YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

AMERICA.

AND THE

AMERICAN PEOPLE.

BY

FREDERICK VON RAUMER,
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN, &C. &C.

'If we compare the present condition of our Union with its actual state at the close of the
Revolution, the history of the world furnishes no example of a progress in improvement, in
all the important circumstances which constitute the happiness of a nation, which bears
any resemblance to it." — Monroe, Seventh Message.

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN ET
WILLIAM W. TURNER.

NEW YORK:
J. & H. G. LANGLEY, S ASTOR HOUSE.

MDCCCXLVI.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by
J. & H. G. LANGLEY,
in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New York.

S. W. BENEDICT, PRINTER,
16 Spruce street, New York.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

This work of Baron von Raumer which has been recently pub
lished in Germany, although in good part of a didactic nature,
will not it is thought be without interest for the American pub
lic, on account of the reputation which this veteran historian has
already acquired, the almost personal concernment of the topics
he discusses to every American citizen, and the candid and
kindly spirit in which he writes. His opinions on the whole
respecting the institutions, the past history, and the future pros
pects of this country, are in the highest degree favorable ; and
whenever he allows himself to find fault, which is but seldom,
he does it with evident reluctance, and with the air of a friend
whose admonitions are wholesome, and not with the bitterness
of an enemy. The comparisons too, which he makes between
many of the American institutions and the corresponding insti
tutions of Europe, will be found useful and instructive. One
virtue of his will not be the less esteemed on account of its rarity
among writers in this country ; and that is, that he has at least
endeavored to make himself well acquainted with what he has
undertaken to write about. He has also shown great and com
mendable carefulness in every instance, not to violate the privi
leges of a guest by exposing to the world the confidences of
private and social intercourse, — a proceeding which some writers
on both sides of the water might imitate with advantage.
The Author has made numerous quotations from American
works ; and these I have compared with the originals, wherever
I could have access to them. The delay occasioned by these
verifications has unavoidably caused the publication to be post
poned somewhat beyond the expected time. I observed in the
course of making them, that the Author had occasionally fallen
into slight errors in the hurry of copying ; these, where I have
noticed them, I have silently corrected. In every other respect, I
have endeavored, as in duty bound, to faithfully render the

iv translator's preface.
Author's meaning, whatever maybe the statements or sentiments
he puts forth ; which of course does not involve an endorsement
of every thing contained in the book. Indeed I have often felt
inclined to add a correcting or explanatory note, but in general
have refrained from every thing of the kind t because want of
time would not have permitted me to do it except in a very par
tial degree ; and because, as the Germans would say, it is rather
the subjectivity than the objectivity of the book that will claim
the attention of readers in this country. Americans will not
resort to a work of this kind, written by a foreigner, and which
treats of such a variety of delicate and difficult topics, to obtain
minute information on matters of fact. What they will feel
curious to know is, what are the opinions of an intelligent and
well informed man, placed by circumstances beyond the reach
of local passions and prejudices, on the various topics that have
long agitated and continue to agitate the national mind.
Although the Author's anxiety not to decide on hasty or one
sided grounds, but to do justice to all the valid arguments
advanced on either side, may sometimes give him an appearance
of wavering, it will be found that the principles of the widest
liberty are every where adopted as his own. The opinions which
he thus expresses are not without their value in another point of
view, for those whose sympathies are not confined within the
physical boundaries of their own country ; for they show us what
are the thoughts and aspirations that now engage the minds of
the foremost men among our German brethren. The cheering
sun of liberty is now scattering its effulgent beams over all the
habitations of men. And as the nations turn towards its divine
light, and bless its genial life-restoring warmth) they laugh the
scowling despots to scorn, who would persuade them it is but
a scorching and devouring flame. The Anglo-Saxon offshoot
of the great northern family of nations has long basked and
thriven in this sunshine of the soul. The glistening eyes of
Germans and Scandinavians look upon the success and happi
ness of their more fortunate kinsmen with feelings, not of envy,
but of honest pride and emulation. They too are resolved to
share these high privileges. Already they buckle on their armor
for the field ; the notes of preparation sweeping across the Atlan
tic already meet our ears; nay, already the combat with the
powers of tyranny and superstition has begun, — and who can
doubt of a glorious victory at last ? Lord, hasten the day !
W. W. T.
New York, November, 1845.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

In the course of my historical labors 1 have been led from ancient to
mediaeval, and lastly to modern, the most modern history of all. Here
the French Revolution is usually designated by its admirers, as the
highest point of human development ; while it is condemned by its
opponents, as an incontrovertible proof of human folly and sinfulness.
To the former, any further progress beyond what has been attained seems
scarcely possible ; the latter despair of the future altogether. Neither
of these views satisfied me in the least ; and the more I desired to
become acquainted with the actual present and the probable future of
mankind, the more I became convinced that this latter was by no means
to be sought in Europe alone, and that amid the splendors and horrors
of the French Revolution the Germano-American one had been too
much overlooked.
Eager for information, I took up in succession a great number of books
of travels. But what for the most part were the representations I en
countered ? A country of late origin and in every respect more imper
fect than the other parts of the world, an unhealthy climate, infectious
diseases, a dead level of democracy originating in a lawless and villanous
rebellion, a presumptuous rejection of all the natural distinctions of soci
ety, together with shameful ill-treatment of the negroes and Indians.
Politics every where a prey to party spirit ; religion split up into a mul
titude of sects ; indifference to science and art, an immoderate worship
of Mammon, an eager striving after material advancement with a neglect
of the spiritual and the amiable ; nowhere truth and faith, nowhere the
amenities of refined social existence ; a total want of history and of
great poetical recollections, &c. &c.
Can it be wondered at, when a well-informed writer angrily exclaims :
" I have read nearly all the statements of travellers in the United States
for the last thirty years ; and it has filled me with astonishment that
1*

VI

such a mass of contradiction and absurdity could have been produced on
any given subject."* Since 1786, remarked John Jay, I have found
scarcely six foreign travellers that knew any thing of America ;|— and
this number, adds a skilful reviewer, is still too high !
Yet in spite of this censure, and of these leaders or misleaders, my
longing to behold the youthful present of this remarkable country increas
ed, and with it my desire to hear true prophets discourse of a brilliant
future. Still I was often told plumply and plainly by Americans
(although I had carefully prepared myself and used every exertion to
become a diligent learner), that " no foreigner could accurately judge or
properly describe any thing American." Declarations of this kind ren
dered me more and more sensible of the magnitude and difficulty of my
undertaking, and urged me to redoubled scientific exertions ; but they
could not wholly discourage me. In the first place, because it can
scarcely be denied, that the native who always stays at home very
easily becomes partial in his views ; that travelling, on the contrary,
widens and clears up the intellectual horizon. J It is not until a man
has one or more times left his native land, that he can thoroughly com
prehend both that and foreign countries. Again, when native-born Ame
ricans, as is very natural, entertain different opinions on a host of topics,
a traveller must also be allowed to adopt the views of one or the other.
Lastly, so long as they are praised, most Americans do not require either
a long residence or native birth ; it is only when this is intermingled
with blame, that complaints are almost invariably heard of prejudice,
ignorance, difficulty of understanding the American character, too short
a stay, &c. &c.
It is true nevertheless, that the observer very seldom places himself
at the proper point of view for America ; hence it results that even well-
wishers have frequently regarded things in a crooked, distorted, false light.
Scattered and trivial anecdotes hastily caught up, have been used to
characterize and even to depreciate an entire people ; and observations
made in rail-cars, steam-boats, and hotels, have often been the only
sources of confident representations. In their zeal against undeniable
and unpleasant trifles, they fail to see any thing of the great and unparal
leled historical phenomena offered to their view ; they find fault with all
that differs from what they have been accustomed to at home ; sigh after
kings, courts, nobles, soldiers, orders, titles, an established church, rights
* Hinton, Topography, ii. 412.
t American Review, xvi. 281.— The witty Clockmaker says, in his peculiar way
(p. 39) : "Wishy-washy trash they call tours, sketches, travels, letters, and what
not— vapid stuff, just sweet enough to catch flies, cockroaches, and hall-fledged
gulls." } 0 wad some Power the giftie gie us,
To see oursels as others see us ! — Buens.

author's preface. vii
of primogeniture, and the like ; look for routs, soirees, and perfumed fine
gentlemen and dandies in the western wilds ; and reproach the Americans
with all sorts of defects (of which they themselves have long been aware),
without ever undertaking to show how they should be treated and
removed. Perhaps I too would have fallen into the like errors, had I not been
supported and instructed in the most obliging and courteous manner by
the best informed men in every department of life. For this I here pub
licly render them my most sincere and heartfelt thanks : and if I do not
name every individual among my instructors and friends, or mention
every obliging act, every instructive and pleasant companionship which I
enjoyed, it is by no means owing to lack of feeling, but because I must
fear that repetitions, accruing on every page, would weary even the
kindest reader. On this account I have printed only fragments from the
Letters written during my tour, by way of addenda to the book. They
have a personal although not an objective truth, and exhibit the first
impressions of the moment. The demand, that I should have delineated
more sharply, have written with greater piquancy, and not have shunned
even the violence or offensiveness of caricature, is one to fulfil which
would be foreign to my nature. If, notwithstanding, I have fallen into
this fault against my will, I beg that it may be forgiven, and that the
errors (which in a book of such varied contents are unavoidable, in spite
of the most careful endeavors) may be kindly excused. As for the rest,
the moderate compass of my book will show that I have not even desired
to touch upon every topic, much less could I exhaust them.
But many will probably object, as they often have done before, that I
am obnoxious to a much severer censure, and am devoid of gratitude
and feeling ; because I do not see the whole truth in one extreme, but
endeavor to penetrate to the centre from which life and motion radiate
on every side. Extremes however — as in the vibrations of a pendu
lum — show only the points of stoppage and return ; and it is not from
them that the force which impels in both directions proceeds. Cer
tainly Aristotle never intended by his energy of being, thinking, and
feeling, to signify a mere negation ; his energic medium was no stupid
letting of oneself down between two stools, — a line of conduct which
no man can praise or recommend who retains the use of his five senses.
Should my book reach America, I request my readers there not to
forget, that it is especially intended for Germany, and can offer nothing
new to the well informed inhabitants of the United States. On that
account I was obliged, among other things, to give a summary of the
constitutions and a somewhat lengthy historical introduction. The lat
ter was rendered necessary by the fact that in Europe many imagine

viii author's preface.
that the great confederation grew out of a rebellion, and consequently
can never enjoy a sound existence or bear wholesome fruit.
The peculiarities of Europe cannot be indiscriminately imitated in
North America, nor those of North America in Europe. Excellences
as well as defects may serve for mutual instruction and improvement.
Many at home had prophesied to me, that when I returned from the
United States, I should be cured of all favorable prejudices, and bring
with me an unfavorable opinion of the country and the people. How
differently has it turned out ! All the trifling disagreeablenesses of the
journey have utterly lost their importance ; while the truly great and
wonderful phenomena and facts still remain like the sun-lighted peaks of
the Alps, in full splendor before my eyes.
But in proportion to the depth and sincerity of this my love and
admiration, I feel it to be my sacred duty not to dissemble or cloak the
dark side of the picture. In the censures I have uttered, regardless of
consequences, yet according to the best of my knowledge and belief,
there will be found expressed at the same time the wish for improve
ment, and faith in the possibility of such improvement.
While there is but little hope of a new and more extended develop
ment of humanity in Asia and Africa, how sickly do many parts of
Europe appear ! If we were forced to despair too of the future pro
gress of the Germanic race in America, whither could we turn our eyes
for deliverance, except to a new and direct creation from the hand of
the Almighty!

