms synonymous with those of Bayard in his Brief Exposition of the Constitution. — Page 63, on Standing Committees. I 2 90 NEW YORK. State Government, and to have been occasionally the victim of daring experiments. Abolition, Temperance, Anti-Rent, and their many combina- tions and sub-divisions, to say nothing of the more national parties of Whig, Democrat, and Ultra- Democrat or Loco Foco, have sometimes con- vulsed this State to her centre, and have probably, and perhaps fortunately, prevented her from acquiring a predominance in the Federal Govern- ment, which, notwithstanding her present and permanent limited powers in the Senate, would be fraught with certain innovation, and with numerous general and fatal consequences. More impulsive, jealous, and excitable than her northern and southern neighbours, she has neither the stability of New England, nor the heroism of the Planter States ; — less learned than the former, less reflective than the latter, the citizens of the State of New York possess in a degree superior to both, an activity of mind which allows them no repose. They are the vis animi of the Union, extending their interests, their influence, and their power from its innermost recesses to its farthest bounds. The romantic spirit of the West is more closely GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 91 allied in its characteristics to that of New York than to any other portion of the States, though I believe that many others contribute more imme- diately to people the Western Territories than she does. The wealth of Boston, consisting of solid capital, is acknowledged to be as stable as a rock, but it does not so obviously present itself to obser- vation as the riches of New York. There is greater display in the " City of the Whirlpool ;" and a more familiar intercourse with Europe has engrafted on the population of New York the tastes, and sympathies, and habits of a more expensive and luxurious people. No City of America, except New Orleans, presents so great a variety of nations and languages in its society ; and from this circumstance there results a liberality of opinion, and an entire absence of exclusiveness. The fervour of existence is experienced and acknowledged so keenly by every individual, that he has less time to observe on others than to argue on his own affairs ; but from this habit of mind there results a marvellous ingenuity of thought. Indeed, the intelligence, the mind of America, is highly experimental ; and the novelty 92 NEW YORK. and peculiarity of their position as a Nation, obliges them to solve for themselves many questions for which they can find no precedent in the annals of ecclesiastical, judicial, or political government, which have instructed the elder world. On many subjects they are obliged to frame new laws, and promulgate new doctrines, of which the justice must yet be proved by experience, and sanctioned by time. But yet there is a wondrous beauty in the earnest purpose, the dignified simplicity, and the profound veneration with which this glorious people have exalted themselves into a Nation of Lawgivers. (( The New Constitution of New " York," says Governor Seward, in a letter dated the 25th of September, 1846, "is nearly perfected, " and will be entirely satisfactory. It will be a " splendid (Americanism?) evidence of the advance " of a Free People in the science of Government." In a subsequent letter, dated July, 1847, the Governor makes the following allusion to the Judiciary appointments of the State of New York : " Our Elections are passing in this State, and we " have now an elected Judiciary in operation, and " freely enjoying the confidence of the people. In GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 93 " all the State of New York there is not a Judicial " Officer who does not hold his office by popular " suffrage, and for a limited terra " These statements prove the democratic (and here I use the word not in the party sense, but in the true derivative sense, i. e. popular) tendencies of American Institutions. It is but recently, in the history of England^s Judicial Freedom, that the Judge was made independent of removal at the royal pleasure. I understood from Air. Peabody, of Salem, that, gradually, the Statute or written Law is superseding the Common or tra- ditionary Law, and thus the Jury will be rendered more and more independent of the Judge by being constituted the direct interpreters of the Law. Here again is signified a truly democratic confidence in the wisdom and justice of the people. Religious denominations in New York are less obtrusive in their changes, and less imaginative in their tenets than they are in the City of the Puri- tans, though more mutable than in the Southern States. But their influence upon the political aspect of the State is highly important; and strange as it may seem in a country which distinctly 94 NEW YORK. repudiates a State Religion, there exists here and elsewhere in the Union the remnant of a party,* formed expressly to resist the admission into the United States of the people of one proscribed reli- gion. This contemptible faction, a revival of the Blue Laws of 1694, has, however, died away; for interest, nature, and pity, each cried shame on men in whose veins still flows the recent blood of Emigrants. The opinions and anticipations recorded in the " Statesmen of America, in 1846/' with regard to the prevailing increase and the conservative influences of the Roman Catholic Religion in the United States, have been, as I predicted they would be, attacked by the critics and commented upon by my friends. Injurious calumny, and vexatious ridicule, and impertinent advice, and affectionate remonstrance — the bitter with the sweet — have, during the last twelve months, been tendered with unsparing liberality ; — to my acceptance ? No, to my rejection. — Have they shaken my conviction ? No — they have confirmed my judgment. Every word that has * Native Americans. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 95 been addressed to me — every answer that has been elicited from me — every reflection that I have thus been compelled to bestow upon this, my already affirmed belief, viz. — that the Catholic Faith is the shield of America; all that anger, argument and affection can urge against it have only strengthened me in the cer- tainty that such belief is founded on a rock. In addition to this innate conviction I am sus- tained in my views by the aspect of affairs in Europe. The peculiar aspersion upon the Catho- lic Religion, which of all others has been, and will, of course, though proceeding from the shallowest judges of history, continue to be, the most successful in its operation among the citizens of a Republic, is this ; — that the Romish Faith has ever been allied with tyranny and despotism. To this calumny let Italy and Switzerland respond. A wise and fearless Prince, the anointed Head of the Catholic Church, supported alone by a grateful people (that people to whom their foreign bondage was excruciating anguish), and encouraged alone by one cheer from England, in a year's time has elevated his Italy 96 NEW YORK. into a Free, Sovereign, and Independent State. The generous Cantons of the Sonderbund, the Catholic Minority of Switzerland, now in the forests, on the very rocks of Tell, are hunted to the death by their countrymen, because they defy in arms the usurping power and ambition of the Majority. Whether they survive or fall — whether Providence shall interpose the snows of winter, or Nations offer warlike or pacific inter- vention between the gallant League and fate, they still have equal claims to honour and respect. They will have declared in the words of the intre- pid Advocate of Nullification, "that for them there are greater evils than death itself/' The Catholic Warriors of the Crusades — the Catholic Victors of the Moors in Spain — the Catholic Barons of the English Magna Charta — the Catholic Republics of Italy may be forgotten — nay, the three Catholic Tells themselves may sleep the sleep of death ; but Pius IX and the Sonderbund are living History /* * Three days after the above was written, Lucerne, the strong- hold of the Sonderbund, was overpowered by the numbers and superiority of the army of the Diet ; and fell after a signal resis- tance, worthy of the best days of Switzerland. The bravery of the GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 97 It cannot now be said that this magnificent Faith is incompatible with the principles of National Freedom. And to America this is a point of the deepest interest and solicitude. The Voluntary System is that which chiefly dis- tinguishes the administration of Religion in the United States from that of England. Doubtless it has some advantages, and contributes greatly to the excellence of preaching, because the ties between the pastor and his flock are remote and sordid, liable to be broken before they are well begun, and therefore not of strength and interest to keep a Minister among his old friends if he has a chance of bettering himself among new ones. He therefore sedulously studies the one branch of his profession which is the most likely to obtain for him another ministry ; of course his sermons are his capital. But the system has many evils to Minor Cantons has obtained for them mediation on equal terms with the Cantons of the Majority, and the "liberty of appealing for counsel on the religious portion of the dispute to the Holy See. Thus far their end has been obtained. The mediating Powers repose perfect confidence in the wisdom of the Sovereign Pontiff. — — — __________ — — — — Still the drama is not ended. — — — — 98 NEW YORK. counterbalance this doubtful good, and it is ad- mitted by many to be so imperfect as to be almost impracticable. This discussion, however, belongs more properly to another State. The wealth of the Episcopal Church in the City of New York is very considerable, and throughout this State the adherents of that sect holds a prominent position. But other denomi- nations flourish ; and in all the various places of worship which I have attended, I have ever seen, in every part of America, the utmost propriety of demeanour in the congregation, and devotion and zeal in the Clergy. In general, there are more male attendants of public worship in the United States than in England, and the communicants are also more numerous. At this present time, viewed in its integrity, the existing state of religious wor- ship in the United States, notwithstanding its many and grievous imperfections and distractions, and the impending necessity for a change, is un- qestionably more in accordance with our general impressions of Christianity than it is in England. For Religion in America is free, and her progress vindicates her freedom ; emancipated from the GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 99 trammels of State protection, relieved from the burthen of a Hierarchy appointed by the Civil Power, the Christian Church fulfils the des- tiny intended by Heaven. She defines not the excellence of creeds by the rank of their respec- tive professors — she degrades not her working Clergy into abject slavery — she saith not even unto the Hebrew, " Stand by thyself, for I am holier than thou;" but, like the dews of Heaven, so the Church of Christ in America scattereth over her vast family of denominations her universal benediction. Each sect is in earnest — each stands upon its respective merits, and every man regards his neighbour as equal in the eye of Heaven with himself.* * The following summary is extracted from the American Alma- nac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1 846 : — Summary of the Principal Religious Denominations, ac- cording to Returns made in 1843-5, and by Estimate. Names- {Jhurclies. Ministers. Communicants. Roman Catholics 675 709 ], 07 1,800 Protestant Episcopalians 1,232 1,236 72,099 Presbyterians, Old School, 2,156 1,523 166,487 Presbyterians, New School, ...1,494 1,263 120,000 Cumberland Presbyterians 570 300 60,000 Other classes of do 530 293 45,500 Dutch Reformed 279 271 31,214 Carried Forward 6,936 5,595 1,567,100 100 NEW YORK. On the subject of public morality, I have seen, so far as the observation of a female permits, no transgressions of a heinous kind ; two instances Names. Churches. Ministers. Communicants. Brought Forward 6,936 5,595 1,567,100 German Reformed 750 191 75,000 Evangelical Lutherans :,232 501 146,300 Moravians 22 24 6,000 Methodist Episcopal -- 12,445 1,157,249 Methodist Protestant Church... — 1,300 60,000 Reformed Methodists — 75 3,000 Wesleyan Methodists — 600 20,000 German do. (United Brethren) 1,800 500 15,000 Allbright do. (Ev. Association) 600 2j0 15,000 Mennonites 400 250 58,000 Orthodox Congregational's ... 1,420 1,275 202,250 Unitarian do 300 250 30,000 Universalists , 576 500 60,000 Swedenborgians 42 30 5,000 Regular Baptists 9,479 5,297 719,973 Sixth Principle do 17 22 3,055 Seventh Day do 60 52 6,000 Free Will do 1,165 771 61,372 Church of God do 125 83 10,000 Reformed (Cambellites) 2,500 1,750 200,000 Christian (Unitarians) 650 782 35,600 Total 28,074 32,543 4,455,899 To these denominations may be added Shakers, and Mormonites, and Millerites, and many others who appear to have engrafted upon Christianity certain perverse and absurd inventions and tenets of their own. 1 also observe that in this enumeration the Society of Quakers or Friends is entirely overlooked. They are still a con- siderable and highly respectable body, though their numbers diminish; possibly from the want of persecution, as they them- selves observe. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 101 of intoxication alone, I saw in the streets of New York, during the residence of a month ; perfect decorum prevails in the streets, and the appointed day of rest is observed with scrupulous respect throughout the Union. The honesty of the tradesmen in New York was exemplified in a singular manner by my own ignorance of the value of American money on my first arrival ; when I did not know the coin named, I presented a handful to the tradesman, and desired him to help himself; I have never had occasion to sus- pect that I ever was robbed of a single cent. The climate, which admits of much evening exer- cise, and the cheapness of local conveyances, such as the steam-boat and the omnibus, which afford the advantages of short country excursions, are eminently conducive to the good morals of the labouring community. With regard to cheap literature, considered either with regard to in- struction or amusement, I hold a very heterodox creed, according to the educational mania of the present day, both in England and in America ; for I have little doubt that most men, (of the lower and middle classes especially,) would be k 2 102 NEW YORK. better citizens without the knowledge of many things that they are now industriously taught. It would seem that the true and useful aim of all education should be to prepare the child to fulfil, respectably and happily as a man, the conditions of life which, according to all human probability, he iv as born to occupy ; instead, however, of this rational preparation, the child is by all means induced to despise such a destiny ; to exalt himself beyond the sphere of his parents, and to qualify himself for some thing immeasurably above the trade or farm which naturally would be his heir- loom. Taught to value himself solely on his scholarship, he no longer considers it creditable to work with his hands ; the wholesome habits of ordinary, or in his acceptation, of vulgar usefulness are despised; his duties to his neighbour, which consist chiefly in the exercise of common-place and humble good offices, are neglected ; nor is his duty to his God more faithfully performed ; — in- stead of kneeling with contrite heart and grateful spirit before the throne of his Maker and his Redeemer, he argues to himself, perchance, of his goodness ; perchance, of his greatness ; perchance, GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 103 of his wisdom ; perchance, of his existence. This cannot lead to good. Besides, if all men were born geniuses, such "levelling upwards" might be well; but, on the contrary, as experience proves that the merits as well as the destinies of the majority are confined to respectable mediocrity, it is absurd and even cruel to lead them to expect a fate which they cannot obtain, either by their own capabilities or by the suffrage of others. In England this mistaken philanthrophy has occasioned great mis- chief, as much among females as among men. In the United States it is yet an unproved experi- ment, and may there also terminate as unsatisfac- torily as it has done here, though the risk of its success is less, because the field for such aspir- ing candidates is in America open to all, while in England it is closed except to the privileged few. In America the self-raised man himself becomes a gentleman, and females at once are called gentlewomen and invariably treated as such if their conduct in their newly acquired position and society justify the name ; but in England the sons in the second generation of 104 NEW YORK. a self-made man can with difficulty, (generally- speaking,) obtain such consideration ; and with females the line of demarcation is still more stringently exclusive and rigorous. Hence many cruel disappointments and heart burnings. From the dangerous ambition of overstepping the natu- ral and necessary divisions of organized society arises an entire derangement of the system. / wish not to be misunderstood ; I would deny to none of either sex the knowledge of reading and ivriting, and of the rudiments of arithmetic ; be- cause these are desirable aids in every calling. Still less would I cramp or deny to genius a helping hand, and a strong one ; but genius is the excep- tion, and we must reason and labour for the mass. Besides, we are taught by the biographies of numerous remarkable men, that great talents will always kindle their own torch and light their own path; and that they are oftentimes greater in proportion to the difficulties they overcome ; — distinguished in spite of the teaching bestowed upon them, and not in consequence of it. It is, moreover, a question yet in embryo, whether the multifarious knowledge now con- GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 105 sidered (by all except the bigoted vindicator of the good old times), to be absolutely necessary, does actually contribute to the real improvement of the intelligence and character either of nations or of individuals. The attention of the student now-a-days is invited to every subject of human inquiry.* A life is acknowledged by the pro- found and modest professor to be unequal to the mastery of a single science ; and accumulated years of mental labour are demanded to form the accomplished man of letters ; but now, cheap literature has made a royal road to science and to knowledge. A man gorges his brain with heaps on heaps of facts, notions, criticisms, anecdotes, * The following programme of the qualifications by law re- quired for the National English Schoolmaster is certainly amusing, but it savours more strongly of smattering than of scholarship:—" Government Education.— The candidates for be- coming teachers under the new system of National Education will be required, amongst other qualifications, to possess a competent knowledge of the following subjects :— * English Grammar and Composition; General Geography and the use of the Globes; the Geography of the British Empire and Europe as connected with the Outlines of English History ; English History ; Book-keeping 5 Decimal Arithmetic and the higher rules of Mental Arithmetic; the Elements of Mechanics; Mensuration; the Elements of Land Surveying and Levelling; the Rudiments of Algebra ; — also Vocal Music' "—See Minutes of the Committee of Council on Education, Vol. I., page 6. 106 NEW YORK. verses, wonders, experiments, statistics, reviews, novels, and Heaven only knows what things be- side : and now he speaks, and to the world pro- claims himself; — a walking newspaper. The various faculties of his soul have been absorbed by two only, — perception and one peculiar exer- cise of memory ; the nobler powers of reflection, comparison, analogy, discrimination, judgment, original observation, thought, and that subtle faculty of combination which dwells on the pro- babilities of circumstance until it becomes pro- phetic ; all these are sacrificed to the semblance of mere knowledge. This condition of public and private instruction prevails in Old England and in New ; the Central States of America and New York partake of the enthusiasm ; but, notwith- standing its prevalence, I am not prepared to subscribe to the proposition that advancement is the consequence of such an education to the individual, and if not to the individual, it cannot be to the collective intelligence. Nor can I yield to the growing opinion that the Utilitarian System excels the Classical in the formation of the useful citizen and the accom- GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 107 plished gentleman. The study of Greek and Latin ends not in the mere acquirement of a language. Many a boy learns more wisdom from Ulysses — more patriotism from Hector — more fortitude from iEneas, and more sense from Horace than from all the precepts of the pedagogue. I value not translations ; let him work at the noble originals — he will be repaid. The Gift of Tongues was the practical means of subduing the Gentile World to the Cross of Christ. In the Southern (and hence the governing) States, there is less imparted, more intuitive thought; more wisdom, less knowledge, more natural, less acquired talent, more power, less variety, consequently that reason in which we are likest unto God is there more concentrated, influ- ential, and permanent in action. The West exhibits different features. Upon her youth is laid the experienced and watchful hand of the Jesuit Fathers ; and, doubtless, her future character will justify their wise and affectionate solicitude. The balanced combination of science and learning with agriculture and mechanics, so thoroughly understood by these unrivalled 108 NEW YORK. teachers, appears to approach as nearly as possible to the perfection of intellectual and practical edu- cation ; and, probably, in some few years we may be able, from the result of their system, to solve the problems which now perplex us. They are engrafting the ancient law and ancient discipline in new regions, on a new people. It is an experi- ment unique in the world, and could be attempted by no hands but theirs. In character, adven- ture, and position the West now presents, both actually and pictorially, those scenes which inspired the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the iEneid. If ever another Epic Poem shall be produced for the delight of mankind, it will spring from the regions of the Oregon or California; the stirring materiel, the natural romance of life are there, and ask but the aid of description to resolve them into poetry. And in proportion as influence and power, resulting in action, sur- pass in importance the mere knowledge or history of these great things, so does the existing state of intelligence in the South and West of America interest me more highly than that of my own country, or of any other portion of America. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 109 But though I disapprove of the system pursued, I cheerfully offer my meed of praise to that zeal and well-intentioned public spirit which has pro- moted so enlarged a scheme of national Education among the Americans. In this respect they are at the head of every Nation in the world ; and they are quick and wise to profit by experience ; no sooner will the faults of the present plan of Education become apparent than the remedy will be applied. And, moreover, it is highly probable that the system will effect its own cure, both in England and in America, as soon as its novelty has ceased to be an attraction. The error of sacrificing the whole period of childhood and of youth, to the head, in preference to the heart ; and to the almost total neglect of all menial duties and acquirements, is a sin against society, which will be avenged on its promoters; and already in many instances it has been ac- knowledged and condemned. The only true end and aim, as universally acknowledged, of all Educa- tion, is to promote virtue, and to prevent vice ; but so far as I possess the means of knowing, crime in England is on the increase ; and it is said, L 110 NEW YORK. "that though there are only forty men in Con- " necticut who cannot read, the proportion of " crime there is greater than elsewhere, and that " before long a Penitentiary will be indispensable " wherever there is a Free School."* It is questionable, also, whether the present fashionable no-punishment system is beneficial ; and I will venture to advise (being thoroughly prepared for the attacks of my critics), that when the " Schoolmaster walks abroad " he should carry a book in one hand and a rod in the other. For otherwise such is the natural corruption of his pupils that it is greatly to be feared both he and his book do as much mischief and as little good as a certain mysterious personage whom we are informed by the most ancient of all authorities is also employed, like the Schoolmaster, in the daily vocation of "going to and fro in the earth, and * The only case of outrageous and deliberate crime which occurred in any city of the Union, during my residence in any of them, was in Boston. In November, 1845, a woman was bar- barously murdered by a man, and the whole affair was one of the most revolting immorality. It would argue the extreme of igno- rance, as well as of prejudice, to attribute this crime to the peculiar institutions of Massachusetts ; but the fact is interesting to the people of the South. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. HI of walking up and down in it." Nor is the Schoolmaster himself qualified by the Education that he receives for the office he undertakes. Unac- quainted with the great secret of mental influence, his learned words, and difficult theses excite a little wonder, and are forgotten. He cannot incul- cate that moral discipline which he does not know : which all men easily comprehend when they have felt its power; but which no man understands by intuition. He has himself read but one page in the book of life ; that of 'learning ; and he is unable to teach his pupils to go beyond. This deficiency can in no wise be compensated for. Public Education in England is in its infancy, when compared to its progress in the United States ; and the want of pecuniary means will effectually prevent this country from attaining the landmarks which the Americans have left far, far, behind. At the moment when all the religious sects of England, were urging with acrimony, their respective claims to a tithe of the sorry hundred thousand pounds, voted by Parliament for Education, the State Convention, of New York, at Albany, voted eight thousand dollars a 112 NEW YORK. year to the Catholic College at Fordham ; it was granted, to the best of my recollection, on the sole condition, that the College should, like all other educational bodies, make annual Reports of their statistics to the State Government. From Education to Language is a natural tran- sition ; that pure and perfect English, which flows from the lips of our most accomplished speakers, of our Cannings and our Romillys, either in pub- lic or in private, in which the choice and flow of words, pronunciation, tone, and accent, all com- bine to render it the noblest of modern languages, — I have rarely heard in America.* But, on the other hand, English is generally better spoken in America than in the mother country ; they have but few provincialisms, and I may almost say, that the vulgar tongue, as used here by servants, inferior tradespeople, clerks in churches,t and * The best speakers are the Virginians ; and throughout the States of Georgia and the two Carolinas I preferred the utterance to that of the Eastern and Northern States. f The congregations of the Church of England are indebted to the Puseyite movement for a partial deliverance from these nuisances. I have never heard a clerk yet whom I would suffer to read aloud a newspaper in my parlour ; and yet they are allowed to profane the Divine Poems of David with their blunders , and the sublime invocations of the Litany with their sing-song. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 113 people of the same class, is unknown across the water. Of all the dialects of English, the Ameri- can is undoubtedly the best and purest. I have rarely observed a grammatical fault; the most frequent was the use of the imperfect tense for the passive participle, and vice versa. The word elegant is extended to objects not permitted in our acceptation, so is handsome, which they use in reference to abstract and invisible things, as a " handsome speech," and their application of it to material things is more extensive than ours ; but they are fully justified by the derivation, if not by the English usage of the word. Lovely, which generally is confined by us to the external appearance of objects, both animate and inani- mate, is also applied by the Americans to every quality of mind or body, belonging either to men or women, which inspires esteem and affection. Tall is sometimes regarded rather as a degree of comparison than an adjective, to which is attached a definite meaning of its own ; but this use of the word is regarded as vulgar there, as it would be here. The Americans are shocked at the Lancashire disrespect towards the letter H, they marvel how l 2 114 NEW YORK. it is sometimes thrust in bongre malgre, and sometimes altogether annihilated, spite of its rights. They do sometimes transgress in favour of that odious cockneyism " ain't." " When will you happen in to tea or dinner?" is a pecu- liarity which I have sometimes heard. Many words they have very skilfully manufactured, some of which have been recognised by our stand- ard writers ; and I think Mr. Canning adopted approvingly the use of locate and location. In- debtedness is an admirable expression for the position of owing money, and the term bread- stuffs, now in general use for farinaceous articles of food, is of American extraction. Sometimes the accent is altered, as r«-ther, re-fin ement. In public speaking, notwithstanding an occa- sional peculiarity of language, the men of America are infinitely superior to the men of England ; their freedom of thought and action inspires a freedom of diction ; and their bold and ardent nature gives an eloquence and passion and enthu- siasm to their speeches which, since the early efforts of Lord Brougham, have been unheard among our public men ; " the thoughts that GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. H5 breathe, and words that burn" are unquestionably more frequent beyond the Atlantic than here; and many enlightened Englishmen and good judges have acknowledged to me that the speci- mens of public speaking introduced into the " Statesmen of America in 1846" were far superior to anything now uttered in the British Houses of Lords or Commons. I have heard several Noble Lords in the Upper House attempt to deliver themselves of their ideas ; and I could not libel the majority of the American Senators by com- paring them to such of their Lordships as I have had the honour of listening to. The eloquence of the House of Representatives is in every way equal to that of the House of Commons. Oratory, or Public Speaking, may be con- sidered at the present moment as constituting not only the best and most elevated, but the vital and essential portion of American Literature. The first claim that this public eloquence puts forward to so high a distinction is originality ; the questions argued are of course wholly American, and they are discussed without reference to what English opinion or 116 NEW YORK. English prejudice may be upon the subject. They concern the present and the future ; their import- ance elevates the language in which they are advanced or opposed, and as every man has an individual stake in the matter before him, his feel- ings and his passions and his interests alike inspire his ingenuity and his energy. " And we know that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." The American Members of Congress have not hitherto enjoyed the advantage of having their speeches reported in the Debates viva voce ; they were obliged to attend themselves to their subsequent correction and arrangement in a suit- able form.* What is called American Literature is yet the * But I am glad to observe the following notice:— New Era in- Reporting at Washington. — Dr. Houston has completed his arrangements for the establishment of a morning paper at Wash- ington, which will furnish reports of the Congressional Debates on a plan precisely similar to that of the London press, together with early and reliable intelligence of the movements of the various departments of Government, to be called the " United States Reporter." — Journal of Commerce, 26 1 h July, 1847. The Resolution, calling on the Secretary of the Senate to con- tract with Dr. J. A. Houston for reporting the Debates, was ori- ginally moved hy the Honourable Edward Hannegan, Member of the Senate for Indiana. Consequently, this great step in Con- gressional progress has emanated from the West. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 117 first attempt at speech, made by a child under the influence of his nurse. The current produc- tions of the day bear much of the impress of the English school, and the authors, lashed by the short-sighted and pedantic critics into the Anglo- mania, shrink from acknowledging their nation- ality, and assimilate themselves, in form and sub- stance, to the second-hand productions of the present perverted literary school of England. Is this as it should be ? That it is an assumed and not a necessary attitude we have abundant evi- dence in the public eloquence of Congress, of the Pulpit, and the Bar, which I have just alluded to ; and even in what are familiarly called " stump " speeches, when a man mounting on the standing trunk of a tree addresses an audience, frequently in excellent language, with originality, and always to the point ; which is evident from the extraordi- nary influence that he generally exercises over his hearers. And the writings of Patrick Henry, Rush, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Marshall, Franklin, Story, Channing, John Quincy Adams, Prescott, Washington Irving, Legare, Simms, Audubon, Wilde, (an Irishman by birth,) Ken- 118 NEW YORK. nedy, Dana, Cooper, Everett, Hall, Ingersoll,* Bancroft, Brownson, Seward, and Silliman, fur- nish incontestible proofs that the intelligence of the United States, when allowed to choose and follow its natural course, would be as independent in Literature as it is in Law, Politics, and Preach- ing. An original, nervous, and varied national Literature has its appointed place in the future of the Americans, and will be theirs whenever they rouse themselves to demand it. Considered with regard to any effect which it may exercise on the progress of a purely national American Literature, I do not regard the vexata qucestio of International Copyright, as being of the smallest weight or importance whatever. It is a mere matter of profit and loss between authors and publishers, and, probably, by a Free Trade Administration may be considered as better left to take care of itself, than mystified by Legislation But while I express regret at the existing state * The intimate acquaintance of Mr. Ingersoll with the Latin and French Languages has in a great degree removed his style from the purity of the Saxon idiom. But the " Historj of the Late War " is full of original thoughts, of knowledge, and observation ; and it is truly, faithfully American in every word and opinion. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 119 of their Literature, I yield them with justice the superiority in Science. In the Architecture of buildings, both public and private, they do in many instances leave us far behind. The Custom House of Boston, recently completed, the Custom House and Exchange of New York, Girard College, in Philadelphia, the Patent Office, Post Office, and Treasury, in Washington, are all of surpassing beauty, purity, and magnificence. The large and expensive structures with which the Metropolis of England has recently been encumbered, are infe- rior in every way to the American edifices just enumerated, and I have never seen throughout my travels in the United States any building so ludicrously hideous as the National Gallery, so ill-shaped and ill-placed as the New London Exchange, and so utterly monstrous as Bucking- ham Palace. Every specimen of public xVrchi- tecture in which we surpass the Americans is the erection of an elder day. Our Cathedrals, our Abbeys and Churches were reared in times when reverence took precedence of self-conceited innova- tion, and they remain, some of them in pre- servation, some in ruins, but all attesting to this 120 NEW YORK. truth, that the sacred feelings which prompted their erection can alone produce again such unrivalled perfection. This sentiment of reve- rence is happily returning in England, we are again exploring those sanctuaries of the beautiful, and raising up buildings after their model ; and in America they have also caught the inspiration ; their newly-erected Churches are built in a style at once demonstrative of wealth, and taste, and veneration. The new private dwelling-houses in Boston, New York, Philadel- phia, will bear an equal comparison with the newest "West End" of London. I have no- where but in the cities of America entered into private residences by steps of white marble. In all those works in which Engineering is combined with Architecture, they also appear to my uninstructed observation to possess a decided superiority. The locks of their canals and rivers, the Fairmount water-works of Phila- delphia, and the magnificent plan by which the waters of the Croton River are conveyed to the City of New York, give sufficient evidence of the truth of my words. The conduit and bridge con- GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 121 nected with this last great undertaking surpass any labours that I have ever read or heard of, even among those illustrious and indefatigable constructors of public works, the Romans. Astronomy. — Two Englishmen of high attain- ments have acknowledged to me, that the state of this science is greatly in advance of its position in England. One of these is also of opinion, that there is no scientific Journal published in this country that can be compared with Professor Silliman^s. Geology. — Their continent, which bears every appearance of having been more recently under water than ours, excites an interest and curiosity even among casual travellers; and I believe, that among their Professors are many men of indefatigable research and talents. But Geology seems as yet to be so little defined, and so fre- quently subject to re-organization in its principles, that it has not hitherto attracted so profoundly the researches of the matter of fact American as it has done of the European savans. The former have immediate opportunities in the structure of their country of detecting the numerous fallacies M 122 NEW YORK. of the propounders of theories, and consequently attach little value to their dogmas. But if ever Geology should become reduced to a fixed system, in fact, if it should ever become a Science, this result will probably be owing to the investigations of the Americans, from the facilities and eviden- ces afforded by the yet transitive state of their country, — America, particularly in the regions "of the Lakes, and the Upper Mississippi, seemed to me a later creation than this old world of ours ; a younger nature which had not entirely shaken off the forms and impressions left upon its bosom, when at the word of God, " the waters under the heaven were gathered together unto one place, and the dry land appeared." The heaving form left by retiring waves is developed upon the coasts of those vast collections of water, the inland Lakes, particularly at Milwaukie ; and there are some slopes on the banks of the Upper Mississippi, which are shaped into perfect undulations, with the narrow channels between each, into which the retir- ing waters may have withdrawn themselves. Here are also to be seen headlands, or bluffs, on the opposite sides of the river, so perfectly correspond- GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 123 ing in shape and material, and structure, that you could imagine them rent asunder but yesterday by the impetuous Father of Rivers. Throughout the upper course of this marvellous stream islands of alluvial are perpetually forming, which quickly bring forth trees. At the entrance from the Straits of St. Clair into Lake Huron, is seen a large extent of recent soil ; marshy, covered with reeds and strong grasses, the hasty exuberant growth of infant vegetation, and whose moist and vivid green glowed, emerald like, in the un- clouded rays of the rising sun.* On the north eastern shores of Lake Superior, I was informed by Mr. Holley, of Niagara Falls, that there is an immense marsh, which is supposed to act like a sponge, and becoming saturated, is said to cause a seven year's return of tide, or elevation in the waters of the great Lakes ; of course the marsh is becoming gradually consolidated. This ani- mated nature, yet in process of creation, is sub- lime beyond the power of expression. For their knowledge of Mathematics, as de- monstrated by their skill in Engineering, in the - We entered Lake Huron at day break. 124 NEW YORK. art of making Maps and Plans, in Architecture, in the Decimal Division of their Currency, in their use of Water Power, and in other modes beyond my knowledge to enumerate, I beg to refer all doubtful persons to the proofs. Agriculture and Horticulture again are behind-hand ; for why should men trouble themselves to urge the earth, while she continues to bring forth her fruits almost spontaneously. In New England is the best farming, because her soil is less fertile, and more exhausted than else- where. In Boston and Philadelphia, there are some good gardens, but they are greatly inferior to those of the cultivators of flowers and fruit in England. At Albany, we saw the gardens and pleasure-ground of Mr. Van Ranselaaer, which resembled, more than any I saw elsewhere, the neatness and trimness of an English villa. In Kentucky, farming, owing to the example of Mr. Clay, is said to be greatly improving. In Mechanics, however, the Americans greatly surpass us ; their ingenuity, quickness of appre- hension, and love of the useful, enable them to achieve triumphs in all kinds of mechanical in- GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 125 ventions. Before I went to America, I was advised by Colonel Aspinwall, (the Consul-General of the United States,) to visit a shop in London, where were to be sold il Yankee Notions." These consist chiefly of articles in wood, besoms of broom corn, &c. &c. all excellent in their way. Their washing-machines, refrigerators, rocking- chairs, all articles made of Indian rubber, travel- ling trunks, are admirable. The discovery of the efficacy of Ether in en- abling patients to sustain the most hazardous and painful operations without suffering, is sufficient to prove the progress of Professors in the United States in Chemistry, for the science must have attained a high standard when an individual was enabled to make so important a discovery. Surgery. — The Americans have, in a great measure, adopted the opinion now generally re- cognised in England - 3 that Surgeons are the best practical Physicians. The names of Warren, father and son, of Boston ; Mott, Hosach and Francis of New York ; Horner of Philadelphia ; Gibson of Baltimore ; Hall of Washington ; Simons of Charleston ; Stone of New Orleans ; M 2 126 NEW YORK. Pope and Stevens of St. Louis ; Warder of Cin- cinnati ; Long of Montreal ;* need only be enu- merated in evidence of American skill in Surgery and Medicine. Their Hospitals, considering the scanty means which many of them possess, dis- pense an extraordinary amount of relief; and of all the most admirable, clean, and extensive are those in the management of the Sisters of Charity at New Orleans and St. Louis. These excellent women are most successful in their treatment of Yellow Fever and of Lunacy. It is impossible to describe the influence they possess, and the man- ner in which they engage the affections of their patients, whether sane or insane; all exhibiting the peculiar power existing in the union of sanc- tity, of knowledge, and of benevolence. We went through all the principal Hospitals both in the United States and Canada. At New York I visited the Surgery of Dr. Detmold ; this gentle- man had been a pupil of Dr. Dieffenbach, and had performed numerous and successful cures of club- foot and similar deformities. He shewed me one * With all these gentlemen, Dr. Stone of New Orleans, and Dr. Pope of St. Louis, excepted, I have the pleasure of being ac- quainted. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 127 specimen of upturned extremities which I had never seen before. I made a drawing of it, which I sent to the Orthopcedic Hospital, in London, requesting to be informed if such a cure had ever been performed by their Surgeons. I have never received an answer to this enquiry. At Cincin- nati, I saw an attempt made to cure that species of spinal curvature generally known as hump- back, and which is considered in England to be incurable, as proceeding from caries of the bone. The experiment was so far successful, — the child was four years old, suffered little pain, improved in height and in general health, and from a cast which I saw, was evidently recovering her natural form. The means used was a very simple and neat machine — which occasioned no material bodily suffering. I did not hear of more Quackery than is practised in England ; and as a good proof of the soundness of their practice, the Lectures of Mr. Lawrence are in universal use, and are regarded as highly for the admirable English in which they are written as for the professional instruction they contain. Manufactures. — In New York I purchased 128 NEW YORK. calico of American make, and calico of English make, at the same prices, and have found them equally good in wear. Furniture is well and taste- fully made, and the choice of wood gives the American cabinet maker a great advantage. In Boston is an excellent manufacture of piano fortes; I found them equal in touch and tone, and beauty, to any London make but Broad- wood's ; and much better calculated for durability than the showy brilliant instruments which are now fashionable. I was fortunate in being with Mr. and Mrs. Abbott Lawrence, and consequently had the privilege of seeing this very extensive and complete establishment. The only article which I missed from the shops, and from the toilette of the ladies was jewellery. Almost every English gentlewoman possesses some few valuable trinkets ; the stones themselves are probably hereditary possessions, which by passing through the hands of the jeweller, and receiving a new and fashion- able mounting become new trinkets; but still they are real gems and pure gold, and of intrinsic worth. In New York I saw many ladies wearing inferior articles and false stones; in Boston cer- GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 129 tainly I saw several valuable ornaments ; in New Orleans few jewels were worn ; (but many natural flowers.) In Washington not many handsome jewels were displayed. At Lowell, Mr. George Lawrence showed me casimeres rivalling the best of English manufacture, and told me, that that year they could afford for the first time to sell them at English prices. The Americans are excellent dyers. The Art of printing and getting up books is greatly and rapidly improving. At Montpelier, in Vermont, Mr. Loomis, the Librarian, showed me the " Expedition of Commodore Wilkes, to the South Pacific Ocean," which for excellence of printing and engraving leaves nothing to be desired. I have seen many other works equally well executed. I presume that the Electric Telegraph must be referred to the science of Natural Philosophy — at all events it is highly successful, and has the audacity to cross rivers half a mile wide. We availed ourselves of its lightning at Philadelphia, on two occasions. Having left a small valise at 130 NEW YORK. Baltimore, the Doctor carried these words to the Telegraph Office : — " Please send Mrs. Maury's valise out of the baggage room, by the next train, to Jones' Hotel, Philadelphia. — Barnum's Hotel, Baltimore." We received it all safe, at six o'clock the next morning. I had received a letter from the Bishop of New York, requesting me to execute a commission for him — the letter was urgent, had waited four days in Philadelphia, and the next day being Sunday, there was no post to New York — again we thought of the Telegraph — and addressed the following words to Dr. Hughes ; " My Lord, " Your request shall be attended to. " Mrs. Maury.' 