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
NATURAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY. PAGE.
Age of the American Continent— Its Extent— Seas and Lakes— Mountains— Rivers— Climate-
Mineral and Vegetable Kingdoms— Prairies— Agriculture  13
CHAPTER II.
DISCOVERIES AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
Travellers and Discoverers— Virginia— Maryland— New England— Carolina— New York— New
Jersey— Pennsylvania— Georgia— Delaware— General state of tilings - 22
CHAPTER III.
THE WAR TO 1763 fc - - 2ft
CHAPTER IV.
FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
State of affairs after the War — Commerce and Duties— Right of Taxation — Stamp Act— Reso1-
hitions in America— Effect in England, and Counsels there adopted — Views and Principles
— Question of Right — State of Fact— Abolition of the Stamp Act— Hopes and Fears — New '
Taxes— Duty on Tea — Tea cast into the Sea — Proceedings against Boston — New Movements
—First Congress— Resolutions of the Congress — Parliament, Chatham— Lord North's Propo
sals — Burke s Proposals — Beginning of the War — Declaration of Independence— Reflections 31.
CHAPTER V.
FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE TO THE WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND PRANCE.
Necessity of the War — Washington — Capture of Burgoync— France and America — War
between France and England -  - 52
CHAPTER VI.
FROM THE BREAKING OUT OF THE WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND TO THE PEACE OF
VERSAILLES.
Views in England — Chatham's Death— Disasters of the Americans — Paper Money— Rocham-
beau, Arnold, Andre— Capture of Comwallis — Treaties of Peace— ^-Results - - - - 62
CHAPTER VII.
FRO?I THE PEACE OF VERSAILLES TO THE ADOPTION OF THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
Loyalists — Consequences of the War — The Army— Washington's Departure — First Constitu
tion 0/ 1778— New Constitution— Washington President - - . 67
CHAPTER VIII.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION OF 1787.
Representatives and Senators— Eights of Congress— The Presidenfc^The Judicial Power-
General Regulations - * 72
CHAPTER IX.
THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE sevERAL STATES.
The Territories. - - - 76
CHAPTER X.
THE PRESIDENTSHIP OF WASHINGTON AND OF JOHN ADAMS.
Washington's Presidentship — The French Revolution— Genet— Foreign Relations— Washing
ton's Farewell— Washington's Death— John Adams— Dispute with France— Alien and Sedi

tion Bills

80

X CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI.
THOMAS JEFFERSON. PAGE .
Birth— Descent, and Education— Declaration of Independence— Jefferson in Paris— Jefferson
President— Jefferson on the Freedom of the Press— Jefferson on Christianity— Jefferson on
Plato— Federalists and Republicans— Jefferson's Principles— Jefferson on Slavery— Jefferson
on Political Union— Jefferson's Administration— Jefferson's Message— Louisiana— Contest ,
with the Maritime Powers— Jefferson's Private Life— Jefferson, Adams, and Washington-
Jefferson's Death— Jefferson's Fame - - - - 87
CHAPTER XII.
THE RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
Slavery in general— Justification of Slavery— Aristotle — Hobbes— Races of Men — Negroes, Mu-
lattoes, Quadroons— Mind and Morals of Negroes — History of Slavery — Arguments for and
against Slavery— Condition of the Slaves— Madison's and Jefferson's Slaves— Ills of Slavery —
Backward condition of the Slave States — Liberia — St. Domingo — Abolitionists — Channing—
Laws of the States — Abolitionists — Emancipation, Indemnification— Jefferson's Views — Partial
Emancipation — Defence of the Colored Men— Antilles— Arguments in favor of the Slave States
— Congress — Missouri and Columbia — Internal Slave Trade — Manumissions — Labor of Whites
and Blacks — Ascription to the Soil — Subjection to Tribute — Dangers and Prospects - 109
CHAPTER XIII.
THE INDIANS.
Nature and Origin — Property .of the Indians— Indian Characteristics— Whites and Indians —
Indolence of the Indians — Cherokees — Future Prospects - - 136
CHAPTER XIV.
IMMIGRANTS.
Nationality of the Americans— Immigrants, their Origin and Character — Germans and Irish —
Native American Party— European Governments— Whither Emigrate '^Advantages of the
United States — Number of Immigrants ---------- 145
CHAPTER XV.
POPULATION.
Population — Materialism 152
CHAPTER XVI.
AGRICULTURE.
Grain, Horticulture, Culture of the Vine— Sugar, Rice, Silk, Tobacco, Cotton— Produce and Im
provements -------- .---__ jgg
CHAPTER XVII.
THE PUBLIC LANDS.
Claims of the Single States— Mode of Sale - 159
CHAPTER XVIII.
MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE.
Progress of Manufactures— Commerce— Imports, Exports, Tonnage— Regulations of Trade-
Rate of Interest — Value of Imports and Exports - - - _ .-.,

CHAPTER XIX.
CANALS, STEAMBOATS, AND RAILHOADS.
CHAPTER XX.
THE BANKS.
History of Banking— The National Bank— Opponents of Banks— Theory of Banking— Panpr \l„
ney-Abuses of Banking-Misfortunes through the Banks-Jackson's Measures-BankL™,-
Promts - Pme - P"- C»™™y-S^T™asury B.ll-Exchequer Bill-Hopes and
CHAPTER XXI.
TAXES AND FINANCES.
Revenue and Expenditure— Internal Improvements— Surplus Revenue— Single St«t.„ v.
and America-Indebtedness of the States-Repudiation-Taxation of Single States - P6
CHAPTER XXII.
POST-OFFICE
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION.
Introduction of Duties— Reasons for and against Protective Duties— Nnllifinti™ n
Act— Jackson and Calhoun against High Duties— New Tariff_r„V,„ ¦ , ° "—Compromise
Wages New Factories-Advantages Ind Di^^^.^I,,^^^^!'^^;

169

1S9

CONTENTS. XI
Agriculture— Raising of Taxes— False Views respecting Duties— Clay and Webster on the
iantt— Proposals for Compromise— Evils and Means of Remedy— Smuggling— German Cus
toms-Union ----.. ; . . 199
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE ARMY, MILITIA, AND NAVY.
Number of the Army— Division, Officers— West Point— Army Expenses— The Militia— The Navy
— Standing Armies - - - - . _ 219
CHAPTER XXV.
THE LAW AND THE COURTS,
Legal System— Legal Studies— The Supreme Court— Circuit Courts, District Courts and Courts
ot ilquity— Justices of the Peace— Lynch Law— Mexico— Juries— Criminal Law Bankrupts-
Debtors— Numberof Criminals— Law of Inheritance— Marriage, Divorce - - 227
CHAPTER XXVI.
PRISONS.
The Philadelphia and Auburn Systems— Reformation of Prisoners— Instruction— Female Prison
ers — Reconciliation of both Systems - - - 233
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE POOR AND THE POOR-LAWS 239
CHAPTER XXVIII.
CHARITABLE INSTITUTION'S.
Lunatic Asylums— Deaf and Dumb Institutions— Institutions for the Blind— Houses of Refuge —
Hospitals — "Widow and Orphan Asylums - - - - 242
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE POLICE.
Gambling-houses, Lottery-Offices, Hotels — Drivers, Cruelty to Animals— Games of Chance—
Vagrants — Firemen -- - --___-._ 248
CHAPTER XXX.
ADMINISTRATION, CITY REGULATIONS.
Self- Government — Counties — Communities — Baltimore, Boston, Charleston, New York, Philadel
phia, Pittsburg, Richmond, Washington— Change of Offices ------ 250
CHAPTER XXXI.
OUTBREAKS AND PARTY SPIRIT.
Murder of the Mormon Prophets — Anti-Rent Excitement in the State of New York — Philadelphia
Riots — Disturbances in Rhode Island — On Outbreaks — Parties — Federalists, Republicans,
Democrats, Whigs — Concluding Remarks ----------- 257
CHAPTER XXXII.
SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.
Schools and Universities — Governments and Schools — Principles of Education — America and
Europe — Praise and Blame, of Schools — Germans — Public Schools, Colleges, Universities —
Negro Schools — Religious Instruction — Female Teachers — Labor in Schools — Alabama — North
and South Carolina — District of Columbia — College of Jesuits — Connecticut, Yale College —
New Hampshire — Illinois — Kentucky — Louisiana — Maine — Maryland — Michigan — Missouri —
Ohio — Pennsylvania — Vermont, Burlington' — Virginia, Charlottesville — New York — Massachu
setts, Boston, Cambridge School and University — Medical Institutions, Physicians — Summary,
Remarks — District Libraries - - - - 274
CHAPTER XXXIII.
LITERATURE AND ART.
For and against America — Freedom of the Press— Newspapers and Periodicals — Defence of
Newspapers — Congress on Newspapers — German Newspapers — Periodicals — Libraries — Fine
Arts, Music, Painting, Sculpture, Architecture — History — Eloquence — Webster, Ciav, Calhouu
—Poetry— Philosophy -  "---299
CHAPTER XXXiV.
RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.
Intolerance— Church Establishments — Religious Liberty — Sects — Catholics, School Money-
Episcopalians — Methodists, Divisions among- them — Presbyterians — Congregation alists — Bap
tists — Quakers — Shakers — Rappists— Mormons— Universalists — Unitarians —Philosophers —
Clergymen and Churches— Church Property — The Voluntary System — Societies — Bible Socie
ties—Missions — Public Worship— Camp Meetings— Revivals— Dangers and Prospects— Intole
rance ----- --__-_...-- 323

Xll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXXV.
THE STATE OF OHIO. PAGB.
Settlement, Origin— Natural Condition— Constitution-Administration of Justice— Population-
Productions— Canals- Taxation and Finances-Banks— Prisons— The Deaf and Dumb— I he
Blind— The Insane— Paupers— Churches— Schools— Cincinnati, Population— Swine-breeding-
City Ordinances, Taxes— Churches, Schools— Lane Seminary— Woodward College— Mechanics
Libraries — Germans — Prospects. - "'","""

350

CHAPTER XXXVI.
FOREIGN RELATIONS.
Eelations with Europe— The Indians— Texas— The Oregon Territory— Canada
CHAPTER XXXVII.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW AND PUBLIC LIFE.
Europe and America— American Political System— New Constitution— The President— Presiden
tial Election— Conventions— Presidents and Kings— Europe and America— Re-election of the
President .----.-.--- -

366

378

LETTERS.
ARRIVAL.
Voyage from. England to America— Nova Scotia— Boston— Journey to Washington 411
DISTRICT Ot COLUMBIA— MARYLAND, SOUTH CABOLINA.
Washington— Calhoun — Whig Convention in Baltimore —Hotels — Journey to Charleston —
Charleston — Literary Club — Columbia — College in Columbia — O'Connellr— Youth and Age" —
Sermon — Cotton Plantations — Slaves -.-_.---.-. 416
VIRGINIA AND PENNSYLVANIA.
Journey to Richmond — Richmond — Monticello, Jefferson-'-Washington-^Statue of Columbus —
Opinions on Goethe— Opinions on Byron, and Shakspeare— President's Garden — Canal by the
Potomac — Jesuits in Georgetown — Mount Vernon — Baltimore— Negro Church — Fences and
Bridges — Journey to Pittsburg — Pittsburg — The New Jerusalem — Journey to 'Cincinnati - 426
OHIO, KENTUCKY, ILLINOIS.
The Ohio — Indians— Cincinnati' — Columbus — Journey to Lexington — Louisville, The Kentucky —
Journey to St. Louis-— St. Louis — Journey to Chicago — Chicago - 440
THE GREAT LAKES AND NEW YORK.
The Great Lakes— Journey to Buffalo— Buffalo— Niagara— Rochester— Auburn — Syracuse 451
CANADA.
The St. Lawrence — Montreal— Canad a— Quebec — Journey to Burlington — Heights of Abraham,
Wolfe, Montcalm --_-_--"  453
VERMONT AND NEW YORK.
Burlington— Journey to Albany — Saratoga— Albany— The Hudson, Journey to New York— West
Point — 'New York - - ----__ . 433
PENNSYLVANIA.
Journey to Philadelphia— Germany and America— Pottsville, Harrisburg, Lancaster— Festival in
Philadelphia .'-__. _______ __ 4-^
CONNECTICUT AND MASSACHUSETTS.
New Haven— Hartford— Princes and Princesses— Journey to Boston— Slander of Jefferson— Bos
ton Athenaeum— Custom House and Market Hall— Democracy in New England  Trade in Ice
—English and American Critics— The English Language— Lowell— Whig Mass Meeting— Party
Spirit-Harvard University— The Writing of History— Salem— Globe in the Museum— Muse
um in Boston— Liberality for Public Objects — Haydn's* Creation - 470
MANNERS AND MORALS OF AMERICA.
Manners and Customs— American Socjety-On American Vanity and Presumption— Servants and
Domestics— Prosperity, Love of Gain— Temperance Societies— Eating, Drinking, and Cooking
Women -- - ._. _______ 4qj
Appendix I. — Synopsis of the Constitutions of the Several States . . 593
Appendix II. — Statistics of Manufactures in Lowell . 504
Appendix III,— Synopsis of Recitations and Lectures in the University of Vermont 5O7
Appendix IV.— Plan of Recitations in Harvard University . . eng

THE

UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA.

CHAPTER I.
NATURAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY.
Age of the American Continent — Its Extent — Seas and Lakes — Mountains — Rivers
— Climate — Mineral and Vegetable Kingdoms — Prairies — Agriculture.
The history of civilized nations as known to us embraces a
period of from three to four thousand years ; and- yet, until three
hundred and fifty years ago, one half of our globe remained un
discovered. So slowly were the difficulties of long sea-voyages
overcome, so slowly increased the interest in geographical dis
coveries, so recendy did men arrive at an intelligent conscious
ness of the necessarily spherical conformation of the earth.
Even the important discoveries of the Northmen in the tenth
century, excited so little curiosity, desire of information, or thirst
of gain, that they sank into total obtfvion* Hence, Columbus
remains the theoretical and practical discoverer of America : an
effort of intellect, courage, and perseverance, such as the world
never witnessed before, and which never can be repeated in a
like manner.
Some philosophers have maintained that America is of later
origin than the old continent of the earth. It is not clear to the
unlearned (nor is it, as I understand, to those really versed in
such inquiries), what is meant by this. The formation of the
spherical figure of the earth (if any other figure ever existed) must
have been begun and continued uniformly through its whole
extent ; the hand of God and his handmaid Nature did not first
finish Europe, and then pass over the Atlantic ocean, in order to
bring to light and embellish America also. Why should the
Alps be older than the Cordilleras, and the valley of the Missis
sippi younger than Holland and the lowlands at the mouth of
* Rafn, Mcmoire sur la de'couverte de l'Amirique, 1843.
2