5 It was seven o'clock when the message was sent ; the Bishop received it about nine, his resi- dence being nearly two miles from the Office. I think the messages together cost about a dollar and a half. It must be remembered that these Telegraphic communications were despatched and received eighteen months ago. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 131 The general taste for reading is much the same as in England, with the addition of such inordi- nate quantities of newspapers, that it is a matter of astonishment how men can write and find other men to read them. It was with amazement bordering on contempt that the citizens of the youthful towns on the Mississippi understood that in Liverpool we have no daily Paper., — And that until about 120 years ago there was no daily Paper in London. They would be still more astonished to hear that in the whole County of Montgomery, in the ancient Principality of Wales, there is published no newspaper of any descrip- tion. I have been informed that there are upwards of 1500 newspapers in the United States ; the annual subscriptions to these vary in general from seven to ten dollars, American money, or from thirty to fifty shillings English money. The price of a single newspaper is gene- rally about two cents, or one penny. The getting up of American newspapers, that is, the paper, printing, and ink, are inferior to the English Papers — but they are as methodically arranged, and as regular in their periodical information as 132 NEW YORK. those of England — and the errors of the press are not more numerous. The Newspaper Press is less powerful, less com- manding, in the United States than in England. This effect arises from several obvious causes. First, from the fact that education is more widely disseminated, and consequently people form their own opinions more readily and independently than we do in England 5 — with us it is almost a heresy to differ with "stamps and print ;" and that mysterious personage the Editor of an English Journal or Periodical, in his sublime in- cognito towards the profane vulgar, strongly resembles the Oracle of the Heathens, who was the more implicitly believed the more incapable were the uninitiated enquirers of comprehending the depth, and height, the length and breadth of the undistinguishable wisdom. The prerogative of uttering unquestioned dicta is certainly less extensively enjoyed by American than by English Oracles, by reason of the scepticism which is produced by education. Secondly, the Trans- Atlantic Press is so prolific of opinions that they are neutralised each by the other, and they are so GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 133 cheap that no one hesitates to buy and know them. The British Press struggles hard to maintain some one or other favourite system of existing things ; the American Press delights to create a new party ; the former supports with servility the Church, the State, the Court, the present Ministry, the Opposition, Free Trade, Protection, &c. &c. according to the peculiar views and interests which they may approve; the latter revel in Municipal, Gubernatorial, Congressional, Presi- dential Elections, because hence arise vast sources of controversy, and new subdivisions of parties and the opportunities of individual distinction. The English Journals are compelled to blend with their advices and opinions the difficult problems of the continental policy of Europe ; the Ame- rican Journals, independent of all but the people of the United States themselves, expend their talents in animadverting to satiety on each phase of local policy. English Editors chiefly attack measures — x\merican Editors frequently men ; the former with more experience argue from the past — the latter with more impetuosity 134 NEW YORK. rush into the future — the first being admoni- tory remind you " that thitherto you shall go, but no further ;" the second being experimental, for ever exhort you to u try all things, and to hold to that which is good." The more steadily the intelligence of a People advances, the more certainly will Newspapers return to their primitive vocation ; they will shortly cease to be the dictators of public opinion, and will become once more the mere announcers of facts and reporters of occurrences.* However this may derogate from the dignity of Journal- craft I do not see how the position can be contro- verted, or avoided. In England each man confines his reading very much to the organ of his own peculiar party, and * " It is reported of a publisher in the early age of Newspapers, '• that when there was a dearth of News, he filled up the blank " part with a piece from the Bible." So changed is public sentiment from various causes that such a substitute would in these days be regarded as highly irreverential, as well as dero- gatory to the fertility of an Editor's imagination and the dexterity of his scissars. Indeed the variety of knowledge which an Editor is expected to possess, the infallibility of judgment so ignorantly attributed to him, the retrospective and prophetic wisdom which are presumed to fall on his shoulders with the mantle of office, render his position arduous and responsible more than is conceiv- able by the mass of those who read his Paper. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 135 strengthens his previous opinions and prejudices under the shelter of its authority. In America all men read all newspapers of all parties. The Americans are intimately acquainted with every change and event that occurs in Europe, and particularly in England, whose movements they watch with intense interest; while on the contrary few Englishmen are even partially versed in American affairs. The same may be said of History ; the long Annals of England's existence and progress are the constant theme of the Ame- ricans, while the short but brilliant page of Ame- rican History is utterly unknown to many well- informed people in this country. — In the Supreme Court of the United States, I heard constant appeals to the precedents of English Law; but what Englishman would be so bold, or so candid as to quote the decisions of Judge Marshall or Judge Stowell ? In point of actual merit I think that the American Press is quite equal to the British Press in ability, zeal, and integrity. It is true that no where but in London exists a Times ; but the Examiners, Spectators, Athenaeums, and 136 NEW YORK. other nondescript semi-political, semi-literary, semi-commercial, semi-judicial, semi-artistical, semi-musical, semi-accidental, and semi-offensive newspapers of the metropolis exhibit anything but superiority over their Trans- Atlantic brethren. The Journal, and Herald, and Courier and En- quirer of New York may be very fairly classed with the Morning Chronicle, the Sun, the Post, and Globe, being chiefly, as these latter profess to be, political and commercial Journals. The Times exerts his preponderating influence on the Press of the Northern Atlantic cities as he does upon the Journals of Europe, and it is therefore a subject of deeper regret that an instrument of sound so admirable, and so effective, should at once become discordant whenever the name of America is entrusted to its vibrations.* * It is reported that Mr. Jones Loyd— the concoctor of Peel's Bill, and the great advocate of a restricted currency— has pur- chased almost the whole of the late Mr. Walter's interest in the "leading journal." — Liverpool Times, Nov. 25, 1847. Should such be the case this noble Journal stands a chance of losing much of its influence in both countries, and of its popularity in England, because it must inevitably become the organ of a peculiar monied interest; — which is in direct opposition to every other interest in the United Kingdom, save that of the oligarchy alone. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 137 It may be worthy of remark as accounting in a great measure for our ignorance of American affairs generally that the Journals of New York are the most universally known in England ; and our views, consequently, of the whole country are strongly tinged with the political and commercial lucubrations of the English Papers (and particu- larly of the London Times) reflected upon the 1 cannot resist the temptation of presenting my readers with the reflections of one of the shrewdest minds in America on some of our English abuses: — " And the Bank of England, too, what a Beast it is! My studies " lately have led me among Funding Systems, national debts, " finance, currency — the metaphysics of avarice, how tremendous, " how disgusting! But with eighty thousand English fundholders, " commanding two hundred millions of dollars a year in taxes ex- " torted from consumption, to maintain army, navy, press, pulpit, " bench, crown, and thus to keep us poor reformers down, what " chance have weV'—tLetter from the Honourable Charles J. Ingersoll, dated Philadelphia, July 2Qlh, 1847. It will be observed that the apostrophe to the Bank was made three months before the writer could by any possibility have had the smallest conception of the recent wholesale destruction which the Monster has delighted herself in effecting; — still less could he have anticipated her narrow escape from sharing in the universal ruin which she herself had caused. The English are fond of remarking on the various professions exercised by one and the same individual in America; they think it strange, for instance, that a clergyman should become a Member of Congress; or a lawyer a soldier, or a doctor a merchant; but the Americans may view with surprise, a Yorkshire Baronet, perform- ing the part of Chancellor of the Exchequer in this commercial country of England. N 2 138 NEW YORK. New York Journals, and back from these. latter to England. It is impossible to say how extremely the present Administration Party suffers in the estimation of the British Public from the one sided view which, we obtain of their affairs and policy.* The misrepresentations of the British Press are greatly assisted by the misrepresentations of the American party Journalists. The Richmond Press is considered to be con- ducted with the highest respectability. The Charleston Press is allowed to be one of the most able and honourable in the Union ; and yet it may be said that the people, institutions, country, policy, and society of the Planter States are a dead letter in England, and almost in the North and East of America. Hence, in a great measure, the false and untenable conceptions and prejudices which we retain against that persecuted and calumniated, and most invaluable citizen — the Slaveholder. In Philadelphia the Paper I chiefly read was the United States' Gazette ; and in Baltimore the * Witness the Correspondence of a " Genevese Traveller," in the London Times. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 139 Sun — they are both able Papers. In Washington the Union, the organ of the Democrats, and the National Intelligencer, the organ of the Whigs, are both Papers of great shrewdness and talent — but the former is the more truly National Paper of the two. The Press of New Orleans, St, Louis, and Cin- cinnati all retain the American characteristics of ability and ardour. The Papers of St. Louis were peculiarly interesting to me from the intelligence they contain of that " Western World* 5 whose very name is a romance. Viewing the Press in the light of all mortal things as subject to error and prone to vice, it may be truly said that in one country as in the other, when any subject of real utility and wisdom is to be effected, that the Press is never behind hand ; working with determined perseverance at the point, there is no just reform which they do not ultimately effect, no abuse which they do not (though sometimes their progress may be slow) at last succeed in uprooting ; and this influence they will never be deprived of because all reforms are founded on facts not on opinions. They will 140 NEW YORK. ever be the vanguard as well as the forlorn hope of the People, and when their petty jealousies are forgotten, their party prejudices laid aside, and their eyes opened to the truth, I do believe that every responsible leader of a Journal would boldly stand forward in vindication of that which he should deem the right, and risk his all to de- fend it. The Freedom of the Press is the first necessity of enfranchised nations ; once obtained, their own Liberty can never be compelled to retrograde. The lengthiness of American Documents, of the Messages of the Presidents, the Reports of the Heads of Departments, and of the Speeches both in and out of Congress, are sometimes ridiculed by English writers and politicians. Truly they may plead guilty to the long impeachment ; but query ; which is to be preferred, the explanatory prolixity of Presidents' Messages, or the ambigu- ous brevity of Queens' Speeches? It is unquestionable that a householder reposes greater faith in the steward who brings in his accounts with all their details ; than in the one who assures him in a word that there is no use GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 141 whatever in his knowing any thing at all about his own affairs. The vice of American society is party spirit ; I am old enough to remember the virulent contests between Whigs and Tories in the Mother Country ; but the personal feeling which was a portion of the political spirit of the early years of this cen- tury was never so rancorous, so malignant, and so vituperative as it now is in America — I have heard the honoured name of Henry Clay stigmatised by mad Abolitionists, and the virtuous Seward branded by Native Americans. A man may hold any religious or irreligious creed with impunity, he may be a Christian, or an infidel, he may kneel at the altar of God, or bend to the crescent of Mahomet ; he may be in fact an anythingarian, as to the matters of another world, and none will gain- say him — But his political creed must be entirely filled up to the satisfaction of his friends and of his enemies, because the " universal Yankee nation" has adopted the ordinance of a miniature Republic of ancient Greece ; « That those should be held criminal who took no part in civil commotions."* * Mitford's History of Greece, Vol. 1, Chap. V. Sect. IV. 142 NEW YORK. The Athenian Democracy had the power of ostracising the best citizens whenever their talents or their virtues became dangerous or oppressive ; but this was unattended with injury or dishonour to the victim. The citizens of the United States have sometimes " with slanderous tongues done to political death" the most virtuous and service- able of their countrymen. Instead of allowing to each other credit for the views which they profess ; instead of granting that a man may hold different opinions and yet be honest, and patriotic, and able, he is at once condemned as venal and imbecile ; politicians keep no terms with their opponents, and allow words of exaspe- ration to escape them which cannot be forgotten or forgiven. This lamentable spirit is the cause of alienation in the phlegmatic East, and North, and of the duel in the impetuous South. The Whigs are the more exclusive of the two great opposing parties ; but the feeling is apparent in a kind of individual English hauteur rather than in any superiority of vituperative remark, In this respect I think both parties equally matched. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 143 But surely the Americans will not always be blinded to the striving greatness which is among them moving by various ways, each distinct from the other, but all terminating at the one great goal " The Country's Good." Moreover I wish distinctly to state that I do not think there is more newspaper abuse in Ame- rica than in England, and that I have very frequently heard political opponents here, call each other by names as hard as in America. In Eng- land, however, party spirit in private society is be- coming obsolete. It will soon be thus in America. In the natural order of things the greatest minds are leading the way to the correction of this vicious and self-disfiguring, and vulgar habit, and it has been chiefly from the " Statesmen of America" themselves that I was instructed in the various excellencies of those individuals whom I have attempted to pourtray. — From the lips and the letters of Buchanan I was taught to prize Calhoun — and so of all. Foreigners experience much difficulty in acquir- ing an exact understanding of the American political parties ; Democrat and Whig. 144 NEW YORK. This difficulty is greatly increased by the capricious appropriation and applications of the names themselves. The term Democratic in its integrity belongs to the entire political scheme of the Common- wealth of the United States. The general tenets of the party peculiarly called Democratic are naturally the more in unison of the two, with the revered principles implied in the classic origin of the term, and developed in the Republics of early Greece. The doctrines of the Democrats are few and simple and universal; true and congenial to the independent feelings of all mankind, from which they are directly deduced. They are less exclusive, more national, more purely American than the doctrines of the Whigs ; their system is broader, bolder, more fundamental, more durable and more prophetic than that of their opponents. The Democrats legislate for the whole ; the Whigs but for a portion ; the Demo- crats idolize America, the Whigs chiefly abide by the dictates of New England ; the Democrats aspire to rule futurity, the Whigs look not beyond the hour and the day. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 145 The Democrats are the most beloved; the Whigs are the most esteemed. The immediate actuating policy of the Demo- crats embodies the system of Free Trade, rotation of office, the doctrine of no-money-power, the rights of the slaveholding States as guaranteed by the Constitution,* the extension of Territory ; and they have ever been the Warriors of the State. It is scarcely necessary to state that the present Administration is strongly Democratic. The Whig party assumed its name from the term chosen by the English Opposition to the despotic measures of King Charles II. It was adopted in the United States in the sense of re- sistance to the arbitrary proceedings of General Jackson. In this single interpretation alone does it bear the slightest analogy to English Whiggism, and in all the relations of present politics, the word must be entirely disconnected in its twofold application. Since the period of its importation the term Whig in America has gradually become the * It will be remembered that the Democracies of Ancient Greece, and also the Theocratic Commonwealth of the Hebrews, were composed of slaves and freemen. O 146 NEW YORK. representative of a line of politics diametrically distinct from that now pursued by the Democrats. The Whigs are recognised as an able, compact, and formidable Opposition — Eminently useful in this attitude, the inherent and indispensable coun- terpoise in every free or representative system, this party controls and modifies and elevates the ten- dency of the more popular aspirations. But here the power and value of the Whigs must cease. They are not equal to the mighty task of Govern- ment. Indeed as rulers they must lose in a great measure their identity, and they cannot therefore exert as efficient a power as when they present a phalanx of argumentative and persevering ob- jectors to the Powers that be. Their tenets are gradually becoming forgotten, their policy obsolete, their objects transitory, and their views centred in one focus of sectional policy, whence they never will nor can diverge and radiate upon the broad surface of the Republic. It is most probable that in some twenty years or so, the very name of Whig may have vanished from the political arena of the United States ; and the future Honourable Oppo- sition of the President of America be invoked by GENERA.L OBSERVATIONS. 147 some new and yet unknown appellation as ephe- meral in its existence as the faction from which it shall spring. Protection, Abolition, Peace, Education, non- extension of Territoiy, National improvement, abhorrence of the balance of power held by the Southern States, are the peculiar tenets of this exclusive and self-styled conservative Party, so singularly engrafted on the heart of the Demo- cratic Union, and elevated by talent and conduct alone into frowning defiance against an older and more legitimate and more venerated authority. We have recently seen how hard it is for the Whigs to triumph, even under the Dictatorship of New York. It is necessary as well as just that this, the opposing Party, should hold the offices of Govern- ment in turn ; it is necessary in order to preserve the energy and the public virtue of either Party ; and it is just that all men who serve their country should share in its honours. As extremes are ever dangerous, it is also requisite that the Measures of each Party should be controlled, and kept in the juste milieu. A perpetual reign of 148 NEW YORK. Democrats might degenerate into an unmanage- able and licentious Loco-Focoism ; while a too frequent government of Whigs would speedily and certainly dwindle into a sordid and con- temptible Oligarchy. Wherefore I would that the Democratic Dynasty should permanently and chiefly rule; and that Whig Presidencies, and Whig Administrations should be like Angels' visits, few and far between. But at this moment there exists in the United States a third and powerful party based on Inde- pendence, * and formed and sustained by the moral and intellectual influences of one heroic leader. Upon his stainless Banner is inscribed The Love of Country. Beneath its ample folds are ranged the Guardians of States' Rights and of the Federal Union, and Slaveholders de- * Since the month of March, 1847, I have observed the term " balance of power" applied to the party peculiarly regarded as coinciding with Mr. Calhoun ; it has been applied invidiously. I have made use of the term in the " Statesmen of America in 1846," page 362, thus ; " upon the balance of power between the several States"; in relation to Mr. Calhoun's views on Slavery; but I used them on my own responsibility, having drawn this conclusion from the general policy of that Statesman. The words " balance of power" have been frequently used in argument in my presence by Abolitionists; but from the lips of Mr. Calhoun I never heard them ; nor to the best of my recollection from any Slaveholder. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 149 fending their homes and their inheritance; and the Planters of sugar, rice, tobacco, and cotton, vindicating their position as the mainsprings of American prosperity; and the Chicago Conven- tion, the endorsers of the Bill for the improvement of <( inland seas";* and the Candidate of the People, not of the Caucus ; and Free-trading Democrats and Peace-making Whigs, and War- denouncing Conservatives ! — — — — Before his piercing eye has been unveiled the Future; and The Empire of Cortez is yet unsubdued; and The Wilmot Proviso is a Chateau en Espagne ; And a W 7 hig House, and a Democratic Senate may make his Peace with Mexico, as they made his Peace for Oregon ; And Calhoun will still be Lord of the Ascen- dant ! * See the Report on Internal Improvements as contained in the Resolutions of the Memphis Convention. Drawn up by the Honourable J. C. Calhoun, of South Carolina. One of the most masterly, argumentative, and unanswerable State Papers ever produced. I had the pleasure of receiving a copy from Mr. Calhoun himself, and have read it as I ever read each word of his, with admiration. o 2 150 NEW YORK. History contains no record so sublime as his Appeal* in the Senate on the memorable 12th of May, 1846. — He opposed a united Government and a whole People, and the recent speeches of the Whig Candidates, able and eloquent as they may be, contain but the faint and feeble reflection of his Prophetic Wisdom. Nay more; — upon the Sacred Altar of the Public Good he has laid self interest and ambition ; and again, and for the third time we may, per- chance, behold him, if such should be his Duty, zealous to lead a friend and rival to the Chair of the Chief Magistrate. For me — I would not see his honours merged, his glory lost, his pride of position overshadowed even in the Presidency. In these distinctions I have alluded of course only to the political dogmas of the Parties. The legislative bearings of the different State Govern- ments have no relation whatever to the political bias of their respective citizens. — The State Legis- * Against the Declaration that the United States were in a state of War with Mexico. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 151 latures framed under various circumstances are not of course subject to the variations which affect the political aspect of the country. Many Whig States for instance present highly Democratic features in their governments; — and the De- mocratic States of the South are exclusive in their views of suffrage. — In the habitual usage and in the general tendency of their institutions Virginia, the two Carolinas, and Georgia may be considered the most aristocratic States of the Union. Since my return to England I have read and heard frequent ignorant and sneering remarks upon the Military Prowess of the United States. If Xenophon, Hannibal and Napoleon were greater in retreat than in victory, because they had insuperable difficulties to contend against, then have the Taylors, the Scotts, and their fighting men earned also the meed of a soldier's praise. In Mexico their conduct puts to the blush that of the British in Washington. I was in Baltimore when the first call for Volun- teers was made on the 15th of May, 1846. The men sprung up at the first beat of the drum, as 152 NEW YORK. the concealed warriors of Clan-Alpine at the whistle of Roderick Dhu : " He whistled shrill, And he was answered from the hill ; Wild as the scream of the curlew, From crag to crag the signal flew. Instant through copse and heath arose Bonnets and spears and bended bows; On right, on left, above, below, Sprung up at once the lurking foe; From shingles gray their lances start, The bracken bush sends forth the dart, The rushes and the willow wand Are bristling into axe and brand, And every tuft of broom gives life To plaided warrior armed for strife. That whistle garrisoned the glen At once with full five hundred men. —Lady of the Lake. As an Englishwoman I can do no more than advert, en passant, to the War of Independence, and to the Naval War of 1812. The enemies and detractors of the United States desire their dissolution and predict their fall. Year after year we are warned that shortly, extent of territory, or personal ambition, or Slavery, or Abolition, or some other awful and uncontrollable genius of evil will unlock the box of Pandora above their devoted heads and doom to irrecover- able destruction their wealth, their union, and GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 153 their happiness ; nor suffer even imprisoned Hope to bear up the wings of the Republican Eagle. False and vain and unholy prophecy ! — Seventy years ago America gave utterance to the noblest Protest against oppression that Ancient or Modern History records ; her first revolutionary convulsions confirmed her existence, and gave her a Birthright among Nations. Then fully satisfied with the independence she had achieved, her virgin sword stained with the hues of Victory, her young high heart throbbing with triumph, she assembled the Sages of her people; and in peace and harmony they promulgated the free-est Constitution of Govern- ment that has ever been framed by mortal man. If Discord in that eventful hour was powerless to injure the infant State, vain will be her efforts against the Union in its manhood ; for the Bonds of the Federal League are many and strongly riveted and true ; — and that same Heaven which smiled on Washington, still watches with benignity over his country. Her first ingenuous Legislators took counsel from the precepts of the Grecian Ruler; and the natural Laws which govern the character 154 NEW YORK. and conduct of men, adapted by Solon to the Government of his Republic, are found to be still immutable, and as binding on the citizens of America, as they were on the citizens of Athens. And the Veto ; the watchword of the Common- wealth; the Christian Patriot's safeguard against oppression. — " I appeal unto Caesar," said Paul in chains and single handed before Festus ; " I deny your power to bring me to trial/' " for I was born free and a Roman." — "We appeal unto Justice, a higher tribunal than that of the Federal Govern- ment itself," exclaim the minority who stand by the Nullifying Power " for we were born citizens and free ! we deny your right to oppress us." — Never while this great Principle is recognised, can the Union become corruptible. And the Intermarriages of citizens into various regions of the wide spread continent ; and the trust so often confided by various States to citizens of other States in the administration of their internal government, and of their Federal representation ; and the extremes of climate which invite the North and South to visit each other, and to reciprocate the hospitalities of heat and cold. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 155 And Free Trade with wealth, and barter, and exchange — and railroads, and canals, will unite the North and South and East and West, and teach them their dependence on each other. And one universal noble Language. And the Divine Faith of the Cross, the Glory of the Democracy, the true Religion of the People, the imperishable Monument erected by the Son of God himself to the Poor of the Earth ; this Faith shall guard the Union, shall strengthen her energies and protect her laws; enlarge her sympathies, and purify her affections; restrain her passions, and perpetuate her existence ; and in the Religion of the Crucifix shall She be for ever Blessed. And the Spirit of Loyalty and of Public Virtue which animate the breast of the citizen as cheerily and as purely as that of the subject; and their lovely and devoted wives and mothers, and the generous and sincere and manly nature of the Americans, — will preserve them. — — — — — But all the arguments that I can urge are feeble and indistinct, the words 156 NEW YORK. that I can use are all ineloquent, and incapable of rendering justice to the Theme ; and I return to the sublime, and majestic Prophecy of Ancient Destiny; " His ego nee metas rerum, nee tempora pono: Imperium sine fine dedi." — — — One fate alone can overtake her ; When her vast Tribes shall fill the Valley of the Mississippi, shall over-run the Rocky Moun- tains ; when the " Farthest West" shall be no more, and the Pacific shall oppose his waves to Man's aggression; — when a crowded, famished, panting people, shall call aloud for room and bread; — then, the*n only can America experience and understand the helplessness, the sorrow and the shame of England. NOTE ON THE FOREGOING PAGES. On taking leave of Governor Seward he pre- sented me with a small pamphlet entitled the " Elements of Empire in America" — This discourse was delivered by him before a certain Literary Society. In perusing its pages I was struck with the powerful replies which many passages present to the sophisms of the gifted but theoretical Rousseau; in his definitions of Governments. The Declaration of American Independence was pro- mulgated in 1/76 (July 4); Rousseau died in 1778 (July 2). It is more than probable that he never saw that extraordinary Document ; but had p 158 NEW YORK. he lived a century later, how essentially different would have been his views, and how ardently his genius would have identified itself with a nation which has thus realized with complete success that vision of a Republic which he believed could exist no where but in Paradise. These replies have been accidental in their application, for though doubtless Governor Seward is thoroughly well read in the works of the Swiss Philosopher, yet they do not appear to have been at the moment present to his recollection ; and this discourse besides was delivered on a very few hours notice. — These rejoinders are of course rendered doubly valuable from their being wholly unpremeditated. " Ajoutons qu'il n'y a pas de gouvernement si " sujet aux guerres civiles, et aux agitations u intestines que le democratique ou populaire, " parce qu'il n'y a aucun qui tende si fortement et " si continuellement a changer de forme, ni qui " demande plus de vigilance et de courage pour " etre maintenu dans la sienne. C'est surtout " dans cette constitution que le citoyen doit s'ar- " mer de force et de Constance, et dire chaque jour GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 159 " de son coeur ce que disait un vertueux palatin " dans la Diete de Pologne ; Malo periculosam " libertatem qucim quietum servitium. " S'il y avait un peuple de dieux, il se gouverne- " rait democratiquement. Un gouvernement si " parfait ne convient pas a des homines" — Contrat Social, — Livre III. Chapitre IV. "The question," says Ex- Governor Seward, who has been twice the ruler of a State larger than England, " of the continuance of the Union is to " be determined, not by popular belief, but by " the tests of time and demonstrable probability. " The Constitution has endured a period not " inconsiderable ; ten Jewish weeks of years, " a twenty-seventh part of the Christian Chro- " nology, an eighty-fourth part of the period of " Man's residence on this Globe — the scene of so " many crimes, and sorrows, and hopes, necessary 66 instructions for the noviciate of Immortality. — " No other form of Government tried among men " ever worked so long, so well. None ever under- " went so little change in so long a period. " Every Continental State in Europe has within " seventy years undergone at least one complete 160 NEW YORK. " or partial revolution ; and many have suffered " organic changes. Even the British Constitu- " tion has exhibited more variation in regard not " only to the bonds of Union between the Mem- " bers of the Empire, but also to the adjust- " ment of its moral forces. Those who uphold (( existing aristocracies and despotisms fear the in- i( fluences of our Republic. Desponding men dare " not hope that a Constitution so equal and so " beneficent, yet so new, so different from what " the world has ever before enjoyed, will endure. " Certainly, evils originally feared have been " safely passed, and no new danger has been dis- " closed." — TJie Elements of Empire in America. The Genevese accustomed to weigh the circum- stances of the Ancient and Modern Republics of Europe, deemed that France was too extensive for a Commonwealth. " Plus V etat s'agrandit, plus le gouvernement " doit se resserrer ; tellement que le nombre des " chefs diminue en raison de Faugmentation du " peuple." — Contr at Social, Livre III. Chapitre II. Let the American ex-Governor again reply. u The capacity of the Constitution for the extended GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 161 " Jurisdiction ivhich it seems destined to maintain, u has already been well and practically tried. We " were thirteen States. We are now twice that " number. We were three millions of People. " We are now twenty millions. The jealousies " of the States towards the Federal Government " have died away. The National Pride knows " not; could not know, twenty-six Constitutions, " twenty-six countries with their divided and " discordant destinies, but clings to the whole (e as indivisible, to e one constitution, one country, " and one destiny/ not less unique than pecu- " liar in its sublimity and beneficence. " But who has ever met the European Monarch " or Statesman who fully comprehended the com- s( plex relations between the Union and the " States, and between the States themselves. " The world is too vast, the interests of each u nation are too engrossing to permit them to " recognize such subdivision as we fully maintain "for our Municipal Government. " We are one branch of the family of Nations, " which has a code regulating the well known " relations of its members. Each must enjoy p 2 162 NEW YORK. te the respect, perhaps the fear of every other. — " These are conceded to us. But they are mani- " fested towards the one flag that displays all our " stars in their combined effulgence." — The Ele- ments of Empire in America, by William Henry Seward, NEW YORK. Chapter IV. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. " The Hum of Cities." The most striking and attractive feature pre- sented by American cities, and especially by New York, is their cheerful, bright and day- light aspect. The clearness of the atmosphere, and the absence of coal smoke, are particularly pleasing to those who are accustomed to the dingy mud coloured walls of the houses in Liverpool. The inhabitants of New York inherit the taste of their Dutch ancestors for fresh paint ; every house of any pretension is annually coated with scarlet or grey, the divisions of the bricks are picked out with white ; the doors and windows are also gene- 164 NEW YORK. rally white ; and the outside shutters receive a tint of lively green. It is very much the custom (origi- nally Dutch, I believe) for all the world to change their residence on the first of May, and conse- quently the whole city undergoes a thorough puri- fication and cleansing. The old or lower town is like all other old towns, ill built, the streets narrow, and the houses comparatively mean, but the northern or new portion of New York is laid out in handsome streets and avenues which cross each other at right angles. The people of New York have hit upon the excellent expedient of naming their Streets by numbers. There are sixteen Avenues which are called 1st, 2nd, 3rd, &c. Avenue. The cross Streets also, beginning about half the length of Broadway, are called 1st, 2nd, 3rd, &c* Streets. This is a great assistance to strangers and others in finding their way. In Avenue nine there are now some houses, and I saw ground laid out in building lots, and on a board twenty fifth street ; though sixteenth street was not completed. So rapid is the anticipated increase of this City. There are several very handsome Squares. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 165 Broadway is the Regent street of New York, and it is a crowded, busy, brilliant scene, extend- ing about three miles from the Battery ; it is adorned on either side with handsome shops, hotels, public buildings and churches. At the junction with the Bowery is situated the Park, in the centre of which is a handsome fountain. The Battery is a noble public Walk, at the ex- treme south end of the City, and was so called from having been formerly fortified. Trinity Church is a new and well built structure, in the Gothic style, and the interior presents an imposing aspect ; the entrance is very handsome, and the organ gallery above the porch is well arranged, and exhibits some excellent carving. I do not admire the eagle stand for the Bible, which, however, is said to be copied from one in York Minster. Trinity Church was an endowment under the " old Dominion," and, with the City Hospital in the Bowery, constitutes the sole vestige of the liberality and patronage of the English Crown. The former edifice was the oldest Church in the City, having been built in 1696. Tt was destroyed by fire. St. Paul's, and Grace Church 166 NEW YORK. (as I think the new Church at the upper end of Broadway is called) are both handsome buildings ; the latter possesses much embellishment in the modern style of Architecture. The Catholic Cathe- dral of St. Patrick is a well looking edifice ; the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is a very pleasing building;* Here, for the first time, I saw a moveable Pulpit ; during the service it was moved forwards without noise, and back again when the sermon was ended. There appeared to me no objection whatever to this arrangement, and parti- cularly for the Catholic Church Service, because it leaves the xlltar open to the view of the congre- gation, and it enables the Preacher to address them from the centre and in front. At the same time, I have only seen the moveable Pulpit in a modern Church, and I am no judge how far this expedient would be compatible with the severe- ness and solemnity of an antique pile. Several Churches of the Presbyterians are very handsome, * The interior is commodious, and the music is perfection, even to the very bell, which is perfectly silvery. Indeed Dr. Pise is the Apollo of the priesthood, and he gave a mass of Beethoven on Christmas Day, which was fully as well performed as it would have been in the Bavarian Ambassador's Chapel in London. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 167 and the Dutch Reformed Church in Washington Square is a striking edifice. The City Hall situated in the Park possesses great advantages in point of situation, and is a very handsome edifice. If the Merchants' Exchange and the new Custom House were surrounded by ample space they would be most imposing, for the buildings themselves are noble. Both are con- structed without wood ; the Exchange is of granite, and its recessed front is supported by eighteen columns, each of which is one block ; they are said to be the largest single blocks in the world with one exception. The Custom House is built of marble and is supported on either of its two fronts by marble columns ; this building is after the model of the Parthenon at Athens, and has but one fault ; that of being buried in Wall street. A period of seven years was required for its erec- tion. On its site stood formerly the old City Hall, where Washington in an open gallery, before the face of the people, was inaugurated first President of the United States. The Hall of Justice is a very curious, but very uninteresting building; and is almost as ugly as the National Gallery in 168 NEW YORK. London ; it is an attempt in the Egyptian style of architecture, and may be considered an entire failure ; within it are contained the Prison and the criminal Courts. I cannot explain the reason why this building is so little pleasing to the eye ; but suppose it may in a great measure arise from its dimensions being much too small for the gigantic forms and heavy proportions of the order; though it covers a considerable area of ground. It is also perfectly incongruous in style with the sur- rounding buildings, and presents a contrast too rude and abrupt, in fact too monstrous to be reconcileable to good taste. A very in- teresting building is the University of New York in Washington Square; it is built in the Gothic order, and contains a noble Chapel with ornaments in the florid style, and a stained glass window. The Library is a handsome room, with a staircase of very elegant and convenient con- struction. Here is an excellent collection of historical Works, belonging to the New York Historical Society, which Association holds its sittings in this institution. This body has pub- lished several Works of great research. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. \G9 Columbia College, near the City Hall, was founded in 1754. This seminary is eminent for its learning ; it is the oldest literary institution in the city. The more important charitable institutions of New York are at Bellevue, about two miles from the city, on the East river ; — I regretted that I had not time to visit them. The city Penitentiary and Lunatic Asylum are on BlackwelPs Island. Besides these there are in the city Institutions for the Blind, the Deaf and Dumb; an Orphan Asylum at Bloomingdale ; a Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum; and many more establishments of the same nature than I am acquainted with, but which were pointed out to me. Those portions of the seaports of the United States which will not bear comparison with the seaports of England are the wharves; they are built of wood, and after the magnificent docks and piers of Liverpool, London, Plymouth, Portsmouth, &c. they have a shabby appear- ance, and give you an impression of instability. Still they are commodious, easily repaired, and economical ; the ferries at New York, (and indeed Q 170 NEW YORK. everywhere,) are admirably managed, and occasion but very trifling inconvenience to persons living at Brooklyn, or on the opposite shores of New Jersey. The stage from which you enter the ferry boat is loose, and rises and falls with the tide ; you enter on foot into shelter, or otherwise drive into the boat in your carriage without the least difficulty, danger, or inconvenience, and are landed on the opposite side of the river without alighting from your carriage, or being exposed in any way to the heat or inclemency of the weather,* In December, 1845, my sister and I were invited to dine at Highwood, in New Jersey, with Mr. and Mrs. James King. In the morning it snowed little flakes of snow, which in America is considered a sign of a long continued and heavy storm. Reflecting upon the utter impossibility, had I been at home, of fulfilling an engagement across the river, I took it for granted that the Hudson was as impassable a sort of Styx as the Mersey ; and * It would be an immense accommodation to the inhabitants of the Cheshire suburbs of Liverpool to have ferries on a similar construction. I have been informed by those who knew both the Hudson and the Mersey that there would be no more difficulty from the tides of the latter than of the former ; but petty jealousies are in the way of this improvement. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. i;i observed, "that I feared we could not go;" "Why not?" quietly rejoined my sister. To this remark I made no answer, my English pride being roused that an American lady should exhibit more physical indifference to weather than myself. By and bye the small flakes became large flakes, and the snow storm was at its height ; I now asked my sister, by way of eliciting her senti- ments upon the projected excursion, "what gown she intended to wear?" "My best silk gown, and a flower in my hair!" Mystified to the height of stupidity, but ashamed to acknowledge it, I said nothing, but made my toilette, confiding in some extraordinary mode of deliverance from my perplexity. We were dressed, a carriage appeared at the door, and I followed my sister, supposing it possible that she might have mistaken the name of our host, and had no idea of crossing the Hudson. We reached the ferry, and to my in- finite surprise and relief of mind drove on board the boat, horses and driver nothing doubting, and upon payment of twenty cents were safely landed on the opposite shore, where we leisurely pursued our journey — We returned at night in the same 172 NEW YORK. way, in snow and darkness, but with ease and safety. By means of these admirable ferry boats the passengers of railway trains, amount- ing to two or three hundred or more, are trans- ported across rivers from one set of cars to another without being in any way incommoded or exposed. Wooden buildings are scarcely to be seen in the city of New York ; in the country are still a con- siderable number ; and I have seen them in that paint loving state of all colours from pale rose picked out with yellow, to celestial blue trimmed up with brilliant orange. When constructed with regard to propriety of architectural arrange- ment, and painted perfectly white, they are very beautiful, and their designs reducible at sight to the fundamental principles of the art are highly interesting. Here, for instance, is recognised the origin and gradually developed parts and proportions of the Doric order, that most beautiful, and most characteristic of all the models of Grecian Architecture. — In these build- ings you may trace in the fluted column the tree whose bark has been peeled off with a sharp GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 1 7.3 instrument in perpendicular lines ; in the rings which encircle its simple capital the incision made by the carpenter in order to introduce his instru- ment, and in the strong broad capital itself, the stout block which was to support the beams of the roof; in the guttae, the fastenings which attached the beams to their uprights. The tree was apparently detached from its trunk in dry loca- tions ; but in swamps the root was left to sustain the column which had sprung from it, and was formed into steps for such an ascent as would preserve the tenement from cold and wet. I can- not describe the interest with which I traced the first rudiments of architecture in these wooden buildings, particularly in the log cabins of the West, where the developement gradually became more apparent as the rudeness of the buildings demonstrated them to be the more primitive. When the more ornamental and complete speci- mens are prettily situated, planted for instance in groves of trees, on eminences, or in valleys — standing alone, and painted of a pure white, they are extremely beautiful, and produce a very classic and picturesque effect. But wooden buildings Q 2 174 NEW YORK. are only fit for the country and for private resi- dences ; they are paltry as public edifices, because habitually we do not attach the idea of perma- nence and costliness to them ; and besides, in cities they are dangerous, whether as places of public utility, or private residences, from their liability to be destroyed by fire. They are very warm and very clean. Fires are very frequent in the cities of America ; I have sometimes heard the fire bells ring two or three times in the night in New York and Boston — but they are matters of such frequent occurrence that nobody heeds them. On the first night of my landing in New York, I fell in the early morning, while it was yet twilight, into a kind of stupor rather than sleep. The fever and restlessness of the Small Pox had at length been overpowered, and slumber relieved me for a while. — But suddenly I started up ; the horrid cry of " Fire, fire, fire/' assailed my ears, and it was followed by the thrice repeated toll of the church bell, denoting in what portion of the city the assistance summoned was required. I started up, and forgetful of my transit from the sea to GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 175 land, I thought only of my son, and rushed to join him ; supposing the ship to be on fire, my agony cannot be described — what were my thoughts, my feelings, my prayers I cannot say — I do not know — to perish together was all that was left to the mother and her child. — — — — But on attempting to leave my bed, its height awakened me to recollection, for I fell on the floor and was much injured. But what was my joy, and what my gratitude, on thoroughly re- gaining my faculties, and finding myself and my boy far from danger, and secure from a death so horrible. The Fire Police is composed of the citizens who volunteer, some to serve in that department, and some in others of public usefulness. The streets of New York are not quite so dirty as those of Paris, but very nearly, and the pave- ment is uneven ; but the accusation so often re- peated that pigs wander in the thoroughfares is a mere exaggeration. T once saw not far from the Wharves a single offender of this description ; but to the best of my recollection I never did in any city of America meet droves of animals driven 176 NEW YORK. through the streets to the slaughter houses, in- furiated with fear and fatigue and cruelty, and presenting a spectacle more suited to the savage haunts of New Zealanders than to the streets of a city inhabited by civilized and Christian people ; and submitted to the municipal authority of a Mayor and Common Council. This disgraceful sight I have frequently seen in Liverpool, and been subjected, together with all other ladies re- siding on the Cheshire side of the Mersey, to scenes of the most revolting description, by being landed at the same wharves, and at the same time, with whole droves of pigs just disembarked from the Irish steamers. I have no hesitation in saying that such an enormity as this could never have entered the conception of any American of any degree to perpetrate. The whole length of Broadway is filled with Omnibus carriages at all hours ; — to look upon them from the windows of the Astor House you might almost say the street was paved with them ; the fare is two or three cents, and all ranks make constant use of these conveyances. This indeed is almost a necessity, for the intense heat during GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 177 the summer precludes the possibility of gentle- men walking in the business hours of the day. By pulling a string you indicate to the coachman on which side of the street you wish to be set down, and he draws up accordingly ; you pay him your fare ; there is no hurry, racing, scream- ing, scrambling and dangerous driving such as terrifies people out of their wits in the streets of London. Hack hire in America is very expensive ; two dollars for the first hour, and one for the second being the regular demand. — The drivers are per- fectly civil, and I found them very quick in finding streets and houses. The private and hack car- riages in America are altogether either black or invisible green. I like extremely the appearance of an American private carriage ; it looks as if kept for use, not for show, and is yet perfectly neat and well made. The equipage of Judge M f Clean in Cincinnati was to my mind the most genteel and appropriate I ever saw anywhere ; a pair of very good horses, a well formed highly varnished black carriage, with a small crest, and dust coloured silk damask linings, with light washing calico 178 NEW YORK. covers went daily on errands of use and pleasure, and never was too heavy for the horses, nor looked one atom the worse for wear. In this respect the Americans certainly are far more rational than the English who very frequently, having splendid car- riages and horses, do actually for fear of spoiling them, make use of hacks. I consider also the American style of carriage in better taste than ours, because a " gilded coach" is one of the last appendages of vulgar extravagance. Very often the back part of carriages is fitted up with a look- ing glass, which is an exceeding convenience on gala nights, and when paying morning visits. The wheels of every description of carriage are much narrower than those permitted by law in England. One of the most striking objects to a European in walking for the first time the streets in America is the frequently meeting with black and coloured people ; — there are a good many in New York, a great proportion of whom exist in the most abject vice and misery, others again earn a decent livelihood by going as the cooks and stewards of vessels and steamers, while their wives take in GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 179 washing.* — Dress is the prevailing taste of these people, and you often see the most grotesque mixtures ; should you follow a particularly smartly dressed female in Broadway, attired for instance in a white muslin gown, coloured boots, a zephyr scarf, and a bonnet of rose coloured or azure satin ; so soon as she turns round you behold either the sable skin, white teeth and broad flat good tempered features of the African, or the tawny complexion, and somewhat carved out features, and shrewd expression of the coloured race. The " gentlemen" of this caste are as re- markable for their toilette as the " ladies." — I was seated in a carriage one morning at the door of the Astor House, waiting for " the Doctor," when a person very politely approached me, called me by name, and enquired after my health, &c. He was a " gentleman of colour," was dressed in an olive green coat with metal buttons, a white neck- cloth ; and carried a neat little parcel tied in a * Washing is very expensive every where in the United States; a dollar or 4s. Gd. per dozen being the regular charge; but it is very well done, and in the Hotels with most extraordinary expe- dition and punctuality; in travelling this is a great accommodation, because it prevents the necessity of carrying any large quantity of baggage. 180 NEW YORK. white cambric handkerchief in his hand. After returning his salutation, and replying to his civilities, I saw him enter the Astor House, and after puzzling my brains for some minutes I re- collected in my obliging interrogator the coloured steward of the Hottinguer, who was carrying home my muslins and laces which had been clear- starched by his wife. We again saw the poor steward in a steamer on the Hudson ; and since we have heard of his being lost. I made some efforts to repair my own wardrobe, and was recommended as a first rate dressmaker to Miss Mullin. I waited on that lady with a piece of fine muslin, out of which I requested to have two dresses made. I was measured, and then observed, a Vanglaise ; " Will you come, if " you please, the day after to-morrow, at seven " o'clock, when I am dressing for breakfast, and "try it on?" "Madam," replied the Lady Milliner, " I never go out or send out, — will you " be good enough to call in here ?" — " Oh ! very " well ;" so we appointed one o'clock two days after. On that day it rained, and my time was engaged with company, and I never thought of GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 181 Miss Mullin till the next morning, when I sallied forth about ten o'clock. The offended Modiste received me with insulted dignity and forgiving- condescension. " Madam, had I for one moment " suspected that you would have disappointed me " yesterday, I should have made arrangements " better suited to my own convenience." I appeased as well as I c#uld the offended gentle- woman, and with much humility petitioned for one frock for Sunday, being literally gownless. Miss Mullin was inexorable, nothing could be done, nothing was done for ten days, when the gowns were sent home, as well made as possible, but with an awful account of nine dollars and twenty-five cents — a charge of £2 Is 6d for what would cost at a first rate milliner's in London 15s at most. Supposing that there was some error in the bill, I consulted Miss Mary Williams, who ex- claimed, " Oh ! No, my good friend, you have escaped marvellously, pay the bill, say nothing about it, but find out as soon as possible some less fashionable mantua maker." I was not long- in discovering very civil persons whose work was R 182 NEW YORK. equally to my taste, and whose charges were more suitable to my purse. Some of the most beautiful plain sewing I have ever seen was done for me at the Catholic Orphan School of St. Peter and St. Paul, under the superintendence of the excel- lent and intelligent Sister Jerome.* The twenty-ninth Annual Exhibition of Paint- ings at the National Academy of Design being now open, we spent a morning in examining these pictures. In portrait painting, which is the first step in the mimic art, the Americans already achieve excellent things ; their resem- blances, which is invariably the case with artists who are yet young upon the canvass, have a degree of formality and preciseness, and they occasionally venture to delineate too exactly the peculiarities * It is singular that during my illness in Baltimore a person was called to bleed me with leeches; she was the sister of the Nun, and discovering that I knew her relative in New York, spared no time nor trouble in attending upon me. How valuable to me have been all my connections with the professors of this Religion, whose sympathies extend through all countries, and through all the circumstances of life with neverfailing zeal. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 183 of their subject in dress and manner ; for instance, there is a very excellent portrait (as a likeness) existing of Mr. Madison, but it is a pity that the artist should have introduced such voluminous clouds of powder upon the collar of the Presidents coat ; again the attitude of Mr. Clay leaning upon his stick, is unquestionably the familiar attitude of the subject, but it is also one which introduced into a portrait becomes undignified; the admis- sion of such peculiarities, however, though con- demned by Royal Academicians, and with correct judgment, as tending to lower Art, does never- theless contribute strongly to the identity of the likeness. From this general remark must be exempted several excellent and leading portrait painters, — who have evidently the power of dis- criminating between simple and improved art, — between the material and the idealized {both are equally truthful) delineations of a subject. Some portraits of Ingham, in this Exhibition, were excellent, — the landscapes of Cole, the American Creswick, are entitled to very high praise ; — he is bold in drawing and in colouring, and a dear lover of that Nature who is the foun- 184 NEW YORK. tain of inspiration to the painter of original genius ; but I feel some anxiety for the ultimate sentence upon those of his pictures which are faithful copies of American scenery, — the striking colouring of the autumnal forest, and the clearness of the atmosphere, which approximates distances, (as mistiness in English scenery removes them.) are perhaps the two principal peculiarities of American scenery ; and a third may consist in the large dimensions of the component features of a landscape, which cannot be contracted without destroying their configuration and relative propor- tion in nature. By imitating with too faithful a pencil any of these peculiar characteristics, an artist runs a great risk of sinning against the recognized laws of the Art which Europeans have deduced from the schools of the great masters, and which have been regarded with almost superstitious veneration as the only true, the only fundamental principles of the theory and practice of Painting. To describe more minutely the view I take of this very interesting question. — The vivid golden and scarlet hues of the foliage in the autumn are greatly enhanced in beauty by GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 185 being immediately contrasted with the dark hues of the evergreen, and in the strong sunlight they become of dazzling brilliance; but trans- ferred to the canvass, these contrasts become patches devoid of harmony, advancing from the strength of their colouring out of their place in the picture, and conveying the idea of a child^s attempt at painting, who naturally dips his brush into the most glaring hues upon his palette. The rarity of the atmosphere if imitated in its effects of preserving the vivid colours of distant objects, destroys the aerial perspective to which we attach so high a degree of merit; besides it places limits to the imagination by disclosing too freely the secrets of the distant scene. Again, the shadows and the shades, which form perhaps the most difficult, as they certainly do the most fascinating points of all pictures, must both be sacrificed if you will paint trees of those luscious tints, and mountains covered with grass as green as that which grows beneath your feet, or distant cities, whose vivid hues shall vie with those of the cottage ten yards from your seat. It is, however, a problem yet to be solved, r 2 186 NEW YORK. whether the close imitation of American scenery can be brought within the statutes of limitation assigned so arbitrarily to the Art of Painting. As yet I am sceptical on this point, and acknowledge myself, shall I say it, a servile worshipper of the Claudes, Poussins, and Salvators, the Cuyps and Berghems, which have feasted my eyes, and re- joiced my memory, since the days when first the apprehension of the beautiful was imparted to my understanding. The vast features of water scenery present, of course, an immense flat surface, which have natu- rally their corresponding plains of still greater extent ; the mountains heaped together in clusters and ridges are chiefly confined to isolated districts remote from each other, and the want of frequent undulations imparts some difficulty to the compo- sition of a picture of American landscape. Still this is a difficulty which a painter of genius may overcome, and he may even succeed in elevating the monotony of his outline to the grandeur of simplicity. In this exhibition the productions of Cather- wood, consisting of subjects from Yucatan, exhibit GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 187 great talent. And there was one attempt at historic painting, the parting of Edgar and Elgiva, well deserving praise. This exhibition was decidedly equal to any that could be pro- duced by any party of provincial artists in England, unaided by contributions from the London painters. The Court of Death, painted by Mr. Peale, is unquestionably a bold and vigorous attempt at allegorical painting, which style is the most diffi- cult of all to render interesting either to the learned or the unlearned. Allegory is purely poetic, and cannot be reduced effectively and agreeably into painting ; for no pencil can com- bine abstract truths, and visible objects. The picture is of gallery size, and some of the groups exhibit great powers of conception and consider- able skill in the execution. The ghastly tale is impressively told, — and without the introduction of a skeleton ; — which is a great and peculiar merit. Some of the remarks upon this picture are written in a faithful style of criticism. The New York Gallery of the Fine Arts contains some good copies from European masters, several 18S NEW YORK. excellent heads by Durand, and two series of pictures by Thomas Cole, which demand peculiar attention. — The first, " the Course of Time," pre- sents the successive progress of the Arts of Civi- lization, their triumph and decay, ending with the last scene of Desolation which ends " this strange eventful history." The second is entitled " the Voyage of Life," and is an Allegory very well sustained. There are portions in all these pictures which exhibit great elegance of taste, and variety of skill. The landscape of most of them is highly beautiful, and I am happy to assure Mr. Cole, should this brief notice of his paintings ever meet his eye, that so far as my imperfect judgment can discern, his own modest estimation of his works is far inferior to their sterling merits. At the house of Mr. Henry Parish, I saw a very excellent collection of pictures, which ;I learned was shortly to be enriched by importa- tions from the gallery of Cardinal Fesch. Dr. Bayard has a capital specimen of Annibale Carracci, and I believe many other private gen- tlemen in New York possess very good pictures. Two circumstances there are of eminent im- GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 1S9 portance and advantage to the painters of America, in the future developement of their talents ; the first is, that they retain their originality, that they have not yet imported the vice of Mannerism ; and the second, that the liberality of religious opinion existing in the United States, will enable the patrons of the Art to present Altar pieces to the Churches and Chapels, of such denominations as shall regard the exalted efforts of human genius as appropriate embellishments for the temple of that God, who alone, to use the words of an Emperor, " can create a painter/ 1 I saw no American Sculpture until I arrived in Boston, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati, and therefore shall not at present enter upon the sub- ject, merely observing, that the Americans are following the true instinct of Republics, in their aptitude for that the most severe and simple of the fine Arts. In my love of Sculpture I am indeed a very heathen, and believe that in this one respect I wander far from my usual Catholic predilections. During our residence in New York no distin- guished musical performers visited the City; — 190 NEW YORK. from subsequent observation, I think that the people of New York do not study music so zealously as those of Boston, nor do they possess so inherent a taste for it as those of New Orleans. But I have observed the notices of musical talent in the New York Journals, and consider their judgment of those among our Artistes with whose merits I am acquainted as extremely correct. They appreciate, for instance, very justly, Madame Anna Bishop, and I have no doubt that if Madlle. Lind were to cross the Atlantic the American critics would estimate her justly, for her sweet organ, and her practised execution, without pro- mulgating such articles, (equally at variance with truth and taste) as were weekly foisted on the English Public by the Examiner and other Journals.* The Drama holds a higher place in New York than in any other city, New Orleans alone ex- cepted. There are four Theatres, — the Park, the * It has been stated to the Authoress, on excellent authority, that the Lessee of the Opera paid £5000 to the London Press, for their opinions of Madlle. Lind! Of course I cannot vouch for the truth of such reports. False it may be, true it may be, I say the tale as t'was said to me. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 191 Bowery, Palmo's Opera House, and Niblo's Garden in Broadway. There are other places of public amusement, but these are the principal. The Park Theatre we attended several times ; the performances were quite equal to any that I have seen in Liverpool, except when a star of magni- tude has been engaged for a season ; the Bowery Theatre was not yet rebuilt, but must be now a handsome structure ; Niblo's gardens are very pretty by lamp light, and offer a pleasant and cheap recreation to all classes in the evenings when labour is at an end ; at Palmo's we wit- nessed several times the grotesque representations and caricature imitations of the Italian Operas, and their chief performers. The actors of this singular travestie did not disguise their voices ; they sung very fairly; but they were painted ebony with burnt corks, and their dialogue was the lowest dialect of negro language, such as would have delighted her Majesty and the other dis- tinguished admirers of Ethiopian serenaders in London. The number of Hotels in New York is very considerable ; there are possibly twenty or 192 NEW YORK. more substantially good houses of reception for strangers ; such houses as will accommodate from one to five hundred persons ; and this apparently large number is readily accounted for, by the constant travelling which takes place, particu- larly during the summer season ; and also by the custom so frequent among the Americans of residing in Boarding Houses. The climate of this continent affording every modification of heat and cold induces naturally a change of place ; in the summer the dwellers in the South seek the less oppressive atmosphere of the North, and in like manner during the winter the inhabitants of the North seek the more relenting influences of the Southern skies. The expenses of travelling are moderate, and the same for the wealthy and the poor ; the ordinaries are always so arranged as to meet the conveniences of pas- sengers, and people in America who are proceed- ing directly on their journey do not eat at all faster than people in England who are in a similar predicament. I have never been compelled to bolt my dinner in America in so highly unsatis- factory a manner as I have been obliged to dis- GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 193 pose of it (or to leave it half despatched) in Birmingham, on each of the numerous occasions on which it has been my lot to pass through that celebrated and now half abandoned railway station. The custom of residing in Boarding Houses arises in some degree from the difficulties of obtaining good servants; but I must candidly state, that so far as the observations and enquiries of sixteen months could elicit such facts, I have not discovered that the servants in the United States are of a worse description than the same class of persons in England. It is true, that for my own personal comfort in the matter of housekeeping, / ivould reside by choice in a Slave State; I like the disposition, I like the service, I like the affec- tion of the Slave; I like the bond ivhich exists behveen him and his master ; the union of interests, and the companionship which death alone destroys; such intercourse is equally compatible ivith eocistiny facts, and agreeable to my own views of social and domestic arrangements ; but still I cannot fall in with the generally received opinion, that house servants in the United States are more difficult to s 194 NEW YORK. control and to manage (the word in general use with housekeepers) than they are here. One heinous fault is decidedly less frequently com- plained of there than in this country, and that is dishonesty, — this fact is also easily accounted for ; wages are much higher ; in many cases I found them nearly double ; the housemaid to whom I give ten guineas in Liverpool would in New York be worth eighteen ; and the cook to whom I give sixteen guineas here, in New York would obtain five and twenty, Moreover the relatives of house- hold servants in America are not generally in such abject poverty as they are here ; and the daughter or sister is not tempted to lay hands on the property of her master to eke out the scanty pittance of those whom she has left at home. — I found the manners of servants in America more familiar than those of England, but not less respectful ; they address you frequently without being spoken to previously; will speak of the weather, of household and family matters, with a degree of interest, and ask an occasional question ; the slaves and free blacks are extremely conver- sable, and I always carried on long discourses with GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 195 them ; sometimes about England. Though I have been for twenty years a housekeeper, and accus- tomed to employ those who are regarded as the best class of English household servants, I should not fear to meet with any insurmountable difficul- ties in the management of my people in America, whether they happen to be white, or black, or coloured; or slaves, or free. American servants in summer cannot work as English servants do, on account of the great heats, but otherwise they are just as clever, clean, obliging, and industrious. The great difference appeared in a kind of freedom which I occasionally observed of going out without permission ; generally, how- ever, first doing their work ; this I learned is not an invariable habit, and it is in the power of the master and mistress to prevent it by refusing such a privilege when engaging a servant. In Liver- pool I have sought my servants on two occasions from the Servant's Home, a sort of establishment supported by well intentioned Ladies of this town, where females out of place are permitted, on paj^- ment of a small sum weekly, to reside until they obtain situations; and where they also congre- 196 NEW YORK. gate daily to be enquired about. So far as I have experienced this system is a total failure ; those whom I there engaged were ignorant and ill-conducted, — but I chiefly allude to the subject that I may speak of the misery, squalidness, vice, and neglect apparent in the row of females whom I have seen seated at the door of this " Home." Having seen similar establishments for slaves in New Orleans, I can only wish that these wretched white women could partake of the comforts which are there afforded to the negresses. Servitude is a far more vile estate than Slavery. It is a re- markable circumstance, that two ladies, one from Connecticut, and the other from New York, ex- pressed a desire for introductions from the Bishop of New York to the Catholic Priests of their respective parishes, in order to place their servants under their care ; said one of these ladies " With- out those priests we should be lost." Another frequent reason for residing in Board- ing Houses arises from the custom of early mar- riages in America. In this old country we do not desire that our sons and our daughters should forsake the parent nest, until they have at least GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 197 a probable chance of supporting a certain con- dition and appearance in society ; not so in the new world ; the difficulties of getting forward in life are there less formidable, and the necessity of setting out at first with an establishment is less imperious ; it is not unfrequent for a young couple to live for the first two or three years after their marriage in a Boarding House or Hotel; they are saved the immediate expenses of furnish- ing, engaging servants, and of rent ; and they are considered to occupy a position just as respect- able as if they resided in a house of their own. From this long digression on the causes which support so many houses of public entertainment in New York and other cities of America, (though in New York they are the most numerous,) I will recall my readers to the excellent Ladies' Ordinary at the Astor House, and invite them to dine with me at half-past three, in a large well-aired and ventilated saloon, with perhaps a hundred and fifty or two hundred guests, Gentlemen and Ladies. We shall find the Bill of Fare laid with a table napkin on the plate before us, and we will order turtle soup, oyster pies, a slice of ham, any kind s 2 198 NEW YORK. of poultry which is in season, game, and any variety of sweets, jellies and blancmanger which may suit your palate. If you had given me a little notice, and honoured me in the due season, I would have ordered, in addition, shad or sheep's head, partridge, or canvass back ducks, or veni- son, which shall be cooked on the table before you. To give a zest to these delicacies, I will call for champagne, and after putting into the glasses a couple of pieces of ice the size of walnuts, we will present you with this animating and cool beverage, in which you shall, if you please, drink to the memory of the Old Country, and the pros- pects of the New. After a plate of cream ice and fruit I will accompany you to the Drawing Room, where I will introduce you to a number of well dressed persons, who occupy the various sofas and lounging chairs, and who conduct them- selves with the utmost good manners and good nature. You will find that you cannot err against propriety with impunity in America, any more than you can in England. In this or in your own rooms you receive your friends, and some- times make acquaintance with your fellow guests. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 199 After resting here a few moments, and looking through the window on the crowded Broadway thronged with people and omnibuses, the Bowery nearly as well filled, the Park with its promenades and the handsome public buildings which are en- closed within its precincts, I will lead you up many stairs to the roof of this great building, and show you the setting sun above the city, casting his rays upon the North and East Rivers, on Brooklyn, on Long Island, on the coast of New Jersey, and upon the innumerable roofs of endless houses, which the clear atmosphere enables you to discern with distinctness ; Governor's Island with its Fort, and the site of the Battery, and the glorious Bay, where the North and East Rivers mingling their streams pass through the Narrows into the outer Harbour, Immediately below is the Park, with its cool fountain and pleasant trees, and people in myriads enjoying the luxury of the enchanting evening hour. From six to eleven you will find tea or supper in the Ordinaries, (or later I believe in the Gentlemen's Ordinary,) and however early or late you may choose to break- fast you will find an abundant supply of coffee, 200 NEW YORK. excellent green or black tea, hot and cold bread, fried oysters, beef steaks, eggs, boiled and fried, and scrambled, omelettes, &c. &c. with excellent butter, iced milk and iced water. And here let me say, that of all the luxuries in America I most enjoyed the ice, — its use was then rare and very expensive in England ; it was a luxury only indulged in on occasions of company and display, but among the middle classes it was unknown as an article of domestic and daily luxury. Even now its use is chiefly confined to the Metropolis, where it is provided to the grateful inhabitants at the average rate of three or four cents a pound.* I found it a most refreshing practice to place several jugs of iced water in my bedroom during the great heats ; the atmosphere became perceptibly cooled. It is customary when you pay a visit, for the attendant immediately on your arrival to present you with iced water or iced lemonade. I have also a most grateful memory of various houses, where after a heated and dusty drive or walk, I was ushered into an apartment * " Wenham Lake Ice" is painted on the cart which conveys it from door to door. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 201 from which the light and air having been carefully excluded, (chiefly by outside green shutters.) the relief on entering was indescribably pleasant, and the iced water a perfect luxury. " Whenever you hear America abused," observed a lady to me, as she presented a glass of sparkling Sherry cobbler, with the huge crystals floating about in the ex- quisitely commingled cup, "remember the ice." I obey her injunctions implicitly. It was curious to hear the Americans occasionally find fault with the flavour of ice. " Come and taste the ice from my pond at Forest Hill," said my fastidious and abstemious Guardian, one day at Coleman^s, " and you will then perceive what inferior stuff this is." I have seen three anointed Kings and three inaugurated Presidents. I admire the Presidents the most. I have seen three Queens, and three Ladies who have shared in the honours of the Presidency; and truly among the Queens not one could compare with the regal grace of Mrs. Madison, the feminine distinguished personnel of Mrs. Polk, and the intelligent and lady like demeanour of Mrs. Adams ; the first of these ladies has been, nay, she still is, at the age of eighty- 202 NEW YORK. six, eminently beautiful, with a complexion as fresh and fair, and a skin as smooth as that of an English girl. Mrs. Polk, were it not for the same defect in the teeth (though in a less degree) which characterises the mouth of Queen Victoria, would be a very handsome woman. Her hair is very black, and her dark eye and complexion give give her a touch of the Spanish Dama. These American Ladies are highly cultivated, andperfectly accomplished and practised in the most delicate and refined usages of distinguished society. It is not possible to observe the affectionate and deferential manner of Mrs. Polk towards the august Lady who is now the " Mother of the Republic," without feeling for each the warmest admiration. Indeed the name and presence of Mrs. Madison are revered throughout the Union, and universal respect is paid to her. I was in the House of Representatives, when attended by her niece she came in to hear the maiden speech of Mr. Hilliard of Alabama. By an Act of Con- gress Mrs. Madison is entitled to a seat on the floor of the House,* and she was immediately pre- * She also retains the privilege of franking letters. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 203 sented with a chair directly below the Speaker. Many Members approached and with visible emo- tion paid their respects to the widow of their departed President. The recollections of Mrs. Madison are remarkably fresh, her spirits are cheerful and her affections are young and full of cordiality. Dressed in a black velvet gown, and a turban of the whitest muslin, Mrs. Madison reminded me of the English Siddons, of whom in childhood I have had a glimpse. I was told that her perception of persons and names during her reign in the White House was extraordinary, as well as the singular and happy facility with which she adapted her conversation to her hearers. From her friend, Mrs. Decatur, I have learned many instances of her sweetness of character, her total forgetfulness of self, and of the strong good sense which has ever regulated her conduct through life. To her may truly be applied the words of Milton — — — — — "So absolute she seems, " And in herself complete, so well to know " Her own, that what she wills to do or say, " Seems wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best." The Indian Chiefs who came to Washington to 204 NEW YORK. make treaties, &c. were great admirers of Mrs. Madison. During the Presidency of Mr. Madison Washington was in its infancy and the conve- niences of life were difficult of access. The store- room and the medicine chest of the White House were ever at the service of the indigent or suffer- ing neighbours of this most excellent Lady. Mrs. Polk is very well read and has much talent for conversation ; she is highly popular, her reception of all parties is that of a kind hostess and accomplished gentlewoman. She has excel- lent taste in dress, and both in the morning and the evening preserves the subdued though elegant costume which characterises the Lady. She is ready at reply, and preserves her position admi- rably. At a Levee a gentleman remarked, " Madam, you have a very genteel assemblage to-night." " Sir," replied Mrs. Polk with perfect good humour but very significantly, " I never have seen it otherwise." One morning I found her reading. " I have many books presented to me by the writers," said she, " and I try to read them all ; at present that is not possible, but this evening the author of GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 205 this book dines with the President, and I could not be so unkind as to appear wholly ignorant and unmindful of his gift." I wore a brooch in which was contained the hair of my husband and chil- dren very tastefully displayed. Mrs. Polk carried it to the window, read the names of the " eleven," compared their hair, and asked many questions about them. Saving her Gracious Majesty, I could have put my arms round her neck and kissed her. The fireside of the venerable Ex-President Adams is rendered peculiarly attractive by the courteous manners and intelligence of his Lady. She has seen much of life and of society, and she has added to her own acquirements many of the elegant tastes of her distinguished partner. Mrs. Adams was a celebrated beauty. She was an in- valid when I saw her, but retained her cheerful- ness ; she spoke of England which she well knew with lively affection, and entered into my intended plans and projected journey with all the friendly interest and zeal for my gratification that I could have received from a friend of many years. Mrs. Adams was the daughter of Colonel Johnson, 206 NEW YORK. Consul-General of the United States in London. I am not quite certain of the fact, but I hope that I am right in claiming her for an Englishwoman ; at all events I hope she will forgive me for saying so much. I have endeavoured to describe the men of America and my many obligations to them; — but I am even more indebted to the women ; for they made me one of them, not merely one among them. I was to them a friend and sister, not a mere guest. I have many, many to describe whom my English friends would estimate as highly as I do, and my heart is on my lips while I recall their generous, hospitable and confiding love. Not a face, not a name, not a voice of all among them will be e'er forgotten by their grateful English friend. The names of Mrs. Madison, of Mrs. Polk, and Mrs. Adams, are the most familiarly known in England, and I have, therefore, presented them in few words, because in the delineation of each there are many traits of resemblance to all the rest. But there exist in America as essential diversities of sectional character among the females as among the men, and these I will attempt to GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 207 delineate as I proceed in my unsystematic and erratic pathway. Colti ho diversi fiori a la verdura Azzurri e gialli e caudidi e vermigli, Fatta ho di vaghe erbette una mistura Garofani e viole e rose e gigli; Traggasi avanti chi d'odore ha cura, E cio che piu gli piace, quel si pigli; A cui diletta il giglio, a cui la rosa Ed a cui questa, a cui quel altra cosa. The women of America are extremely beautiful, and dress in excellent taste ; the female costume of New York is essentially French in all articles of fashionable wear ; and they have that excellent peculiarity of Parisian taste, perfection of make and cutting out, — suitableness of material to the season, and a due regard to the becoming in the choice of colours and trimmings. Their manners in every part of the country are very good, how- ever young, because they are introduced into society at an early age, and have never imbibed that mauvaise honte which is so constant an attribute of the English school girl ; they dance with much grace. The use of the fan is universal during the summer months ; and the ladies and gentlemen 208 NEW YORK. are most dextrous and indefatigable in handling it ; at church there is one incessant and uni- versal flutteration ; the ladies use their fans, and the gentlemen make use of the ladies 5 sun shades, which are an excellent substitute. The fans remain at church from Sunday to Sunday like the prayer-books, and half a dozen at least form a portion of the furniture of every pew. There is among the women of America much solid friendship ; they delight to hear each other's praise, even should it be of each other's beauty, and in their mutual intercourse are gentle and for- bearing to a most attractive degree. I have never heard from the lips of an American lady any tale of scandal or calumny ; nor have I ever heard them prying into the secrets of their neighbours' houses. They are devoted to their families, and the difficulty of rearing children until they have passed the second summer, and gone through the troubles of teething, makes the American mothers more solicitous than we are in English nurseries. I think the female constitution less robust than that of Englishwomen ; and I account for it entirely from their early marriages. Their hasty GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 209 youth lasts but a twelvemonth. From the school- room they are speedily led to the altar, become mistresses of households, and mothers of families, before the system has attained its growth, much less its maturity, and before the light-hearted and rejoicing spirit of the girl has been naturally ripened by time and experience into the more serious and subdued character of the woman. It appeared to me in several instances that the women of America were cheated out of their youth ; at twenty, if unmarried, they are un peu passees, and at twenty-five are veritables vieilles filles. The consequences of such a pressure upon the constitution result in great bodily debility, much nervous ailment, and the premature appear- ance of age. I have been asked to guess the age of many ladies, and have frequently found that I over-estimated them by ten, fifteen, or twenty years. The morality of American Society resembles that of the middling classes in England; by mid- dling classes I understand the several professions of Divinity, Law and Physic, the merchant and the upper tradesman. Experience has informed T 2 210 NEW YORK. us that this position is the least exposed to the temptations of vice arising from excessive wealth or excessive poverty. I saw none but happy families, and I heard of but few instances to the ontrary. The indulgence which parents in the United States permit to their children is not seen in England ; the child is too early his own master ; as soon as he can sit at table he chooses his own food, and as soon as he can speak argues with his parents on the propriety or impropriety of their directions. But still this early developement of republicanism does not injure so much as might be expected the future man, does in no way lessen the domestic affections. One blessed cus- tom they have in America, resulting from the abundance which they enjoy; a man dies, his widow and his children are the objects of peculiar care to the surviving branches of his family ; the mother dies — her orphans find a home among her friends and relatives. " How many children have you ?" said I to Governor Seward. " Madam, I " have six ; four living, and one that is not, but " whom I count as mine beyond the grave ; and an " orphan niece, a brother's child, who is to me GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 211 " and to my wife as a daughter." This is an in- stance of frequent, I should rather say of habitual occurrence. In England such are our necessities, so fully does every man exhaust his means in maintaining his position in society, that he thinks he does a vast deed of charity in placing his portionless orphan nephews and nieces in some cheap seminary, and thus enabling them to earn their bread; not that I would stigmatise his dispositions ; " It is his poverty, and not his will consents." The lower classes of England are proverbially vulgar; their manners, generally, exhibit a sullen independence, or coarse familiarity ; this is never the case with the Americans ; accustomed to feel themselves on an equality with all around them, they do not consider it necessary to be perpetually asserting it, and a feeling of self-respect is always observable in their intercourse with each other and with strangers. It is curious, certainly, to hear a Governor of a State, or a Member of Con- gress at the dinner table address the waiter who attends upon him as "Sir;" — but I do not per- 212 NEW YORK. ceive any harm resulting from it, and it is not more singular to an English ear than to hear a Frenchman address a femme de chambre as " Mademoiselle." An American, of whatever rank in society, dare not do otherwise than address those who approach him with civility. They are certainly the best tempered people in the world ; in all my various residences at Hotels I never heard angry words of any description, and if inconveniences were experienced, they were en- dured without comment, and forgotten as soon as they had passed away. It may be observed that there is a degree of urbanity in the manners of the Southerners, not perceptible in the natives of the East and North. Said a Lady—" Observe the different manner in which an Eastern Member and a Southern Mem- ber address the pages who attend upon them in the House of Representatives." " There, boy, go and do this or that" — says the former; "Come hither, my son — you will do this for me, will you not ? " — says the latter. I think this difference arises from the kind of service to which each is accustomed, rather than from temperament. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 213 In travelling it is marvellous to what annoy- ances the Americans will submit in order to aid women and children that they have never seen before, never probably may see again ; cloaks and baskets and babies are piled up in the arms of the stronger sex, and deposited with care and kindness in a place of safety, and the solitary female ignorant of usage and of places who travels among them, has but to look her helplessness in order to procure assistance. Their inquisitiveness pleased me, for being myself particularly commu- nicative, and having a high relish for the varieties of human life, I never failed to find amusement and instruction from my companions, whether in steam boats, railroads, or in the Hotels. I never found them at all more curious, prying, or imper- tinent than I was myself in asking questions, and they seemed as happy in giving information as I was in receiving it. Their lively social tempera- ment is more French than English, and their love of conversation also is a feature of the French rather than of the English character. I have heard more words spoken in one night at a soiree in Boston or Washington than would 214 NEW YORK. be spoken in a year at similar assemblages in Liverpool; and moreover the Americans speak well on the lighter subjects suited to these crowded assemblages, for the field is open to much that is entertaining in personalities, in badinage, the news of the day, and the scenes around. Like the French also the Americans enjoy the present; their buoyant atmosphere gives elasticity to their spirits, their enjoyments are not expensive, and their future generally is unclouded by apprehen- sion. There are indeed two attributes belonging to America which filled me with sensations of ex- ceeding enjoyment ; which I never have felt, nor ever shall again feel, until by the blessing of Pro- vidence I return among that happy people. — The first of these is the presence of the sun ; the second is the absence of pauperism. On the former I need not expatiate, for all feel alike, and acknowledge the joy inspiring influence of the God of Day. The second is peculiarly striking to the English, who cannot walk their magnificent cities without being assailed by the hungry, and the destitute, and around whose highly orna- GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 215 merited country villas* crowd the abject neighbours whom no liberality can relieve, no charity can save. I know that in America there must be Poor, misfortune will sometimes with strange caprice visit even those who use against it the preventives of industry and economy; but this is rare, and the case is never hopeless, and the sufferers are few. Instances too there must be where idleness and extravagance have induced distress, but the victims themselves in cases like these are alone to blame. It is an indisputable fact that pauperism is scarcely known among the Americans themselves, and during my travels of fifteen months / saw but one begyar ; — not in the United States, but in the Market Place of Montreal. The Emigrants, espe- cially the unhappy Irish, of course, on their first landing are frequently reduced to want, but they soon obtain employment. It would be vain to * Within the last few months we have taken a house in Wales. In the Parish are 4,200 souls, of whom 600 persons are paupers. — Such a state of things is scarcely conceivable to an American; nor shall I soon forget the horror of General Armstrong, the United States' Consul in Liverpool, a man of much experience in life, when I related to him this appalling fact. He looked aghast at what has long ago ceased to astonish the English. 216 NEW YORK. describe the revolting feelings with which I walked the streets of Liverpool and London on my return, and the compunctious visitings of conscience with which I carried my children to a confectioner's shop, into which they entered through groups of haggard, puny, naked, raw- boned women and children. To these things none can ever become callous, — God grant, in- deed, they never may. The great difference in the condition of the working classes in England and in America, is this; in England Labour is cheap, and Living dear, in America Labour is dear, and Living cheap. We can never attain their condition ; long, long may they be preserved from ours. The Society of New York is easy and pleasant, and the entertainments consist of dinner parties and balls. Our friends received us most hos- pitably, and we had many invitations during the month of July to spend a day with them at their various country residences. There are two beauti- ful places in the neighbourhood of New York ; one at Highwood, in the State of New Jersey, across the Hoboken Ferry, belonging to James GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 217 King, Esquire; and the other, more beautiful still, on the East River, near the celebrated Hell- Gate, belonging to George Woolsey, Esquire. At the first we spent a summer's day, rejoicing in the glorious sunshine ; the grounds are extensive, and command a magnificent view of the " Queen of the Atlantic" — her spires and masts, indeed, are many and proud. On the river side is a pleasant walk and some rocky cliffs, in part covered with trees. This spot is called Weehawken, and here General Alexander Hamilton fell in a duel by the hand of Aaron Burr in 1804.* The house at Highwood is a very neat and comfortable villa; the gardens disappointed me, for I was accustomed to those of England. Here in a field of rich grass, I saw a single specimen of the scarlet Asclepias which Mrs. King told me was to be found there every year, but for whose appear- ance in a soil to which this gay and richly * Few names are more respected in America than that of General Hamilton. He was a brave soldier, an able lawyer, an admirable writer, and a man of spotless integrity— General Hamilton was one of the authors of the celebrated Essays, published under the title of the Federalist. The posthumous Works of General Hamilton have recently been published by his venerable widow. 218 NEW YORK. coloured plant is not indigenous she never could account. With my old and valued friend Mr. Woolsey we spent a day in December, for during his summer residence in New York I was too ill to go from home ; but I have to thank him for a renewal of the memories of my youth, and for a friendship which induced him to desire that in my infectious malady I should have been nursed in his house, and cared for under his roof. Years and events had passed since last we met in Eng- land, but the beings and the scenes of other days were present before us during that interview in all their loveliness and their interest. With Mr. and Mrs. Philip Schuyler and their family we passed a pleasant day, and devoured plates full of the most delicious ice cream I ever tasted, for which I obtained the recipe, but which I have never yet had the opportunity of trying to manufacture. In the twilight Mr. Schuyler called me to the window, saying, " Come and look at our American fireworks." — Nothing suspecting I advanced to the window, and beheld lightning such as I had never looked upon before. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 219 The fervent spirit assumed all shapes and many colours ; now it gleamed in sheets of flame, now it rose in upright columns, now it crept in subtle serpent forms from east to west, from north to south, and then collecting itself into a mass seemed to discharge its fires and fury upon the silent and awe-struck city. Sometimes it was of pale sulphur colour, sometimes of intolerable torch light flame, sometimes of vivid gold, and some- times of silvery white. — Its motion, too, varied in speed, for occasionally the bright presence seemed prolonged ; and those who dared to gaze upon the splendid meteor, had time to look on lightning. At first the gleams were unattended with thunder, but presently awful bursts succeeded each flash and changed the silence of suspense into a thrill of fear ; majestically the reverberations were repeated from river to river ; — and now the rain fell in such torrents as only the scorching suns which are unknown to our island, can en- gender. In hopes that the storm* would subside we waited until a late hour in the evening, and * In England by storm we understand a burst of rain accom- panied by wind, in America the word is used for a fall of rain, or snow unattended by wind. 220 NEW YORK. then with difficulty procured a carriage ; in stepping into it, and again out of it, the water was above my shoes. — The next morning was delicious, and the light clean houses of New York looked lighter and cleaner than ever. At the Astor House we made acquaintance with Dr. Townsend of Albany and his pretty daughters, and afterwards had the pleasure of seeing them in their own city. Mr. Smith, her Britannic Majesty's Attorney- General in Canada, and his fair young bride were also inmates of the same Hotel, and though we differed greatly in our feelings and views with regard to America generally, still we were excellent friends; and from Mr. and Mrs. Smith on our arrival in Montreal we experienced every hospitable and friendly attention. — One morning I was agreeably surprised by a visit from Lieutenant Slidell Mackenzie whom I had known in England, and whose very pleasant "Year in Spain" had afforded me much gratification. — Time had somewhat changed his appearance, but had left his frank and courteous manners ever the same. He once had spent a winter's day at our fireside in Cheshire, and we had charmed the GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 221 hours by turning over the pages of Audubon. The sailor dived into the woodland descriptions of the ornithologist with hearty enjoyment and read aloud to us many entertaining passages quoted in the Naturalist's Library. The name of Mac- kenzie procured us a very pleasant reception from the Officers on board the North Carolina, a War frigate* of the United States, to which we rowed one evening, and were immediately invited to come on board and go through her. — I had never before been on board a Man of War, and it is singular that the first with whom I should form an acquaintance was an American ; and that at a moment when impending war between England and the United States might shortly call the North Carolina into action against my country. — The same curious circumstance is true with regard to my visit to the Falls of St. Anthony. At Fort Snelling, situated at the navigable head of the Mississippi, we were hospitably received by Lieutenant Wood, of the United States' army, who gave up his whole house for the accommodation * Probably I may not apply the exactly appropriate term to this noble ship, and beg to apologize for my ignorance. v 2 222 NEW YORK. of myself and the Doctor, This occurred about the first week of September, 1845, and then the English and American Papers gave daily evidence of the increasing animosity of both nations. We were comfortably and happily housed under the roof of an x\merican officer for a day and night, in the centre of a Fort constructed as a defence against the Indians. Had the Savages made by chance an attack on Fort Snelling, the stranger Englishwoman and her son would have shared in the same defence which they exerted for their own wives and children, and would have been as carefully protected by those gallant men, as they had been hospitably welcomed, and kindly enter- tained. This was the first time in my life that I had set foot in a Fort or Garrison ; and truly the recollections attending it are most interesting. After going through each part of the North Carolina we had some excellent music from the Ship's band, and some iced water, that nectar of hot climates ; seated on the deck, almost the only cool place to be discovered in that burning city and its vicinity, we enjoyed a delightful hour, and having at the Lieutenant's request dismissed our boat, GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 223 were pulled to shore in the Captain's gig in a very few seconds — the swift and simultaneous oars of the Man of War's men imparting to the boat a much more poetic motion than that of the single and unscientific arm which had impelled us to the vessel. Among the many whose career of usefulness has been terminated since I left America, I ob- serve the name of Mr. Everett, the United States' Minister to China. As the Hottinguer entered the Bay of New York, on the 2nd of May, 1845, the pilot pointed out the two gallant ships of the line which conveyed his Excellency to the Asiatic Shores. With their sails expanded by a favour- ing gale they vanished swiftly and triumphantly from our sight. Alas 1 the Envoy thus borne away in honour was never to be welcomed home. We started early one morning to visit the Green- wood Cemetery on Long Island. — This is a very beautiful spot ; but at present the tombs are not numerous, and in driving through it, you rather regard it as a picturesque and cheerful drive than as a "city of the silent dead ;" — the view of the Ocean is striking; the avenues of large trees and 224 NEW YORK. the undulations of the ground, afforded great faci- lities for the arrangements of a Cemetery ; and they have been made the most of. Here we saw around a small piece of water the Azalia ; and the Kalmia growing wild ; also the common Marvel of Peru. We often went to Brooklyn ; sometimes for the purpose of visiting Mrs. Parmentier, a lady whose friendship for M. Sorin, of the University of Notre Dame du Lac, in the State of Indiana, made her acquaintance highly pleasing to me who have never ceased to regard that interesting Priest as one of the most active instruments of good in the present day. On one occasion the Doctor and I saw in this village the curious operation of raising a house put into practice ; the object was effected not by adding to the top story, but by cutting the house from the basement story, and after propping it up by building underneath. — During this process the inhabitants lived in the house, went in and out by means of a ladder, and we observed a young lady at the window who seemed perfectly at ease. When finished we could with difficulty distinguish it from the other houses. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 225 Having been informed that the Croton Aqueduct is the most striking object connected with the City of New York, we proceeded one morning by rail- road, in order to see all that we conveniently could of this justly celebrated triumph of Art over Nature ; by which the waters of an entire River are arrested in their course, and conducted from their bed into the vicinity of New York, whence they are conveyed by the " Great Mains" into the streets. The journey to Harlem by railroad is eight miles; the track commences at the City Hall, and in its progress through the town, makes two turns nearly at right angles. — Part of the journey to the Bridge over the Harlem River, is performed in a carriage ; the road is tolerable, and the scenery interesting. Our party was augmented by the addition of a Planter of Guadaloupe, and his friend. The Planter's French and manners were anti-revolution ; the former pure and idiomatic, the latter polished and courtier like. He was a good engineer, and greatly assisted me in under- standing the details and magnitude of the Work ; but still I do not venture to describe it from my 226 NEW YORK. own recollections; and being anxious that my scientific countrymen should become acquainted with the bold designs and operations of their aspiring rivals, I have copied the account of the Croton Water Works from the United States Gazette of 1845* — Article New York : " The aqueduct commences at the Croton River, five miles from Hudson River, in Westchester County. The dam is 250 feet long, 70 wide at bottom, and 7 at top, and 40 feet high, built of stone and cement. It creates a pond five miles long, covering 400 acres, and contains 500 millions of gallons of water. From the dam, the aqueduct proceeds, sometimes tunnelling through solid rocks, crossing valleys by embankments, and brooks by culverts, until it reaches Harlem River, a distance of 33 miles. It is built of stone, brick and cement, arched over and under, 6 feet 9 inches wide at bottom, 7 feet 5 inches at the top of the side walls, and 8 feet 5 inches high ; has a de- scent of 13J inches per mile, and will discharge 60 millions of gallons in 24 hours. It will cross * By Daniel Haskell and Calvin Smith. Published by Sherman and Smith. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 227 Harlem River on a magnificent bridge of stone, 1450 feet long, with 14 piers, 8 of 80 feet span, and 7 of 50 feet span, 114 feet from high tide- water to the top, and which will cost 900,000 dollars. This bridge is in progress, and for the present the water is brought across the river in an iron pipe, laid as an inverted syphon. The re- ceiving reservoir is at 86th street, 38 miles from the Croton dam, and covers 35 acres, and contains 150 millions of gallons. The water is conveyed to the distributing reservoir on Murray's hill, 40th street, in iron pipes. It covers four acres, and is built of stone and cement, 43 feet high above the street, and holds 20 millions of gallons. Thence the water is distributed over the city in iron pipes, laid so deep under ground as to be secure from frost. The whole cost of the work will be about 12,000,000 dollars. The water is of the finest kind of river water. No city in the world is now more plentifully supplied with pure and wholesome water than the city of New York ; and the supply would be abundant if the population were five times its present number." 228 NEW YORK. Five years comprised the short period in which the Croton Water Works were completed. On the 24th of June, 1845, we witnessed the Funeral Ceremonies in honour of General Andrew Jackson. There was a procession of the various Public Bodies and Associations, and a Review of 6000 men in the Park. I was in Paris on the first anniversary of the " Trois Journees Glorieuses," when Louis Philippe, attended by the five Princes, his sons, and the Marshals of France, reviewed 110,000 men in the Place Vendome. I was therefore enabled to compare the pomp and cir- cumstance of the most military Monarchy that exists, with the unpretending array of the Re- public. In the Parisian spectacle dense masses of Infantry were followed by the brilliant Cuiras- siers, Carabiniers, and Lanciers ; and then by all the power of the Artillery ; men and horses armed to the teeth filled the square in which stands the Column of Napoleon, and surrounded the Staff and Family of the Citizen King. Music lent its aid to the imposing grandeur of the scene, and the martial French cheered the younger and more hopeful branch of their illustrious Bourbons ; for GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 229 France was enthusiastic in her hope and trust for the Future. In the funeral procession of the inhabitants of the great city of the Republic, mourning for their departed Chief Magistrate, there was little pomp, nothing of the splendid coup-d'ceil of Paris. The military, clothed very generally in grey coats, and deficient in many of the artificial contrivances which contribute to the martial appearance of the soldier, performed their evolutions satisfactorily. But the sentiments of respect and regard which in France were loudly testified for the Living, were equally expressed in the City of New York for the Departed. — France saluted the rising Sun ; America lamented the orb that had set in everlasting night. The Vessels in the Harbour hung their flags half mast high, minute guns were fired, and the processions were clad in mourning garb. Some things appeared curious to the Doctor and myself. Six guardsmen with drawn swords were stationed to prevent carts and carriages from crossing through the procession ; when the omni- buses came down Broadway, and were intercepted, the drivers argued stoutly for their privileges, and x 230 NEW YORK. the discussions continued between the soldiers and the drivers until the commanding officer came to the aid of his company; and sometimes the horses of the pertinacious vehicles were turned round sore against their will by the united efforts of four or five sentinels. — This was a very peculiar sight to those who have seen a Dragoon keep back a thou- sand people without even condescending to look at therm by backing his horse gently in their faces; while the multitude would just as soon think of climbing over St. Paul's, as of opposing a man on horseback with a hussar cap on his head and a drawn sword in his hand. The men on duty, too, sometimes chatting, sometimes looking about, and their horses generally standing at ease, were most unlike the enchanted " horse and his rider" which are to be seen at all times in the Whitehall of London at the entrance into the Horse Guards; and on whose impassive figures children stop to gaze and wonder if they be dead or living things. T was much gratified on the 4th of July ; there was a very pleasing impression conveyed to my mind in beholding a great nation keeping its birth- day like a young and happy child. — After the GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 231 procession of soldiery an immense number of Irishmen followed in procession also ; and it was affecting to behold these men commemorating on the footsteps of her native citizens the Inde- pendence of the country which had given them shelter. In the evening we went to the top of Peale's Museum to see the fireworks ; all went off with the utmost propriety. I must not forget that suspended from a window of the Museum was an old and patched and discoloured Banner ; this was the original Flag hoisted by General Washington. With the families of M'Evers, Emmett, Van Ransaeller, Barclay, Bayard and many others, we found time fly cheerfully and profitably. We became acquainted with Maroncelli ; and it was with sorrowful interest that I traced that refined and generous and poetic spirit from his dungeon to his present state of suffering and of exile. Lame and nearly blind, often in acute pain, and variously afflicted, the Prisoner of the Spiel- berg retained the elegance of the scholar and the courtesy of the gentleman. A portrait of him by Gambardella is an excellent and pleasing likeness ; 232 NEW YORK. his only child is called after her godfather, the beloved companion of his long imprisonment, Silvia Pellico ; and perhaps the latest word traced by the hand of Maroncelli was his signature affixed to letters of introduction written by his Lady for me to Pellico and others ; they lie in my desk, and I trust that I yet may make them avail- able; for I would not die until I shall have breathed the air of that fair land ; "Dove '1 si suona." The tormented victim of the savage Austrian is no more ; " he died of mental grief, in a foreign " land, and now lies in Greenwood Cemetery, " with neither stone nor sign on his grave to a show the stranger that there rests an exile ! " Oh ! Italians ! remember your dead ! e Vox ex " tumulo clamat. 9 " — Extract, March 2nd, 1847, New York Courier and Enquirer. Had his term of life been prolonged a few months, he might have beheld once more that beloved Italy for whose sake his youth and health and liberty had been sacrificed — and he might, perhaps, have enjoyed the dying satisfaction of GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 233 knowing that his ashes would repose in her sacred earth. While I write I recall those words of ex- quisite tenderness uttered by the dying Oroboni at Spielberg so often before his death, — " Methinks I shall not rest so sweetly here, as in our own beloved peninsula. 5 ' Maroncelli died in exile — truly a man of sorrow, and acquainted with grief. The Americans admired his genius, esteemed his virtues, and sympathized in his misfortunes. Rejoice, and with pride, Citizens of America, that in your whole Code of Laws — there exists not Banishment — " The hopeless words of never to return " Breathe I against you upon pain of death" cannot in your land's language be uttered by a Judge, nor heard by a victim. Early one morning, that is about four, a.m. the Doctor and I started for a fishing excursion in the Bay ; after spending half a dollar in clams, a huge misshapen kind of muscle, rather coarse in flavour, but of which excellent soup is made, and another half dollar in transparent and yellowish brown shrimps for bait, we entered a boat below the v 9 234 NEW YORK. Battery. The morning was delightful, and the sail most agreeable, but of fish we caught none. We rowed round Governor's Island, inhaled the fresh breeze which accompanied the coming-in sea, and watched the busy steamers arrive and depart. Among the shipping we discerned a Slaver, suspected to be still in this detested and nefarious traffic ; she was graceful as the " Water Witch" — and concealed her foul and secret pur- pose under the fair free flag of England, which depended from her raking masts. Should the English West India Planters possess the pecuniary power of availing themselves of the permission awarded them in November, 1847> by the British Government, of again importing Negroes from Africa to cultivate their estates, it is more than probable that the treacherous bark may fill with English gold the pockets of her reckless owners. And here a few remarks may be made which, perhaps, in so discursive a work as a book of Travels, may find as appropriate a place here as elsewhere. It is earnestly to be hoped that the Abolitionists of America will be warned by the necessity on GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 235 the part of this country of returning to Negro labour, for the relief of their West India Pro- prietors. The Slaveholding States and their pro- duce are far more indispensable to New England than the West India Islands are to the mother country ; if we utterly destroy the proprietors of Jamaica and our other possessions, still they are but a portion of our commercial community, and if we suffer their plantations to fall into desolation, we still can import the Sugar of other (and it is a notable fact of Slave worked) countries ; but no where shall the manufacturer of New England turn to seek the Cotton without which his factory, his capital, his skill, are so much useless lumber ; his water privilege, a waste of rivers. After an experiment of fourteen years, in which free Negroes, free Europeans, and free Coolies have all been proved insufficient and ill adapted to the purposes of cultivating them, the Government of this country, under the administration of a Russell, a Palmerston, and a Grey, are driven to the expe- dient of seeking the restoration of the Negro race in those Islands from which England has paid £20,000,000 sterling to exterminate them ; for 236 NEW YORK. virtually such was the meaning, and such the effect of Emancipation. This permission, attended with regulations, and prohibitions, and a poll-tax, is in fact a legalized Slave trade, for vain will be the attempt by laws laid down in England, to check the cupidity of the Royal African Slave dealer, of the daring crews of all nations who delight in danger and in gold, and of the broker and his agents who will haunt the coasts, and smuggle in whole cargoes of slaves, as easily as whole cargoes of tobacco are smuggled into Eng- land and Ireland, and with the same enormous profit. New York has not yet the same important stake in cotton with New England; and there- fore she may for a time amuse herself with impunity in the mistaken cause of Abolition ; but a few more years, and Free Trade will make her a manufacturing as well as a com- mercial State, and then with New England she will, if she persists in the destruction of the Southern States, discover that they have succeeded between them in slaying the bird with the golden eggs. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 237 And there is yet another consideration now in- volving the supremacy of New England and the Northern States in manufactures ; the South, awakened to her own powerful position as the groiver of the raw material, has begun to discover the advantage of being her own manu- facturer. For this she possesses equal or supe- rior capabilities with her rivals who have been hitherto her consumers ; and presently the fac- tories of New England will find competitors in the mills of Georgia and the surrounding States. — Already the coarser fabrics of cotton are there produced, and many planters supply their Negroes with the produce of their own State. In August, 184/, it was estimated that there were 280 manufactories, chiefly of Cotton, in the States South of Virginia, and the Northern manufacturers are selling their machinery for the coarser cottons to the Southern manufacturers, and introducing in their stead such as will supply finer qualities of cotton goods. There is every reason to believe that the Southern manufacturer will hereafter successfully compete with the 238 NEW YORK. Northern manufacturer, even in the finer fabrics ; and for various reasons — 1st. The former has the raw material at hand. 2nd. He has abundance of water power (privilege). 3rd. He can obtain abundance of coal and iron at a smaller cost. 4th. Negro labour is perfectly available in manu- facturing — for they have aptitude in the use of their fingers, and of course Negro labour is the cheaper. 5th. Their market is at home and certain, because they will supply their Negroes. Nay there is no reason why the South should not in time become exporters of the manufactured article as well as of the raw material. Should the infatuation of Abolition alarm her and wickedly cause her secession from the Union, the South will thus be independent of her neighbours ; and the West will soon become her customers for the raw material; but where will be the Eastern States? rich in money only, they constitute the iveakest, although apparently they are the wealthiest, section of the United States ; destitute of cotton, of sugar, of tobacco — less rich in coal and iron, GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 239 and less abundant in corn, they have become as England w as, the Shopkeepers of the State ; but let the South withhold her cotton, and they are ruined. The planter, injured by the long continuance of low prices, will check production, and Cotton will not grow spontaneously ; and emancipated Slaves will not glow it, and white men cannot. The Voluntary Industry of the Xegro is moonshine. The Abolitionist may tempt him in his youth to forswear his master, and to forsake his labour ; — but in age and want the poor victim of selfish ambition will find too late his error, and repent when his false friend shall have left him alone to perish. The mania of Emancipation is on the wane in England, and our would-be philanthropists cease to bestride the Atlantic ; the extravagancies of Mr. Frederick Douglas have met with slight sym- pathy in a nation which begins to find at last that even with regard to so delicate a point as Slavery there are two sides to the question. As steam navigation shall increase the acquaintance of the English with America, the actual condition of the 240 NEW YORK. slaveholding States shall become better under- stood, and it may be confidently predicted, that out of every hundred enquirers ninety-five shall return convinced that there are many greater evils in this vale of misery than Negro Slavery, many millions of people in the world, compared to whose lot that of the slave is free and happy. Let the English artisan and the English peasant be ennobled by education, and by a share in the blessings of life, and then let Abolitionists busy themselves about the Negro. I pass over Ireland ; she is a standing byeword. It was my good fortune, at the Astor House, to become acquainted with Colonel William Crosbie Dawson, of Green sborough, in the State of Georgia.* This gentleman was of course a Planter, and an admirable specimen of the Old English Gentleman, a race which, though it has become nearly extinct in England, somehow or other revives in the Planter of the new country. " Tell me," said I, " the actual condition of the " Slave." * Elected in 1847 a Member of the Senate, from Georgia, in the thirtieth Congress of the United States. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 241 " My negroes," was the reply, i( eat my best " corn, because they know where it grows ; they " consume my most exquisite tobacco, because " they have planted, and know where to find it ; " they wear my finest cotton, because they are " the pickers of it ; if they are ill they are attended " to by my wife herself; and their services are far " less arduous than those of white servants ; I " have in my house a dozen of Slaves to do the ei work of four or five English servants." " You think, then, that the idea which prevails " among us, even with enlightened people, that in " case of a war the Slaves could be armed against " their masters, is without foundation ?" " It is perfectly preposterous ; you think me " safe here, in the Astor House, and so do I, but " on my own plantation I am twenty times more " safe than I am here. To-morrow we leave New " York to return home, and if you were to accom- " pany us, you will see that on our return we " shall be attended by whole groups of the black " people ; some of them will salute Mrs. Dawson, " all will shake hands, and I shall have a dozen " or two of those little black rascals swarming Y 242 NEW YORK. " upon my knees ; it will be the signal for a " general holiday within doors and without/' u Is this the general condition of the Slave, or '• are you a singularly benevolent master }" " By no means ; this is the usual condition of '•' the Slave ; — I am no exception of singular be- " nevolence." " Are they profitable ? w " Not equally so with the expenses of main- u taming a plantation of negroes, for they increase " very fast, and the Planter has no resource but " to administer to all their wants ; this is a legal " obligation. I do not consider," continued Mr. Dawson, " that the labour of the Slave is worth " more than one or two per cent upon his value, " and there are a variety of contingencies even " then to be provided for ; sickness, incapacity, " unprofitable seasons, and many other circum- " stances ; and there is also the continual diffi- i: culty of finding a market ; if you were to visit i; me at Greensborough, you would see me sur- " rounded v,ith plenty ; my plantation grows a <• superabundance of corn and grain, but after (i supplying the wants of my family and my GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 243 " people, it is consumed by the weovil ; my farm " is overstocked with poultry and hogs, my woods " with wild turkies and other game, but these, in " like manner, while they furnish an abundant " maintenance, do not bring profit in the shape " of dollars, and I look with some apprehension " to the future position of my son. By the bye, " my ancestors were English,* and it is said that " there is property belonging to the family in the u old country." " Will you not come and seek it ?" " No, I should enjoy a visit to England, but " not a residence there. — I am a Planter, have " been always such ; the life has charms, and I " could not abandon it," I believe there is no domestic establishment in England where the serving portion have for their share the " best of every thing." But I will be impartial. In Washington I related this conversation to Governor Seward; " Madam," said the eloquent Abolitionist ; " I " will tell you of an occurrence which once took " place when Mrs. Seward and I were travelling ; * From Yorkshire. 244 NEW YORK. " we stopped to change horses, and Mrs. Seward " walked in the garden. There she saw an aged " negress grinding corn ; w " Is not that hard work ? w " Not more hard than other work." " But you are old ?"— " I am sixty years of age." — " Have you a husband ?" " I had a husband !"— " Where is he ?"— " He is sold !" " Have you children ?" " I had children ; they, too, are sold ! ,? — This affecting anecdote will touch the hearts of all ; and distinctly I assert, and firmly I believe, that no one who perchance may read this page will feel the story so acutely, will analyze its fea- tures so truly, and realize the circumstances so vividly as the honest and kind hearted Slaveholder himself. — The Abolitionist cannot understand that human feelings of affection exist between the Negro and his master. The master of the white man dismisses him at an hour's notice if sickness incapacitates him, or idleness hinders him from GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 245 working ; his age and his destitution are un cared for; but the Slaveholder will watch the sick bed of his bondsman, and forgive his trespass, and protect his age ; and he will part with him only when the necessities of his position overpower him. — When I alluded to the subject in conversa- tion with Mr. Calhoun, an involuntary shudder passed over his whole frame. — " The sale of a slave," said he, " I could not look upon \ v But I must hasten from the Slave of America to the Emigrant of Ireland, towards whom I have a duty to fulfil. The transition is a strik- ing one. Already from the innermost recesses of that un- happy country the poor Emigrant is collecting his scanty resources to proceed upon his doubtful way. Abandoning the lowly cottage where he has known not the household deities of peace, of comfort, or of abundance, he yet is kneeling to implore on the green isle that gave him birth, the blessing of Heaven, and to imprint a kiss upon her worshipped sod. He assembles the innumerable children with which the indigent are usually per- plexed, and aids their powerless, but devoted y 2 246 NEW YORK. mother to collect the bundle of rags, and the few mean articles of furniture which constitute their all of worldly wealth. Naked, and barefoot, they wander through the land, and reach at length the destined sea port. Wearied and worn, they readily become on their arrival the victims of fatigue, and of the diseases which lurk in the receptacles of the abject. — But a crowded city is no place for desti- tute beings like these, and in haste they seek out an Emigrant Vessel. — The passage soon is taken, and often in a state either of incipient or of positive disease they, with many hapless com- panions, enter into the " between decks" of a Passenger Ship. In spite of suffering, Hope now begins to cheer the light and buoyant spirit of the Irishman ; but soon the natural evils of bad weather and sick- ness ; the miseries of sorry food, of crowded steerages, and of infectious fevers fall upon him. He asks for aid ; — physic and a Doctor ; — physic good or bad as may be is there; — but where is the leach to administer it ? — Where is the under- standing head to detect the malady, where the GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 247 skilful hand to apportion the remedies, and where the kindly voice to soothe the sufferer ? — The Physician is not there. — An Act of Parlia- ment of this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and to which the unconscious hand of a woman and a Queen has affixed her signature to make it the Law of the Land, refuses to Emi- grants driven by hunger from their home to the shores of North America, the benefit of Medical and Surgical assistance. The circumstances connected with my passage in the Hottinguer have made me a humble in- strument in obtaining this boon, and I implore the patience of my readers, and the aid of those who are possessed of influence and power, in my zealous though imperfect efforts to soothe the lot of the neglected and sea-adventuring Exile. If life and health are granted to me, I trust to carry my friends in my society over the route 24S NEW YORK. which I have travelled ; twelve thousand miles or more upon the broad continent. To ascend the Hudson to Albany, with her gilded domes, to traverse the Empire State, and navigate those mighty lakes ; the breezy and capricious Erie, the sublime and gentle Lake of the Hurons, and the angered stormy Michigan; to roam through boundless Prairies, and fields of an hundred acres clad in the glad garments of the harvest, the pride of the Wisconsin and the Illinois ; to look upon the Father of Rivers, and to be borne upon his waters, from his stupendous base to his pic- turesque and many headed source, reposing at St. Louis, the City of Promise; — thence to retrace our steps, and lingering awhile to gaze and marvel at Niagara, to contrast the St. Lawrence and his rocky bed, and his pure waters, and his "Thousand Islands," with the alluvial creations of the Mis- sissippi, and the hoarse and relentless destruction of the Missouri, the tyrant Sovereign of the Western World. To walk the streets of "Ancient France" as represented in Quebec and Montreal, and to mingle with a people who recall to mind the society of Moliere, Racine, and Corneille ; GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 249 whose language is foreign to their allegiance, and whose stately religious Faith is consoled and con- ciliated by its honours and its progress in America for all the evils which it is condemned to suffer in Europe ; — thence to wander among the Mountain Scenes of Vermont and New Hampshire, and to repose awhile in the now courtly (i City of the Puritans." — From that accomplished people to seek the Philadelphians, who retain more dis- tinctly the characteristics (though still not strongly so) of their origin. — Then to visit Baltimore, " the City of Monuments," the most beautiful of all the Atlantic Seaports, and traversing Maryland, so dear to the heart of the Catholic, to reach that Washington, where resides the Chief Magistrate of a free people, and where assemble the represen- tatives of a country whose limits are thousands of miles asunder. Here having watched the question of Peace or War with England, involved in the settlement of Oregon; the declaration of War with Mexico, the progress of Free Trade, and seen the various Sections of the Union charac- terised by their respective representatives, we will depart towards the Southern States, endeared to me 250 NEW YORK. by their climate, their institutions, and their people. We will visit the tree covered hills of Virginia, the polished English town of Charleston (the most resembling of all to the cities of the Mother Country) ; — -.Savannah, whose name imparts a charm; the oriental coast of Georgia, the Palmetto region, and her exuberant inland country ; we shall then descend the Alabama and the Mobile Rivers, the transporters of cotton ; to New Orleans match- less in all the varieties of life ; until ascending the Mississippi, we pass from its rapid waters into those of the soft flowing Ohio, the " belle riviere" of the French. — Soon we arrive at Cincinnati, the " Queen of the West/ 3 and after seeking the mar- vellous Giant Caves of Kentucky, and lingering at Ashland till Time forbids delay, we reach, still borne by the Ohio, the City of Pittsburgh, the great Anvil of America. — From thence we hurry on the Monongahela, and at Cumberland again we find the railroad; rapidly, too rapidly, we are borne through " the Pass" and over Harper's Ferry, and following the course of the wandering, clear, and solitary Patapsco we reach once more the State of Mary ; and after spending a well GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 251 remembered day at Annapolis, we shall at last bid Farewell to our many friends, and to the Sun that shines above them, and to the happiness which surrounds them. — " Toujours constante, toujours fklelle; Encore Je reviendrai parmi vous." PART II AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING THE HISTORY OF THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL VARIOUS DOCUMENTS RELATING CHIEFLY SUBJECT OF EMIGRATION. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. The season of Emigration is fast approaching, and there is no justifiable ground of hope, that the stern necessity which causes the people of this country to become exiles has been arrested; on the contrary, it has been augmented. It is a matter calling forth our gratitude that such a relief exists, and the mother country is imperatively called upon to facilitate, in every possible way, the passage of those whom she can no longer support, to a soil less rigid, and to a lot less inflexible. Under the existing system, or rather absence of system, the Emigrant is in danger of perishing before he can reach a kindlier shore ; the bruised reed is broken 'ere it can attach the riven fibres 4 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. of its root to the foreign though friendly soil which shall not refuse to heal and nourish them. No Convict ship can leave the ports of England unaccompanied by a Surgeon. No Emigrant ship to North America enjoys the benefit of this just and salutary provision. The reasons why cargoes of vice are protected while cargoes of sorrow are left to their fate, they alone can explain who framed these preposterous regulations. This Appendix consists exclusively of documents proving the necessity of an immediate attention to the effects of the inhuman and monstrous exception contained in the Passenger Law of August, 1 842. To some of my readers these documents will be offensive, to most, uninteresting ; to a few, I hope, they may be useful as explanatory of circumstances not generally known. When I state that it is the earnest conviction of my mind that all PASSENGER VESSELS SHOULD BE COMPELLED TO carry medical men, and that the principle has been recognised both in England and the United States ; and that I will never abandon the cause of the Emigrant, even against hope ; for these reasons THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 5 I beg their indulgence if, instead of being entertain- ing to my readers, I seek to be useful to Society. Had I attempted the publication of these papers in a separate volume, I should have had little chance of enquiry for a book of so unattractive a title as that of this Appendix ; but, bound up with other matter, I trust that the documents may find readers who shall prove influential in carrying out this indispensable measure of humanity. I shall in these details introduce the subject in America, and pursue it in England, as the con- tingent circumstances developed themselves. 2 a 2 6 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. ( No. 1. ) THE INIQUITOUS ACT OF PARLIAMENT WHICH Exempts Passenger Vessels going to North America FROM CARRYING SURGEONS. " When the Righteous are in authority, the People rejoice." Proverbs of Solomon. Fifteenth section of an Act for regulating the Ca?*riage of Passengers in Merchant Vessels, 5th and 6th Victoria 9 cap. 107. 12th August, 1842. In every Ship (ex- XV. And be it enacted, ceptto North Ame- That R() ghip carrying p as . rica*) carrying 100 Passengers, or 50 sengers on any such Voyage Passengers if the as aforesaid to any such * Except to North America. — The origin of this clause is lost in myster3 r . I have sought it with diligence, but can make no discoveries throwing any light upon the subject. Of all the countries to which Emigrant Vessels sail, it is most imperative that those going to North America should carry Surgeons; the num- ber of passengers they convey exceeding that of all the Colonies taken together. According to the Colonization Circular of March, 1846, issued by her Majesty's Colonial Land and Emigration Com- THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 7 Port or Place as aforesaid, Voyage be longer T% - rk7 than Twelve Weeks, except any Fort or Ftace «, ,. , ^ ,. 1 J a Medical Practi- in North America, shall, in tioner and Medi- ,i i n i cines to be carried, case the number of such and in every other Passengers shall amount to Ship a proper sup- or exceed One Hundred, pty of Medicines. or in case the estimated length of the Voyage, com- puted as herein-before is mentioned, shall exceed Twelve Weeks, and the number of such Passengers shall amount to or exceed Fifty, clear out for such Voyage from any Port in the United Kingdom or missioners, the amount of Emigration in 1845 to North America, ■was twenty-eight times greater than to all other places taken together. In 1846, the amount was thirty times greater than to all other places taken together. In 1845,thenumher of Emigrants to North America was... 90,341 In 1846 ...125,678 Colonization Circular of 1847. And these are consigned to the " horrors of the middle passage," with none to stand between them and death ! It is more than probable that the Merchantmen intended to con- vey Negroes from Africa to the West Indies will be compelled to carry Surgeons. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. in the herein-before men- tioned Islands, unless there shall be rated upon the Ship's Company, and shall be actually serving on board such Ship, some Person duly authorized by Law to practise in this Kingdom as a Physician or Surgeon or Apothecary, and that no such Ship shall actually put to Sea or proceed on such Voyage unless such Medical Practitioner shall be therein, and shall bond fide proceed on such Voy- age, taking with him a Medicine Chest, and a pro- per supply of Medicines, Instruments, and other things suitable to the in- tended Voyage ; and no THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. Ship carrying Passengers on any Voyage from any Port or Place in the United Kingdom, or in the herein- before mentioned Islands, to or for any Port or Place out of Europe, and not being within the Mediter- ranean Sea, shall clear out for any such Voyage unless and until there shall be ac- tually laden and on board such Ship Medicines, and printed or written Direc- tions for the use of the same, and other Things necessary for the Medical Treatment of the Passen- gers on board during such intendedVoyage,and avail- able for that purpose, nor unless such Medicines and 10 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. other Things shall be ade- quate in Amount and Kind to the probable Exigencies of any such Voyage, and together with such Medi- cines and other Things, shall also be put on board every such Ship previously to her clearing out for any such Voyage as aforesaid a Certificate under the hands of any one or more such Medical Practitioner, qua- lified as aforesaid, who shall not have been the Seller of the Medicines and other Things, or any part of them, to the effect that the same have been inspected by him, and are in his judg- ment adequate to meet any such probable Exigencies THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 1 1 as aforesaid, and further, that he has no pecuniary interest in the supply of the same. In the preceding portion of this book I have given an account of the actual, and hinted at the possible sufferings of the ship Hottinguer; and I have described my own distress and indisposition in New York. On my recovery from the Small Pox, I requested Dr. Fraser to draw up a Report of all that had occurred on board this vessel, so far as related to that fearful disease. He did so, and I made several copies of it, one of which (See No. 2) I sent immediately to England, addressed to the care of my excellent friend, William Waine- wright, Esq. with a request that he would place it in the hands of Lord Sandon, the then Member of Parliament for Liverpool, with the view to its being ultimately laid for their consideration before the Board of Commissioners of Colonization and Emigration. This step was at once taken by Lord Sandon, and through his kindness I received the reply No. 3, from Mr. Elliot, addressed to that nobleman. 12 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. ( No. 2. ) REPORT on the Ship Hottinguer, Captain Ira Bursley, which sailed from Liverpool on the 6th May, 1845. — By Richard Fraser, Surgeon. Having been requested by Airs. Maury, of Liverpool, and the other cabin passengers, as well as Captain Bursley, to draw up a statement of facts which occurred on the Hottinguer, during her voyage from Liverpool to New York, and to subjoin therewith my own private opinions ; I now beg most respectfully to lay before them the following details : — The Hottinguer sailed from Liverpool on the 6th of May, 1845, having on board three hundred and ninety-seven steerage passengers, a crew of twenty-two sailors, with four officers of the ship, and three cabin passengers. Of the steerage pas- sengers one-eighth were infants ; a very small proportion of these as well as of the adults had undergone vaccination. On the 8th day after THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 13 departure, two children were seized -with the Small Pox, which quickly developed itself in the most virulent form. Of course this infection had been imbibed previously to coming on board. Their respective ages were five and seven : neither of these children had been vaccinated. These cases both terminated fatally. It is impossible to describe the dismay which prevailed throughout the ship ; — nor was this dismay unfounded, because, notwithstanding every precaution that might be taken, the probability was, that had the voyage been prolonged another week, many would have fallen victims to the disease. In justice to Captain Bursley, I wish to state that he most cordially adopted every suggestion that I made to him both for the comfort of the patients and for the safety of the ship. The bodies were thrown overboard the instant that life had ceased, their beds, bed clothes, and linen were also thrown into the sea, and their berths purified with burnt tar. But, notwithstanding these precautions, even now (two days after landing) seven of the steerage passengers have been attacked with the Small Pox, and Mrs. Maury, herself, the instigator of the present Report, 2 B 14 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. has been a sufferer from Varioloid. These cases have been under m} 7 " own care since landing ; how many more may have broken out it would be impossible to state. Mrs. Maury's son, a boy of fourteen, has also had a slight attack of Varioloid. Were this a solitary case, less importance would of course attach to it ; — but I have made the sub- ject a matter of enquiry, and find that it is of constant and daily recurrence in all the Emigrant vessels upon the Atlantic. I attribute the yearly visitation of this deplorable malady, the Small Pox, in the cities of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and other ports, in a great measure, to the landing of Emigrants from vessels in which the disease has been raging. No quaran- tine examination can be efficient in this case, because Small Pox will lurk in the system many days before it appears externally, or before the patient even feels himself indisposed. It is customary for the American Emigrant ships to carry a full complement of passengers without a Surgeon on board, neither is the health of the passengers ever enquired into ; still less is it con- sidered requisite that they should be vaccinated. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 15 From these circumstances I am led to the follow- ing suggestions : — 1st. That every Emigrant ship be compelled to carry a Surgeon, who shall examine into the supply of medicines necessary for the cure of the most probable kinds of disease which may occur. 2nd. That every passenger, immediately after coming on board, be submitted to Vaccination ; — although he may have previously gone through this operation, because Vaccination produces no personal inconvenience, and because it has been found that it invariably modifies though it does not always prevent the Varioloid and Small Pox. Mrs. Maury and her son had each of them been twice vaccinated. The patients under vaccination would suffer no more at sea than they would on land. 3rd. That a small Surgery be allotted to the use of the Surgeon, where he may receive his patients in private ; — this is urged for manifest reasons of propriety. 4th. That no Emigrant labouring under any infectious or contagious disease be allowed to sail in any vessel, because, where so large a number 16 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. of persons is congregated together, and confined for a length of time, it is probable that disease of some description will break out, — the risk and fatality attending it depending on the malignity of its nature, the means available for cure, and the length of the voyage. There will be no difficulty in procuring Surgeons for these vessels at a trifling expense ; because many young practitioners would gladly avail them- selves, for a very small remuneration, of the oppor- tunities thus offered to improve their knowledge and experience; and thus also they would be enabled to proceed to Europe for the purpose of enlarging their acquaintance there with profes- sional men and practice, while the vessel remained in port. RICHARD FRASER. New York, Sth June, 1845. Dr. Richard Fraser, now of New York, the Author of the above Report, was accidentally a passenger on board the Hottinguer, and, when the Small Pox broke out, he announced himself a Surgeon, and volunteered, from motives of charity, THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL 1 7 to take charge of the ship. Dr. Fraser was edu- cated in the Medical Schools of Edinburgh, and had previously practised in Glasgow. ( No. 3. ) Colonial Land and Emigration Office, 9, Park-street, Westminster, 28th July, 1845. My dear Lord, I have read with attention the letters which your Lordship has been so good as to forward to me on the subject of providing more effectual security against sickness in North American Passenger ships. I can well conceive the alarm which the appearance of such a disease as Small Pox must create in a crowded Emigrant ship ; and I am happy to think that, in the present case, if I understand the papers right, the actual mortality did not prove very great. Mr. Eraser's chief suggestions are, that every ship should carry a Surgeon ; and that all Passen- gers should undergo a medical examination before they embark. The former measure has often been 2 b 2 18 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. much weighed, but not thought, on the whole, advisable. Some of the reasons why it was not adopted may be seen in a Report of this Board on the Passengers' Act, presented to Parliament, by command, in 1842. The principal objections are, that such numbers of vessels start at the same season, that it would scarcely be possible to pro- cure Surgeons without a great enhancement of price ; and that such as could be employed under such circumstances, would most likely be of little more than nominal advantage. In the month of last April alone, twenty-four thousand people sailed from this country, of whom the large majority were destined to North America. From the single Port of Liverpool, there were nearly thirteen thousand. It may be imagined what the difficulty would be of furnishing simultaneously efficient Surgeons for such numbers, unless at so great an additional cost as would detain these poor people, against their will, to starve at home. In the meanwhile, the Annual Reports from Quebec have shown, of late years, a great improvement in the healthiness with which the voyage is accom- plished. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 19 I need scarcely mention that in our country- there would be no means of compelling all Pas- sengers to undergo an examination by a Govern- ment Surgeon ; and that the remaining suggestions, which depend more or less on the adoption of this one, would not therefore admit of being carried into effect. We have been making every effort to improve cleanliness, ventilation, and good order, and, as I have mentioned, with apparently some benefit in the result; but I fear, that, beyond this, there is not much at this moment practicable in respect of passages which people effect by their own means. I return the letters, and remain, My dear Lord, Your's very faithfully, FREDERICK ELLIOT, The Lord Sandon, &c. Of course nothing more after so unsatisfactory a reply could be attempted in this quarter, until my return to England, more than a year after the date of this letter. PROCEEDINGS IN AMERICA. During my residence in New York, I requested several of my friends to peruse the Report on the Hottinguer ; they all approved of its transmission to England, and some of them advised that the matter should be brought before Congress in the ensuing spring, when it was my intention to be in Washington. The Catholic Bishop of New York, whose opportunities of knowing the distresses and necessities of the Emigrants, gives to his opinion the highest weight — cordially expressed himself in its favour. " You may say," said he, " that I w have never a Priest left whenever these miser- " able, and destitute, and dying people are landed " here; because they arrive full of disease — they " cannot afford to send for a Doctor — and the " Priest is obliged to administer as well as he can " to the exigencies both of the body and the soul." In my progress through the Northern and Western THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 21 States, and also through Canada, I frequently spoke of my intention to promote the enactment of this measure, and found it universally regarded in a most favourable light. On the 31st December, 1845, I arrived in Washington, and now commenced at once my undertaking and my perplexities. I was unknown to all, save two or three ; I was unacquainted with the mode of proceeding in political or legal matters ; I was an Alien, and moreover, I was an English- woman ; and before my acquaintance with the Americans, had been fearful that, as a " Britisher," I should be regarded with somewhat of distrust ; this apprehension, though almost entirely dissi- pated during my journey through the States, did, nevertheless, to a certain degree, haunt and harrass me when I sought to ask a boon so extensive ; and of which the benefits were to accrue in a greater proportion to Foreigners than to the people of America themselves. And this boon, too, was to be craved at a moment when feelings of irritation were predominant on both sides of the Atlantic. Had the Americans been less generous, less charitable, they might have replied — " Instead of 22 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. " asking us to facilitate the passage of your exiles " to our shores, keep them at home, or wait till " you make a home for them in Oregon." So with somewhat of fear and trembling, I began to reflect upon my peculiar position, my opportu- nities and the object I had in view. Mingled with these feelings, I had an ardent curiosity to understand the working system of the Republican Administration, and to compare it, from expe- rience, with that of our own Monarchical Govern- ment, to which I resolved before hand to apply on my return to England, should my efforts in the United States prove futile. The knowledge gleaned from personal experience is in the highest degree valuable to the individual obtaining it, both in its progress and its results ; and I would that I could impart to these pages any portion of the varied and intense interest which attended my pursuit of this object in both countries. The difficulties and delays which the measure en- countered, and its ultimate probable success through the advocacy of the British Press, will all be related hereafter. The idea of a King, that is, of a Chief Magis- THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 23 trate who should, in person, administer justice to his people, is one of the most favoured visions of our speculating childhood. The filial love and veneration of the English for their Saxon Alfred will never be extinct, though in his successors the attribute of a paternal lawgiver has become apo- cryphal, and we seek in vain among the Kings and Queens of England for the inheritors of his mantle. It has fallen on other shoulders. The highly artificial restraints of Court etiquette pre- vent the Majesty of England from meeting the subjects of the Empire face to face. From official to official, appeals are handed up, and through the intervention of the Minister, the Divine Rights of the Sovereign King are exercised. But, in the Republic of the United States is still to be seen the Sovereign Magistrate of the people hearing in person their complaints and receiving their peti- tions. He cannot, it is true, grant their requests without reserve, he cannot infringe upon the constitutional rights vested in his advisers any more than could the Monarch of England; but the President of the United States can lend his ear to the voice of his fellow citizens, and feels no 24 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. distance between himself and his petitioner, save that of constituted authority alone. " The most " lowly of Americans," observed Governor Seward, " possesses the inalienable right of calling upon " the President, of asking for an interview, and of " appealing to him personally, for advice and for " aid." This accidental observation seemed ap- plicable to my own case, and after my experience at the Reception on the 1st of January, I deter- mined to apply to the President in the first instance. I was right in my decision, and justified in my hopes ; and the venerable Mrs. Madison, in whose long years of memory are recorded the birth and establishment of each vital privilege of the American Government, when I afterwards related to her my reasons for this step, at once replied — " My friend, you have chosen the true " and constitutional course of proceeding ; re- " member the President is the friend of the (l people ; remember that we are a Republic." Having thus decided on applying to the Presi- dent, on Monday morning, the 4th January, 1846, my son (the Doctor) and I proceeded to the White House, the residence of the Presidents THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 25 during their term of administration. Mr. Polk is a man of very early habits, and on our arrival we saw several carnages already in waiting. A servant in plain clothes met us in the open door way, desired us to walk up stairs, and another showed us into the waiting room, and kindly, rather than politely, (for his attention resembled in no way that of a footman in livery,) gave us seats. Several persons arrived in succession after us, but as I had a long story to tell the President, and should trespass greatly on his time, I waited until the last. About eleven all had departed but ourselves, and we were then ushered into the private receiving room of the President. Mr. Polk is of calm and cheerful manners, and he listened to the story of the Hottinguer with patient and encouraging interest, occasionally prompting me if he observed that I was at a loss for any technical word, or mode of procedure. " You " have," said he, a my decided approval ; I am " surprised that the measurehas never been effected " before ; and now you must see the Secretary of " State, Mr. Buchanan, and the Secretary of the " Treasury, Mr. Walker." 2 B 26 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. " I have letters of introduction from the Earl " of Aberdeen* to Mr. Pakenham ;f shall I call " upon him and ask to be presented to these " gentlemen. I have not yet seen Mr. Pakenham, " but I suppose I have only to present my letters, " and make the request?" " That is precisely the plan/' rejoined the Pre- sident ; and after again receiving his best wishes for my success, we took leave highly delighted with the aspect of the affair. In addition to the satis- faction which I derived from this conversation with regard to the immediate measure itself, the encouragement accorded by the President gave me a strong feeling of confidence that the result of the negotiations on the Oregon Question would be peaceful — certainly this interview was the most pacific demonstration which had yet occurred to my anxious observation, — because, in case of war, the Bill would have been a work of supererogation. And though my time and trouble were of little value, yet the President would not have sanctioned my intrusion upon the important and pressing * Then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, f Then British Minister at Washington. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 27 avocations of the Secretaries of State for a pur- pose of nought. Had war taken place, its duration would have been uncertain, and our surplus popu- lation would, in the meantime, have been carried to America, not as sojourners, but as enemies. The British Minister resides but a short distance from the White House, and after returning to Coleman's Hotel for the letter of introduction, we knocked at his door about one o'clock. Mr. Pakenham was at home, and we were at once admitted. I laid the whole subject before him as I had previously done before the President. The Minister said that "He would willingly present " me to the Secretaries of State, Mr. Buchanan " and Mr. Walker, but that he must decline taking " any part in the measure, because, coming from " him, it would only be regarded with suspicion." He promised to make the requisite arrangement, and my son and I departed. I waited four days without receiving any note from Mr. Pakenham, and then consulted Governor Seward, who was then at Coleman's Hotel, as to the next step to be taken. « Madam," said he, " I have never yet " presented myself in the house of a Representative 28 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. " of any Foreign Power ; but you are a Lady and " alone, and if it is your wish, I will accompany " you to remind Mr. Pakenham of his promise." " Governor, you will oblige me much." So, accordingly, the next morning, the Governor, the Doctor, and I attended upon the Minister, who, it appeared, had called to inform me that Mr. Buchanan would see me at any time ; but, finding me from home, had simply left a card. This was Thursday, and the following morning was ap- pointed for the visit to the Secretary of State. Meanwhile I had the pleasure of being pre- sented to Mr. Buchanan, at the National Ball, in honour of the Victory at New Orleans, on the 8th of January, and received from him, personally, the assurance of a favourable hearing. On Friday morning, as requested by himself, I waited with my son on Mr. Pakenham ; some American gentle- men rather expressed surprise at this arrangement, taking it for granted that the carriage of the British Minister, if not his Excellency in person, would, on the occasion of a Lady's first interview with the Secretary of State in a Foreign Capital, have attended upon her. Mr. Pakenham' s assigned THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 29 reason for this arrangement was the extreme dis- tance of my residence (Coleman's Hotel) from the White House. My American friends observed, that this was an additional reason why a stranger lady, who brought a letter of special introduction from the Secretary for Foreign Affairs* at home, and moreover, whose husband, like all the rest of Ms countrymen, assists to reward with a handsome salary f the Representative of the nation abroad, * This letter was personally requested by Lord Sandon, the courteous and excellent Member for Liverpool, and I had relied upon the singular advantage which I possessed in carrying with me such a letter, on account of the measure of Emigrant Surgeons, which I had, (and which I still have,) so much at heart. My dis- appointment at the utter neglect which I experienced from the Minister was excessive. His aid could not have been otherwise than advantageous, as his close intimacy with the Whigs gave him great facility in mingling with the Shipowners, and such efforts in so good a cause would surely not have been derogatory to the character of a British Minister, — while his own personal standing would thus have been elevated. t I believe Mr. Pakenham's salary amounts to £6000 per annum— but shall be very glad to contradict the statement if, happily, I am mistaken in stating such an exorbitant amount. This gentleman has been too long (about twenty- two years) absent from England; a serious disadvantage in a Representative at foreign Courts; he scarcely knows the Ministers who employ him; he has been long in Mexico; is anti- American and unsocial; drives his own servant in some kind of vehicle, and affects the French Embassy. He takes little notice of the Administration party, and scarcely ever pays the slighest attention to the American Ladies. All this has a very pernicious effect. In fact, the British Embassy, during my resi- 2b2 30 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. should have received at the hands of that Repre- sentative some degree of protection, some mark of attention, some proof, in fact, that he recognised in her a countrywoman, and in the letter of Lord Aberdeen, a passport to his presence, and a claim to his good offices. How unlike was the treat- ment I received from every American (save one alone,) compared with that of Mr. Pakenham ; and I heard similar complaints of his indifference dence, seemed the most mysterious anomaly possible. In New York, I heard at the public ordinaries, that though Mr. Fox was lying perdu in Washington, yet that he was still (also sub rosa,) the Minister; some asserted that pecuniary reasons kept him there; while others reported that he was waiting for some vessel to carry his bachelor Excellency home in which there should be no women and children; it was by many asserted that he was the author of the Official Correspondence relative to the Oregon Question, for his talents Avere eminent — and the views therein expressed were by many recognised as his. On my arrival in Washington it Avas a matter of dispute whether he was yet there — for his house was closed against all— and the furniture had been sold by auction. It was said that he drove out every afternoon at five o'clock, but I never heard of any body who actually had seen him. The arrival at the British Embassy of a gentleman possessing the talents and experience of Mr. Crampton, caused fresh speculations. Many supposed that after the reproof delivered to the responsible Minister from England at Washington, by Sir Robert Peel, then Prime Minister at the Court of St. James', in the House of Com- mons, that his Excellency would have availed himself of the opportunity thus afforded him of honourably delegating his func- tions to a Charge d'Affaires. I have heard that Mr. Pakenham passed through Liverpool some few months ago. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 31 from other English visitors in Washington. How- ever, we proceeded to the Department of State, and were at once introduced into the rooms of Mr. Buchanan ; on entering, we caught a glimpse of Mr. George Plitt, who gave me an encouraging bow. " Who is that ?" said the British Minister. " That is Mr. Plitt, an intimate friend of Mr. " Buchanan/' " Madam, you know more Americans in one " week than I have known in two years/' Rather a singular admission for an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to make to any body, but particularly so to a private gentlewoman. Mr. Buchanan now came in, and I am under the necessity of admitting that the democratic Secretary of State of America, appeared, both in person, and address, and ability, to possess a striking superiority over the aristocratic Representative of England. I again repeated the oft told tale of the Hottinguer, and after hearing me to the end, Mr. Buchanan said, — " Certainly, no such regulation exists, and as 32 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. " certainly one ought to be made ; it is chiefly in (i the department of Mr. Walker, the Secretary of " the Treasury ; he is now in the adjoining apart- " ment, and I will call him.' 5 They returned together.* Mr. Buchanan now took the part of the speaker, and explained my views to Mr. Walker, who agreed in the opinions previously given by the President and the Secretary. Mr. Buchanan distinctly assured me that Congress had ample power to legislate for all the ports of the United States — while, if we appealed to the State Legislatures, such regulations as should be adopted by them would be efficient only within the bounds of the several States. The generous Secretary, in his own integrity of purpose, as little dreamed as I did of the opposition we were destined to encounter. In conclusion, each of the Secretaries assured me of their approbation, and they further requested * Mr. Walker is a small and delicate looking man; he was then occupied in preparing the Tariff of 1846, and during this period the fatigue he underwent was overpowering. I regret to see that he has suffered in health from these exertions, but he must feel richly compensated by the prosperous results of his advances in the Free Trade System. I have heard many Englishmen express high admiration of his talents. He expresses himself in few but in very explicit words. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 33 me, as I had obtained much information on the subject, to procure from the sea ports of the Union such recommendatory documents, petitions and opinions, as might be desirable. And, when this should be accomplished, Mr. Buchanan further- more gave me his permission to call upon him, and ask his advice as to the subsequent mode of procedure. We now entered into a desultory conversation, which, at this remote period, there can be no error in recording. " Well," said Mr. Buchanan, " of course, Mrs. Maury, you are a " true and faithful Englishwoman in your political u opinions." " So true, so faithful an Englishwoman, Mr, " Buchanan, that I go for the whole of Oregon for " the United States." " Mr. Pakenham," said the Secretary, " what " do you say to that ?" ec I have heard the same opinion expressed be- fore," said the Minister. " This Oregon can never benefit England except " by future commercial intercourse ; her Colonies " already cost her more than they are worth, and, " besides, the rights of America are better founded. 34 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. " I have conversed with Mr. Gallatin upon the " subject, (and saving the presence of the British " Minister,) he considered that in the official " letters, Mr. Buchanan had clearly the best "of it." " I wish to Heaven," said the Secretary laugh- ing, " that Mr. Gallatin had settled it himself." " And so do I f 3 emphatically ejaculated the perplexed Minister from the Court of St. James 5 , who was still the observed of all observers, from his unaccountable refusal of the President's offer of the 49th degree of latitude, as the boundary of the Oregon Territory. I was then asked about my travels, and related all the little that I knew, and the much that I thought, of the " far West." I was proceeding to describe the riches of the Mississippi, his cities of four or five years old, with their population, and their cultivation, and their civilisation, the corn fields and wheat lands, the Prairies, the mines, and the forests, when, Mr. Pakenham put a stop to my eloquence by observing, in a very official tone ; " But, Madam, we are trespassing " on the time of these gentlemen ;" and though THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 35 I wished much to accept Mr. Buchanan's invita- tion to stay awhile longer, etiquette obliged me to obey the summons of the Minister. His Ex- cellency on going down stairs was pleased to com- pliment me on the flattering reception I had met with, and accounted for it by my opinions on the disputed Territory — " For" said he, " they gloat " upon Oregon." We separated at the door of the Department of State, and I have never held any further conversation with Mr. Pakenham, except a passing word when we accidentally met in the houses of mutual acquaintance. After this curious episode, I resume my narrative. Encouraged so strongly by the Chief Magistrate and the Secretaries, I ordered the Report and a short note of introduction to be lithographed, intending to send copies to every Member of the Senate and of the House of Repre- sentatives. And T wrote to several friends in Boston, New York and Philadelphia, begging their aid. Being altogether at that time a stranger in the Southern States, I was obliged to postpone all communication with them until my journey south should commence. Meanwhile the Emigrant 36 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. Surgeons' Bill was the one object of my time, and I was continually pressing friends into its service — and to all whose opinion I asked it seemed a measure so salutary and so benevolent, that I began to regard its success as certain; perhaps I became too confident, and it is possible that I thus failed in carrying through my object. Some time was occupied in preparing the lithographed Reports, and much more was consumed in corres- pondence with the gentlemen in Boston, New York and Philadelphia, whose co-operation I requested. In Boston, notwithstanding the exertions of the Honourable Abbott Lawrence, the measure made no progress. The merchants there showed no inclination to move, inasmuch as the evil com- plained of had not been seen or felt to any extent in New England. It is probable that the sad ex- perience of the last Spring and Summer may have effected a change in the sentiments of the citizens of Boston, who are ever among the foremost in acts of humanity. In the letter of the New York correspondent of the Dublin Freeman's Journal, dated 24th July, 1847,-1 find the following THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 37 remarkable words of the Honourable Abbott Lawrence, — " I would not return these wretched " beings (immigrant paupers) to Ireland or to Scot- " land, but I would send them in all their frightful " misery, under the eaves of the Parliament House, " and before the face and eyes of Lords and Com- 66 mons, that they might see for themselves, the " work of their hands — the legitimate fruits of " their unnatural legislation." — It is devoutly to be wished, that those members of our Legislation who are entrusted with the superintendence of these creatures of affliction exhibited one half the spirit of humanity which breathes in the words of this most excellent citizen. In New York the attention paid to the Re- port exceeded my most sanguine expectations. Through the kindness of George Barclay, Esq. the brother of her Britannic Majesty's Consul in New York, the matter was immediately laid before the Mayor of that City, who lost not an hour in calling the attention of the Board of Aldermen to the subject. The proceedings were reported gene- rally in the city papers ; and from Dr. Fraser I 2 D 38 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. received the following extract from the New York Courier and Enquirer of 11th February, 1846: — ( No. 4. ) EXTRACT. Important Movement. — Our Mayor, last evening, sent the following message to the Board of Aldermen, on a subject demanding prompt attention : — There is no doubt that the Small Pox is brought here annually in the emigrant vessels which arrive almost every week, crowded with passengers, to whose cleanliness, comfort or health, no attention whatever has been paid during the voyage ; and the suggestion of compelling every emigrant vessel to carry a physician should be immediately acted on, as well for the health of the great commercial cities to which these vessels bring annually their thousands, as for the comfort and welfare of the poor emigrants, whose sufferings during sickness on a protracted voyage, demanded the warmest sympathy. Accompanying the message is the Report alluded to of Dr. Fraser, a passenger on board the THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 39 Hottinguer, to which the facts and suggestions contained in the message of the Mayor are set forth more fully, it having been prepared at the request of Mrs. Maury, a passenger, who, with her son, were both attacked by the disease, but in a mild form : Gentlemen — I have the honor to transmit to you for consideration, and for such action as you may deem necessary, a report of occurrences on board the packet ship Hottinguer, Captain Burs- ley, which arrived at this port in June, 1845, having on board 397 steerage passengers. It appears from this statement that on the eighth day out from Liverpool, the Small Pox broke out on board that vessel among the steerage passengers, and before the arrival of the ship here, two had died, and several others were attacked more or less violently. The fact that the disease did not exhibit itself until the vessel was out eight days, affords abundant evidence that it was lurking within the systems of those attacked when they came on board, and shows further how impossible it would be to prevent that or any other disease being brought on board vessels crowded with pas- 40 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. sengers, among whom the most fearful havoc would be made. It appears also that, notwithstanding every pre- caution was taken by Captain Bursley and Dr. Fraser to prevent the spread of the contagion, seven of the steerage passengers were attacked after they landed here, and this after having passed an inspection at quarantine. There can be no doubt that the annual visitation of this deplorable malady, in this and other sea- ports, is attributable in a great measure to the landing of emigrants from vessels on board which the disease has been raging. I would, therefore, commend to your immediate and favourable con- sideration, the suggestions of Dr. Fraser, that every emigrant ship be compelled to carry a Surgeon, and that every passenger, immediately after coming on board, be submitted to exami- nation. The action of Congress can alone secure these most desirable ends, and I have the strongest assurances that the subject would receive at the hands of that body prompt and favourable action, it having already been brought unofficially to the THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 41 notice of many Members of both Houses, who have expressed their decided conviction of the necessity of these precautionary measures. W. Havemeyer. From Mr. George Barclay I received the fol- lowing most interesting letter, enclosing one from the well-known philanthropist, Jacob Harvey, Esq. : — ( No. 5. ) New York, 9th Feb, 1846. My Dear Madam, I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 25th ult. with three of Dr. Eraser's Reports relative to the Small Pox on board the ship Hottinguer, in which you were passengers in May last. In compliance with your desire, that I should see Mr. Cornelius Lawrence, (the Collector of our Customs,) relative to having a Memorial posted up in the Customs, for signatures, praying that a law might be passed by Congress, requiring all ships conveying over a certain number of passen- gers from Europe to the United States, to have a Surgeon on board, and a well stocked medicine 2 d 2 42 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. chest, I have to inform you that I called upon Mr. Lawrence, and solicited his aid in promoting this object. He stated to me that he was, gene- rally speaking, not in favour of such restrictive laws, but allowed that it was important some pro- tective course should be adopted by the Corpora- tion, or the General Government, to prevent disease from being introduced here in such vessels ; and he added, that he, as Collector, did not feel himself warranted in taking an active part in this matter, but he had no objections to a Memorial being laid upon one of the desks in the Customs, for signatures. He, however, thought (with me), that it would be better for me to apply to the Mayor of New York, (Mr. W. F. Havemeyer,) and to beg him to have your letter to me, and Dr. Fraser's Report, laid before the Common Council, who, as guardians of the city, would in all probability be induced to urge upon Congress the necessity of passing the law advo- cated by you. I have this day seen the Mayor, and Mr. Brady, a member of the Common Council, and I left in their hands your letter to me, and Dr. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 43 Fraser's Report, and I am happy to inform you that they see the necessity of such a law being passed, and they give you great credit for the humane feelings which you have evinced by taking so much trouble in this affair. These gentlemen have assured me that these documents shall at once be laid before the Common Council, which they hope will conclude to urge upon Congress the necessity of passing such a bill as you now have in view. After consulting some of my friends, I con- cluded it would be useless to place a Memorial in the Merchants' Exchange for signatures, as most of those who frequented the Exchange were interested in Packet ships, and would be induced to resist such a petition by getting up a counter one. I enclose a letter from my worthy friend Mr. Jacob Harvey, a philanthropist, whose opinion I requested in this matter, and I quite agree in the views he has taken. Should this law be passed by Congress, I have not a doubt that there are hundreds of young Surgeons, who have lately taken out licenses to 44 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. practice, who would gladly go out and return in Passenger Ships, without making any charge for their services, on condition that they had their passages free out and home, and were supported while in foreign ports. Mrs. Barclay and my daughter beg to join me in kind regards to yourself and your son. I trust you will derive much pleasure from your long journey to New Orleans, &c. Believe me, my dear Madam, your faithful Friend and Servant, George Barclay. To Mrs. S. M. Maury, City of Washington. ( No. 6. ) New- York, Feb. 5, 1846. My Dear Barclay, I have read with deep interest Mrs. Maury's letter to you, and entirely approve of the proposed law, requiring Captains of Ameri- can Ships, having a certain number of steerage passengers on board, to be obliged to engage a Surgeon for the voyage, with a sufficient THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 45 medicine chest. I think the surest way to secure the passage of such a law is to persuade the Secretary of the Treasury to recommend the "Committee on Commerce" in each House to report a draft of a law at once ; and when it comes up for debate, let the friends of the bill point out the necessity of its adoption as an act of human ity, and as a protection against infectious diseases. I doubt the propriety of trying to get up a petition here among the merchants, lest it should court opposition ; some of them might object on the ground that the law would impose additional expenses upon them, and that, therefore, they would not ask for the passage of the bills ; and yet, if it be reported by the Committees on Com- merce, they might not oppose it. — Yours very truly, Jacob Harvey. To George Barclay, Esq. In Philadelphia, also, the respected name of a true and able follower of William Penn, Mr. Thomas Gilpin, procured for the Report the attention detailed in the following letters: — 46 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. ( No. 7. ) Philadelphia, 30th Jan. 1846. S. M. Maury, My highly esteemed friend, I have deferred for a short time to make a reply to thy letter to me of the 23rd, giving me an account of thy procedure toward a precautionary course for preventing the Varioloid and other descriptions of infectious diseases being taken on board transport vessels to and from this country ; and it has not been till this morning that I decided upon a satisfactory course to give it effect, and I hope it will meet thy approval. This is, to place it at once before the Board of Trade here, which is comprised also of the Chamber of Commerce, now lately united to it ; and there, with the interest I shall solicit in its favour, I think it will receive early attention. For this purpose I have read thy letter to me, and all the papers to the President, Thomas P. Cope, and added my personal account of the matter, to all which he had promised to give every attention and support, as an affair of decided interest, not only from humanity to the pas- THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 4? sengers and general navigation, but for the secu- rity of health to the shipping ports of the country. Although there are no reasons why a provision should not be made for an effective Surgery on board Passenger Ships, to be defrayed either by a charge upon the ships, or upon the emigrants, as the case may be, yet there appear to be some diffi- culties in the practice which may prevent the arrangement from being as beneficial as it could be desired. In the first place ; — The passengers very often come on board general Emigrant Ships wholly unknown to the captain or officers, and are not to be discovered until the vessel has departed from the port ; and thus, although most of the passengers might pass under examination by requiring an application at the Surgeon's office for a passenger permit ; yet to refuse taking pas- sengers on board at a press for passage, or in the offing, so as to conform to a rigid requirement, would render the emigration difficult, and against the usual practice, especially when passengers are solicited. In the second place ; — Emigration takes place 48 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. from this country but to a small extent ; and there can be no great object for a physician to go out from here in order to take care of outward emigrants, or even to practice in the ports abroad, because the vessels remain in port there but a short time, especially in the present mode of having a succession of Passenger Ships to return so hastily ; and also as there is great uncertainty, in the return voyages, of there being cargo or pas- sengers. It may be said also that regular Packet Ships are generally well provided with excellent and experienced captains, who act with great good sense in cases of sickness ; but in so large a concern there are sufficient responsibilities upon commanders than those of the attention and anxiety of an hospital. I think the care and caution, as far as it can be taken, in shipping passengers, might be imposed very properly upon the Consuls abroad, with a corresponding emolument, having an office of inspection to control the examination ; though some difficulty will arise in it, for many persons in various states of health hardly to be ascertained THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 49 will be sent out for the restoration of health, and often not in a desirable state for the general company in a ship. These suggestions, I hope will not be dis- couraging to the general plans. T mention them because only they may occur to others, and have to be met by the advocates of it. The only way is to " go-a-head," as every thing in America is " onward," and I will aid it at every stage it is in my power. I defer, however, to move more prin- cipally now, until it comes before the Board of Trade, for fear of taking again from it a subject now so properly committed to it. I have duly read all thy letters, statements, apologies, &c. to my sister, nieces, &c. all of which are received as intended they should be. Henry returned from Washington to his family a few days ago, but goes on there again the begin- ning of next week. I remain, very respectfully, Thomas Gilpix. 