14 NATURAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY.
the Rhine ? If the waters of the earth maintain a general equi
librium, they could not rise essentially higher on one hemisphere
of the earth than on the other. This inferior antiquity, or later
appearance, of the land of America can therefore be explained
and proved, not from the gradual diminution of the waters, but
only by the doctrine of the upheaval of the mountains.
The Americans deny that such proof can be adduced ; and it
is not my province to decide the controversy. An unqualified
superiority in the natural advantages of whole quarters of the
globe can by no means be proved from their greater youthful-
ness or greater age. In North America, it is human history alone
that, as far as our knowledge extends, is brief and void, when we
compare it with that of the old continent; and although we
know not the age of many monuments erected in it by the hand
of man, still they do not suggest the idea of such ancient and
high civilisation as do, for instance, those of India and Egypt*
At least those which have been found in North America are only
mounds of earth, without stones, bricks, or walls. Let us then,
in conformity with our purpose, leave those primitive ages undis
turbed, to investigate the present and still existing.
America extends from the 54th degree of south to the 71st
degree of north latitude, and has therefore, from south to north,
an extent of 7500 geographic miles. The extreme breadth of
the southern half, from east to west, is estimated at 2800, and that
of the northern half at 3000 miles. The entire territory of the
United States of North America has, from the southern extremi
ty of Florida to the northern extremity of Maine, an extent of
24 degrees of latitude 0r 1440 miles, which is about the distance
from Naples to Dronthe^m in Norway, or from Bern to Thebes
in Upper Egypt. The greatest extent from east to west is from
the eastern boundary of the state of Maine in 45° N. lat. to the
north of the Columbia river, on the Pacific ocean, making over
50 degrees of longitude. The most westerly states of North
America, Missouri and Arkansas, reach to scarcely half way be
tween the Atlantic and the Pacific. The greatest extent from
east to west is about equal to that from vhe eastern boundary of
Russia in Europe to the western coast of Ireland. The superfi
cial area of the United States has from natural causes been esti
mated very differently ; according to a moderate computation it
must amount to about 1,792,000 geographic square miles,t or from
ten to eleven times as much as the superficial extent of France.
* Bancroft's History, iii. 309. Doubtful in South America
t Darby, in his View of the United States, p. 57, reckons the surface at 2 257 000
English square rmles, or about one-twent eth of the surjerficies nf tV.1 L^
Tucker reckons it at 2,369,000 miles. Which estimate is co?recU-So long aslhr]
JmpossMe. Oregon temtory remain unsettled, exactness and agreement are

NATURAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY. 15
But that of this immense region only a very small part is under
tillage, while another portion is incapable of cultivation, will be
shown in the sequel.
If we consider the sea-coasts of the United States, the west
ern has as yet no importance ; although the Oregon region will
doubtless one day obtain it, and will probably be the last land
on the earth capable of being settled. But of so much the more
consequence are the coasts of the Atlantic. They form gulfs
of different sizes deeply indenting the main land. The first ex
tends from the Sabine river (the boundary on the side of Texas)
to the southernmost point of Florida ; the second, from here to
Cape Hatteras in North Carolina ; the third to Cape Cod in Massa
chusetts ; and the fourth to Passamaquoddy bay, which forms the
boundary between Maine and New Brunswick. The northern
bays afford more numerous and better harbors than the southern;
and this has had an important influence on the progress of the
states. New Orleans, however, near the mouth of the Missis
sippi, is of the greatest importance ; and Mobile, at the mouth of
Alabama river, is also of some consequence. St. Augustine in
Florida, Savannah in Georgia, and Charleston in South Caro
lina, are worthy of notice ; but they are far behind Baltimore,
Philadelphia, and New York. Boston is now the principal sea
port in the northernmost gulf.
The sea-coast from Florida to New Jersey is low alluvial or
diluvial soil, a great part of which is swampy or sandy ; yet,wifh
proper care and industry it could be fitted for cultivation. The
tide rises on the southern coasts only from 4 to 6 feet, but on the
coast of New Brunswick from 40 to 50 feet;* perhaps an effect
of the Gulf stream, or of still more general laws of nature.
West of these lands, sinking towards the sea, arise the long chain
of Appalachian or Alleghany mountains ; which in several
ridges, interrupted by streams and without peaked summits, sepa
rate the eastern slope from the immense valley of the Mississippi.
Far beyond this stream arise the loftier and more sharply defined
Rocky mountains ; from which there stretches to the upper Mis
souri a great desert in many places impregnated with salt, which
recalls to mind that of Africa. The greatest elevations reached
by the Appalachian chain are found in New Hampshire, and are
estimated at from 3,000 to 7,000 feet ; but the highest mountains
in all North America are probably at the sources of Columbia
river. According to the measurement of Mr. Thompson, the
Brown mountain rises to the height of 16,000 feet ; and he con
jectures that other peaks are 10,000 feet higher still.f
* Darby's View, pp. 62, 66.
t Greenhow's Memoir on the Northwest Coast, p. 11. There are no igniyo-
mous mountains in the United States, and it is only among the Rocky mountains
that proofs of volcanic action are found.

16 NATURAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY.
But if the mountains of South excel those of North America
in altitude and extent, the North American lakes are unique of
their kind upon the earth. We will mention only the five largest :
Lake Ontario has a superficies of 11,640 miles, Lake Erie of
7,940, Lake Huron of 1,520, Lake Michigan of 14,880, and Lake
Superior of 36,000. They exhibit for the most part a prodigious
depth, so that in several places no bottom has been found with
1800 feet of line. Hence they, together with their outlet the St.
Lawrence, contain, as has been estimated, more than one half of
the fresh water on the globe. They are girt with hills and sandy
ridges, but not with mountains properly so-called.
The bottom of Lakes Huron and Michigan is estimated to be
at an average 300 feet below, and their surface at 618 feet above
the level of the sea.
An outlet for this enormous mass of water is furnished by the
river St. Lawrence, running from west to east. Its sources lie
very near those of the Mississippi ; and so far are they from being
separated from each other by high mountain-ridges, that when
the waters have been unusually high, boats of from 70 to 80 tons
burthen have passed from Lake Michigan through the Illinois
into the Mississippi : consequently but little assistance would be
required at this place to establish a natural water communication
between the Atlantic ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. It has been
estimated that every hour 1,672,704 cubic feet of water are poured
into the Atlantic through the St. Lawrence. The tide ascends
the stream about 400 miles, or half-way between Quebec and
Montreal. Vessels of 600 tons sail up to the latter city, and
ships of the line as far as Quebec.
Although the valley of the St. Lawrence exceeds in extent
every thing of the kind in Europe, this stream is far inferior
to the Mississippi, and still more so to the Missouri. The former
takes its rise in about 48° N. lat. and 95" long, west of Ferro ;
the latter in 43° N. lat. and 110° W. long. The Missouri is wrong
fully deprived of its name at its confluence with the Mississippi :
that of the latter prevails through several zones, although the for
mer brings down four times as much water and is twice as long
as the Mississippi ;* it is in fact one fourth longer than the River
Amazon, and if not robbed of its name, is the longest river in
the world. It flows through a distance of 3,100 miles before
reaching the Mississippi ; and consequently down to this point it
is about seven times as long as the Rhone. In common with the
Mississippi, it moves from north to south in so many windincs,
that it is difficult to calculate its length.f They receive about 200
* North Amer Review 1823 p 60. Mexico has fewer navigable streams and
fewer serviceable harbors than the United States.
t The Encyclop. Americana, art. Missouri, estimates its length to the Gulf ai
^omVel4^""?? 2ToeS" L6WiS a"d ClaFke naVigat6d * ab°Ve St" Louis

NATURAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY. 17
tributaries, and water a region of immeasurable extent. If the
Raab, which rises in the Fichtel-Gebirge, emptied in the African
kingdom of Fezzan, it would still not have by far the length of
the Missouri, but only that of the Mississippi.
Between this stream and the St. Lawrence many essential
differences and contrasts present themselves. The Mississippi
runs from north to south in a regular stream ; the St Lawrence
from west to east, forming or passing through many lakes. The
former comes from an almost polar region of perpetual ice, and
descends into the country of the fig, the orange, and the sugar
cane ; the latter flows almost wholly through the same degrees of
latitude. The Mississippi rises and falls to an uncommon extent
at different periods of the year ; the St. Lawrence remains con
stantly at the same height, and causes no inundations. Although
it receives innumerable tributaries, the Mississippi becomes no
broader, but constantly deeper and deeper (or the water is dispersed
by running over its banks) ; while the St. Lawrence widens into
a large bay, and its bed is interrupted and embellished with
countless islands. From its confluence with the Missouri, the
Mississippi becomes turbid, and is constantly adding to the
deposit at its mouth, which renders it difficult of entrance ;* the
St. Lawrence, on the contrary, is and remains throughout, pure
and clear, and is bordered on its banks by woods and fields, while
the Mississippi winds its way, less picturesquely, through tracts
of meadow-land and swamps. Trunks of trees, floating timber,
and even whole islands torn from its banks, drive down its cur
rent or assume a fixed position ; so that a voyage down the Mis
sissippi was for a long time regarded as more dangerous than
one across the Atlantic. But by means of steamboats and ma
chines of different kinds, an immense number of trees have been
removed from the river, others that threatened to fall in have been
cut down, sandbanks have been washed away by the application
of dams ; and thus the dangers of its navigation, though not yet
wholly removed, have been greatly diminished.
Among all the lateral streams of the Mississippi, the Ohio is
as yet by far the most important. Through a long extent of its
course, mountains appear at its side ; but in fact these are only
the margin of a level highland, and the deep-cut bed of the river
has from Pittsburg to the Mississippi a fall of only about 400
feet in 1000 miles ; so that obstacles presented to navigation
by the low state of the water in summer, may mostly be removed
by artificial means.
These and other giant streams of North America, as the Mis
sissippi, either do not burst forth from lofty Alps ; or else, like the
Missouri, after breaking from the mountains, they flow through
* At New Orleans, the river is 158 feet deep, while there are only 12 feet over the
bar.

18 NATURAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY.
tedious plains of the same aspect, and thus present but few
images of beauty to the artist's eye. Yet this very peculiarity ot
their conformation makes them so much the more useful, as
bonds of union between great tracts of country, as the highways
of a daily increasing commerce. In what manner the indus
trious exertions of a shrewd and active people have profited by,
and even greatly enhanced these natural gifts of rivers and lakes,
will be seen hereafter. It is sufficient here to indicate the natural
peculiarities of the principal streams, and at the same time to ob
serve that, by the settlement on their banks of an enterprising race
of men, the beautiful and commercially important Hudson,
Delaware, Potomac, Susquehanna, &c, have been raised far
above their primitive natural condition.
It is an indubitable fact, that in the same degrees of latitude,
the winters are colder and the summers warmer in North Ame
rica than in Europe. To this general observation, important
with respect to living, to commerce, and to navigation, I will add
a few particulars chiefly respecting the climate of the United
States* Hudson's Bay, in the same latitude as the Baltic sea, is even
in summer full of ice. In New York (in the latitude of Madrid
and Naples) the winter accompanied with ice lasts on an average
one hundred and sixty-four days ; and the Delaware is frozen over
for five or six weeks. New York has the summer of Rome and
the winter of Copenhagen ; Quebec, the summer of Paris and
the winter of St. Petersburgh.
In America, too, the climate by no means depends altogether
on the degrees of latitude, but is influenced more or less by the
winds, the lakes, the great tracts of land in the north, the ocean,
the gulf stream, &c.
In the northern parts of the United States, the medium tempe
rature amounts to about 45°, and in the southern to 68° Fahren
heit! Here the difference between summer and winter is but
slight, while in the north it is immense. It amounts for instance
in Florida to 10°, and at Fort Snelling in the north to 56°. At Key
West, the southernmost extremity of Florida, the medium tempe
rature amounts in winter to 70°, and in summer to 81° Fahrenheit.
At Fort Snelling, it is in winter only 16°, and in summer 72°.
In the month of July, the heat is sometimes five degrees hio-her
than it is even at Key West.
The medium temperature of Lake Superior is
" " Lake Ontario
" " New Orleans
" " Key West
* Chiefly from the instructive work of Dr. Forry.
t Long's Second Expedition, ii. 466. Poussin, Puissance Ame'ricaine, ii. 200.

Winter.

Summer.

21°

63°

30°

72°

59°

83°

70°

81°

NATURAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY. 19
In Quebec the thermometer sinks to 30° below zero, and rises
in summer to 95° above zero. In Baltimore the thermometer
rose twice in the course of eight years to 98°, and sank four
times below zero* In an elevated part of the Oregon territory,
the thermometer stood at sunrise at 18°, and at noon at 92° ;
while a difference of 40° Fahrenheit was quite common. In
Alabama it amounted in one day to 50°.
The quantity of rain in different months and years is very dif
ferent. Thus there fell :
In Baltimore, in August, 1817, 10ij inches.
" 1818, 2 "
In Cincinnati, during one year, 44 "
In Europe it rains oftener,f but not so much as in America.^
Notwithstanding the great difference above noted in the tempe
rature of the atmosphere, the climate (with the exception of some
parts along the sea-coast and in the vicinity of swamps) is not
prejudicial to the duration of life ; or else the injurious effects
diminish with the progress of cultivation^ and through the adop
tion of judicious precautionary measures. A high degree of lon
gevity is established by the statement, || that in 1835 there were
in the United States :
33,517 persons between 80 and 90 years of age.
4,477 " between 90 and 100 "
508 " aged 100 and upwards.
If North America is far behind the southern continent as respects
the discovery of the precious metals, it aboufSds to superfluity in
all the indispensable and generally useful treasures of the mineral
kingdom. Thus there is found :
Platina, none at all.
Silver, very little.
Gold, in great abundance, especially in Georgia and North
and South Carolina,!! east of the mountains.
Copper, in plenty near Lake Superior, and at different places
in the Mississippi valley.
* Darby's View of the U. States, p. 389. Buckingham's Slave States, i. 243.
t Greenhow's Memoir on the Northwestern Coast, p. 17. Warren's Account of
the United States, i. 164.
t In the northern half of the United States, the days in a year were :
Clear. Cloudy. Rain. Snow.
On the Coast, 202
In the Interior, 240
By the Lakes, 117
Far from the Lakes, 216
§ Ibid., p. 273.
|| Amer. Almanac for 1835, p. 91.
T Trans, of Geological Society of Philadelphia, i. 1-16.