163, Chesnut-street, Philadelphia. T take the liberty, on closing this letter, to ask if it would not save time, and very much promote 2 E 50 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. this object, if thou would direct a Memorial to be drawn up, expressive of thy own views, and in such terms as it would be acceptable to the Legis- lature ; and let me have a copy to guide me here with any Committee which may be appointed to attend to the subject. ( No. 8. ) To Thomas P. Cope, Esquire, President of the Board of Tirade for the City of Philadelphia. Esteemed Friend, I refer to my late conversation with thee on the subject of guarding against a continued introduction of the Varioloid and other contagious disorders, by Shipping, into the City of Phila- delphia and other sea ports of the country ; and enclose a Statement respecting its introduction during the late season into the port of New York, by the Passenger Ship Hottinguer, drawn up by Dr. Richard Fraser, Surgeon, on board, which has induced this communication. S. Mytton Maury, the lady, and her son, to whom the statement refers, are of the family of THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 5 1 the late James Maury, Esquire, so long known as the American Consul at Liverpool ; and being now at Washington, she has induced the atten- tion of the President and Departments to the subject; so that a bill will be brought before Congress at an early part of the Session, and it is now respectfully submitted to the Board of Trade here, to unite in taking into consideration such measures as will give security to the health, and with it corresponding benefits to the com- merce of our sea port towns. This subject is now also brought before the Chambers of Commerce in New York and Boston, and will give rise to a Memorial to Congress, ad- vocating generally the views taken in the State- ment of Dr. Fraser. — Respectfully, Thomas Gilpin, Philadelphia, 2>0th Jan. 1846. From New York I obtained in addition, through the aid of George Barclay, Esq. an invaluable Petition, the sinister fate of which, I fear, was highly detrimental to the success of the Bill. The Petitions from the Southern cities I did 52 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. not try of course to obtain until I should go down there, and make acquaintance with the authorities and other influential persons. And as I calculated upon introducing the Bill early in May, when the tide of Emigration begins to be overwhelming, I intended to return to Washington at that time, in order to give all the support which lay in my power to its passage through the Houses of Congress. So far the measure prospered, and I now began to consider of the next step to be taken. The legitimate mode of proceeding was to procure a Resolution advocating that a Report upon the documents furnished, and the necessity for relief, be requested from the Committee of Commerce in either House. Perhaps the more constitutional mode in a Republican Government was to apply in the first instance to the Representatives of the People, but several strong reasons inclined me to appeal in the present case first to the Senate. The chief of these was the advice of Mr. Buchanan, who promised, te that if I could get the measure " rejjorted favourably by the Senate, and send it to " him, that it woidd then go down to the Lower THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 53 " House endorsed with his approbation, and ivould " of course be most probably received with favour :"* The general opinion of those Senators whom I knew was, besides, favourable; and I had great dependence on the humanity and courtesy of the Honourable William H. Haywood, one of the Senators from North Carolina, who was the Chairman of the Committee on Commerce in the Senate. The members of this Honourable Committee were, — William H. Haywood of North Carolina. John A. Dix of New York. Reverdy Johnson of Maryland. Ambrose H. Sevier of Arkansas. John Davis of Massachusetts. These Senators, Mr. Sevier excepted, were from sea-board States ; and the Senator from Arkansas could well appreciate the advantage of preserving the health of the key of the Missis- sippi, — New Orleans. I therefore ultimately decided upon first appeal- ing to the Senate Committee on my return from the South. * The Committee on Commerce in the House of Representatives would still, however, have it in their power to report against the Bill, and thus to throw it out. 2 E 2 54 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. Without committing Mr. Heywood to any deci- sion, I have inferred from some conversation which I had with him after the Bill was lost in the Lower House, that he considered we should have been successful in the Senate Committee ; " why " did you not come to us ?" said he ; " we were " ready for you." And from the urbane, able Jabez Huntingdon,* of Connecticut, I received this encouragement while the Bill was pending in the House of Representatives, — " Get that Bill " through the House, and we will carry it through " the Senate for you." The Honourable Henry D. Gilpin, ex-Attorney General of the United States, drew up the form of a Petition to the Legislature, for signatures ; copies of which I took with me to the Southern Cities. The collection of documents presented in the previous pages was too valuable to carry with me during my contemplated journey. The time of * Before this page was returned from the hands of the com- positor, I have read an account of the death of the Senator Huntingdon. I respectfully beg to add my tribute of regret to his memory. He was often my pleasant and instructive com- panion at the breaktast table at Coleman's Hotel. " If you know Jabez Huntingdon," said Mr. Anthony Barclay, " then you know a good man and a true." THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 55 Mr. Buchanan was incessantly occupied, and his thoughts engaged with the anxieties of that mo- mentous session, and I did not feel justified in wantonly importuning his aid. Besides, the De- partment of the Treasury was the proper place of deposit for such documents. Two days previous to my departure I drove to the Treasury; Mr. Walker was not there ; they believed he was at his own house. Thither I went, anxious to place my treasures in his own hands, and to prove to him how diligent and successful I had been in my solicitations. Mr. Walker was not at home, and I then asked Mrs. Walker's permission to leave them in her care ; she assented, promised to ex- plain them to the Secretary, and we untied the package together, looked over the papers sepa- rately, and then tied them up again. They had a tolerably official appearance, for I had taken especial pains in their arrangement, having wrapped them in strong yellow paper, much used in America, and bound them with red tape ; and affixed to the envelopes the most imposing. seal that I could muster. Having thus disposed of them to Mrs. Walker, I was now relieved from 56 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. all anxiety. On the following day I sealed and directed the two hundred and eighty-eight copies of the Report, with the following circular attached : — Washington City, D. C. Jan. 2\st, 1846. Sir — The enclosed statement, made by Dr. Fraser, is what it purports to be. May I solicit your aid in recommending to Congress the passage of a law which shall prevent the evil set forth in the memorial. — I remain, Sir, very respectfully, yours, Sarah Mytton Maury. With the good natured aid of the Honourable Washington Hunt, Member of Congress for Lockport, in the State of New York, who bor- rowed one of the letter bags belonging to Cole- man's Hotel, I put them all in. The Member held the sack, which was like a flour sack, and I threw in the letters — (at the corners of this same sack we found three undelivered newspapers, one of them franked by Mr. Hunt himself, and a note). We now ordered a carriage, and drove, THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 57 with the sack of Memorials, to the Capitol, where Mr. Hunt alighted, and, without making even a remark, carried the great sack in his hand into the hall, delivered it to the porters, and then gave the necessary orders for the distribution of the papers in the Senate and in the House. The next day I received several gratifying notes from the different Members; and on the evening of my departure (4th March, 1846) one from Mr. Butler King, one of the Representatives from Georgia, saying that he should certainly promote the measure as far as lay in his power.* I replied to this letter, which was more explicit than any other, expressing my best thanks, but I did not understand that the terms used by Mr. Butler King conveyed a pledge to bring the measure forward. Had I fully com- prehended the suggestions of Mr. King in that note, I should have declined them, having pre- viously determined, when I should be armed with petitions from the Southern States, to interest the Senate in the first instance ; but^ at the same time, I blame myself entirely for this error, and * The note of Mr. King I cannot find among these documents, and I kept no copy of my own note, but I recollect that Mr. King's messenger waited for the answer. 58 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. wish to take this opportunity of publicly express- ing my acknowledgments to Mr. King, both for the acts of kindness which he performed towards me and those which he intended. And it is possible, that had my own contemplated course been pursued, we might still have failed, because the power and opposition of the shipowners were armed to the teeth against us, and the ipse dixit of Mr. Grenelle was the abiding law of the Chamber of Commerce in the House of Repre- sentatives. These difficulties, however, came upon me afterwards, for I left Washington in the fullest assurance of success. At Charleston I saw Mr. Grayson, the Collector of Customs, and afterwards received from him the following note : — Monday, March 9, Mr. Grayson regrets to inform Mrs. Maury that the Mayor is prevented by indisposition from making the visit proposed this morning. Mr. Grayson begs permission to suggest to Mrs. Maury to write a letter to the Mayor, stating the object of the Petition which she is recommending, and that it has been approved by the Heads of THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 59 Departments at Washington, and by the Presi- dent ; and that Petitions in behalf of the dis- tressed Emigrants are prepared in other cities. If such a letter is left at the hotel, Mr. Grayson will deliver it, and do all in his power to give it success. Mrs. Maury, Charleston Hotel. I at once attended to the suggestions of Mr. Grayson, and wrote to the Mayor. I never re- ceived the Petition, but Mr. Holmes, the Repre- sentative for Charleston, gave me his promise that he would support the measure as firmly as if the Petition had been sent up. Dr. Simons, of Charleston, whose judicious and indefatigable attention is invaluable to this port, gave his un- limited approval of all that had been suggested. My next attempt was in New Orleans, and here I was much indebted to Judge Eustes, of the Supreme Court of Louisiana; and to M. Prieur, the Collector of Customs, who exerted himself greatly. The Petition from this port will be found with those from New York. While in this city I received a letter from the Secretary of State, in 60 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. which he alluded to the Bill with undiminished expectations of its success. We reached Cincinnati on the 7th of April, and a few days afterwards I received a letter from Mr. Ingersoll,* dated Washington, April /th, from which the following is an extract : — " I never found out till last Saturday that the " Resolution for your Bill was in the desk of my " next neighbour in the House, unacted upon " even by a motion to introduce it. Mr. Butler " King, who had it in charge, thought he could " not introduce it (and he probably could not), " against our multitudinous rules and regulations " for the orders which provoke the continual dis- " order of business. Between us we got it in Ci yesterday, and referred to the Committee on " Commerce, of which Mr. McClelland, of Michigan, " is Chairman. I am to urge him to-day to sub- " mit the matter to his Committee, and bring in a " report as soon as he can." Mr. Ingersoll left nothing undone that could be done for the Bill, both during my absence and * Member of the Lower House from Pennsylvania, and Chair- man of the Committee of Foreign Relations. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 61 on my subsequent return to Washington ; if ex- ertion could have moved the Honourable Repre- sentative of the Shipowners to humanity, I think that his efforts and those of Mr. Giles* might have done so. I was somewhat taken by surprise on receiving this intelligence ; though, occasionally, before I had decided on going into the Senate, I had wished to ask the Chairman to undertake the measure, and I must acknowledge that it was a source of exceeding gratification to me that Mr. Ingersoll should thus interest himself so warmly in the matter without any solicitation on my part. With the most supine confidence in the ultimate fate of the Bill, and the most perfect confidence in its merits, I w r ent on nothing doubting. Presently, however, I received a letter from Mrs. Plitt, dated Washington, April 15th, in which she writes, — " Your Bill will be defeated I fear ; report says " the Committee will decide against it ; your " absence is much to be regretted." On the Ohio I met Mr. Hannegan, Member of * Honourable W. F. Giles, of Baltimore, who assumed the active management of the Bill in the Committee of Commerce, of which he was a Member. 2 F 62 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. the Senate for Indiana, who mentioned a report that the Bill was not in the power of Congress. In great distress I went to Judge M'Clean, who entirely coincided with me, and assured me, as Mr. Buchanan had done before, that it was altogether in the control of Congress, With the approbation of Governor Seward, who was then in Cincinnati, I wrote to Mr. McClelland, to beg that all discussion might be delayed till my return to Washington, which was permitted. At Ashland I asked the opinion of Mr. Clay, who held the same views with Mr. Buchanan and Judge M'Clean, both with regard to the urgency of the measure, and to the power of Congress over the whole matter in all its branches, and in strong terms asserted its humanity. On the 12th May I saw Mr. Buchanan in Washington, told him of my apprehensions, and begged his permission to see the Members of the Committee of Commerce and others. The high- minded Secretary was reluctant, and at first re- fused. " I will not suffer you," said he, " to go " and solicit them to do their duty ; you have done " your part faithfully, they should do theirs, for THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 63 " sooner or later this measure must be carried." Again I begged for permission to see Mr. Grenelle and the Committee of Commerce only, and this was granted^ though disprovingly. It is more than probable that Mr. Buchanan was now prepared for the vehement opposition that was prepared against us, while I in my obtuse sim- plicity apprehended nothing, supposed that every body must see at once so plain a matter, and never dreamed that Heaven and Earth would be raised to oppose it. I now did my best, with the aid of Mr. Ingersoll, to canvass the several Members of the Committee. He saw some of them, and reported their intentions, and advised me to solicit the support of Mr. Levin and of Mr. Thibodeaux in person ; these gentlemen were Native Americans, and in all probability would oppose us on that score. Mr. Levin justly considered, that however objectionable Emigrants might be, and desirous as he was to prevent their increase, yet that this being impossible, it was desirable to receive them in as healthy a condition as was practicable, and for the sake of humanity Mr. Levin promptly gave 64 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. me his promise of support. He even accompanied me to solicit Mr. Thibodeaux to make the same sacrifice of opinion to mercy which he had done. Mr. Thibodeaux was however inflexible, and though an excellent Catholic, could not be in- duced to retract. The part taken by Mr. Law- rence surprised me more than that of any other Member, because he could not but be well acquainted with all the evils arising in New York from the existing system of neglect. And I saw Mr. Grenelle on one memorable evening. — — — — — — — — — — — — I have recorded some of his objections in the " Statesmen." I regret that necessity com- pels me to recall them here, for I would fain hope that the hideous teaching of the past spring has not been lost upon him ; and gladly with the poet would I say of his opinions, " Concerning these we reason not, — but hear and pass them by." This, however, is impossible, and they are neces- sarily recorded in the accompanying documents, which were laid before the Committee by the Honourable William F. Giles, Member of Con- gress for Baltimore. They thus of course became THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 65 public papers, and they contain the replies which I made to Mr. Grenelle, first in his own house, and secondly before the Committee. On the latter occasion Mr. Grenelle forbore to urge them ; though he never denied having advanced them. Having informed Mr. Grenelle that I should see the Committee, and accepted his offer that I should attend the next morning at the Capitol for this purpose, I requested Lieutenant Maury to be my escort. He consented, and after exhorting me to retain my presence of mind, we presented our- selves, at 10, a.m. at the door of Committee Room No. 8. The entrance was somewhat formidable, but the Chairman at once presented me to the Board, and we sat down to business. The Committee con- sisted of the following Honourable gentlemen : — Robert M'Clelland ; . . Michigan, .... (undecided, sup- posed against.) John W. Tibbatts ; . . Kentucky, .... (in favour.) John Wentworth ;. . . . Illinois, (not present.) Richard F. Simpson ; South Carolina, (believed in favour.) Joseph Grenelle ; . . . . Massachusetts, (against.) 2 f 2 66 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. John W. Lawrence ;. . New York, .... (not known, sup- posed against.) William F. Giles ;. . . . Baltimore, .... (in favour.) Lewis C. Levin ; . . . . Pennsylvania,. . (in favour.) B. C. Thibodeaux ; . . Louisiana, .... (against.) The numbers were thus pretty nearly balanced ; but the strength was against the Report, because Mr. Grenelle has for many years been regarded as supreme authority in the Committees of Com- merce, and for very satisfactory reasons; he has been brought up in commerce, and has all the merit deservedly due to a self-raised man ; he was mate of a ship, and has been, I understood, in the Customs. From the various positions in which he has been placed, and his long services, he is no doubt perfectly well qualified to give pertinent information and very good advice on all minor details of commerce, but he is not equal to measures of extended and comprehensive influ- ence, and the meagreness of his views on the whole subject surprised and perplexed me.* Mr. * " But I do remember an apothecary — — — — with " Overhanging brows ; about his shelves " A beggarly account of empty boxes, " Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds, THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 67 Tibbatts asked me many questions, as did also Mr. Giles. I do not remember that Mr. Law- rence spoke, and Mr. Grenelle did not speak, he amused himself diligently and politely by study- ing sundry pamphlets that lay on the table. This silence was, as I afterwards understood, much " Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses " Were thinly scattered to make up a show. ******** " As I remember, this should be the house ; "What, ho! apothecary!" Borneo and Juliet, Act V. There is a letter addressed to Mr. Grenelle, by a person calling himself Dr. Thomas Ritter. He lives in New York, where he appears to keep a wholesale apothecary's store or shop. He is a friend of one David Hale, " believes that he occupies a position " which enables him to judge upon the expediency of the proposed " laiv better than most men." Has been ten years in the drug business ; has supplied the shipping of New York with medicines for seven years; supplies seven-eighths of the Massachusetts ship- ping, nine-tenths of Maine, or two-thirds of all American vessels sailing out of New York. Is well known to ship captains, and hears all their exploits in physic and surgery. I quote from memory, but, to the best of my belief, the advertisement of the famous Quack Doctor of the Spectator (Addison's I mean, not the London), so nearly resembles that of Dr. Ritter in behalf of the ship captain Doctors, that in default of the original I take the liberty of quoting from the Spectator, No. 444. " In Russell-court, over against the Cannon Ball, at the " Surgeon's Arms, in Drury-lane, is lately come from his travels, " a Surgeon, who hath practised surgery and physic both by sea " and land these twenty-four years. He (by the blessing) cures ** the yellow jaundice, green sickness, scurvy, dropsy, surfeits, long " sea voyages, campaigns, and women's miscarriages, lying-in, &c. 68 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. commented upon. Of course nothing decisive could be drawn from this conference, but I with- drew having an unfavourable impression of our prospects. There remained still some hope that by putting in effective documents we might however gain the " as some people that has been lame these thirty years can testify; " in short, he cures all diseases incident to men, women or " children." In addition to advertising for them, Dr. Ritter has compiled a Manual for the \ise of his sea-faring apprentices, which very remarkable production, through the kindness of Mr. Grenelle, was, together with the still more remarkable letter which I now quote from, lent to Mr. Charles J. Ingersoll for my inspection. The mother of eleven children, living at a distance from medical advice, becomes, if not a great practitioner herself, a fair judge of the pretensions of others; I cannot say that I derived much edification from my consultation with the Materia Medica of Dr. Thomas Ritter; some portions of it are manufactured, not from books of physic or regular practice, but from the medical in- spirations of Ship Captains, who, he comprehensively observes, are also, in the minor operations of surgery, " very handy." This personage has understood that the movement had its origin in two English passengers on board the Hottinguer. " English ships may " require Surgeons," he thence observes, " because their Captains " are generally dull boys, but American Captains are a picked " claes of minds, many having ' run aivay' from home to go to " sea,"— (to practice physic and surgery?) Dr. Ritter continues to lament the lives that will be sacrificed by thus "fussing" with physic. If childbirth occur, the Captain with his book (the " Manual") before him to guide him in his bearings, distances, &c. navigates as successfully as a fledgling might be expected to do, that is, "first rate." It might be well to take a little vaccine matter on board, and certain quantities of medicine ought to be in THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 69 point, and accordingly I endeavoured to obtain all the information in my power in refutation of the arguments which Mr. Grenelle urged in the private interview with me, and which he never denied before the Committee, as having adduced against the Emigrant Surgeon's Bill. I here the medicine chest, (a) but further regulation he is confident is un- necessary. The list of medicines contained in " my little book" comprises about all that our intelligent physician finds necessary, and physicians in China and other foreign parts rarely send ashore for other medicines. Such are the genuine sentiments of this per- sonage, formed upon a more extensive acquaintance with Captains, crews, and passengers than most physicians enjoy; he is so disin- terested as to write this letter solely from a sense of justice to the Shipping Interest, contrary to his own individual advancement; has put up 4000 medicine chests in seven years, 800 in 1844. Con- cludes by observing, that if such experience and statements shall have any weight in preventing further restrictions upon commerce, already too much fettered, that he shall not " grudge" the time be- stowed upon this letter. The above, to the best of my recollection, is the substance of this extraordinary communication from the monopolising free trading vender of drugs to the high Tariff Native American Member of the Committee of Commerce. Strange to say, Mr. Grenelle appeared to place perfect reliance, not only upon the statements, but upon the opinions expressed in it; and, I believe, confidently anticipated that my views of the matter would be entirely altered by a study of the letter and of the Manual which he sent with it. What influence the statements of the candid and erudite Doctor might have had upon the Com- mittee this deponent knoweth not, but regrets extremely that she cannot present to the admirers of peculiarities so unique a speci- men as the manuscript. (a) Why are they not there ? Dr. Ritter being the furnisher of the chests. 70 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. present the objections advanced by Mr. Grenelle, and the documents which I fortunately obtained in refutation of them. And first I applied to the Honourable Robert Walker, Secretary of the Treasury, for the docu- ments left with Mrs. Walker for him. After waiting some days, making repeated inquiries, and harrassing Mrs. Walker with my anxiety to have these papers, I was obliged to be content with a promise that they should be at once most diligently sought for, both at the Treasury by the clerks, and also at the house by Mrs. W^alker herself. Again I waited until I became hopeless of their recovery, and regretting more than all the Petition from New York, which had been pro- cured with the greatest difficulty, and against the strongest opposition from the ship owners, by George Barclay, Esq. I determined to go to New York at once, and ask if Mr. Barclay possessed a duplicate, and if he did not, to beg of him to get those signatures renewed. I started the same evening, and saw Mr. Barclay the following day, but he had no duplicate of the Petition, and told me, te that such was the vituperation he experienced THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 71 " while trying to obtain the former signatures, that " it would be impossible to attempt renewing " them." All that I could do then was to see the Mayor, to solicit his aid, to call upon the Faculty for their opinion, and also to obtain the opinions of the different Emigration* Agents in the city of New York. The Mayor had been elected only a day or two before ; but new as he was in office, and extremely * These latter gentlemen hold a most useful position, and the establishment of Emigration Societies is highly creditable to the humanity of the citizens of that great receiver of the grief, and hunger, and poverty of Europe. There are four of them; many gentlemen give their services gratuitously, and the needful ex- penses are paid by the contributions of the charitable. In New York they do more for our exiled sufferers than we do for them ourselves; no such Society that I ever heard of exists in England. I called upon the Agents of all these Companies, and from each one obtained his signature to the Petition, and the cordial expression of his hope for its success. The doors of the Irish Agency were so crowded that it was with difficulty the driver could walk his horses through the people, and we could not get opposite the door. The Agent took a seat in the carriage while speaking to me, for I could not have entered the door-way. The Emigrants were ragged and distressed, but they were quite orderly, and never begged from me. There were some very robust and hard working men among them, and some nice girls, with the peculiar attractive smile of the Irish- woman of all classes. I have been frequently asked in England, " What becomes of the Emigrants on their first landingl" and I quote, at the end of this volume, the examination of William L. Roy verbatim, to prove to those charitable persons who make such inquiry that the Emigrant in his new country is neither neglected nor forgotten. 72 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. occupied, he immediately called a meeting of the Board of Health, and the result was, that two letters were sent to me by the Mayor, containing from himself and the Commissioners of Health a respectful suggestion that the proposed measure be adopted. The Mayor was prompt and decisive in the steps he took, and expressed the greatest solicitude for the health of the City. I then pro- ceeded to visit the three most distinguished physicians in New York, Dr. Francis, Dr. Mott, and Dr. Hosach ; from each I received encourage- ment, and they took much pains to make my difficulties as light as possible. The whole subject is one in which Dr. Hosach takes peculiar interest. Having thus effected as far as I could my pur- pose, I returned on the fourth day to Washington, having obtained, through the application of Mr. Giles, the postponement of the discussion until my return from New York. I then applied to Mr. Buchanan for the information contained in the State Papers relative to the expenses of Whalers, and with his usual ready kindness was immediately indulged with the documents I asked for. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 73 The search for the invaluable Petition from New York was vain to the last hour. What unlucky fate these missing papers met with I have never heard ; whether they are supposed to have been lost, or burned, or mixed with other documents, or whether they have ever been re- covered, I have never been informed. They appear to have been examined by the Secretary of the Treasury, because, in her vexatious search, Mrs. Walker discovered two or three other papers which had been tied up in the same cover with the Petition. It is far from my intention to convey censure on Mr. Walker; his mind was harrassed by intense application to his arduous duties, and I have understood that his health was even then suffering from the labours of his office. Still less would I reproach his amiable lady, who, I believe, suffered even more vexation than I did myself. I obtained from Mrs. Walker an acknowledgment that she had received the Papers in question, which justified my assertions that the letter from Mr. Barclay and the Petition itself had actually existed. These documents, with the objections of Mr. 2 G 74 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. Grenelle, and the replies, were presented to the Committee on Commerce by Mr. Giles, on the 15th of June, 1846. The objections urged by Mr. Grenelle, Member of Congress for New Bedford, in the name of the Shipowners, were as follow : — The skill and attention of Captains. That Whalers were very healthy, and had no Surgeons on board. The Small Pox is not a contagious or infectious disease, but an epidemic. That i" myself and my son had not had the Small Pox, but something else. That Judge M'Clean, Mr. Buchanan, and Mr. Clay had mis-informed me that Congress could legislate in this matter. That I am an alien. Washington City, May 9th, 1846. Sir, I have the honour to present to your Com- mittee the enclosed documents, which I have THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. ^5 procured in refutation of the objections urged against the Emigrant Surgeons' Bill. No. 1. — A Statement, under the hand of the Secretary of State, shewing the expenses at various Ports in the Pacific for sick Sailors. At the Sandwich Islands alone 11,000 dollars have been paid in one quarter. The Govern- ment Agent at that Port urges the necessity of Whalers and other traders carrying Surgeons to prevent such expense. No. 2. — A letter from Dr. Barry, of the U.S. Navy, representing the calls made on Naval Surgeons for medical and surgical aid by Whalers and other trading vessels. No. 3. — Letters from the Mayor of New York and Board of Health to the Senate and House of Representatives, strongly urging the imme- diate passage of the Law now under con- sideration. No. 4. — Petition from the City of New Orleans. No. 5. — Petition from New York. No. 6. — Certificate and recommendation from the Medical Profession of New York, headed by Drs. Mott, Hosach,, and Francis. 76 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. No. 7* — Petition signed by the various Presidents of Emigration Societies in New York. No. 8. — Letters of the ex-Mayor of New York, of Mr. George Barclay, and Mr. Harvey. No. 9. — An acknowledgment from the Lady of the Honourable Robert Walker, Secretary of the Treasury, stating that the missing Petition of the Merchants in New York, which had been carried round for signatures by Mr. George Barclay in person; had, together with other documents, been received, but cannot now be found. I have on my forehead one mark which would be at once decisively recognised by all medical men as a pustule of the Small Pox. I believe that the few objections urged by Mr. Grenelle, previous to my having the honour to appear before your Committee, are answered in these documents ; there is, however, one objec- tion of a highly serious nature, it is the expense to the Shipowners; this is the sole though con- cealed objection. I have the assurance of one Shipowner, a man of high character, " that who- THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 77 ever can afford to send a ship to sea can afford to send a Surgeon with her." The Hottinguer carried £1000 profit at least in steerage passen- gers alone. Could £20 out of this be afforded for a Surgeon's aid ? The medicines sold to Merchant Ships are known to be the condemned stores of the Navy. It is an utter impossibility that Judge M'Clean of the Supreme Court, Mr. Buchanan, the Secre- tary of State, and Henry Clay, of Kentucky, should have concurred to mis-inform me. Con- gress has full and unlimited power to legislate upon the subject in all its branches. A fact that should be named is this. For several days previous to sailing, a board, stating that a Surgeon would sail in the Hottinguer, was hung up in the rigging of that ship. Our Surgeon was an accidental passenger, and Mr. King, a passenger, was the first to discover him. Mr. Grenelle has objected to me that I am an alien. True, I am an Englishwoman, and I re- gard my England with the same love, and pride, and veneration with which you regard America ; but in two years I may bring my eight sons to 2 G 2 78 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. claim a portion in their father's birthright, as citizens of the United States. I shall be proud to offer them to the Republic; and trust that thus I shall be redeemed from reproach in the eyes of all her generous, hospitable, and courteous people. To me each nation will be truly dear. Here follow the Documents : — ( No. 1—1. ) A Statement under the hand of the Honourable Secretary of State, showing the expenses at various Ports in the Pacific for Sick Sailors. Note to Mr. Buchanan, from Mrs. Maury. Washington, 1st June, 1846. My Dear Sir, Relying, as I have so often done before, upon your indulgence, I am, for the second time to-day, asking a favour at your hands. Would you oblige me with a Statement of the various sums paid within the last two or three years, and particularly during the last quarter for which the Returns have been received, on THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 79 account of Sick or Distressed Seamen, at the Sandwich Islands, and other principal ports of the Pacific. And also the names of those Con- suls or other Agents of the Government who have recommended, as a means of diminishing those ex- penses, the Passage of a Law requiring the Traders or Whaling Vessels there to carry Surgeons, I remain, my dear sir, your obliged and obedient servant, Sarah Mytton Maury. The Hon. James Buchanan, Secretary of State. From Mr. Buchanan to Mrs. Maury, in reply. Department of State, Washington, 1st June, 1846. Madam, In compliance with the request contained in your note, received this day, I have the honour to transmit to you a statement, made from such data as were accessible to this Department, at such short notice, of the disbursements for the Relief of American Seamen at the Consulates at Lima, the Sandwich Islands, Valparaiso, Paita, and the 80 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. Society Islands, from the year 1841 to 1845, inclusive; and to state that the name of the Agent who suggested the propriety of requiring our Whaling Ships to have on board a Surgeon, is William Hooper, Acting Commercial Agent at the Sandwich Islands. I have the honour to be, Madam, very respect- fully, your obedient servant, James Buchanan Mrs. S. M. Maury. ( No. 1—2. ) Statement of the Amounts paid at the Treasury of the United States, for the Relief and Pro- tection of American Seamen, at the undernamed Consulates : — CONSULATE. 1841 1842 FIRST HALF OF 1843 F/SCAL YEAR 1843-4 Lima Sandwich Islands. . . . Valparaiso Dollars. 3592 7325 4742 117 2044 Dollars. 3204 6776 4323 921 4058 Dollars. 1293 3102 1089 Doliars. 1CS0 11945* 8441 Paita 3570 Society Islands 4488 This sum was paid in one cpiarter alone. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 1 Statement of Amounts Expended for the Relief and Protection of American Seamen, at the undernamed Consulates, as appears by the Accounts of the Consuls : — 1344 1845 CONSULATE. 3rd & 4th Quarters. 1st Quarter. 2nd Quarter. 3rd Quarter. 4th Quarter. Lima Dollars. 458 7936 1441 488 1574 Dollars 985 3490 1st & 2nd Quarters. The 1st & 2nd Quarters. Dollars. 2nd & 3rd Quarters. 5981 1637 Whole 4053 Dollars. 3130 5232 3rd & 4th Quarters. Year. 2nd & 3rd Quarters. Dollars. 766 Sandwich Islands Valparaiso Paita 8583 1966 1818 Society Islands . . 2533 ( No. 2. ) To this important Document was appended one of the highest interest from Dr. Barry, Surgeon in the United States* Navy, representing the calls made on Naval Surgeons for medical and surgical aid by Whalers and other trading vessels. I have much pleasure in laying it before the public. Washington, June 2nd, 1846. Madam, I take pleasure in replying to your enquiries upon a subject so important to the cause of humanity. 82 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. It is a fact within my own knowledge and obser- vation in the Naval Service, and for confirmation of which you may safely refer to others for more enlarged experience, that constant applications are made to Vessels of War on foreign stations for medical advice and attendance required by our Whalers and Merchant Ships generally. Indeed I may say it invariably happens that there is great need of such assistance whenever they fall in with our Ships of War, and great suffering results whenever, as must frequently be the case, no such assistance happens to be within reach. There have been cases where, in order to have an ampu- tation performed, or other pressing necessity supplied, such vessels have been obliged to depart many miles from their course in order to apply at the nearest Consulate for medical aid. So far as my experience goes, I can safely say that the reliance placed upon the Captains of Whalers, and Merchant Ships generally, for medical treatment, is not justified by the results. I am, very respectfully yours, R. T. Barry. Mrs. Maury. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 83 ( No. 3. ) Letters from the Honourable A. H. Mickle, Mayor of New York, and from the Board of Health, to the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States. Mayor's Office, New York, June 6, 1846. Madam, I have, as you will perceive, addressed the enclosed letters to Honourable D. S. Dickinson and Honourable William B. Maclay, of the United States' Senate and House of Representatives, supposing those gentlemen may be influential in furthering your views. You are, however, at liberty to use them as directed, or in any way your judgment may dictate. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, A. H. MlCKLE, Mayor of the City of New York. To Mrs. Maury, 349, Fourth-street. 84 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. ( No. 3—1. ) To the Honourable the Sexate of the United States. The frequent suffering of Immigrants from disease^, during the passage, on board of Vessels arriving at this Port, in consequence of the want of Medical Advice, induces the undersigned to respectfully suggest, that a Law be passed by Congress, making it obligatory on the Captains, Consignees, or Owners of all Vessels arriving from Europe, with Fifty or more Passengers, to provide said Vessels with Physicians. That protection should be so secured, the dic- tates of humanity seem imperatively to demand. A. H. MlCKLE, Mayor of the City of New York. New York, 6th June, 1846. \ Alexander F. Vachc, M.D. Resident Physician. S. R. Harris, M.D. Health Commissioner. Henry Van Hoevexbergh, M.D. Health Officer. o c / V a a THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. S5 ( No. 3—2. ) To the Honourable the House of Representatives. The frequent suffering of Immigrants from disease, during the passage, on board of Vessels arriving at this Port, in consequence of the want of Medical Advice, induces the undersigned to respectfully suggest, that a Law be passed by Congress, making it obligatory on the Captains, Consignees, or Owners of all Vessels arriving from Europe, with Fifty or more Passengers, to provide said Vessels with Physicians. That protection should be so secured, the dic- tates of humanity seem imperatively to demand. A. H. MlCKLE, Mayor of the City of New York. Dated 6th June, 1846. Alexander F. Vaciic, M.D. Resident Physician. S. R. Harris, M.D. Health Commissioner. Henry Van Hoevenbergh, M.D. Health Officer. 2 h 86 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. In consequence of the pressure of time, these Memorials were presented directly by Mr. Giles to the Committee on Commerce. Had the Bill passed safely through that fiery ordeal, there is no doubt that the assistance of Mr. Dickinson and Mr. Maclay would have been invaluable in the Senate and in the House. ( No. 4. ) To these were added a Petition from the City of New Orleans, headed by the Honourable D. Prieur, Collector of Customs in that City, to which were added eighty five signatures. This Petition was accompanied by the following note from M. Prieur. New t Orleans, 15th April, 1846. Madam, Agreeably to your wishes, I have the honour to transmit enclosed, the Petition you left with me for the purpose of getting signatures to it. I beg of you to accept my apology for my apparent want of politeness in not presenting you my respects before your departure from THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 87 New Orleans. I was prevented to do so by a press of business and by indisposition. I am, Madam, very respectfully, your obedient servant, D. Prieur. Mrs. Maury, of Liverpool, City of Washington. ( No. 5. ) A Petition by twelve highly respectable persons in New York, zealous friends of the Measure. ( No 6.— 1. ) Certificates and Recommendation from the Faculty of Medicine in the City of New York. The Medical Profession of the City of New York have for a length of time been desirous of the adoption of measures tending to prevent the introduction of disease by the numerous Emigrant Vessels arriving at this Port. Among the most desirable is the enactment by Congress of a Law compelling every vessel carrying Passengers to have a Surgeon on board. This regulation has 88 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. been enforced in English, French, and German vessels with success, as far as regards the health of passengers while at sea ; but the United States have more imperative reasons for requiring this law than any Nation of Europe, because we are daily receiving innumerable Emigrants into our sea ports, who disseminate throughout the country various infections and contagious diseases, such as Small Pox, Typhus Fever, Cholera, &c. We, therefore, deem it our duty to represent to Congress the importance of the Law now before the Committee on Commerce, for compelling Emi- grant Vessels to carry Surgeons. In addition to the facts detailed in the already presented Memorial, innumerable instances are known to the undersigned corroborating the same, making it necessary that the enactment by Con- gress prayed for should be no longer delayed. Signed by Alex. E. Hosach, M.D. Valentine Mott, M.D. Edward Bayard, M.D. Thomas Watson, M.D. And twenty-five other medical men of the first respectability. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 89 ( No. 6—2. ) New York, May 31, 184G. I have no hesitation to affirm that the history of pestilence demonstrates the fact abundantly, that Ship or Typhus Fever may be brought by vessels in the hold, or by passengers or individuals from one port to another. And the same circum- stance has been noticed of Yellow Fever, Scarlet Fever, Measles, Small Pox, and other disorders of specific febrile contagion. John W. Francis, M.D. New York. ( No. 7- ) Petition signed by the Agents of the Emigration Societies. This same form of Petition was used by all those parties who returned signatures. To the Honourable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, in Congress assembled. We, the undersigned, suggest that measures be taken by Congress to enforce such enactments as may be found most expedient in the outfit and arrangement of vessels bringing Emigrant Pas- 2 h 2 90 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. sengers to the United States, to prevent the various calamities which occur on board of such ships in consequence of the deficiency of Medical attendance, and also with a view of preventing the increase of Small Pox, or other infectious diseases on board of such vessels, and in the various Ports of the United States to which these vessels are consigned. Owing to the large numbers of persons on board these vessels, the limited means which the passengers usually possess, and their entire ignorance of the precautions necessary to protect them from disease on shipboard, it is certain that, without some efficient safeguard required and en- forced by law, it will be quite impossible to secure the passengers and crew from danger of this sort during the voyage. That some protection should be so secured, the first dictates of humanity and legislation imperatively require. These Emigrant vessels come directly to the populous Ports and Cities of the United States, and the passengers who arrive are thrown at once into the midst of crowded population, so that every symptom of disease contracted on shipboard may, and probably will, be early developed, under circumstances cal- THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 91 culatecl to spread the infection among our own citizens. These views might be more largely enforced and developed to Congress; but it is rather the object of the undersigned to bring the subject to their notice than to suggest any par- ticular plan, which is left to their wisdom, after such investigation and consideration as may be deemed necessary, whether it shall be thought best that the care and caution, as far as it can be taken, might be properly imposed upon the Con- suls of the United States in foreign Ports ; or whether the end should be obtained, by proper regulations for the purpose, in the outfit and equipment of Emigrant Vessels, are considerations which will, doubtless, receive the deliberate con- sideration of your honourable bodies. The British Protective Emigrant Society of the City of New York, by J. Bookman, President. The Irish Emigrant Society of New York, by Thos. Clerke, President. For the Welsh Society of Protection for Emigrants, T. Griffith, President. For the German Society, C. H. Sand, President. 92 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. ( No. 8. ) Letters of the ex-Mayor of New York, of Mr. George Barclay, and Mr. Jacob Harvey, have been already presented, at pages 38, 41, and 44. ( No. 9. ) An acknowledgment from the Lady of the Honourable Robert Walker, Secretary of the Treasury, stating that the missing Petition of the Merchants in New York, which had been carried round for signatures by Mr. George Barclay in person, had, together with other documents, been received, — but cannot now be found, Washington, June 1st, 1846. My Dear Madam, I regret extremely, that after a fatiguing search of several hours, I have been unable to find the papers you entrusted to my care. / have a distinct recollection of your handing me the papers, and at the same time showing me the contents of each : a Petition from New York was amongst them. After delivering your message THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 93 to Mr. Walker, I put the papers away myself. I regret extremely that they were not left at the office, instead of with me, as they then would be on file. I shall renew my search ; in the mean time, accept my best wishes for your success. Yours, truly, Mary B. Walker. Such was the powerful and universal and incon- trovertible evidence in favour of the Emigrant Surgeons' Bill. But all our efforts were unavailing. The fiat of the dictator of the Committee on Commerce had gone forth, and it was gradually discovered that a Majority Report would be sent in against the Bill. On the morning of the 17th of June I received the following friendly though painful communi- cation from Mr. Giles; and truly "I sat down and wept. " 94 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. Coleman's Hotel, \*]th June, 1846. Dear Madam. I regret to say that the Committee on Commerce yesterday rejected the proposition to provide by Law for Surgeons on board of Vessels carrying Passengers between Europe and this country. You will have the satisfaction of having attracted to this subject much of the public atten- tion ; and it may yet be, that the public mind may more fully understand the question, and enlightened legislation carry out your philan- thropic views. With the highest regard, yours, William F. Giles. To Mrs. Maury. Mr. Ingersoll, with his characteristic spirit and energy, though he was then suffering from domestic affliction, wished to bring in also a Minority Report, "which," said he, "could be made a most for- midable document." And if I could have remained longer in Washington, this is the probable course that I should have pursued; because even in yield- THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 95 ing to adverse circumstances, it is well to protest against the wrong that overpowers us. But it was now the middle of June; I had many interesting engagements to fulfil in the State of New York,* and I began to turn with feverish anxiety to the household home from which I had been so long separated. Besides the heat was intense, the wearied Mem- bers of the two Houses suffered extremely from the confinement and their many protracted ques- tions of debate; the Committees were sitting late and early, many Bills were hurried through, and many more died a natural death, and the usual symptoms of Parliamentary separation began to display themselves. In addition the Mexican War had just opened fresh differences of opinion, created new parties, awakened the young ambition of the State, and enkindled the passion of military glory. It was morally certain that in such a juncture a little Minority Report about Emigrant Surgeons * The Bishop of New York was to resign the College of Fordham to the Jesuit Fathers, and Ex-Governor Seward was to plead for the Negro Freeman, at Auburn. 1 had promised to be present on both these occasions. 96 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. would not have excited the smallest attention from any party. In this dilemma I went to see Mr, Buchanan, whom I found suffering from the heat, much indisposed, and unable to see me ; from his door I drove to Mr. Calhoun's. After telling him of my disappointment, "What shall I do?" asked I. a Prevent action," said the Senator ; " withdraw u the Documents, and do not suffer them to make " their Majority Report." Of course I pursued this advice, determining to renew my exertions in England, and requested Mr. Giles to oblige me by obtaining the Docu- ments then in possession of the Committee on Commerce, and to notify to the Chairman that we requested to withdraw the Bill from the con- sideration of the Board. This was accordingly done. I believe, however, that a notice of its having been before them exists in the Archives of the House of Representatives, this being the usual formality. I have reason to affirm that instead of the Majority Report against the Bill, an attempt would have been made to cause Mr. Grenelle THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 97 to produce a synopsis of all Laws relating to the subject. Suggestions were also made that the seaboard towns, or the capital cities of the several States, should introduce the Measure into their respective Quarantine Laws. This would have been as effectual^ though a less comprehensive mode of proceeding. The foregoing account of the defeat of the Bill presents a curious subject for speculation. A measure endorsed with the approbation of the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury ; prayed for by the Mayor, Board of Health, the Medical Pro- fession, the Agents who are chiefly concerned in the matter of Emigration, and many other re- spectable persons in New York ; a measure, in desiring which the cities of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, and New Orleans coincided with New York; a measure recommended by numerous Senators and Representatives, and, as far as I ever heard, universally approved by the public; was defeated by one man, the representative of one class of men; and who could raise no objection but 2 i 98 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. that it would withdraw from their yearly profits a few hundred dollars among their whole number. I am far from disapproving of the power which can thus be wielded by a single individual ; doubtless good as well as evil results from the privilege ; where it has been exercised in favour of right, it shows, indeed, the mighty secret of equal and individual and universal justice which inherently dwells in a constitutional form of government ; and, where this power has been exerted for evil, there is no question that such influence will not endure. The Majority is never long in error, and though the right can be sustained for a constancy by a single voice, the wrong cannot. It has been asserted by many persons in my presence, that the defeat of this Bill was an in- trigue of the Whigs, to prevent a measure that was favoured by the Administration, and that would have increased their popularity. It has also been asserted that the Petition from New York, and the other Documents which accom- panied it, may have been abstracted from the residence of Mr. Walker. On these points I THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 99 refrain from giving an opinion, or uttering a comment. I do not envy the feelings of the Honourable Gentleman from New Bedford as his eyes have fallen from time to time on the histories of im- ported misery detailed in the morning and the noon day and the evening Papers. Defeated in the Bill in America, wearied with delay in England; abused by many self constituted and ignorant critics, I would not change places either with that Honourable Member in America, or with the supine and justly to be condemned Ministers of Colonization and Emigration in England, who sit on cushioned chairs, in well aired rooms, and argue from book on Emigrants and their surpassing misery with less of unction, and with less cf humanity than they discuss the transmission of fat and lean oxen to a fair. Death and the Pestilence have walked abroad, to their abiding reproach. Give me rather for my chosen portion my disappointments and my obscurity, with my honest and faithful efforts, unskilful as they doubtless have been, and unavailing as yet they may be. I shall now adjourn the scene to England. PROCEEDINGS IN ENGLAND. To the "Iniquitous Act of Parliament/ 5 which is the direct cause of the evil complained of, viz: the Exemption of Passenger Vessels to North America from carrying Surgeons; — to this Act of the British Legislature has been given the most conspicuous form and position at the commence- ment of the present History ; in the hope that by being generally read, it may be universally con- demned. " When the Righteous are in authority, the People rejoice." Proverbs of Solomon. The Emigrant Surgeons' Bill was frustrated in the United States by one man; it has never been approached in England by the very Department THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 101 which is appointed and paid to advise the Govern- ment upon such subjects ; three months witnessed the origin, trial and defeat of the Measure in the Congress of the Republic; for two years and a half has the Colonial Department in London been petitioned to revoke the "excepting Clause" — in vain; it is reasonable to conclude that self interest prompted the opposition experienced in Wash- ington ; it is utterly impossible to account for the prolonged and reckless indifference of the Ministers in Downing-street and their Officers in Park-street. I arrived in England in the middle of August, 1846, and about the end of September was able to proceed to London. Before leaving Liverpool I prepared an Abstract of all that had been attempted and accomplished in the United States, and afterwards consulted upon the subject Edward Rushton, Esquire, the highly respected Stipendiary Magistrate in Liver- pool. I received from him the following note, enclosing the subsequent letter of introduction to Sir George Grey, the Right Honourable Secretary for the Home Department. 102 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. ( No. 1. ) Liverpool, 18th September, 1846. My Dear Mrs.' Maury, The letter is quite right. You must see Sir George Grey yourself. If you send him the letter, with a note asking for an appointment, I have no doubt he will see you. I send herewith a note addressed to him, which you can send with the Document, unless you find some one on the spot who will give you a better introduction. Believe me, always truly yours, Edward Rushton. ( No. 2. ) Sessions' House, Liverpool, ISth Sept. 1846. Sir, Mrs. Maury, the wife of an eminent mer- chant of this place, desires to bring under your notice the propriety of providing by law Surgical assistance on board vessels carrying Emigrants between England and North America, I take the liberty of giving Mrs. Maury this note, and of THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 103 assuring you that she has had ample means of forming a just estimate of the matter, having re- cently returned from America, and having seen, during her voyage, most painful evidence of the want of medical aid for the passengers. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, Edward Rushton, Stipendiary Magistrate. The Rt. Hon. Sir G. Grey, Bart. Secretary of State for the Home Department. In all my views upon the subject I also obtained the entire approbation of Lieutenant Hodder, R.N. the Government Agent for Emigration in Liver- pool, and the zealous friend of the poor Emigrant. It was already, in September 1846, a well- known and received fact, that Emigration would take place to an extent hitherto unprecedented, in the ensuing spring. I was anxious, therefore, that if possible, some Regulation should be effected in time for the comfort of these unhappy outcasts ; and as soon as I arrived in London deposited the Document which I had previously prepared, and 104 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. the letter from Mr. Rushton to Sir George Grey, at the Home Office, with a note re- spectfully soliciting an interview. The request was at once complied with in the following terms : — ( No. 3. ) Sir George Grey presents his compliments to Mrs. Maury, and begs to inform her that the arrangements connected with Emigrant Ships are under the control of the Colonial Department. If. however, Mrs. Maury is desirous of placing the Documents referred to in her letter in Sir George Grey's hands, he will be happy to receive them, and will bring them under the notice of the proper authorities. He will be at the Home Office on Monday, at 12 o'clock. Whitehall, Sept. 26, 1 846. The following is the Document enclosed to Sir George Grey, and the others alluded to are those already adduced in the " Proceedings in America." THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 1 05 ( No. 4. ) Liverpool, Sept. Ijth, 1846. Sir, I sailed from Liverpool for New York, accompanied by my son, in the Packet Ship Hottinguer, Capt. Ira Bursley, burthen 993 tons, on the 6th of May, 1845. The number of steerage passengers was 39/ ; cabin passengers 3 ; officers and crew 28. On the eighth day of departure the Small Pox broke out among the Emigrants. We had no Medical officer attached to the ship, and had it not been for the attention of Dr. Fraser, an accidental passenger, we should have been wholly destitute of medical aid. Two deaths occurred on board. We kept to the northward until we saw ice. Immediately on landing in New York, where the thermometer (June 3rd) was at 95° in the shade, nine of the passengers, including my son and my- self, were seized with the Small Pox or Varioloid. Our medicine chest on board the Hottinguer was very deficient, and the medicines it contained unfit for use. The castor oil was rancid ; no bark, no lint, no tape for bleeding. It has been ascertained 106 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. that these medicines are purchased chiefly from the condemned stores of the United States Navy. So fearful did this destitution of medical aid appear to me, that I enquired if no law existed on the subject; and finding that no such provision had ever been made, I pursued the advice of many gentlemen residents on the Atlantic seaboard, and appealed to Congress ; — urgently petitioning that a Law should be passed, compelling vessels convey- ing Emigrants to carry a Medical officer. I waited on the President in the first instance, who in person assisted me with the best advice; Mr. Buchanan, the Secretary of State, and Mr. Walker, the Secretary of the Treasury, expressed their high approbation of the measure. Mr. Buchanan has afforded me every facility from the State Paper Office. "A Bill for compelling Emigrant Vessels to " cany a Medical Officer " was accordingly brought forward. It was strongly supported by Petitions from New York, Philadelphia, Balti- more, &c. &c. but the Shipowners contrived to frustrate us in the Chamber of Commerce; and, at the advice of Mr. Calhoun, I withdrew all the THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 107 documents I could obtain, in order to lay them before the English Government. If carried through, the measure would be most popular in the United States, and the Government of this country would receive the best thanks of all classes of Americans, with the sole exception of the Shipowners. A, large majority of Senators, and Members of the House of Representatives, the local Civil Authorities, the Faculty, the Catholic Priesthood (a very influential body), and the In- habitants of the towns all expressed their earnest desire for its success. The Americans regard the measure as one of protection to their cities, which are filled with every description of infectious disease by the arrival of these sailing vessels, or rather sailing pest-houses. The Shipowners would be obliged to furnish nothing beyond a berth and entertain- ment ; for the Emigrants would never object to pay an additional shilling upon their passage money to raise the small remuneration required by the Medical officer. One Shipowner,* a most * George Barclay, Esq. the brother of Her Britannic Majesty's Consul General at New York. 108 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. charitable and intelligent man, assured me that " any man who can afford to send a ship to sea " can afford to send a Surgeon on board of her." A superabundance of medical candidates would be instantly found on either side of the Atlantic, who would gladly avail themselves of tlie oppor- tunity thus afforded of visiting the Hospitals in both countries. Nor let it be contended that they would be inferior practitioners ; for what can be inferior to the advice asserted to be administered by Captains of ships? it is per- fect mockery; they know nothing, — they do nothing ; besides, if a Captain does his duty to his ship, he has no time to mix medicines and heal wounds. Many more reasons for advocating this measure exist, and you are of course acquainted with the representations of the Agents in Quebec upon the subject of disease on board ship ; but to expatiate further would swell this Document to an unwarrantable length. I should be grateful for the opportunity of laying many other details be- fore you, in the hope that you may consider the subject worthy of attention. Mr. Buchanan has THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 109 designated the Bill as " a most wise, benevolent, " and righteous measure." I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, Sarah Mytton Maury. The Right Hon. Sir George Grey, Secretary for the Home Department. Sir George Grey gave me and my Papers a very courteous reception, and a letter of introduc- tion to Mr. Elliot, the Chief Commissioner in the Colonial Land and Emigration Office. Attended by my son, I waited on that gentleman, whom I found kindly disposed to listen to my long and tedious and oft-repeated tale. Of course my narrative and argument consisted only of what my patient and courteous reader already knows. I unfolded the Papers ; Mr. Elliot and his Colleague Mr. Rogers expressed themselves much interested in the details of many of them, and particularly of that in which is exhibited the expenses annually incurred by the American Government on account of the Sickness of Seamen in the ports of the Pacific Ocean ; and which was 2 K 110 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. extracted, by permission of the Honourable James Buchanan, Secretary of State, in Washington, from the State Records. Mr. Elliot, after allud- ing to the difficulty of procuring a sufficient number of Surgeons for the purpose, on my suggesting that I thought this supposition was erroneous, requested me to procure all the infor- mation that lay in my power on the subject. The Commissioners distinctly informed me that they should require all the candidates that offered to be regularly bred professional men, and to have received their diplomas. I mentioned that the British Consul at New York entirely concurred in my views ; Mr. Elliot said that his recorded opinion would be extremely valuable and important ; and I engaged to obtain it for his satisfaction, and that of any other Member of the British Government. After I had expatiated upon " the Clause," as the one definitive obstacle to be overcome, Mr. Elliot replied; " Then all that you wish is to expunge those " four words, (' to North America excepted,') from " the Act." THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. Ill " That is all ; I shall be perfectly satisfied and " most grateful." " I assure you, Madam, we have every disposi- tion to look favourably on the measure." In conclusion, and with a heart once more full of hope, I deposited my treasured Papers in the hands of Mr. Elliot. I then took leave, and drove to the door of William Lawrence, Esq., in Whitehall Place, and reported to him my interview and the commission with which I was entrusted. I recounted to Mr. Lawrence the woes of the Hottinguer ; her want of the suitable supplies; and, finally, the objection of the Commissioners, that a sufficiency of Medical men could not be obtained, because they would accept of such only as should have taken out a Diploma. I added that, in my opinion, a nurse would be preferable to being entirely without assistance, particularly for women and for children, who constitute so large a proportion of the Emigrants. " You are perfectly right in " the view you take," said the humane and experienced Surgeon : " an old woman, with a box " of medicine, would be better than nobody at all." 112 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. I had, while in America, received a note from Mr. Lawrence on the subject, addressed to Mr. Maury, which note I have recently, in the following terms, obtained his permission to publish : — ( No. 5. ) Whitehall Place, October 30, 1847. Dear Mrs. Maury, Pray make any use you please of the note. I should be gratified if it were to assist in any degree the benevolent efforts you are making in behalf of the poor creatures who are attempting to escape across the Atlantic from the famine and misery which await them in Europe. I remain, dear Mrs. Maury, yours very faithfully, William Lawrence.. ( No. 6. ) Whitehall Place, July 17, 1845. Dear Sir, I have received a letter from Mrs. Maury, detailing the alarming circumstances which oc- THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 1 1.3 curred in her voyage to the United States, and the very serious danger to which the numerous passengers were exposed, from the want of that medical assistance, the provision of which, she justly thinks, ought to be enforced by law, in such cases. I wish, indeed, that I could say anything to strengthen the forcible representation of those whose health and lives were endangered on this occasion. Will you do me the favour to convey to Mrs. Maury my sincere congratulations on the pre- servation of herself and son from the very serious dangers which they incurred, and my best wishes for their safe return to England. I remain, dear Sir, your very obedient servant, William Lawrence. W. Maury, Esq. These are the words of no alarmist, of no pretended philanthropist, of no novice in the science of healing, but of one whom genius, humanity, and experience have placed upon the throne of Surgery. He has seen the extreme ills that wait on mortal men, and knows the care and 2 k 2 114 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. solace which the meanest, as well as the greatest, require and have a right to demand. When I arrived in Liverpool, I called on Dr. Sutherland, and told him my errand, adding, that as Liverpool and Dublin would be not only the two ports requiring the greatest number of Emigrant Surgeons, but the most likely places in which to find them ; that I begged his aid. Ever ready in the cause of philanthropy, Dr. Suther- land paid immediate attention to my request, and I received the two following highly satisfactory letters : — ( No. 7- ) (Envelope.) My Dear Madam, I have enclosed you the opinion on the subject you requested me to get information about, and I trust you will find it sufficiently explicit. Don't bring any Yankee Doctors here ; we will send you plenty of our own. There were seven candidates, the other day, for one of the stipendiary offices of our Dispensaries. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 115 I hope to see you soon, and am always, my dear Madam, very sincerely yours, J. Sutherland. Bedford-street, December 3 is/, 1846. ( No. 8. ) 10, Bedford-street North. Liverpool, 315/ December, 1846. Dear Madam, Some time ago, you requested me to obtain information as to whether it would be possible to procure an adequate supply of qualified Medical men to take charge of Emigrant Ships to North America; provided the Legislature made it com- pulsory on all such ships to carry Surgeons with them ? I thought the best manner of replying to your query would be to bring the subject before a Meeting of the Liverpool Medical Society, which I accordingly did. . We had the matter fully discussed, and arrived at the unanimous conclusion that any number might be obtained, (at least any number that might be requisite for the purpose,) at the salary 116 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. you mentioned to me, namely, £20 for the voyage out ; especially if some arrangement could be made for bringing back such as wished to return, free of expense; but I question very much whether the latter condition would ever be demanded by many. I am, dear Madam, yours very truly, John Sutherland. A friend, who possessed the advantage of a personal acquaintance with Dr. Richard Car- michael, of Dublin, was kind enough to consult him on the possibility of procuring a sufficiency of Medical men. ( No. 9. ) Copy of a letter from Dr. Carmichael, of Dublin, to a friend in Liverpool. Dublin, December 8th, 1S46. My Dear Friend, In the event of its becoming necessary (which, in my humble opinion, it decidedly ought,) for every Passenger Vessel to be supplied with a Surgeon, you may rely upon having a supply of well informed Medical Practitioners from this city THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 1 1 7 equal to the demand; for, unfortunately, the market here is quite overstocked with excellent and well manufactured goods of that description. Whenever you are in want, let me know, and I shall not vouch for any I recommend without being certain that he is fully competent to take charge of a vessel crowded with passengers for a long voyage. Believe me to be yours very truly, Richard Carmichael. From London, immediately after my interview with the Commissioners, (in order that no time might be lost,) I addressed duplicates of the following letter to Drs. Hosach and Mott, of New York, whose sympathy and aid I had invoked before, and could with certainty still rely on. ( No. 10. ) London, October 3rd, 1846. My Dear Sir, Having been unsuccessful in my application to Congress, on the subject of the Emigrant Surgeons 5 Bill, I have attempted the matter in 118 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. London. Yesterday, through the introduction of Sir George Grey, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, I had a long interview with Mr. Elliot and Mr. Rogers, the Commissioners of the Board of Emigration. These gentlemen fully acquiesced in the excellence of the measure, and we discussed the difficulties attending its adoption in an interview of an hour. The main obstacle appears to be the supposed impossibility of obtaining Medical men of sufficient skill and experience to be of real use on board ship ; and they would insist on such Medical men having taken out a Diploma. The estimate of the number requited is between two and three hundred per annum, or fifty per month, on an average, for the six summer months. I have informed the Commissioners that the emolument required for each would be about £15 or £20, to be paid by the increase of a shilling on the passage money paid by the Emigrants. I have promised to make inquiries in New York, Liverpool, and London, as to the reliance that may be placed on procuring such a supply of Medical men on such terms. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 119 You expressed so feeling an interest on the subject, that I venture to address to you and Dr. Mott similar letters ; and you would confer on me a great favour by letting me know the result of this inquiry by the earliest opportunity, as Parliament may meet early. Forgive, dear Sir, the liberty I use ; and with my kind regards to Mr. Harvey, believe me always yours, very truly, Sarah Mytton Maury. Drs. Hosach and Mott. From these gentlemen I received the following replies : — ( No. 11, ) New York, Jan. 5th, 1847. My Dear Madam, An apology is due for the seeming neglect in my not acknowledging your favour of the 3rd October last ; but the difficulty in obtaining the necessary information prevented my doing so. I heartily approve of your plan and perseverance in ameliorating the condition of Emigrants on 120 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. board ship, coming to the United States ; indeed it is impossible for any person to have crossed the Atlantic in one of the packets, and witnessed the suffering by disease among that class of passen- gers, without feeling the necessity of Medical aid being provided for them. I have made all in- quiry of many of the leading Practitioners of New York, and find that your suggestions meet with their approbation, so far as that Medical men should accompany these vessels ; but, in their judgment, it will be difficult to obtain the requisite number of young men, graduates in medicine, for so small a compensation as proposed in your letter; at the same time, it is their opinion that a sufficient number may be obtained at a salary, say from two to three hundred dollars for the five months and their expenses paid. For a less amount than this I do not think it practicable, particularly as no Professional advancement is held out for them ; and at certain seasons these voyages would be attended with much discomfort, and not altogether without hazard from infection. The opinion of the gentlemen of the Profession whom I have consulted should not however be THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 121 considered conclusive, as the fact cannot be posi- tively arrived at, that so many competent persons can be obtained, without an advertisement in the New York Papers, with some definite proposal, which, when you are authorized to do, I will be happy to attend to for you. With best wishes for your success in this philanthropic undertaking, I have the honour to remain, dear Madam, your obedient servant, Alex. E. Hosacii. ( No. 12. ) New York, 23rd October, 1846. Dear Madam, Your letter of the 3rd instant was received to-day. It affords me pleasure to find that you are persevering in the good work you so untiringly laboured to accomplish in this country. Success will at last answer your noble and philanthropic efforts. I have seen enough in my various voyages to satisfy me that the course you have taken and so strenuously embarked in is so good a one, that it will, ere long, be crowned with success. 2 L 122 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. If the sum* you name be per month I have no hesitation to say that a sufficient number of com- petent young Medical men may easily be found to meet the demand. It is in my firm belief the least difficult part of the enterprise. Yours with great regard, Valentine Mott. Mrs. Maury, of Liverpool. The reply of the British Consul at New York, fully corroborative of all that I had asserted relative to his opinions on the matter of Emigrant Surgeons, was particularly satisfactory to me, and could not fail to be so likewise to the Com- missioners. ( No. 13. ) Her Britannic Majesty's Consulate, New York, November \lth 5 1846. My Dear Madam, For several weeks past, I have been con- fined to the house, generally to my bed or couch, by severe indisposition, from which I have not * About £15 or £20 per voyage.— (S. M. Maury.) THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 123 yet recovered sufficiently to go abroad. This circumstance has prevented me from having the pleasure of replying sooner to the letter with which you honoured me, under date of the 3rd ult. I entirely agree with you as to the propriety — nay, the necessity, if common humanity is not to be totally disregarded — of requiring every Emi- grant Vessel to carry a Surgeon. Every week brings to my knowledge cases of suffering and death, which, for the most part, might have been relieved or prevented by professional attention. From among hundreds of cases, I enclose you a printed statement of one, which turned up, apropos, since I received your letter, shewing five deaths and four births on board the ship Fairfield, on her passage from Liverpool to this port. Observe that this extract is from the Nevj York Herald of the 4th instant.* I am, my dear Madam, your very faithful humble servant, Anth. Barclay. Mrs. Maury, 3, Exchange Buildings, Liverpool. *" Passengers Arrived— Liverpool.— Ship Fairfield: J. E. D'Esturee, lady and child ; 233 in the steerage. Five deaths and four births on the passage." 124 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. As soon as I received these assurances from the medical friends of the Bill, that an abundance of the " best manufactured Surgeons" could be procured without difficulty, I joyfully transmitted them to the Commissioners — and the letter of the British Consul also speedily found its way to the Colonial Office, in Park-street. And now having, to the utmost of my means and capacity, fulfilled the commissions required of me on either side of the Atlantic ; having obtained all the information demanded, from the best authorities; and having allowed no oppor- tunity to escape of furthering the Measure; — I waited with all the anxiety and expectation which those alone can feel who have entered with all their heart into some scheme or undertaking which their conscience and their friends alike approve. But I waited until weariness succeeded to excitement; and autumn and winter passed away without one sign of any movement ; and spring came forth, and Emigration, attended by famine, pestilence, and death, proceeded ; and I expe- rienced all the bitterness of " that hope deferred which maketh the heart sick." THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 125 Thus,— To do mischief quickly, was the privilege of an independent citizen of the Republic ; To do nothing at all, is the prerogative of the salaried officers of the Monarchy ; The first was an accidental occurrence ; The second is a permanent and incurable con- dition. 2 l 2 THE APPEAL TO THE PRESS. The Press still remained untried. But in the month of January, 1847, appeared " The Statesmen of America in 1846, by Sarah Mytton Maury." This Book attacking with severity the prejudices of the English, and vindi- cating the Americans, advancing, besides, a thou- sand heterodox notions concerning Romanism and Slavery, was regarded as a sin against the Nation, the Church, and the Law of Liberty. The K News of the World," on wide spread wings, reported the disloyalty. Newspapers by the dozen, Athenaeums, Spectators, Observers, et ccetera, et ccetera, headed by the " Church of England " Militant, with the " Examiner " as her standard bearer, (for anger, like misery, makes strange com- panionship) instantly volunteered to repel this Act of Treason. " John Bull " himself rushed to the THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 127 rescue, and " Britannia " followed in the rear. They came in numbers, in haste, in fear, in rage, to crush the work of a woman ; and it seemed as if no period could be assigned when the " States- men of America" should cease to "disturb so- ciety," and " to stir up the insular mind"* to indig- nation. There was no end to the cry of curs, and that best of barkers and of growlers, the "Examiner," continued to show his teeth for a period of six weeks. From this band of u Guerrillas" which had so tormented the " Statesmen," I certainly could cherish no hopes of aid ; and for six months I felt myself somewhat in the condition of the excommunicated Ishmaelite ; " my hand was against every man, and every man's hand against me." I feared to bring my name before the Public lest its unpopularity should mar the Measure which I endeavoured to promote, and thus I daily endured in silence the grief of reading those horrors aug- mented to a hundred fold, which I knew from experience so well to commiserate. At length, however, to my equal pleasure and surprise, in the month of June, 1847, I received * American writers. 128 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. a Liverpool Mercury containing the following letter : — EMIGRATION. To the Editors of the Liverpool Mercury. Gentlemen, — Allow me, through the medium of your journal, to express my surprise at the apparent apathy which exists in reference to the provision of Surgeons on board the various vessels which leave this and other ports. There are thousands leaving this country daily, who have been living in a state of destitution almost bordering on starvation, to accomplish their passage, inoculated with the fever now so prevalent, simply going through a certain formality, and then shipped off to a foreign land, probably the United States or Canada. It is true, the act is voluntary. But, Gentlemen, if the British and North American Steam Ship Company find it to their interest to place Surgeons on board their steamers, surely it is the interest of the Government, who ought to care for the people, to insist upon some mode of procedure which should secure the poor Emigrant the necessary Medical advice, while traversing the mighty deep, who has left the shore of his forefathers for the purpose of seeking an asylum in a foreign land ! The Government, I am told, declines in toto legislation on Emigration, for reasons which I am not at liberty to explain. Is that, however, a valid excuse why the poor Emigrant should be deprived of that protection which can and ought to be afforded without legislation ? Let the Board of Commissioners, w^hose duty it is to inter- fere, send instructions to the Government agents at the various ports to caution all Emigrants from going in any Ship which is not provided with a Surgeon. This would have THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 129 the desired effect, and would bring the owners of vessels to their proper senses. A Lady of this town, well known for her benevolence, has taken a deep interest in this matter, and if ever a Measure is passed, compelling the owners to provide Surgeons, to that lady will the public be indebted for its enactment. She nearly succeeded in getting a Bill through Congress, in the United States, and, I believe, she is still exerting herself in the same noble pursuit. I hope the day is not far distant when her wishes will be realized, either by legislation, or what is of much greater force, public opinion ! There never was a time when the sub- ject called for so serious an investigation as the present. I therefore trust you will find room for these few lines. Yours, &c. THOMAS RAWLING, Late Editor of the Old Countryman and Emigrants' Friend. Stanley Buildings, Bath Street, Liverpool, 20th May, 1847. — Liverpool Mercury, 1st June, 1847. Here was the opportunity which I had sought and awaited with so much anxiety, Availing myself at once of the liberal offer made to me by Charles Willmer, Esq. the Editor of the European Mail, of the use of his columns, I addressed to him the letter which follows, and enclosed a copy of the Report on the Hottinguer ; for which see Page 12 of this Appendix. 130 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. From Charles Willmer's European Mail, Liver- pool, 19th June, 1847: EMIGRATION TO NORTH AMERICA. The number of Emigrants now crossing the Atlantic, and the immense amount of sickness which usually takes place on the voyage, has attracted a good deal of attention from the fact, that the poor who are thus afflicted are beyond the reach of Medical aid, not one ship out of fifty that sail with Emigrants carrying a Surgeon. Efforts have been, and indeed are now being made, for the purpose of providing these vessels with Medical assistance, and among those who have been most energetic in their efforts in endeavouring to accomplish this most desirable end, is Mrs. Maury, of Liverpool, who, in speaking of the measures which have been adopted, says, in a letter now before us : " I subjoin a copy of the memorial which was presented to the Senate and House of Representatives, in Washington. The subject met with the entire approbation of the President of the United States, and with the hearty concurrence of the Secretaries of State. All the civil local authorities were in its favour. The Medical Profession, and the Catholic Priest- hood (who are in many cases the sole physicians and nurses of the suffering immigrant.) concurred in its approval. Meetings were called in New York and Philadelphia, and petitions presented from those cities, as well as from Balti- more, Charleston, and New Orleans. A large majority in the Senate and in the House were heartily in favour of the bill, but the shipowners contrived to secure five votes out of nine in the Committee of Commerce, and the bill was with- drawn to be tried in England. Here its fate has been no better. I obtained an interview with the Commissioners of THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 131 Colonization in London, and they would cheerfully comply with the recommendation ; but such is the overwhelming distress of the country, and so great the necessity for relief by means of Emigration, that they are fearful of proposing any measure that could by any possibility interfere with its progress, or increase the expenses of the Emigrants. The wishes of the American government were frustrated by the avarice and short-sightedness of the shipowners ; and the wishes of the English commissioners by the difficulties attendant upon the present awful visitations of Providence. " But where governments fail the pestilence succeeds ; the scourge of God has power where the efforts of man are unavailing. The suffering crowds that rush into the Atlantic cities of the United States reward the hospitality they receive with infection. In the " between decks" of the passenger vessel is fostered fever. No skilful hand is there to minister to the sick ; no experienced mind to adopt the preventive means by wnich alone escape from universal death may be effected. Such a state of things cannot continue ; and already many vessels in the port of Liverpool are advertising for Surgeons, and recently several have sailed thus provided. The captains generally are themselves in favour of such a precaution ; it is the shipowners only who have objected. Could the Emigrant be informed upon a subject so nearly connected with his dearest interests he would himself accomplish this desirable purpose, by selecting for his voyage such a vessel only as may be provided with a " doctor," and rejecting all others ; and this has now become his legitimate mode of redress, for other means have failed. " Among the various provisions of the Passenger Act, there exists one of so capricious and incomprehensible a nature, one so inconsistent with all prudence, so utterly at variance with all humanity, that it is impossible to imagine on what grounds such a regulation should have been suggested or adopted. The act of parliament provides that 'All vessels carrying one hundred passengers and upwards 132 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. h and going to all parts of the world (North America excepted. 'J shall carry Surgeons/ " I, sir, have seen the evils I allude to, and personally have gone through the opposition I have related. Without pre- sumption 1 trust that I may assert the imperative necessity of employing Medical officers on board of Emigrant vessels, and the futility of all the objections against the measure. " It remains only to be stated, on the authority of Dr. Sutherland, of Liverpool, and Dr. Carmichael, of Dublin, that Medical men having taken out their diplomas could be procured in abundance in both these cities, at a small salary, for Emigrant vessels. This precludes all difficulty. " I remain, sir, in the earnest hope that shortly this most desirable object may be attained, — Your obedient servant, SARAH MYTTON MAURY. Liverpool, June 17 tk, 1817." I have reason to believe that I am indebted to Mr. Willmer for much exertion in forwarding copies of the European Mail, and inducing his friends and correspondents to insert these Docu- ments. The Morning Chronicle, the Sun, Daily News, Bristol Mirror, Dublin Evening Mail, Newry Telegraph, Liverpool Albion, Journal, Times (I believe) ; and lastly the Liverpool Mer- cury has pursued the point with zeal, and to the Editor of this Paper, John Smith, Esq. and the Editor of the Journal, Michael James Whitty, Esq. I am indebted for the free use of their THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 13.3 columns at all times to advocate this important matter. I believe that many more journals than those I have enumerated, some of them in the interior of England, took up this matter ; but the above mentioned I have seen. Meanwhile the sufferings of the Emigrants as recounted in the daily Papers attracted the notice of Lord John Manners, M.P. for Newark. This nobleman, yet young in years, will render in future times high service to his country : his talents and his eloquence have for their aim that one noblest of all; the happiness and the im- provement of mankind ; and from his high place among the Peers of England he forgets not the Poor and the Neglected. On the subject of Emigrant Mortality in the House of Commons he thus addressed Mr. Hawes. From the London Times of June 20th, 1847- FEVER IN EMIGRANT SHIPS. Lord J. MANNERS wished to put a question to the Under Secretary for the Colonies relative to the disease and mor- tality on board Emigrant ships from Ireland to Canada and the United States. The noble lord read a statement of the 2 M 134 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. number of deaths that had occurred on board different vessels on the passage, and added, that the ships were alleged to be in a most filthy state, unprovided with proper accommoda- tion, and without sufficient supplies of water. He asked whether the Government had received any information with regard to this mortality, and whether any steps had been taken to prevent the recurrence of similar disasters ? Mr. HAWES lamented to say that what the noble lord had stated as to the great mortality on board these ships was unfortunately too true. The Governor-General of Canada had addressed the Colonial-office on the subject, and he would read an extract from the reply immediately forwarded to him by Lord Grey; the noble lord said he was "extremely concerned to hear the account of the state in which passen- gers had arrived in Canada," and instructed the Governor- General to take all the measures best calculated to mitigate their sufferings, by providing increased Medical attendance and greater accommodation, even if, for that purpose, it was necessary to exceed the amount of the vote granted by Par- liament for that attendance. In consequence of these instruc- tions, increased Medical aid would have been furnished, and by the increased activity of the Commissariat Department, he hoped by this time everything had been done to afford relief and prevent any extensive spread of disease. As to the want of accommodation, and the supply of water on board the Emigrant ships, he had not received any specific accounts; but the house was aware that the Government had no direct control over these vessels ; all it could do was to see that the regulations of the Passengers' act were complied with. Lord J. MANNERS asked if any further steps would be taken on this side the water to prevent the evils complained of? Mr. HAWES would not undertake to say that no further measures would be taken ; but by the law as it stood the power of the Government was limited. — The Times, Tuesday, June 29, 1847. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 135 Lord George Bentinck was at that time the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons. After reading the conversation re- ported as above in the Times, I addressed a letter to this nobleman on the subject of Emigrant Surgeons ; and also one to Lord John Manners, of which the following is a copy : — Liverpool, July 5th, 184/. My Lord, I have read with the deepest interest your enquiries from Mr. Hawes on the subject of sick- ness on board the Emigrant Vessels, which are daily committing to the Ocean their Dead, and conveying their Living into the cities of America to spread the pestilence of which they are them- selves the suffering victims. I have seen the consternation which prevailed on board one of these plague ships, when Small Pox was an- nounced among us, and it was not known that we had a Surgeon on board. He was an acci- dental passenger, but charitably took charge of the sick, and did all to save us that our destitute condition admitted of. As a proof of 136 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. the efficacy of such aid our mortality was infinitely less than that of most Emigrant Vessels. My Lord — this Government allows no convict vessel to sail without a Medical officer — but these thousands, these millions who are driven from their country, not by vice, but by famine, are sent on their forlorn mission without a friend to stand between them and death. Does this bear scrutiny ? — Can it in any way be accounted for? On examining the Passenger Act it will be found that by expunging the three words (" North America excepted ") the enactment respecting Medical officers will apply to these Emigrant Vessels as well as to other Ships. (See — An Act for regulating the Carriage of Passengers in Merchant Vessels, 12th Aug. 1842, page 1278. 