108

45

9

77

31

16

139

63

45

73

46

29

20 NATURAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY.
Lead, in the neighborhood of the lakes,* in Missouri, Wiscon
sin, and Arkansas, in prodigious quantities.
Iron, to superfluity in New England, New York, Ohio, Penn
sylvania, Virginia, and Tennessee. In Missouri there are even
whole mountains of almost pure oxide of iron.
Salt, in abundance in Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Vir
ginia, Kentucky, Missouri, and other parts ; although a consider
able quantity is still imported from Portugal, Spain, Sicily,
England, and other countries.
Coal, in many places in very great quantities, e. g. in Pennsyl
vania, Virginia, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, &c. The beds in
Pittsburg alone, the American Birmingham, appear to be inex
haustible. The vegetable kingdom has reigned and still reigns in Ame
rica under two great aspects, those of forests and prairies. The
forests extend from the river St. Lawrence to the Gulf of
Mexico, over plains, declivities, and mountains. In Europe one
can hardly form an idea of the magnitude and beauty of the
American primeval forests and trees ; and while in France there
are reckoned only 37 kinds of trees that grow to the height of 30
feet, there are in America 130 kinds which exceed this measure
ment, and which with the variety of their growth and foliage sur
prise and enchant every beholder. The diversity and beauty of
the colors of autumn are especially celebrated.
The practice of burning down the trees, which the first settlers
found necessary, is constantly diminishing ; since the increasing
water communications facilitate transhipment, and give the
formerly worthless timber a daily increasing value.
Although it may be contended that the cultivation and con
sumption of tobacco is not beneficial to the human race, yet the
universal diffusion of the American potato is an undeniable
blessing. Without it, many of the countries of Europe would
be entirely incapable of supporting their present population, and
the poorer classes would often be left a prey to hunger.
Those seas of meadow-land, the prairies, which lie southwest
of the great lakes and along the banks of the Mississippi, Mis
souri, Illinois, &c, are for the most part entirely destitute of trees,
having been so from the beginning, or made so in consequence
of natural or violent changes. For while some maintain that
many forests, both in ancient and modern times,f have been pur
posely or accidentally burnt down, others deny the fact, because
traces of coal are nowhere to be met with. I regard it as indu
bitable that the prairies on the Illinois and towards Chicago, have
* On the upper Mississippi, too, 35,000,000 pounds of lead were obtained in a sin
gle year.
t Lewis and Clarke's Travels, p. 3.

NATURAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY. 21
arisen from the subsidence of the waters, and are the bottoms of
ancient lakes ; nay, had the waters of the Mississippi, in the
summer of 1844, risen but a few feet higher* they would again
have been converted into lakes. Thus Featherstonhaugh (p.
120) designates the prairies in Arkansas as the beds of ancient
lakes, and remarks that meadow and forest often seemed there to
contend for the mastery. The soil of the prairies is either per
fectly level, or else it assumes the form of waves, and presents
the appearance of a green sea which has suddenly become fixed
while in motion. But to this color of the grass are soon joined the
hues of a variety of brilliant blossoms ; red, it is said, predomi
nating in spring, blue in summer, and yellow in autumn. The
moister parts are the resort of innumerable water-fowl, and the
drier are traversed by immense herds of buffaloes. Yet even
here drinkable water is found not far beneath the surface. It is
easier to cultivate these meadow-lands, girt with trees at the
edges, than to extirpate the giant sons of the primitive forest ;
these plains also offer the most favorable opportunity for the con
struction of roads, canals, and railways.
With the exception of many poor or swampy places on the
shores of the Atlantic, and the great deserts that lie beyond all
the present settlements at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, the
entire soil of the American republic admits with care of profit
able cultivation, and exhibits for the most part a superior degree
of fertility. That the wild beasts are constantly forced further
back, while man and the domestic animals take their place, is an
incalculable gain ; and the diminution of the vegetable kingdom
is no loss, as this is rarely carried further than is necessary, while
a rich indemnification is presented in the prodigious store of
coal and iron.
Even in Maine, the state lying furthest to the north, all the
necessaries of life can be produced ; and from here down to
Florida and Louisiana there extends the cultivation of such a
variety of articles, that the United States are better capable than
any other country upon earth of forming a commercial state
exclusive and sufficient for itself. But as they have not wished
to put into execution this unphilosophic and unpractical idea,
they have naturally already attained the second rank among the
commercial nations of the world.
* In some of the northwestern regions, as, for instance, in the Traverse des
Sioux, the water is still decreasing.

CHAPTER II.

DISCOVERIES AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
Travellers and Discoverers — Virginia — Maryland — New England — Carolina — New
York — New Jersey — Pennsylvania — Georgia — Delaware — General state of
things.
As soon as Columbus had revealed another horizon to the eyes
of all Europe by means of his grand discovery, every seafaring
nation sought to secure for itself a share in the new countries.
The Spaniard Ponce de Leon landed in Florida in 1512 ;* Soto
penetrated to the Mississippi in 1541 ; and in 1565 the Spaniards
founded St. Augustine in Florida, the oldest city in the United
States, but at the same time they most barbarously destroyed,
out of religious hatred, a settlement of French Huguenots.
In the year 1524 Verazzani undertook for France the first
voyage to the coasts of the United States ; Cartier arrived at the
St. Lawrence in 1535 ; and in 1608, Champlain penetrated to
the lake that bears his name.
More continuous and indefatigable were the enterprises of the
English. John Cabot, a Venetian merchant residing in Bristol,
received from King Henry VII, on the 5th of March, 1495, a
patent to discover and take possession of countries. On the 24th
of June, 1497, he reached the continent (Columbus reached it in
1498, and Amerigo in 1599) in the 56th degree of north latitude,
and he followed down the coast to the 38th degree. This discovery
was at that time equivalent to taking possession. Cabot's son,
Sebastian, went in 1517 in search of a northwest passage, and
on this occasion penetrated into Hudson's bay. Drake's voya
ges and plundering excursions (1577-1580) were of no lasting
consequence ; and in spite of the boldness and perseverance
exhibited by Raleigh (since the year 1584) in his endeavors to
establish the colony of Virginia, so called after Queen Elizabeth
it was not till twenty years later (in 1607) that Jamestown, the
oldest Anglo-American city, was founded. And even at this
time every thing wore an unfavorable aspect. Among those who
had ventured over there were more gold-hunters, Sobles, and
idlers, than husbandmen and mechanics. There was a lack of
women, and numerous dissensions gave the Indians opportuni
ties for attacks and for inflicting barbarities. The aim of
* The best information on all these matteis is to be found m Bancroft's History

DISCOVERIES AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS. 23
the greater part was rather to amass sudden wealth, than to settle
and labor. It was very correctly remarked by Capt. John Smith,
the man to whom Virginia is so highly indebted, that mechanics
and husbandmen were needed most of all, and that nothing was
to be hoped for or gained in the country but by labor. And such,
thank Heaven, is still the case !
In the two first patents for a company of adventurers, only their
and the king's rights were guaranteed. In 1619, Governor Yeard-
ley boldly convoked a representative assembly ; and in the year
1621, the London Company established a constitution similar
to that of England ; the Governor and members of a Council
were appointed by the company ; but the legislative power was
entrusted to an Assembly, in which sat the councillors above
mentioned, and two burgesses chosen to represent each planta
tion. Orders from London needed ratification by the assembly,
and vice versa. The governor was allowed a negative, restraining
vote. Judicial proceedings and the trial by jury were the same
as in England.
In the year 1623 King James broke up the company ; yet the
rights of Virginia were not hereby diminished. On the contrary,
it was distinctly declared that the governor should levy no taxes
without the authority of the . assembly. The designs of kings
James and Charles I. to abolish the company altogether,
met with failure ; nor did the last-named monarch succeed any
better in obtaining for himself a monopoly of the increasing tobac
co-trade. When England, in the year 1642, demanded a general
monopoly of their trade : the reply of Virginia was, " Freedom of
trade is the blood and life of a commonivealth." Nor could the
English Navigation Act of a later date be fully enforced.
But while such laudable progress was making, the introduc
tion of slaves was unhappily permitted, and afterwards even
approved of by Locke. Less objectionable was the introduction
of respectable females from Europe, who were disposed of at the
rate of from 120 to 150 pounds of tobacco each.*
Cromwell treated the colonies with good sense and moderation ;
but after the restoration of Charles II., ecclesiastical and political
usurpations soon showed themselves. The high church was
declared to be the religion of the state, a strict conformity in all
doctrines was enjoined, force was employed against the Quakers,
and a heavy finef prescribed for non-attendance at church. This
intentional infringement of the rights of the people led to revolts,
and under Governor Berkeley to very severe punishments. This
indeed Charles II. afterwards disapproved of in words ; but he
failed to grant a new patent with more ample public rights. The
* Grahame, ii. 72. A pound was worth three shillings.
t Fifty pounds of tobacco.

24 DISCOVERIES AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
altered government in England since William III. operated also
in a different manner on Virginia.
Persecuted Catholics founded Maryland under the conduct of
Sir George Calvert and his son Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore.
He received from the crown, in the year 1632, almost unlim
ited powers ; though to these a representative constitution was
annexed. These immigrant Catholics likewise gave the first
praiseworthy example of general religious toleration ; although
during the English rebellion political and religious disputes were
not wanting.
In the year 1650, twelve persons were convoked by Lord Bal
timore to form an Upper House, and from each county four per
sons were chosen for the Lower House. About 1660, Maryland
was in the possession of political freedom, based on a partial ap
plication of the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people ; and in
the year 1692, Lord Baltimore's prerogatives were almost wholly
abolished. As Maryland owes its origin to intolerance against Catholics,
so the settlements in New England were brought about by per
secutions inflicted on Protestant dissenters and Puritans* But,
as it usually happens, the persecuted also held their views to be
the only right ones, and sought to enforce them by stringent
laws. Charles I. was eager to get rid of the turbulent Puritans, and
accordingly he here made larger concessions than he had done to
Virginia. At least, from the year 1629, there was gradually deve
loped out of a charter granted to a trading company for Massa
chusetts, a constitution with representative forms, based on demo
cracy. In the spirit of this political freedom, Roger Williams demanded
also religious tolerance, and said that no creed, no opinion should
be persecuted. Heresy should remain unattacked by laws, and
orthodoxy needed no frightful protection by means of punish
ments. To this the Puritans opposed the conviction that the
state must root out all errors : thus very naturally assuming their
own views to be the only correct ones. Williams, a truly pious,
noble, and disinterested man, suffered on account of these princi
ples, persecution, banishment, and distress of every kind ; yet he
afterwards (about the year 1638) became the founder and law
giver of Rhode Island with democratic forms and entire relioious
freedom. In Boston, however, the capital of Massachusetts (founded
1630), religious discussions, in which the women took an active
share, continued to exist, and led to legal decisions inflicting ban
ishment on Catholics, Jesuits, and Quakers.
* The first settlement was in 1620 at New Plymouth.

DISCOVERIES AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS. 25
In the year 1629, arose New Hampshire, and in 1636, Connec
ticut ; and in both of these, republican institutions were deve
loped. Charles I. and his ministers (Strafford and Laud) enter
tained the design of carrying out their political and religious plans
in New England also ;* but they were prevented. It is also said
in a petition of that colony : " Suffer us to live in the wilderness
undisturbed ; and we hope to find as much grace with the king
and his councillors, as God imparteth to us already." From that
time forward New England remained unmolested by the king,
withstood all closer dependence on the Long Parliament,
and was not disturbed in its development by the favorably dis
posed Cromwell. Still, the echo of the ecclesiastical disputes in
the mother-country was heard beyond the Atlantic. " Faith," it
was repeated, "should not grow so cold as to tolerate errors.
Polypiety is the greatest impiety, and only gross ignorance can
demand liberty of conscience."
This keenness and determination operated more advantage
ously in another direction, in establishing greater popular freedom
and opposing oppressive restrictions on trade.
In the year 1662 and 1663, Connecticut and Rhode Island
obtained new charters, which fully secured municipal indepen
dence, permitted the election of public officers, extended religious
toleration, and very much restricted the influence of the king and
of the mother-country. Many things were already deliberated
and acted upon in North America, which elsewhere were hardly
thought of; such as making provision for the poor, the construc
tion of public roads,! the registering of births, deaths, &c. The
zeal for schools was so great, that parents were commanded to
send their children to them, under pain of punishment.
About the time when the restored Stuarts deprived most of the
English towns of their charters, or essentially altered them, the
like danger threatened the American colonies. They stood up,
however, with equal sense and spirit (with Massachusetts at their
head) to defend their rights, and declared that no appeal should
go from America to England. " Our connection with that king
dom," said they, " is a voluntary one ; and! it Has nd right, either
to bind us or to give away our lands, since we" have acquired all
by our own labor and means."
The province of Carolina, or the country between the 31st and
36th degrees of north latitude, extending fromthe Atlantic to the
Pacific ocean (a territory equal to several kingdoms), was grant
ed by Charles IL, in 1663, to several emi^Jjt'rioblemen. Shaftes
bury and Locke sketched a constitution, in which the latter had
the chief hand, for the future state yet in embryo ; but which —
* Grahame, i. 252. Bancroft, i. 44. t De-Tocque.ville,i.46.

26 DISCOVERIES AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
like many a one framed in a similar manner — was rendered all
the more unsuitable, by the endeavors of its authors to foresee
and provide for all imaginable cases, and thus make it unalterable
for all future times. The English system of hereditary aristo
cracy, although already sufficiently complicated, was transferred
to the primeval forests of America, along with many artificial
additions. The eldest of the eight proprietaries was to be a kind
of sovereign, armed with numerous powers and rights, and the
remaining seven were made high court dignitaries, chancellors,
chamberlains, &c. They constituted, moreover, a sort of upper
house, to which was joined a lower order of nobility, and other
gradations, after the manner of the feudal system. Only the
greater proprietaries received certain elective rights ; while no real
control whatever was granted to the people over legislation,
government, and judicature. On the contrary, the Church of
England was made the religion of the state, to the exclusion of
every other ; negro slavery was recognized in the constimtion as
lawful ; and thus the laws proceeded from the most important
matters, down to regulations respecting ceremonies, pedigrees,
fashions, and sports.
The opposition to this ill-advised constitution rose to such a
pitch, that it was abolished, and forced to give place in 1693 to
democratic institutions. In the years 1719-1721, the province
was divided into two states, North and South Carolina.
New York, which had been colonized by the Dutch, and where
some Swedes had also settled, was surrendered to England in
1667 ; and in 1683 it gave itself a constitution with a universal
right of voting in the election of representatives to the assembly,
with which were associated a governor and council. The assem
bly alone had the right to assess taxes. Trial by jurv was esta
blished, religious tolerance declared, and the introduction of
martial law and the quartering of soldiers prohibited. When
James II. refused to ratify this constitution, disturbances arose,
which were not composed and put an end to before the begin
ning of the 18th century.
As to the history of New Jersey we remark only that it, like
New York, passed from Dutch into English hands, and Quakers
likewise settled there. It was among the peculiar regulations of
the province, that each of the representatives chosen by the
almost universal right of voting should receive directions for his
proceedings and a shilling a day, to make him bear in mind that
he was a servant of the people. Slavery and imprisonment for
debt were prohibited.
Penn, the friend of the Stuarts, received in 1681 a grant of land
from Charles II. ; and this title, which appeared to him unsatis
factory, he strengthened by free contracts with the Indians. In

DISCOVERIES AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS. 27
the year 1683, Philadelphia, the capital of Pennsylvania, was
founded. Between Locke, the lawgiver of Carolina, and Penn, essen
tial differences and contrasts are to be observed. The philoso
pher confided only in the experience of his senses, the Quaker in
his inner light ; the former in the knowledge and consciousness of
his own actions, the latter in divine oracles : moreover the former
spoke of popular rights, and founded an hereditary aristocracy ;
the latter of divine right and patient obedience, and established
a democracy ; the former regarded property, and the latter the
moral nature of man, as the foundation of political rights. Ne
gro-slavery was adopted in Pennsylvania, and only rejected by
German settlers. Dissensions arose between the democratic
party and the feudal lords, and the form and contents of the con
stitution were altered several times.
The first Dutch colony in Delaware was destroyed by the
Indians ; the second, founded mostly by Swedes, fell into the
power of the Dutch, and in 1664 into that of the English.
In 1682 the province was granted to Penn, and in 1702 it was
raised to the rank of an independent colony. In 1704 and 1714,
attempts to reduce to practice the intolerant principles of the Eng
lish Protestants failed, through the opposition of the inhabitants.
It was not till 1733 that Georgia was founded, as a protection
against Florida and the French enterprises on the Mississippi.
The first charter improperly granted the lands, after the fashion
of the feudal law, only to heirs male ; after its surrender in 1752,
the province was reduced to a stricter dependence on the crown.
These few brief and dry details are by no means designed as a
connected view of the internal and external history of the North
American settlements ; still they were necessary to a better under
standing of subsequent events, and to furnish opportunity for a
few general remarks.
No single colony, with the exception of Georgia, was di
rectly founded under the guidance or by the support of the
English government. On the contrary, they sprang up for the most
part through the intolerance and injustice of the mother-country.
Royalty, in spite of its sufferings and embarrassments, could not
emigrate ; and an hereditary nobility and priesthood are as little
capable of being transplanted as close boroughs with corpora
tions and exclusive privileges.
The English revolution of 1688 was differently viewed in the
different colonies ; and it was far from giving universal satis
faction, inasmuch as king, parliament, and church were not want
ing in attempts to increase their own power, and to infringe upon
American rights and American customs. Believing in the om
nipotence of Parliament, they would willingly have revoked all

28 DISCOVERIES AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
~the American charters, and have framed them anew, under pre
tence of altered relations, for the sole benefit of the mother-coun
try. The loud opposition raised to their plans kept them in
abeyance till the middle of the eighteenth century. And thus the
intention of levying taxes by England on America was also
given up ; Walpole declaring, that he would leave it to those
of his successors who had more courage and were less friends to
commerce than himself; and that the free trade of the Ameri
cans brought more into the treasury than compulsory taxes
could.* The charters of the newly formed States were different among
themselves, and it was impossible that they could then decide on
all future unknown circumstances. Even where the king possessed
the greatest power, it did not exceed that which he exercised in
England, and the provincial assemblies of America were assimi
lated to the English parliament. In spite of internal dissensions,
and numerous feuds with the Indians, the colonies sprang up far
more vigorously than those of Spain and Portugal, which were
restricted by the mother-countries in every respect ; and by the
preponderance of a free yeomanry — actually represented in the
assemblies — a democratic power was formed, which England
could not successfully control. Thus the entire subjection of the
Americans consisted in not making any laws contrary to those
of the mother-country, in submitting those which they did frame
to the king's approval, in acknowledging the authority of his
governors — within certain bounds, and in not opposing the
general restrictions which Parliament placed upon their
commerce. * Grahame, iii. 307.

CHAPTER III.

THE WAR TO 1763.

Many constantly recurring feuds with the Indians exercised the
vigilance and bravery of the North Americans. But of far greater
importance were their wars against the French. With singular
address and perseverance, these latter had established a chain of
settlements and towns, extending from Canada along the Ohio
and Mississippi down to New Orleans ; which girded in the
English colonies, and not only prevented them from extending
into the interior of the country, but even threatened to confine
them to a small sea-coast on the Atlantic. On account of the
war of succession in Austria, the English did but little to oppose
this danger; for in those times, the slightest change in European
relations and possessions was erroneously looked upon as of the
highest importance ; while every thing relating to America was
but slightly regarded, and soon lost sight of. Nay, when the
Americans did not spare the greatest exertions, and a union of
all the colonies was talked of (in 1791), mutual suspicions arose,
on the one hand that England was aiming at a greater centrali
zation and thereby an increase of the royal power, and on the
other hand that America wa3 seeking to render itself stronger
and more independent.
The neighborhood of the French, it was argued by many in
England, is the best security for the continued annexation of
America to the mother-country. If this danger should be ended,
the notion of independence would spring up again and meet
with support from France.
After eight years of war, England gained nothing by the peace
of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748 ; and France merely received back
again what she had lost in America, viz. Cape Breton.
On both sides the ensuing years of peace, from 1748 to 1756t
were actively employed. While the Americans penetrated step
by step into the interior, the French labored at closing up and
fortifying the immense chain of posts before mentioned. The for
mer thought only of diligent cultivation of the earth ; the latter
were bent on robbery, plunder, bold enterprises, glory, and con
quest. France entertained no jealousy against her American
colonies, and assisted them more than England did hers. Al
though, notwithstanding this, Canada and its appurtenances had
3

30 THE WAR TO 1763.
less power, it was still united, and was governed from a single
point ; while the idea of a union of the North American colonies,
suggested again by the increasing danger of a new rupture, and
developed by Franklin, was still regarded in England as too
republican, and in America as too monarchical.
The assembled governors of the colonies, and the most respect
able members of the provincial assemblies, made the proposition,
that a council for all the states should be chosen by the latter,
with a royal governor at its head ; and that both together should
be empowered to make general laws, and to raise money for the
general defence. The English ministry proposed, on the con
trary, that the governors of the provinces should from time to
time convene with two of their councillors (mostly appointed
by the crown), arrange general measures, erect fortifications,
levy troops, and draw sums from the British treasury; which
should afterwards be raised from the colonies, in the shape of
taxes, by virtue of an act of Parliament.
The first and more comprehensive plan gave rise to misgivings
in England, and the last met with still less approval in America ;
for it placed the decisive power in a few hands independent of
the people, afforded some assistance only from time to time, and
settled the most highly important question relative to the right of
taxation to the disadvantage of America.* The most zealous
declared, even at that early period, that America was no more
dependent on England than Hanover was.
When questions of trade in Europe, and border strifes in
America, gave rise, after single deeds of violence, to an open war
between England and France, in May, 1756, these opposing
views operated in an injurious manner, and awkwardness and
negligence gave to the first military expedition a very unfortu
nate termination. It was not until Pitt came to the head of the
government, in 1758, that activity and interest were exhibited on
behalf of American affairs. This led, on the 13th of Septem
ber, 1759, to a decisive and incalculably important battle on the
Heights of Abraham, before Quebec. Montcalm, the French,
and Wolfe, the British general, both fell fighting bravely At
the Peace of Paris, on the 10th of February, 1763, the French
lost all their American possessions ; and all the country eastward
of the Mississippi, including the Floridas ceded bv Spain fell
to England.f J l '
Interesting as is the Seven Years' War of Europe through the
personal greatness of King Frederick IL, and the bravery of the
Prussians, pressed upon by enemies of superior force,— singular
* Jefferson's Writings, i. 6.
t Spain, according to a secret article was to be indemnified by France with the
rest of Louisiana. Bunner's History of Louisiana, p. 122.

FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS. 31
in the history of the world as is the dominion acquired immedi
ately after this war by the English in the East Indies, — it still
remains the most important event for the history of mankind, that
from that time forth the dominion of the Romance nations in other
quarters of the world crumbled to pieces, while that of the Ger
manic stock, especially in America, marched irresistibly forward.
Few then perceived what must be the inevitable result fnay, even
now there are many who overlook the immeasurable importance
of this development of human progress ; and hence it is worthy
of mention, that Vergennes,* the French minister for foreign
affairs, foresaw, as early as the year 1775, the future independence
of all the European colonies, and prophesied that in time to come
the Germanic people would rule over South America likewise.

CHAPTER IV.
FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS, IN 1763, TO THE NORTH AMERICAN
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, IN 1776.
State of affairs after the War — Commerce and Duties — Right of Taxation — Stamp
Act — Resolutions in America — Effect in England, and Counsels there adopted —
Views and Principles — Question of Right — State of Fact — Abolition of the
Stamp Act — Hopes and Fears — New Taxes — Duty on Tea — Tea cast into the
Sea — Proceedings against Boston — New Movements — First Congress — Resolu
tions of the Congress — Parliament, Chatham — Lord North's Proposals — Burke's
Proposals — Beginning of the War — Declaration of Independence — Reflections.
England, during the seven years' war with France, had made very
great exertions, borne an immense amount of taxation, suffered
from the derangements of her trade, and plunged herself deeply
into debt. It seemed absolutely necessary that her finances should
be arranged, the public debt reduced, and the neglected laws of
commerce again put in practice. And above all, it was con
sidered that America should lend its assistance to these necessary
and wholesome measures ; since the whole war had been under
taken chiefly for its sake, and had been concluded with the gain
of immense tracts of land to its almost exclusive advantage.
The rejoicing and enthusiasm produced in America by this happy
event were certainly very great, and its gratitude to England was
natural and sincere. But this joy was partly produced by the
consciousness to which the Americans had attained of the great
ness of their own power and the value of their own exertions ;
* Raumer's Beitiage, v. 216.

32 FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS
and to this they joined the observation, that after the destruction
of the French power, English assistance for the future would
seem to be no longer necessary. And, moreover, it appeared very
questionable whether, during the great struggle, America had not
done, suffered, and paid more in proportion than England.*
While such were the feelings naturally and unavoidably enter
tained, and while the colonies were daily increasing in weight
and importance, the government of the mother-country should
have exercised the greatest moderation and prudence, and
should have adapted its measures and demands lo the new rela
tions which had sprung up. But instead of this, orders were
issued in 1764 for a stricter enforcement of the English Naviga
tion and Customs Acts, which were harshly executed by the
public officers ; so much so, that many manufactures were di
rectly prohibited in America, in order to secure the monopoly of
them to the mother-country.f
Both before and after the war, the northern colonies in parti
cular had carried on a considerable and profitable trade with
Spanish America, receiving gold and silver in return for English
manufactures. This was contrary to the letter, but not to the
spirit of the English Navigation Act; although even then it
seemed no longer adapted to the general state of things. It was
wrong to discuss the mere theoretical question respecting the
relation in which that trade stood to the old laws, without taking
into account long custom, the advantages of the trade, the incli
nations of the people, their own power of execution, &c. It is
true, the prohibition of the trade was again removed, in conse
quence of the urgent complaints of the Americans ; but it was
at the same time burdened with such high duties, as to render it
impossible to carry it on. Not only did new remonstrances on
this turn of affairs, and on the increasing despotism of men in
office, the assumptions of the military, &c. remain without effect,
but England likewise imposed duties upon silk and woollen
goods, sugar, coffee, wines, &c. ; all, it was said, for the protec
tion of America, although at this moment no danger threatened
it. This Customs Act, which was already regarded as an innova
tion in America, was rendered doubly burdensome by a number
of accessory regulations. Thus, for instance, the paper currency
of the colonies was rejected, and payments ordered to be made
in specie ; while disputes on this head were to be decided, not
by the common law and with the aid of juries, but by the courts
of admiralty.
Formerly, all laws relative to commercial monopoly and the
burdens connected therewith, had been regarded as general rules
* Burke, ii. 396.
t See Ramsay's History, chap. ii. Kuhfahl, i. 7.

TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 33
of trade, and not as custom laws in particular. The regulations
above mentioned, as well as others connected with them, led,
however, to a closer examination of the theory and practice of
systems of taxation, and to a severe scrutiny into the relations of
a mother country to its daughter states.
The prevalent feelings and tendencies were sufficiently mani
fested when Massachusetts, which was soon followed by the other
states, declared, June, 1764, that where there is no representation,
slavery reigns, and that the British Parliament had no right to tax
unrepresented Americans. Thus the question relative to the
right of taxation became the central point of all the disputes that
broke forth. Both parties were agreed that America ought to
contribute pro rata to the taxes occasioned by the last expensive
war. But while Great Britain maintained that its Parliament
necessarily and naturally possessed the right to impose taxes on
all parts of the kingdom, the Americans responded, that the Bri
tish empire had grown to such an extent, and the interests of its
various parts were so diverse, that it must have several representa
tive assemblies. The American assemblies, said they, are for
America, what the British are for Great Britain ; and by adopting
a contrary view, and one opposed to our charters, we should lose
the right of taxing ourselves through our own representatives? we
should be put without any reason lower than Englishmen, and
be turned into subjects of subjects.
In England many were at first enraged to think that the colonies
should refuse to yield obedience to Britons, the conquerors of the
world, or to acknowledge the omnipotence of Parliament, and help
to diminish, in compliance with its decree, the great burdens rest
ing upon the mother-country. The declaration, said they, that
Americans ought to enjoy the privileges of British subjects, does
not contravene the right of the British Parliament to impose 1axes.
To such taxation every Briton, without exception, is subjected,
and the American charters were intended merely as a protection
against a partial levying of taxes by the king. Liverpool, Man
chester, and other English towns, which send no representatives
to Parliament, could not be taxed by it according to the American
views ; but they, like America, are virtually represented, and pay
without offering any opposition, in which respect the Americans
would do well to imitate them.
The defects of the English constitution, the Americans replied,
should not be held up to us for imitation. It must not be forgot
ten, that the interests of a distant and essentially different part of
the world cannot be virtually represented like those of an English
town, which lies close at hand. Newly arisen relations of time
and place are to be attended to, and the early necessitous state
of colonies furnishes no rule for their treatment after they are

34 FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS
become powerful and have reached their maturity. But the inten
tion seems to be, not to extend their rights in a natural manner
with their increasing power and importance, nor even to main
tain them unimpaired ; but, from a perverse management or a self
ish jealousy, to impose upon them still heavier restrictions.*
It is certain that, even at this early period, nothing but the great
est sagacity, circumspection, and moderation, without violence,
could have suggested the right course of action ; but the heads of
the English government were wanting in those qualities. Fear
ful that America might become weary of her fetters, they ven
tured on the dangerous experiment of loading her with yet more
galling ones.
In fact, there were but three practical courses to be pursued ;
and these were, either that the colonies should become independ
ent, or that they should retain their legislative assemblies, or that
their representatives should be received into the British Parlia
ment. The fourth expedient, that of taxing America without any
representation and without participation in the legislative power,
was wholly repugnant to the spirit of the British constitution.
Walpole, as we have seen, had totally rejected propositions found
ed on this principle ; and there was as little propriety in appeal
ing respecting America to some former attempts, which perhaps
had been successful, as there would have been in citing to Eng
lishmen the proceedings of the Star-Chamber in the time of
Charles I., or the dispensing power claimed by James II.
Some few, indeed, may have already entertained the idea of
America's complete independence of England: but it had not
yet descended to the mass of the people ; and it essentially de
pended on the wisdom of the measures next to be adopted,
whether this idea should rapidly spring up, or still be repressed
for a long while to come. At that time England could not and
would not accustom herself to the thought of different legislative
assemblies, in connexion with one executive power; and the
reception of even a small number of transatlantic representatives
into Parliament seemed to Englishmen as too great a favor, sup
posing it to be practicable ; while the Americans pointed out that
they would still be worse off than Englishmen, inasmuch as
American members and their votes would be excluded from the
House of Lords.f
Such was the state of things, when Lord Grenville, in March,
1765, brought forward a Stamp Act, which was to be no less
binding on America than on England.ij: Its simplicity, although
it comprised a countless number of topics, was extolled ; and an
attempt was made to weaken the opposition offered to it on the
score of the sparse population and scattered dwellings in Ame-
* Adolphus, i. 162. t Grahame, iv. 200. \ Grahame, iv. 195. Adolphus, i. 203.

TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 35
rica. Charles Townshend, the chancellor of the exchequer, said
on this occasion : " The Americans, planted by our care, fostered
into strength and opulence by our indulgence, and protected by our
arms, will not grudge to contribute their mite to relieve the mother-
country from her heavy burdens." In vain was it remarked
that a stamp duty for thinly peopled America was injudicious,*
for the simple reason that the attendant expenses would ten times
exceed the amount of the tax, -while supervision, examination,
and the punishment of delinquencies would be almost impossible.
In vain were pressing remonstrances presented by American
agents ; they were laid aside unnoticed : for first of all the colo
nies must acknowledge the unconditional right of taxation pos
sessed by Parliament, and must submit to the rule, according to
which no petition against a pending money-bill could be ad-
mitted.f In just indignation at this frivolous and pedantic mode of
thinking and acting, Colonel Barre exclaimed in parliament in
reply to Townshend, " It is not the care of England, but her
intolerance and tyranny that planted the colonies; they have
grown in strength by your neglect, by your interference their
progress is impeded, while they have driven back enemies of
every kind by their own exertions. The people are true to the
king, but also jealous of their freedom ; let every one be careful
not to violate it !"
Notwithstanding these remonstrances, there were but about
forty votes in the lower, and none in the upper House, against
the Stamp Bill. To the majority it seemed perfectly natural,
and at the same time but of little consequence. On the 22d of
March, 1765, it received the royal assent ; and scarcely any one
in England doubted but that it would also go into effect in
America without opposition. But the distribution of the stamps
being postponed until the 1st of November, the Americans soon
recovered from their first alarm ; political clubs were formed,
and in numerous publications the existing state of affairs was
discussed from many points of view, and in a vehement manner.
As early as May, 1765, the legislative assembly of Virginia
convened, and resolved — on the motion of Patrick Henry — not
to obey. They even denounced as enemies every one who main
tained, that any but the provincial assemblies could impose taxes
on the colonies. " Csesar and Charles the First," said Henry, " met
their destruction, — let George the Third beware." While many
applauded, and others blamed this boldness, the governor dissolv
ed the assembly ; but he could not prevent the knowledge of what
had taken place from spreading abroad and inciting to imitation.
In many places, as Boston, Newport, New York, Portsmouth,
* Belsham, v., 181. t Hinton, i. 272.

36 FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS
Newcastle, &c, the enraged multitude gave themselves up to vio
lent excesses. The stamp papers were destroyed, the houses of the
stamp distributors plundered, and they themselves were burnt in
effigy, and compelled to swear that they would resign their offices.*
Although quiet and more thoughtful citizens disapproved of
these proceedings, their views, nevertheless, were constantly be
coming bolder and more comprehensive. England, it was said,
cannot constitute both head and members at the same time.
Where all local principles and regulations are destroyed, slavery
exists; and as Parliament was not established, either by law or
custom, for America (any more than for Ireland) as it was for
England, its power in both countries cannot be one and the
same ; and its omnipotence in the colonies is a thing not to be
spoken of. As the legislative assemblies of the colonies — even
with the king's consent — cannot make laws for England, neither
can the British Parliament for America. If the rights of the king
are less extensive in several of the colonies than in England, be
it remembered that with regard to Maryland he expressly re
nounced the right of taxation. Connecticut and Rhode Island
are complete democracies ; while other provinces possess, by
their charters, the right of declaring war and concluding peace. It
is to be considered, moreover, that the French made war upon
America chiefly on account of England ; and that America, by
commercial duties, and by the purchase of English productions
and manufactures, does virtually bear a part of the English bur
dens. Supposing even — which may be doubted — that the mo
neys received would be well administered and employed in
England, still the Americans can now no more consent, to arbi
trary taxation for useful purposes, than could the English patriots
in the time of Charles I.
Among these complaints were heard others respecting injuries
to commerce, the quartering on Ihem of an. insolent soldiery, the
depreciation of the paper currency, &c.f The opposition acquired
greater unity, and redoubled importance, by the meeting in New
York (in October, 1765) of twenty-eight delegates, from nine
provinces, to wit: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut,
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and
South Carolina. They resolved, that America could be taxed only
through its own representatives, and lhat all iheir present °riev-
ances should be laid before the king and Parliament. °New
Hampshire had promised to accede to the resolutions adopted;
and the other provinces had been prevented by their governors
from sending delegates to the meeting in New York.
Simultaneously with the adoption of these political resolutions
* Ramsay, i. 111. Adolphus, i. 210. Grahame, iv. 203, 213.
t Ramsay, i. 122. Adolphus, i. 213. Hinton, i. 27";

TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 37
voluntary agreements were entered into to purchase no English
manufactures until the repeal of the Stamp Act. The most
zealous efforts were made to supply — although imperfectly, —
the wants thus occasioned ; many things were cheerfully dis
pensed with ; and secret promises were mutually given to
ward off, with united exertions, any violence or penalties which
this course might entail.
Such a general and well-regulated opposition produced a very
great sensation in England ; and each party explained the events
in conformity with its own views and aims. Mr. Nugent (af
terwards Lord Clare) remarked, that a pepper-corn in acknow
ledgment of the right, was of more value than millions with
out* Lord Grenville maintained, that the disobedience of the
Americans was very great, that the right of taxation was a neces
sary part of the general legislative power of Parliament, and that
protection and obedience were reciprocal. He declared, too, that
the insolence and obstinacy of the Americans arose from the party
spirit and erroneous views that were exhibited in Parliament.
— Mr. Pitt answered with his usual boldness : " I rejoice that
America has resisted. Three millions of our fellow-subjects so
lost to every sense of virtue, as voluntari y to give up their liber
ties, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of all the
rest. Assert the sovereign authority of this country over the
colonies in as strong terms as can be devised ; extend it to every
point of legislation whatsoever ; bind their trade; confine their
manufactures ; — but do not take their money out of their pockets
without their own consent. That you have no right to do ; and
only in a good cause and on solid grounds can England
crush America to atoms." — To this Nicholson Calvert replied :
" It matters little to the question whether the Americans are in
the right or not, — they think themselves so."f
These few sentences contain, in fact, the brief text of innume
rable subsequent discussions and explanations; they defined for
years the theoretical and practical position of parties, and have
— with slight modifications — so important an influence, even in
our own day, that an elucidation of them in this connection can
not well be out of place; especially as it must enable us to de
cide respecting the truth or falsehood of the reproach, that the
American republic sprang from a damnable rebellion.
Respecting the relation of a mother-country to its colonies,
no general system had as yet been laid down with scientific
exactness ; nor were the examples in history so numerous, or of
such a kind, that men could draw conclusions from them with
certainty, and act accordingly. This insufficiency of the theory and
# January, 1766. Parliament. History, xvi. 97-110. Adolphus, i. 225.
t Raumer's Beitrage, iii. 289.

38 FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS
practice that had hitherto prevailed, led to sharp, and for the most
part arbitrary contradictions ; and since none possessed that con
summate statesmanship which sees with prophetic eye into the
future, and knows how to direct and control it, they lived on from
day to day, wondering without reason why temporary remedies
and temporary expedients, instead of leading to the desired re
sults, brought forth constantly something new and unexpected.
If a child is begotten, it does not depend on the mother's will
whether it shall be born or not, nor upon the parents whether
after birth it shall grow up to maturity. Every colony, says Thu-
cydides with his well known acuteness, honors the parent city
when the latter acts well towards it ; but it becomes estranged by
unjust treatment. For those settlers were sent out not to slavery,
but that they might remain on a level with them that stay at
home.* The above cited declaration of Lord Clare, respecting the im
measurable importance of even a pepper- corn by way of right,
may in the first place be explained to mean (and so it was un
derstood by Pitt), that it is an imperative point of honor and the
first of duties, not to surrender the smallest portion of one's right,
but to pursue it to the extremest iota. This view, which trans
fers some of the littlenesses, prejudices, and follies of private life
into the sphere of politics, involves whole nations in strife without
reason or prospect of advantage, instead of skilfully and mildly
reconciling them with each other.
This declaration acquires additional weight, when understood
to mean that force without right is ever powerless ; or rather that
in the latter there resides a boundless power that nothing can
resist. However, this theory also leads to harm, if not closely
examined and essentially corrected. And first of all we find force
opposed to right. If we here assume that force and wrong are
wholly synonymous, the antithesis at least seems clear, and it
may perhaps be proved, from the speculative point of view, that
all wrong is in fact powerless or absolutely null and void. But
for the practical point of view of historical action, this proof is
without efficacy, and totally different means must be employed
for overcoming wrong.
There is also a second source of confusion and misapprehen
sion in the fact that the words force and might are often used
synonymously one for the other, and hence the saying has crept
in, that might is always opposed to right. But in truth different
degrees of power and might give rise to different rights ; although
it is hereby by no means intended to deny that wrong may be
found connected with any quantity of might, be it great or small.
Great might when separated from right, and good right destitute
* De Bell. Pelop. i. 34.

TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 39
of all might, are always in a dangerous position ; wherefore true
political wisdom should apply itself to both these elements, and
heal their defects as completely as possible.
Lord Clare insisted that both right and might were on the side
of Great Britain, and cast aside the question relative to the right
and might of America; and yet the main question on which
every thing depended, was : What might and what right does
America already possess, and what is it both called upon by
nature and in a condition to acquire ?
Grenville's words seemed to answer the question clearly : but
mat appearance was deceptive ; for the Americans maintained that
their defence during the last war had been substantially effected
by themselves, and that after all the war had been brought upon
them solely on England's account. Grenville's maxim also, that
" Protection and obedience are reciprocal," may easily be taken to
mean that obedience should cease when protection is denied. The
truth of Grenville's declaration, that " the right of taxation is a
part of the sovereign power," can by no means be denied as a
general abstract proposition ; but in the particular concrete case
in which it was applied to the British Parliament, it was only a
premiss, a petitio principii.
Pitt therefore very justly transferred the question to positive
grounds, and showed that the form of the English law of taxation
presented the most powerful arguments to induce the co-opera
tion and participation of America. But still his views were too
much confined to the concrete as those of Grenville were to the
abstract. For how could the law of taxation be arbitrarily se
lected from the whole body of legislation, and the Americans be
made contented with such a fragment, while, according to Pitt's
harsh declaration, they were to remain without right or participa
tion in any other objects of legislation ? Nay more, so unable
was Pitt to disengage himself from the prevalent English notions
on the subject, that he would allow the Americans a voice only
in direct taxation, while he claimed the imposition of all indi
rect taxes (e. g. custom-house duties) as a monopoly on behalf of
England. But in this state, unsatisfactory as it was both in
theory and practice, things could by no means remain.
Neither the doctrine of the point of honor, nor of the exist
ence and omnipotence of a purely English right, nor yet Pitt's
unsatisfactory proposal for an accommodation, could remove the
difficulties that presented themselves. Mr. Calvert, therefore,
very justly directed attention to existing facts. It was, he
observed, of no kind of use to shut one's eyes to them, or to en
deavor to solve the difficulty by laying down general propositions,
or by referring to former circumstances which were essentially
different. An unprejudiced examination of the facts would have

40 FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS
shown that neither old dogmas nor old laws were suited to the
present state of things. The majority of the British Parliament
mistook, on account of the past, both the present and the future,
and wished to play the judge according to defective and disputed
custom, whereas there was needed a new legislation for a new
ivorld. Let us return, after these intermediate observations, to the his
torical facts. The Marquis of Rockingham,* a very sensible and
excellent man, who was placed at the head of affairs in the sum
mer of 1765, by no means participated in Grenville's views.
He rather listened to those who maintained that the complaints
of the Americans, as well as of the English merchants who
were very much hindered in their trade, must be attended to ;
and that unconditional blind obedience was not to be looked for
from men whose forefathers had left their native country and
suffered the greatest hardships in order to be free.f
After many parliamentary struggles, the Stamp Act was at
length (on the 18th of March, 1766) totally repealed in the House
of Commons by 275 votes against 167, and in the House of
Lords by 105 against 71, on the ground that this tax and the
mode of levying it were preposterous.^: At the same time the
unlimited legislative power of Parliament was confirmed by a
special act, and in other places the mildness and moderation of
the government were greatly extolled.
This repeal of the Stamp Act gave rise in America to great and
universal rejoicings; trade sprang up anew, numerous letters of
thanks were despatched to England, and all seemed settled and
composed. To the objection that Parliament had retained the
principle of the right of taxation, and even strengthened it anew,
the majority, full of gladness and hope, replied that Parliament,
in order to save its honor externally, could not have acted other
wise, but that it would be too wise ever to put the principle into
literal execution in America.
The season of commercial restriction, however, had produced
in America the proud belief that, with respect to trade, it was
less dependent on England than England was on it. A small
island like England, it was said, which was indebted to the
Americans for the disposal of so many of its wares, should
not have the presumption to seek to impose restrictions on an
entire hemisphere. Such were the sentiments and views of
America. In the meantime, in the course of July, 1766, a partial change
of ministry had- occurred. The Marquis of Rockingham's place
* Belsham, v. 177. Burke's Life, p. 183.
t Adolphus, i. 388.
% Belsham, v. 532. Burke on American Taxation, ii. 401.

TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 41
was given to a tory,* the Duke of Grafton ; Pitt, now created
Earl of Chatham, being prevented by ill health from attending to
business, had but little influence; and the control of the finances
was entrusted to Charles Townshend, a man of splendid abilities,
but of fickle and uncertain character. He thought it would be
manifesting a sufficient degree of prudence and compliance, if
he should refrain from taxing America directly, and merely regu
late its commerce, as had so often been done before without
opposition. When he proposed accordingly, in June, 1767, to
levy duties on glass, paper, painters' colors, and tea entering into
the colonies, the bill was passed, almost without opposition, into
a law. As soon as the Americans received news of this, they were
unwilling any longer to recognize the former nice and too artifi
cial distinction, that England ought indeed voluntarily to give up
direct taxation, but that to indirect taxation she was perfectly
entitled. They justly observed, that the prohibition to manufac
ture certain articles of commerce (as, for instance, hats), and the
command to purchase only those of English make, undoubtedly
included within themselves a tax, and the new duties would
create a revenue at the expense of Americans just as much as
the Stamp Act. Agreements were again entered into to import
no English goods until the duties were taken off — a sort of indi
rect compulsion, which was both allowable and very unpleasing
to England. The animated declarations of the legislative assem
blies against British taxation in any shape, and their open endea
vors to enter into closer connection with each other for the sake
of more effectual resistance, were regarded by the governors as
still more dangerous, on account of their formal nature. When
the governors on this account dissolved the assemblies, the mal
contents formed private associations, which soon assumed a
regular form, and proceeded with great applause to carry out the
objects at which they aimed, and especially to support and
strengthen the combination against English goods. The occu
pation of Boston and other places with English troops (Septem
ber, 1768) increased the general discontenl, without adding to the
power of government. The payment and quartering of troops
was every where refused on the ground of existing laws, and the
proposal to grant sums for the salaries of officers in perpetuo was
rejected, as it would place the ruling power in the hands of a few
irresponsible persons. The command that all evasions of the
customs should be tried and punished in England, was termed a
violation of the most important principles of the British constitu
tion.! * Grahame, iv. 249.
t Grahame, iv. 276. Belsham, vi. 11, 21. Ramsay, i. 150. Adolphus, i. 358.
Politisches Journal, 1781, p. 53.

42 FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS
In this state of things the English government a second time
changed its measures. In April, 1770, an act was passed, by
350 votes against 62, granting a partial repeal of the duties levied
in the year 1767. Those on glass, paper, and painters' colors,
were taken off altogether ; but that on tea was raised threepence
a pound. By this' means, the majority asserted, the burden was
diminished, while the principle was preserved. On this occa
sion Grenville remarked : My strictness was the best means ;
Rockingham's unconditional repeal of the taxes the next best;
but this middle way is the worst of all. Others said: It is ab
surd to keep up the contention while the advantage is surren
dered. And Burke exclaimed : What dignity is derived from
perseverance in absurdity is more than I ever could discern.*
Regardless of these and similar reproaches, Lord North (who
had succeeded to Townshend's place in September, 1770) declar
ed : "A total repeal of the duties cannot be thought of till Ame
rica lies prostrate at our feet!" Such vaporing was certainly
unworthy of a statesman, and created a most disagreeable
and exciting sensation in America. The compacts, however,
against English goods were immediately dissolved, and retained
only against tea.
But unhappily at this time many faulty measures and unfortu
nate occurrences took place. A constitution was introduced into
Canada which gave reason to fear that similar restrictive pro
visions would be imposed upon the other colonies. The gover
nor of Massachusetts lived in discord with the patriots of that
province ; he advised harsh measures, as was shown by inter
cepted correspondence, and made the judges wholly dependent
on himself: these things gave rise, in March, 1777, to bloody con
flicts in Boston between the people and the troops. Thus
violent opposition gradually took the place of respectful remon
strances, and there needed but one new error on the part of the
English government to stir up the passions also in behalf of the
American doctrines.f
In consequence of the diminished export of tea to the colonies,
an immense stock of that article had accumulated in the ware
houses of the East India Company ; for which reason the gov
ernment gave permission to send it to all places whatever, duty
free. As the remission thus granted amounted to a shilling on
the pound, while the American import duty was only threepence ;
as the East India Company ordered their consignees in America
to pay this latter tax, which was thus concealed in the price ; and
lastly, as the price of the tea, by taking off the threepence and by
* Belsham, v. 360. Adolphus, i. 464. Genz Histor. Journal, 1800 ii. 28. Burke
on American Taxation, ii. 366.
t Ramsay, i. 172. Burke, ii. 363.

TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 43
the recent abatement of a shilling, was brought much lower than
before, it was thought that the Americans would thankfully ac
knowledge the advantages held out to them, and willingly make
purchases. But, on the contrary, they said, " Shall we sell our
rights like cowards for a trifling gain in the way of a tax ; shall
we show ourselves meaner and more selfish than England, who
evidently surrenders greater advantages for the present, in order to
carry out her claims to unconditional sovereignty ?" Accordingly
it was resolved that none of the tea should be bought, and that all
ships laden therewith should be prevented from landing their
cargoes. This was carried literally into effect in New York and
Philadelphia, although not every where : in Charleston the tea was
seized and kept till it spoiled ; and in Boston seventeen persons
disguised as Indians threw, on the 18th of December, 1773, three
hundred and forty-two chests of tea into the sea. Not a single
chest landed in North America was sold there.*
As soon as Parliament received the news of these events, the
majority, without reflecting on the primary cause that produced
them, turned their attention solely to the outrages last committed
in Boston. But instead of investigating the circumstances of the
transaction, and finding out the instigators and participants therein,
instead, in short, of taking the fair and proper course, they imposed
(March, 1774) a heavy fine on the whole city, and laid an, em
bargo on Boston harbor. In vain did Chatham, Rockingham,
and others, declare themselves in favor of milder and conciliatory
measures ; in vain did Burke remind them that at length opposi
tion was directed only against unjust laws, and that from this very
circumstance it was evident how improper it was to condemn
without a hearing, and to try to enforce constitutional principles
by the military arm.f
The citizens of Boston said to the same effect: " How is it
possible that for the offence of individuals and before any legal
investigation, an unsuitable, incalculable, and destructive punish
ment is to be inflicted upon the whole city ? How can it be
required that dependence on Great Britain should outlive its
justice ?"
The feeling of right which advocated the propriety of indemni
fying the East India Company for the loss of their tea, on the
part of those who had caused it, was now excited in a much
stronger degree in favor of the innocent inhabitants of Boston ;
though it was expected that a more equitable and moderate course
would be adopted by England. But instead of so doing, Parlia
ment about this time (May, 1774) changed the constitution of
Massachusetts in its most essential particulars. It. was enacted
that the provincial council, hitherto chosen by the representative
* Grahame, iv. 329. t Hinton, i. 312.

44 FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS
assembly, should hereafter be appointed by the crown. The
appointment of most of the public officers, and the removal of
councillors and judges, were intrusted to the will of the gov
ernor ; the town-meetings were made entirely dependent on him;
and not the slightest respect was paid to the contents of the old
charters, to which all these proceedings were opposed. Lord
North said : " If this bill does not rest on grounds of the great
est political necessily, it rests on nothing.* And in fact it did rest
on nothing ; yet 239 against 64 voted for it in the lower house,
and 92 against 20 in the upper house, remaining true to the con
viction, that severity would soon set all to rights !
Allowing that the constitution of Massachusetts exhibited
great defects, still it was exceedingly rash to change its form just
at that moment — exceedingly short-sighted to destroy despo
tically the recognized rights and charters of an entire people, and
to play the reformer so awkwardly and unjustly. At any rate it
might have been distinctly foreseen that herein the omnipotence
of Parliament was still less likely to be acknowledged than it was
in paying the duties on tea.
The third blundering encroachment of the English ministry
consisted in a law passed at the same time, to the effect that any
person indicted for murder or any other capital offence committed
in aiding the magistracy of Massachusetts should be tried in
another colony, or in England.
These measures, the blame bestowed on them even in the
British Parliament, the public meetings, correspondence, and
publications of all kinds, raised the enthusiasm in favor of North
American freedom to such a pitch, that even the most circumspect
coincided in — or at least did not venture to oppose — the assertion,
that it was necessary to bear present sufferings with cheerfulness,
in order to escape the great and inevitable evils with which they
were threatened. The restrictions of old constitutions and govern
ments were less effectual in accustoming men to an anarchy
hitherto unknown, than they were in leading to new measures
which far surpassed in boldness all that had been attempted be
fore.! Thus the combination entered into by newly established
committees, communicated to all undertakings and movements
a rapidity, unanimity, and activity, of which no example had
hitherto been given ; and which was afterwards repeated in the
Jacobin clubs in another and more fearful manner.
Boston bore the very heavy loss arising from the embargo on
its commerce, with immoveable firmness ; and experienced every
where such hearty sympathy, that even the inhabitants of the
neighboring town of Salem — whither it was designed to turn
* Belsham, vi. 54. t Burke, iii. 60. Ramsay, i. 217~

TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 45
the course of trade, as a punishment to Boston,— declared, that
they would consider it shameful to enrich themselves at the
expense of their fellow-citizens. The proclamation of General
Gage, the English commander-in-chief in Massachusetts, to the
effect that the compacts against trade with England were hostile
and traitorous, led merely to a controversial correspondence ;
while every one acted in the matter as he pleased. The
attempt to establish a new government in Massachusetts failed ;
since several of the persons appointed by the king declined
their offices, and others were prevented from assuming them by
the people. Thus there ensued a general stoppage of all the
courts and public offices, without giving immediate rise to riots,
and acts of violence. When, however, the rumor was spread —
perhaps intentionally — that Boston had been bombarded by the
British, many thousands assembled immediately in the surround
ing country ; and all the custom-house officers and other public
functionaries, including even the newly established courts in
Salem, were compelled to flee to Boston.
Four months after the reception of the Boston Port Bill, on
the 5th of September, 1774, the delegates of twelve provinces
(Georgia followed later) met in general congress in Philadel
phia ; they gave one vote to each state, and chose Peyton Ran
dolph, of Virginia, as their president. In some of the provinces
the deputies had been appointed by the legislative assemblies ;
in others, where the governors opposed it, this had been per
formed by assemblies of the people on their own authority. The
resolutions that emanated from the congress abounded in
strong assurances of loyalty, and of legitimate adherence to the
mother-country. They acknowledged the prerogatives of the
crown, and disclaimed all desire of separation. But, on the other
hand, they firmly maintained, that they were entitled to all the
rights of native British subjects ; that the late proceedings against
Massachusetts were illegal and oppressive, and consequently
were to be regarded as a matter of common concern to all the
states. True, said they, the British Parliament can make cer
tain regulations, and impose certain restrictions intended to
benefit the trade of the whole kingdom ; but no tax can be levied
on the Americans without their own consent ; and to them be
longs the right of devising all laws for their internal government,
and of laying them before the king. The congress resolved,
moreover, that the American settlers had the right to be tried
by their peers, to assemble peaceably together to consider their
grievances, and present petitions to the king. It was contrary to
law, they said, to keep a standing army in America without the
consent of the provincial assemblies, and to make the legislative
power entirely dependent on a council, simply appointed by the
4.