5. and 6. Victorias, cap 107.) The exception is as incomprehensible as it is inhuman. It needs no entreaty to obtain your Lordship^s aid in the cause of benevolence ; but for myself I THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 137 have to beg your indulgence for the freedom I use in addressing you. I remain, my Lord, very respectfully your obedient servant, Sarah Mytton Maury. The Lord John Manners. Lord George Bentinck, as was evident from his speech, had paid me the compliment of reading my letter with attention, and that he fully agreed with me was evident from his remarks in the House, which will be found in an extract from the London Times in the next page. From Lord John Manners I received the fol- lowing gratifying reply : — London, July 9th, 1847- Madam, I beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of your letter with its interesting information re- specting Emigrant Mortality. The suggestion respecting the attendance of a Surgeon appears to me most valuable, and I shall bring it without 2 m 2 138 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. delay before the notice of the Colonial Office authorities. Humanity owes you a debt for the perseverance and ability with which you have urged the claims of those most unfortunate people on the care of a paternal Government. Pray accept my thanks for that service, And believe me to be, Madam, your faithful servant, John Manners. Mrs. Sarah M. Maury. And three days afterwards I had the happiness of seeing how faithfully the noble writer redeemed the pledge. From the London Times of July 14th, 1847- FEVER IN EMIGRANT SHIPS. Lord J. MANNERS wished to ask whether it was the inten- tion of the Colonial Department to take any steps towards checking the prevalence of fever and other contagious diseases in Emigrant ships ? If it was so, he begged to submit to the hon. gentleman the great desirableness of providing Medical men for every Emigrant ship that left our shores. He had recently an opportunity of having a communication on this subject from a Lady whose name could not be mentioned with- out respect — he meant Mrs. Maury, in which she made various suggestions how the important object of preventing the spread THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 139 of disease in Emigrant ships might be gained, and that com- munication he had brought under the notice of the hon. gentleman. What he wished now to ask was, if Government had taken this subject into consideration, and whether the hon. gentleman could hold out any hope of effectual mea- sures being taken for the future, so that Emigrants leaving this country should not be subjected to those pestilential diseases that had carried away so many of our unfortunate fellow-subjects ? Mr. HA WES could assure the noble lord that Her Majesty's Government attached great importance to the subject that he had just brought under the notice of the house, and he could add that it had not been left unconsidered. With reference to the circumstances to which the noble lord referred, of people going on voyages in a state of disease — a matter to which the respected Lady he had mentioned had directed her attention, — he must say that this year a very large amount of Emigration had taken place, and that the prevalence of disease had very materially added to the mortality on board the Emigrant ships. Additional means had been taken by the local Government of Canada to meet the evils arising from this state of matters, and they had exerted themselves in the most excellent and praiseworthy manner to mitigate the sufferings of those who had arrived in that colony. So far, indeed, as he knew, the Government of Canada had taken every means in their power to meet the calamity ; but with regard to the Government at home sending Surgeons, he was afraid it would be found impracticable. He might fairly assume that 700 Emigrant ships had left the ports of this country and of Ire- land ; and where were Surgeons to be found for all these ships? Her Majesty's Government had believed this to be the real state of the case, but in order to be sure that they had raised up no visionary difficulty, enquiries were made of the highest Medical authorities, to ascertain if a sufficient number of competent Medical persons could be got, and he could state on that authority that it would be almost impossible to find 140 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. Medical men for each of those ships — a number to the extent of nearly 700. Perhaps it might be necessary to consolidate the various acts relating to the conveyance of passengers, and he had intended to bring a comprehensive measure for this object under the consideration of the house, but had no pros- pect of doing so with success during the present session. He might say, however, that betwixt this period and the next session of Parliament he would make anxious enquiries into the subject ; he so thoroughly sympathized with the object which the noble lord had in view, that he would make the most ample and careful enquiries to ascertain whether the practical difficulties experienced at the present moment could not be got over, and some efficient system established to pre- vent the evil complained of. Lord G. BENTINCK was proceeding to make an observa- tion ; but, having been informed by the Speaker that there was no question before the house, the noble lord said he would convey it in the form of a question. He would ask the hon. gentleman whether he did not think it was possible that, instead of GOO surgeons, 6000 * could be got for this purpose ? He would also ask whether the law as it now stood, with re- gard to Surgeons, did not exclude those countries to which the great mass of Emigrants went, viz., the Canadas and the * Refer to the Letters of Drs. Sutherland, Carmichael, Mott and Hosach, pages 114 to 122. The following Extract will show that there are also plenty to be had in America : — "It is stated, that in twenty-six of the prin- cipal Medical Colleges in the United States, four thousand two hundred and sixty-five students attended the lectures during the course of 1845-46, and that of this number, one thousand two hun- dred and fifty-six graduated this year. The ranks of the profession are certainly filling up."— American Paper. Besides, the demand icould create the supply. Surgeons would be educated for the employment, and would thankfully accept of it; — and seek it, both as a means of profit and of improvement. I have great reason to believe that the Measure would afford essential pecuniary relief to the Medical Profession. — Note of Authoress. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 141 United States ? Whether, by some oversight, the general act was made to bear, that, unless a voyage was for more than 12 weeks, no Medical officer was required to go with the ship, and that the act required that if there were more than 100 persons on board a ship it should be supplied with a Medical man ? He would also ask the hon. gentleman, if, even at this period of the session, he could not introduce a short measure to remedy this defect ? Mr. HAWES thought it would be hardly expedient to in- troduce any measure daring the present session. He might state, that the ordinary mortality in Emigrant ships from Liverpool to the North American provinces was one-half per cent. The mortality generally took place on board the ships after they had sailed. If it took place before they left, then steps would be taken to detain those who were ill, and the vessel would not be allowed to go to sea. Mr. WAKLEY was glad the attention of the government had been called to this subject ; but he was surprised to hear the hon. gentleman say that there was difficulty in obtaining 600 or 700 Surgeons. If they were adequately paid for in the service there would be no difficulty in getting the number that was required. (Cries of" order," during which the Speaker said the hon. gentleman was not entitled to make a speech.) Then he would propose a question to the hon. gentleman. (A laugh.) He would ask him if he was aware that a com- munication was made to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in which it was stated that if there was any difficulty in obtain- ing Medical men to attend the hospitals in Ireland, as many Medical men could be sent over from this country on the public service as they could require ; and whether he knew that a letter to this effect was addressed by Mr. Trevelyan to the Lord Lieutenant ? Mr. HAWES said Ireland was not a colony, and that the hon. gentleman should apply for information on that point to the Secretary for Ireland. (A laugh.)— The Times, Wednes- day, July 14, 1847. 142 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. Wishing to prove to Lord John Manners the assurances I possessed both of the necessity and of the feasibleness of the Measure, I now wrote to Mr. Elliot, requesting that gentleman to restore the Papers which had been lying in the Office in Park Street, apparently unexamined. From Mr. Elliot I at once received the Papers (already pre- sented) with the following letter : — 9, Park Street, Westminster, l4thJuhj, 1847. Dear Madam, I return the Papers you were so good as to leave here, and which you now require. The question to which you refer, of employing Surgeons, is undoubtedly a very important one. I ought at the same time to mention to you that we made very anxious enquiries this year among the most eminent Members of the Medical Profession, and found that it would be impossible to command the requisite number of Surgeons. The greater the number of comforts and securities the poor Emigrants can have, without defeating their own object, the better. On the THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 1 43 other hand, I am sure you will agree with me that we must take care that we do not in our efforts for their good compel the poor people to stop at home and die of want. These are the conflicting considerations between which it is necessary for the Legislature to shape its course. I remain, dear Madam, your very faithful servant, T. Fred ic - Elliot. Mrs. Maury. In answer to the objection contained in the foregoing letter, that according to the opinions of the " most eminent Members of the Medical Pro- " fession it would be impossible to command the " requisite number of Surgeons ;" I beg to refer to the letters of Drs. Sutherland, Carmichael, Hosach and Mott, pages 114 to 122. These most eminent Members of the Medical Profession are not anonymous. The former two ridicule the idea of a scarcity, and they are prac- tical men, mingling daily with the younger and poorer Members of the Profession. In reply to the second objection of Mr. Elliot, 144 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. I must be so frank as to say, that it argues but a trivial acquaintance with the overwhelming nature of Emigration to suppose that legislation on such a point as allowing the voyagers Medical aid would check its progress. The Emigrants them- selves would cheerfully contribute, and many carry out large sums of money, the hoards of years of privation, from which a shilling or eighteenpence a head would be liberally con- tributed. Every alien passenger, besides the passage money, is charged 4s 6d (1 dollar,) payable by the Captain to the City of New York. Thus the position of the Commissioner is wholly untenable, If they can and do pay the one tax, they can and will pay the other. In the hurry and agitation of a contested Election, Lord John Manners found time to en- quire into the affair of the Emigrant Surgeons and, accompanied by Henry Cleaver Chap- man, Esq. one of the most eminent shipowners in Liverpool, did me the honour of calling upon me. He assured me of his entire approbation of the cause, and carried away the already presented Papers for examination. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 145 In a few days they were returned with the following approval : — Adelphi Hotel, July 30th, 1847- My Dear Madam, I return the Papers you were good enough to send me, having perused them with great in- terest. They appear to me to establish two main points, — 1st, That Surgeons ought to be attached to Emigrant Vessels; 2nd, That there is a plentiful supply of Surgeons for that purpose. I heartily hope you may succeed in your benevolent object, which, even in an economical point of view, appears right and necessary. Pray believe me, my dear Madam, yours faithfully, John Manners. The interest of Lord John Manners in this cause has not ceased with his visit to Liverpool.* * Liverpool, the most ungrateful of Constituencies, abandoned Lord Sandon, the faithful Representative of sixteen years— to this act they were in some degree impelled by the turbulent 2 N 146 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. In a letter with which he favoured me on the 1st November, 1847, he thus enquires : — " Have you any hope of effective steps being taken to prevent the recurrence of such horrors for the ensuing season ? Under any circum- stances I am sure it will always be a great consolation to you to reflect on the zealous en- deavours you have made to remedy so terrible an evil." And still I hope to profit by his advice and counsel in the furtherance of this Measure, which I rejoice to say, at length, after all its struggles, begins to "look upwards." Two circumstances favourable to its accomplish- ment present themselves ; The first is the retirement, for a term at least, fanaticism of certain preachers of the Gospel. Lord John Manners may rejoice that a Birch and a Cardwell were preferred before him. But it may be possible that Liverpool already repents her choice; her interests are vitally compromised in Peel's Bill of 1844. The opinions of Sir Joseph have not been announced in the House of Commons, and Mr. Cardwell is a nominee of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the Committee on Currency, as a decided supporter, as an already declared adherent of the Bank Act. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 147 of Mr. Stephen* from the office of Clerk of the Colonial Department. And the second is the emancipation of Mr. Hawes from the representation of Lambeth, or of any other place ; and his consequent leisure to attend to the duties of his Office as Under Secretary of the Colonies. This is perhaps the most appropriate place for those Extracts from various English and American Journals (both in the United States, and in the Canadas) which have a reference to the subject : and of which the Details have greatly contributed to the success of the Measure in question. — " The prevalence of disease among the immigrants who have arrived from Europe this session has occasioned me much concern. I have not failed to bring this subject under * In Canada this gentleman's merits are pretty well understood, and the colony is not singular in her appreciation of them. " Mr. Stephen and other visitations of Providence" have concurred to ruin the West Indies, says the sound and too-much-for-lhem "Jacob Omnium" in his letters to the London Times, Oct. 1847. 148 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. the consideration of Her Majesty's Secretary of State, and to represent the necessity of adopting measures to place Emi- gration to this colony under more efficient regulation." — Speech of the Earl of Elgin, Governor- General of the Canadas, to the Parliament assembled at Montreal, July 28th, 1847. " We humbly pray your Majesty that measures may be adopted by your Majesty's Government that Emigrant ships may be large, and airy, that ample space may be allotted to the Emigrants, and that a larger allowance of better food than is now furnished, with sufficient Medical attendance, shali be always provided on board." — Extract from the Address voted by the Canadian Parliament to her Majesty the Queen of England, July, 1847. From Canada our advices extend to the 1 1th inst. from Montreal. An address to the Queen on the subject of Emi- gration, had been unanimously voted by the Canadian Parlia- ment. The address sets forth at length the evils which have resulted this season from the defective system of Emigration, and recommended the adoption of better plans for the future ; and particularly urges the absolute necessity of providing all Emigrant ships with Medical assistance. — The Globe, Thursday, July 29, 1847. The Immigration, and the sickness caused by it is still the subject of grave discussion. For the six weeks previous to the 28th ult. the deaths from fever in Montreal were 2046 against 325 in the corresponding period of 1846. The fever THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 149 has also broken out fearfully amongst the residents. Previous to the crowding of the immigrants, the mortality of the resi- dent population was greatly below that of last year ; but for the fourteen days before the returns were made up, the deaths had averaged 164 per cent, or nearly one in every six of the population. The Montreal Transcript says : — " The mortality and suffering among the Clergy has been very great ; eight gentlemen of the Roman Catholic Seminary, in this city, have fallen victims to their pious zeal in administering the rites of religion to the destitute Emigrants in the sheds. The English Church has to deplore the loss, in this city, of the Rev. Mr. Willoughby, and the Rev. Mr. Chadderton, at Quebec. The whole of the Sisters of the Grey Nunnery, we regret to say, are laid up with illness, contracted in the mission of charity. Nevertheless, adds our informant; the exertions of the Roman Catholic Clergy are unwearied by fatigue and undeterred by danger. The right rev. the bishop of the diocess, and his vicar-general spend alternate nights in watching in that pes- tilential atmosphere over the sick and dying. There never surely was any church which, in the times of most fiery persecution, proved, at the sacrifice of comfort and life, its devotion to religious duty, and what it believed to be religious truth, more signally than does now the Roman Catholic Clergy of Montreal. The immigrants, as will be seen by our list up to the 24th ult. exceeded 56,000, 4000 have since arrived — in all 60,000. Of these the appalling number of 50OO to 6000 have perished on the passage, or since their arrival in this country. The Home Government have much to answer for in not watching over these destitute and helpless ones, and seeing that they were fit for the voyage, and had the requisite accommodations provided for them. The crowding together of such multitudes of weak and diseased people, without Surgeons, or too often, it is to be feared, without Medicine, is a reproach on our country which will not be soon wiped away Montreal Gazette, copied into the London Times, Friday, September 3, 1347. 2 n 2 150 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. On the 13th instant, a fleet of passenger ships arrived at Grosse Isle ; and here is the terrible record of their con- dition: — Vessels. Where from. Passengers Deaths Goliah Liverpool 600 46 Charles Richards Sligo 173 ... 8 Medusa Cork 194 ... 2 Alert Waterford. . . . 234 4 Jordine Liverpool .... 354 . . . 8 Manchester .... » 512 ... 11 Jessie Cork Liverpool .... 437 ... 517 ... 37 Erin's Queen . . 50 Sarah » 248 „ . . 31 Rosanna Cork 254 3 Triton Liverpool .... 433 90 Thistle >> ..... 339 ... 8 Avon Cork 550 ... . 136 Total 4845 . . . . 434 or nearly ten per cent of the whole number. In many of these ill-fated ships the survivors were but just alive. Most of the crew of the Triton, and half the passengers, were down with the fever, and had at once to be removed to the hospitals. The Avon, of Cork, was still worse — a real plague ship. The day before she reached quarantine, the last five or six of her crew, who had borne up against the contagion and feebly worked her along, were brought down, and scarcely one of the passengers was able to help himself to the necessaries of life. On the steam-boats ten, fifteen, twenty, or five and twenty depart in the short voyage of one night between Quebec and Montreal. The mortality does not cease while the disembarkation is proceeding, and in the street the police find the bodies of those who die there. The Catholic Clergy and the nuns alone appear equal to the emergency. — Montreal Herald and Pilot of July, 1847. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 151 Quebec Correspondence of the Montreal Herald. Thursday, June 10. The following is an extract of a letter from Dr. G. M. Douglas, to Mr. Buchanan, for the information of the Mayor: Grosse Isle, Tuesday, 9, a.m. " But out of the 4000 or 5000 that left this since Sunday, at least two thousand will fall sick somewhere, before three weeks are over. They ought to have accommodation for 2000 sick at least, in Montreal and Quebec, as all the Cork and Liverpool passengers are half dead from starvation and want before em- barking ; and the least bowel complaint, which is sure to come with change of food, finishing them without a struggle. I never saw people so indifferent to life. They would con- tinue in the same berth with a dead person until the seamen or captain dragged out the corpse with boat hooks. Yours, &c. G. M. DOUGLAS." Ship and Typhus Fever. — A letter from Dr. Douglas, at the Quarantine Station, Grosse Isle, dated June 18, received in Montreal, gives some idea of the melancholy condition of vessels quarantined here : — The Pursuit, Spence, from Liverpool— the master, mate, and all the men, save one, sick in the hospital — was obliged to send hands from the shore to remove his sick and dead. The Lotus, Watson, from Liverpool — has had some of his sick removed to hospital— expect to land the rest of the sick in a day or two — he had 70 deaths — 12 since her arrival. The Rose, M'Kinlay, from , has nearly 100 sick — lost 14 the day of his arrival, and 7 the day after — total deaths nearly 80. The Lady Flora Hastings, from Cork — passengers landed, except the sick, 72— who are still on board— has buried 60. The ship Sobraon, Wilson, from Liverpool — has about 60 sick— buried 35— has a Medical man on board, who attends to the sick. 152 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. The Jessie, Gorman, from Limerick— sick, 45, still on board — mate and ten of the crew ill — buried 30 of his pas- sengers. — New York Courier and Enquirer, June 30th, 1847. The following vessels also have been grievous sufferers : — Apollo, Avon, Sisters, Agnes, Wadsworth, Jane Black, Virginius. The New York papers received by the Caledonia furnish a report from the Academy of Medicine, of that city, regarding the prevailing ship fever introduced by the Irish Emigrants, and which had been a subject of general alarm. The statis- tics obtained show that up to the present time the fever in question has been confined almost entirely to Emigrants, and particularly to those arriving from Ireland, " to whose un- happy condition at home, and the criminal negligence of those engaged in transporting them to America," the evil is mainly to be attributed. It appears that no less than 84,218 steerage or Emigrant passengers arrived at New York during the first six months of the present year, of whom 74,428 have been landed since the 1st of April, giving a monthly average since the latter date of nearly 25,000. Looking at the condition of filth, raggedness, and starvation in which a large proportion of these people were taken on shipboard, the Committee express surprise that the ravages of disease have been kept within the limits which have been ascertained ; in some cases more than 500 having been received into the steerage of one vessel. In a British ship, the Ceylon, which the Committee inspected, they found 257 passengers huddled together in the steerage, 30 of their fellow-voyagers having died on the passage, and THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 153 115 of these survivors being in a condition which rendered it necessary that they should immediately be removed to the Quarantine Hospital. The circumstance of the ship Loos- thauk, from Liverpool to Quebec, having been obliged to put in in distress, enabled the New York Committee to arrive also at the inference that vessels have reached our colonial ports on the American continent with their human freight in a still worse condition, since this ship was ascertained to have had, on leaving England, 349 steerage passengers, of whom 117 had died on the passage, while only 20 persons on board had escaped disease. Five Emigrant vessels, it is also alleged, had arrived at Quebec about the middle of June, having lost at sea, no less in all than 275 of their passengers. The returns made to the health officer at New York show an aggregate of 957 deaths at sea on board of vessels coming from Euro- pean ports, and likewise that three-fourths of the number admitted into the Quarantine Hospital (most of them Irish) have been taken from British vessels. The causes of the ca- lamity, therefore, seem thus to be brought home to the gross neglect of everything like humane precaution on this side. — London Times, July 31st, 1847. AFFAIRS IN CANADA. (From the Montreal Herald, Nov. 1 1 J The manner in which the exportation of wretched creatures from Ireland has been pushed to the very extreme of the season, has filled up the full measure of disgust felt through- out Canada, at the shameful disregard of the most sacred obligations, which can alone account for the non-interference of the authorities at home. So late as the 30th of October, the " Lord Ashburton" ar- rived at Grosse Isle with a cargo of 475 Emigrants, of whom no 154 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. less than 107 had died on the voyage. Sixty more were sick, and on board the steamer to which the passengers were trans- ferred five deaths occurred between the quarantine ground and Quebec. Many of the passengers by this vessel have since arrived in Montreal, and have the most wretched ap- pearance. This vessel was from the West of Ireland, and a large portion of the passengers are said to be from Lord Palmerston's estates. What they are to do here this winter it is impossible to say ; there seems to be no other resource for them than public charity. Had it not been that the pre- sent season is unusually mild, there is great reason to believe that few of them would have escaped death from the cold in the Gulf. Up to this time, however, the weather has con- tinued fine and open ; and they have escaped one danger, only to fall, in too many instances, by the stroke of fever. Yes- terday, the 10th of November, yet another Emigrant ship reached Quebec, from Sligo. The mortality has been that of an army ; on the passage 3900; at Grosse Isle 3452; in ships at Quarantine 1282; at the Marine Hospital, Quebec, 1000; making 9634; and this fearful account does not include the deaths at the Sheds and Hospital in Montreal, Kingston, Toronto, Bytown, and Hamilton, or those which have occurred unnoticed and un- known by the way side, and in the small taverns of the country. Emigration to Canada. — The following is an extract from a letter dated on board the ship Royal Albert, Quebec, July 11, received by the Caledonia: — "We are living on board, because it is the coolest and safest. Upwards of 100 persons died here yesterday, and the awful scenes that have occurred on board the different ships during their voyages out baffle description. Our ship was fortunate, we having had no sickness but sea illness, and consequently were detained but one day in quarantine; that day T shall never forget. THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 155 Grosse Island, where quarantine is performed, is a beautiful place ; on it are now three stations ; one, and the most re- markable, but melancholy, is an enormous camp, or rather canvass city of the dead and dying, for under these tents lie 1717, at the moment I write this, so bad that there is no hope for them. The second station consists of temporary hospitals, all crowded, and the third of the huts of the Medi- cal men in attendance, sheds for washing, &c. for washing and purifying clothes, and which are also inhabited by the convalescent. Medical men, appointed by the Government, boarded our ship twice, and obliged us to wash her well inside and out, and to whitewash the after berths. The ship that lies next to ours threw 40 dead overboard on the voyage, and has now nearly 20 dead on board. The ship the Two Sisters lost upwards of 100 during the passage out. All the Emigrant shipping have yellow flags flying, denoting fever and the black small pox (so called here) on board, and what is worse, it has spread inland, and about here and up to Montreal the people are dying like rotten sheep. The heat is now very great — from 92 to 100 in the shade." Deaths ey Ship Fever — We mentioned the other day that the death roll of the persons who died by ship fever at Grosse Isle, below Quebec, during the past season, was thirty four feet in length. We have since learned that the number of deaths was nine thousand. — Journal of Commerce, Nov. 2nd, 1847. Mortality of the Emigrants. — The following statement is from the Quebec Chronicle. It shows, first, the deaths at Grosse Isle for each week in the season, and adding the deaths in the vessels during the voyage, and while in quaran - 156 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. tine, and those in the Marine Hospital, it gives the fearful number of 9634, at and below Quebec : — First week, 1 ; 2nd, 16; 3rd, 71 ; 4th, 119; 5th, 155; 6th, 202; 7th, 156; 8th, 144; 9th, 165; 10th, 171; 11th, 197; 12th, 188 ; 13th, 220; 14th, 322; 15th, 288; 16th, 256; 17th, 191; 18th, 143; 19th, 133; 20th, 121 ; 21st, 86; 22nd, 61; 23rd, 33 ; 24th, 14. Making a total of 3453 Add to which the deaths on the passage to this date 3000 Ditto, in vessels during detention at Quarantine . 2182 Ditto, at Marine Hospital, say 1000 6182 Making a grand total of 9635 — London Times, Dec. 2nd, 1847. (From the N. O. Com. Bull, of Nov. 10J Ship Fever. — A gentleman has called to state to us, the terrible situation of the British ship Mertoun, Captain Hamil- ton, that arrived on Monday evening, with 250 passengers from Liverpool. The ship fever prevails to a great extent on board, and seventeen have died of it since she entered the river. Seven dead bodies were on board yesterday afternoon, and in consequence of some misunderstanding about the removal of them ashore for burial, they would remain on board all night. We understand that the ship is in a most offensive con- dition. (From the Montreal Pilot, Sept. ll.J We are happy to say that the mortality at the Emigrant sheds is abated, still the diminution is nearly as much attri- THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 157 butable to want of material on which to work as to a general improvement of health. The inmates of the hospitals are now a little over 1,000; the daily rate of mortality varies from 12 to 24. Would we could congratulate the country that proper measures had been taken to provide for the misery and destitution which, superadded to the ravages of disease, are to be apprehended in the ensuing winter! But we hear of no such timely provision, and what is to be the fate of our un- fortunate countrymen who have betaken themselves to our land to relieve themselves from the miseries entailed on them by injustice and oppression at home, God only knows ! Surely, on our Executive a serious responsibility rests ; and, if they have not in a voice of thunder demanded from the British Government the means of support for those poor creatures who have been thus unfeelingly cast forth unpro- vided to " bide the pelting of the pitiless storm," they have committed a crime to which their former misdeeds are as "dust in the balance." We do hope that this neglect of a sacred duty is not to be added to the black catalogue of their offences." We confess that we are unphilosophical enough to care more for the evils that may befall so many of our own coun- trymen, than for all the interesting races of Africa. It is in behalf, then, of our own blood and lineage — of persons con- nected by many ties with families still living among us— of the humble and enterprising who go forth to seek that reward for their honest toil which is denied them here — that we appeal to the public against the neglect of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, whom we hold responsible for their agents. —London Times, September 22, 1846. The horrors of the middle passage have been repeated in the latitudes of civilization, humanity, and health. No 2 o 158 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. slave-deck ever beheld more frightful catastrophes than have been, and are at this moment, in progress on board vessels passing from port to port of the British empire. Many thousands of poor creatures who have been lingering for months on the verge of starvation, on being cooped up in small vessels, and put on a more nutritious or at least a more concentrated diet — carrying, too, with them from their homes the seeds of disease, have only found in the Atlantic that grave which death was not quite certain to procure for them on their own soil. The consideration that it may have to give account for terrible catastrophes should inspire the Legis- lature to take every possible precaution that the account may be clear, and that it may not be found trifling with the lives of the many for such a base reason as the pecuniary convenience of a few. Among other posthumous fruits of the session, the Report of the Select Committee of the House of Lords on Coloniza- tion from Ireland is not the least important. Its interest is painfully aggravated by the circumstances under which it sees the light. — — — We cannot find anything worthy to be called the proposal of the Emigration Committee of 1847. We will not say that the conclusion is lame and im- potent, because it certainly does contain some sound gene- ralities ; but we will say that the committee have left the practical solution of an enquiry undertaken with more than ordinary eagerness, to more able, more resolute, more fearless, and perhaps we should add, more single-minded men.— London Times, August 7th, 1847. A person in an evening party will sometimes propose a question which puzzles the merry circle for a long time, but to which it is at last discovered that no one in the room, pro- poser included, can furnish an answer. We believe that our excellent county member, man of business as he is, would THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 159 puzzle all his elder brethren in the House of Commons, nor could he, being a junior among them, assist them out of the maze, if he were to ask for the reason upon which the " ex- ception" in the following clause in the Passengers' Act is founded : — " All vessels carrying one hundred passengers and upwards, and going to all parts of the world (North America excepted \) shall carry Surgeons." That is to say, that Emi- grant vessels, except all the principal Emigrant vessels, shall be provided with aid against the ravages of disease or the dire effects of accidents ; and, therefore, the great bulk of Emigrants from the United Kingdom may perish, or other- wise, just as it happens. Now, we defy the legislative wis- dom of Parliament to find a reason (we use the word em- phatically) for this exception. It is a naked, glaring, mon- strous absurdity, of which no pothouse club would be guilty. The ship Loosthauk was mentioned in our last paper: she sailed from this port for Quebec with 329 passengers, but she put into Miramichi in distress, having lost about 140 passen- gers during the passage, from disease ; another hundred were expected never to reach Quebec, and all the crew were afflicted except four. Query : Was there a Surgeon on board ? or had the speculators in the voyage saved fifteen pence a head on the run, (for that sum would command a Surgeon,) by availing themselves of the "North America excepted?" Is such a barbarism of law to be continued for a single week longer? We have another sapient exception to notice in our next. — Liverpool Mercury, July 2nd, 1847. SURGEONS IN EMIGRANT SHIPS. The exceptional and very exceptionable Act of Parliament, which, though wisely compelling the carriers of Emigrants to take a Surgeon, in any vessel with more than a hundred pas- 160 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. sengers on board, except those which ply to North America ! was pretty well exposed, to the infinite credit of the " Collec- tive Wisdom," in our paper of the 2nd inst. What we then said is rendered still more deplorably applicable to the mis- chievousness of such legislation, by the frequent occurrence of Small Pox among passengers at sea. We rejoice to hear that, though the law is yet defective, the fashion is beginning to prevail of taking Surgeons on board of Emigrant vessels. We are assured that the effect of our repeated articles on the subject, and of Mrs. Maury's advocacy of so proper a measure, has already induced ship- owners and charterers to employ surgeons, finding that pas- sengers had learnt, from the details and arguments we had adduced, to make that a sine qua non in choosing vessels in which to Emigrate. This is as it should be ; and many valu- able lives will be saved by these means. But the subject must not be allowed to sleep; the law must be adapted to the good policy of the case; and we have pleasure, therefore, in inserting in our paper to-day a note from Mrs. Maury, in order to keep the matter alive. — Liverpool Mercury, July 28th, 1847. SURGEONS IN SHIPS. To the EDITORS of the LIVERPOOL MERCURY. Gentlemen, — Permit me, through your columns, to con- vey to the gentlemen connected with the press my acknow- ledgments for their zealous advocacy of Surgeons for Emigrant vessels. The colonial department had been appealed to, in vain, for two years. The press, in one month, has effected this measure of mercy. It is a source of much gratification to find that hitherto THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 161 no difficulties have occurred in obtaining Surgeons on the shortest notice. Renewing the expression of my earnest and unceasing gratitude, 1 remain, Gentlemen, Yours obediently, SARAH MYTTON MAURY. Liverpool, August 19, 1847. — Liverpool Mercury, August 20th, 1847. In the letter which is subjoined to these Ex- tracts, I have endeavoured to express my obliga- tions to the Press and also to describe, in as few words as possible, the present highly satisfactory position of the "Emigrant Surgeons." I have the further satisfaction of copying the following from the New York Courier and in- quirer : — Emigrant Passenger Ships. — The Law Committee of the Common Council leave for Washington this morning, with the memorial, asking the action of Congress with reference to Emigrant Passenger Vessels, compelling the owners to pro- vide comfortable and suitable accommodations, and to limit the number of passengers, and further to provide a physician for each vessel. The memorial, w 7 hich is very numerously signed, is backed by an array of the most startling facts, ex- hibiting instances of hardship and cruelty towards the unfor- tunate Emigrants, almost too great for credibility. Nor is the interposition of Congress required in their behalf alone, 2 o 2 162 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. but for the protection of this City, which is annually called on to support thousands of paupers who are shipped here in the most deplorable and destitute condition ; at the present moment our Alms House is actually overflowing with them, while at the Quarantine, there are so many sick Emigrants, there is absolutely no room for the unfortunate sailors who have a right to entrance there. The attention of our represen- tatives is specially asked to this subject, as well in the me- morial, as in the resolution adopted by the Common Council, and specially transmitted to them. Also, in the New York Journal of Commerce, there occurs the following paragraph : — Mr. Livingston has brought into our Common Council a memorial to Congress, praying that there may be more thorough regulation in regard to Emigrants, and that ships carrying Emigrants may be compelled to have a Surgeon on board. We believe it received the indorsement of both Boards without hesitation. — Journal of Commerce. Moreover, I find in the letter of the London Correspondent of the same highly respectable Paper, the following remarks, which evidently were written upon the strength of the conversa- tion which took place in the House of Commons, on the 14th July, 1847 :— London, July 19M, 1847. A question has been put in the Commons, whether the government would appoint a Medical Officer to every Emi- grant ship. It was replied that there would be great difficulty THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 163 in procuring six or seven hundred* competent Medical men, periodically to undertake such duties, but no vessel will be allowed to sail if contagious disease should manifest itself. Lord George Bentinck was for introducing a short bill to make it imperative upon every Emigrant vessel, going to the United States or Canada, to carry a Surgeon of character, but the government pleaded the lateness of the session, and were therefore excused. Next Parliament some such measure will become law Journal of Commerce, Aug. 7, 1847. I am in hopes that these extracts from two of the leading Journals of New York, may produce a stronger impression than the objections of the Honourable Joseph Grenelle, or of " one David Hale," and his friend, the M.D. Apothecary, Thomas Ritter. Should the Emigrant Surgeons become a Government Regulation, it would be easily en- forced ; for the Government Agent has only to examine the Diploma, when ascertaining if the other regulations are complied with. Or the law might be enforced by the aid of the Custom House Officers, or of the Consuls in the respec- * That this is an exaggerated estimate is evident from various reasons. 1 64 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. tive ports. In fact, " where there is a will, there is a way." The following arrangement is highly satisfactory : By the late amended Passenger Act, all vessels carrying passengers are subject to a special survey, without reference to Lloyd's list, and a Surveyor of Shipping specially ap- pointed. So in this particular there can be no evasion. — Note from Lieut. Hodder, R.N. By this regulation the Roscius and another American packet were put to a great expense about a year and a half ago, on account of their extreme fllthiness. For the following extract I am indebted to my able young friend Richard Lowndes, Esq. of Liverpool. It may be useful to Underwriters and Shipowners, as exemplifying the legal results attending a Trial for Insurance, upon which the deficiency of Medical appliances was brought to bear. In the case of Wolfe v. Claggen, 3 Espinasse, 257. A ship had been insured for the voyage from Altona to Surinam, and was lost on the voyage. The Underwriters refused payment, on the ground that the ship had made a THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 165 deviation,— she having put into Plymouth, out of the course of the voyage, and remained there fourteen days. The answer on the part of the assured was ; that the Captain was taken ill with a severe fit of the gravel, and that the Mate having pricked his finger by accident, his hand and arm swelled to such a degree as to render him incapable of doing his duty, and that they had put into Plymouth for the purpose of procuring Medical assistance. These facts, as to the Captain and Mate's illness, and their application to a Surgeon, were proved ; but it also appeared on cross-examination, that the Surgeon of the ship was unprovided with proper instru- ments and medicines. Lord Eldon said, " he was of opinion that, if by the visitation of God so many of the crew, who would otherwise have been sufficient, became so afflicted with sickness, as to be incapable of navigating the ship, such* an illness of the crew was a necessity which might justify a deviation: but when it was set up as a justification of a deviation, he thought it incumbent on the Plaintiff to shew, that he had so far provided against such events by every proper precaution, such as having medicines for the voyage, as much as he was bound with respect to the tightness of the ship. It was in evi- dence that a Surgeon was necessary in such voyages ; if, therefore, sickness was to be set up as an excuse for devia- tion, the Plaintiff should shew that the Surgeon was pro- vided with such medicines and instruments as would pro- bably become necessary in the course of the voyage, to meet the common casualties of the mariners." He was also of opinion, " that the necessity for going into port ought to be made out by the Plaintiff beyond all possibility of doubt, and that it arose and existed without any default of the master or party insuring ; and if they came in for Medical aid, he should expect Medical men to be called, to prove that such necessity existed. That had not been done in the case then before him, and the Plaintiff must be nonsuited." — Extract from Park on Insurance, pp. 643, fi44, 8th Edition. 166 THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. No sooner had the attention of the Shipowners in Liverpool been awakened through the medium of the Press, to the sufferings endured on board their vessels, than many of these gentlemen in- stantly made arrangements for the provision of Surgeons. Messrs. Chapman, Bowman and Co. were the first to come forward. Early in July, I received a note from H. C. Chapman, Esq. of that firm, " entirely co-inciding in the necessity of the Measure, and urging that the subject should be pressed on Government." The fact that Messrs. Chapman, Bowman and Co. had enforced the regulation, I immediately communicated to the Editor of the Albion, in the following letter : — SURGEONS IN EMIGRANT SHIPS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE ALBION. Sir — Will you permit me to call your attention to a matter which is now extensively occupying the consideration of a large portion of the press and of the public in this country. I allude to the nscessity of providing Medical aid in Passenger vessels conveying Emigrants to North America. I have the gratification to say that, after many efforts, I have at length received the most positive assurance, from a very distinguished personage, that the Government will ultimately provide ar- rangements for carrying out this measure. But it is a source of great satisfaction that they have already been anticipated by Messrs. Chapman, Bowman and Co. of Liverpool, who are the THE EMIGRANT SURGEONS' BILL. 167 owners of a line of packet ships, and who have imperatively- enforced the regulation by an advertisement, that no vessel of theirs shall sail without a Surgeon. The first step taken, all other shipowners and shipmasters must follow the benevo- lent example of these gentlemen. By the aid of the Press I am in hopes that the knowledge of this arrangement may be extensively communicated to the Emigrants themselves, who will thus know how to profit by the assistance and protection afforded to them on their passage. No measure will tend more fully to induce the people of America to receive without distrust the afflicted cargoes of human sufferers which art 1 daily landed on their shores. Requesting your indulgence for the freedom I use, and anxiously requesting your kindly aid in furtherance of this measure, I remain, Sir, very re- spectfully, yours, SARAH MYTTON MAURY. — Liverpool Albion. NEW YORK PACKET SHIPS. Ajk