46 FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS
crown. The acts respecting new taxes, the quartering of troops,
judicial proceedings, the embargo on Boston, &c. : it was also
necessary to repeal.*
To this effect an able and eloquent address was drawn up
to the inhabitants of Great Britain, and also an address to the
king ; but at the same time — in order to give greater weight to
these measures — all commercial intercourse with Great Britain
was broken off until their grievances should be removed. Still
the assurance was repeated, that nothing new was meditated ;
and that all they sought was the restoration and preservation of
their former peace, liberty, and safety.
When the congress had thus performed its task, with serious
ness, moderation, order, and prudence, it dissolved itself on
the 26th of October ; but not until it had made the necessary
arrangements for a second meeting. Every where its orders
were readily obeyed ; and while the old forms of government still
subsisted, they had in fact entirely lost their power and efficacy.
One spirit seemed to animate all, and the enthusiasm on behalf
of the public welfare exceeded all calculation. The merchants
and country people submitted without demur to very slrict regu
lations respecting trade, and the exportation of their produce;
and each individual assented to unwonted deprivations and new
obligations. A cheerful gaiety was exhibited in the midst of
all these sufferings ; for the attainment of freedom seemed wor
thy of all price. Thus all were exalted above themselves to a
pitch of self-denial, devotion, and courage, which the cold pru
dence of quiet times can scarcely comprehend.
Yet instructive and warning as these events and manifestations
must have been to every unprejudiced observer, the Parliament
newly assembled in November, 1774, agreed with the former
one : thus proving that a people may be very jealous of its own
liberties, while, unhappily, it seeks to destroy those of another.
Individual members, it is true, pointed out to ministers, that their
anticipations of an easy suppression of disturbances had turned
out erroneous, and that they were threatened with the dangers
of a civil war ; but the majority were still in favor of severe mea
sures ; and, among others, Lord Sandwich, the head of the ad
miralty, spoke in the most contemptuous manner of the senti
ments and power of the Americans. The partial resolutions of
the congress, he asserted, would not be supported by the peo
ple ; or, at any rate, they would easily be annulled by the superior
power of England. These erroneous views were in a good
measure owing to the fact, that the government received their '
accounts of what was going on, almost exclusively from their
own officials ; who were either imperfectly cognizant of the true
* Ramsay, i. 248.

TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 47
state of things, or else sought lo enhance the value and merits
of their vigilance by slandering the Americans.
No one censured the views and proceedings of the ministry
with greater severity and vehemence than Lord Chatham. He
pledged his honor, and declared that he would own himself an
idiot, if the resolutions that had been passed would not have to
be repealed. When ministers retorted, that it was easy to find
fault, but difficult to make more judicious propositions, he brought
in a Bill, on the 20th of January, 1775, which was designed to
effect a reconciliation with the colonies. It asserted the right of
the king to send a moderate army at all times into all parts of his
dominions ; but declared that military force should never be em
ployed to violate and destroy the just rights of the people. The
legal constitution and charters should remain untouched, several
harsh measures should be rescinded, and an amnesty declared for
all that had taken place. A congress might assemble to acknow
ledge the rights of Parliament over the colonies, and grant a tax
to the king, which Parliament might then dispose of. Direct
local taxation should belong to the Americans ; from which,
however, the general measures necessary for the regulation of
commerce in a great kingdom were essentially distinct. " As
to the metaphysical refinements," said Chatham, " attempting
to show that the Americans are equally free from legislative
control and commercial restraint, as from taxation for the pur
pose of revenue, I pronounce them futile, frivolous, and ground
less."* Lord Sandwich's declaration, that Chatham's bill seemed
rather the work of an American (turning to Franklin, who was
present) than of a British nobleman, was certainly unfounded;
since the colonists, for the reasons already mentioned would
have been but little gratified with the measures proposed : but
be that as it may, it is a proof of passion and hastiness, that this
and similar propositions of the greatest statesman in England,
should be rejected at once, and without serious deliberation.
The new Parliament, which, without subjecting itself to cen
sure, might have repealed many of the acts of the former one,
on the contrary proceeded with hasty steps in the same course, pro
hibited the reception of any more petitions from the Americans,
and declared their acts rebellious. Yet notwithstanding this
more than dubious proceeding, Lord North said: " I have not
the least doubt that the dispute with America will be ended
speedily, happily, and without bloodshed."
By way of nearer approach to this peaceful consummation, com
mands were issued to increase the number of troops in Boston,
and to place a -general embargo on American trade, including
* Belsham, vi. 102, 104. Genz, 1. u. p. 40.

48 FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS
the fisheries in Newfoundland. It was, indeed, remarked by
some, that the restraints on the fisheries would operate also to
the serious injury of Great Britain ; that such proceedings were
more cruel than were customary, even against enemies ; that
they would drive the American fishermen to the extremities of
famine, compel them to become soldiers, &c. But the majority
replied : The Americans themselves have given occasion for the
measures complained of, and commenced hostilities against
English trade. They must be shown that England is not more
powerless than they ; and members must not shrink from adopt
ing such means as are the best, because leading most speedily
to the desired result.
Still, in order not to put an end to all thoughts of an accom
modation, or with the design of creating differences between
the colonies, Lord North, in February, 1775, made the propo
sition, that if any of the colonies would grant and place at the
disposal of Parliament a proportionate sum for the common de
fence of the empire, and make provision for the support of the
civil government and the administration of justice within their
confines, and if such grants and provisions should be approved
of by the king and Parliament, — then during such contribu
tions the duties should be taken off, excepting such as might
seem necessary for the regulation of trade, and the income from
these should be expended for their benefit.
The ministers maintained, that in case the opposition of the
Americans was founded solely on the grounds which they pro
fessed, they must necessarily accept the proposition made them ;
a rejection of which would completely prove that they cherished
other and criminal designs. The whole proposition, however,
met with but little acceptance even in England, and much less in
America. The claims of Parliament to unconditional power, it
was here said, are but awkwardly concealed ; it desires to treat
with single states, in order that it may work on some by fear and
on others by self-interest, and thus dissolve their union. Assent
to a permanent tax leads to tyranny. England's monopoly of
trade comprises within itself a taxation of America ; and if the
mother-country desires to obtain still more, Americans must be
allowed to carry on then- trade as freely as Britons. The pro
position, it was continued, contains no renunciation of the rights
of taxation, and forgets that the internal government and admi
nistration of justice are wholly under the direction of American
assemblies. On these and similar grounds, Lord North's pro
position, which had been carried in the House of Commons by a
vote of 274 to 88* was in America unanimously rejected.
Milder proposals on the part of Edmund Burke, to redress the
* Belsham, vi. 124.

TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 49
well-founded complaints of the Americans and acknowledge
their right of self-taxation, were rejected by a vote of 184
to 51*
Prophetically he said : " Force in the long run can never suc
ceed, its effect is always uncertain. It is impossible to change
opinions arising from descent, education, religion, position, &c. ;
two millions of men cannot be brought before a criminal court,
but we must take things as they are, and hold fast to undeniable
facts. Shall we destroy that which made the colonies great,
destroy them to bring them to obedience ? On the contrary the
Americans must be won to the constitution of the British empire.
This does not require the reception of their deputies in the
English House of Commons, but the recognition of their own
constitutions and of the right of self-taxation. It is by no means
impossible to find out a proper position to be occupied by the
American constitutions with regard to that of Great Britain ; and
the fear that in case of such a concession no more money would
be granted by the Americans, appears, as England itself demon
strates, wholly unfounded. But after all, the idea of drawing
money from America to England is certainly preposterous.
American taxes must be expended in America, and it must not
be forgotten that the colonies are still of use, directly in com
merce and indirectly in war."
In the meantime New York, which it had been sought to gain
over by a milder treatment than common, was striving after the
same rights as the other states ; and the increasing distress, aris
ing in great measure from the suppression of the fisheries, aug
mented the hatred against England. The Americans, however,
with great prudence and foresight, avoided the appearance of
being the aggressors ; they wished to awaken sympathy for their
righteous cause, and not by passionate errors to diminish the
number of their friends. But when General Gage undertook to
destroy their arms and ammunition, a skirmish took place at
Lexington between the king's troops and the Americans : the
first blood of citizens flowed on the 19th of April, 1775, the im
mediate cause of war being the claim to impose a tax from
which it was well known there could remain no surplus for
England. The English relied upon their ascendency by land and sea,
their wealth, military stores, and experience in warfare, upon
their government directed from a single point, and the knowledge
of the art of war possessed by their generals and admirals. The
Americans took into the account the weakening effect of the
distance between England and themselves, their more accurate
* Belsham, vi. 74. Burke on Amer. Conciliation, 22d March, 1775. Works, iii. 23.
Ramsay, i. 307.

50 FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS
knowledge of their own country, and above all the righteousness
of their good cause. The enthusiasm in favor of the war, not
against the king but against the English ministry, was universal;
and preachers, judges, public officers, the press, all labored
unanimously for the same object. In a greater battle fought at
Bunker Hill, near Boston, on the 17th of June, 1775, the Eng
lish it is true gained the victory over the undisciplined American
troops ; but they met with such an obstinate resistance, and suf
fered so heavy a loss, that it furnished serious occasion to new
councils and deliberations on both sides.
On the 10th of May preceding this event, the congress had
met a second time, and had drawn up vindicatory addresses to
Great Britain, Ireland, and Jamaica, and also a suitable petition
to the king. To this last no answer was vouchsafed, because
the rebels made no offer of subjection, and had in view only to
gain time. This rejection embittered even the moderate party,
who, although aiming at the establishment and recognition of a
free constitution, did not regard as desirable an entire dissolution
of the connection with Great Britain.
The motion of the Duke of Richmond on the 10th of Novem
ber, 1775, that the representations of the congress to the king
presented an opportunity for new negotiations and a settlement
of differences, was rejected as before.* The old tories, the high
church zealots, and the whigs, with whom the maxim of the
omnipotence of Parliament outweighed all other considerations,
stood united against the smaller number of those who were
styled American democrats.!
Five months later, on the 17th of March, 1776, Boston was
taken by the Americans ; and a few weeks afterwards, almost all
the governors had fled, and the royal authority had become loos
ened to such an extent, that on the 7th of June, Richard Henry
Lee, of Virginia, moved in congress to declare the independence
of the North American states. A document was soon after
drawn up by Thomas Jefferson, entitled the Declaration of Inde
pendence, and submitted to the examination of a committee. It
was then taken up by the congress ; and having, after an earnest
debate, been altered in a few points, it was almost unanimously
adopted^ on the 4lh day of July.
It enumerates all the evils, oppressions, and wrongs, which
the Americans considered themselves to have suffered from
England and especially from the king and government, and
declares the eternal and inalienable rights which God has erven
to his creatures, namely life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
* Belsham, vi. 181, 204.
t Dr. Johnson said : " The Americans are a race of convicts, and ou°ht to be
thankful for any thing we allow them short of hanging." M'Gregor's America i. 30.
% The only opponent was Mr. Dickinson.

TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 51
" To secure these rights governments are instituted, which derive
their just power from the consent of the governed. Where a
government becomes destructive of these ends, the people have a
right to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government
which may conduce to their safety and happiness. Prudence
indeed dictates that governments long established should not be
changed for light and transient causes ; and accordingly all ex
perience has 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 where a long train
of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object,
evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism,* and
when a government pays no attention to their most earnest peti
tions and well-grounded remonstrances, it becomes their duty to
throw it off, and to provide new guards for their future security.
We, therefore, the assembled representatives of the United States
of America, appealing to the supreme Judge of the world for the
rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by authority of
the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare,
that they are and of right ought to be free and independent
states, and that all allegiance and connection with the British
crown is hereby totally dissolved. And for support of this decla
ration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence,
we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our
sacred honor."
From that time to the present day, this American Declaration
(like similar principles, measures, and declarations) has been
contemplated and judged from wholly opposite points of view.
The uncompromising adherents of the doctrine of divine rights
and blind obedience, as well as the advocates of the right of every
rebellion, solve with perfect ease all questions concerning po
litical and social relations; for without ever closely inquiring
into their origin, contents, the occasion that produced them, their
management and success, they clap them upon the same last,
and measure them with the same yard-stick. This seemingly
absolute and infallible wisdom necessarily tends almost always
to error and folly ; and all that is characteristic and life-like is
destroyed, in order to enthrone in its stead the spectre of arbitrary
rules as the only dispenser of happiness. This caput mortuum
of soi-disant profound historical views, treats the thirty tyrants,
the decemvirs and triumvirs, Gessler and Tell, Alba and William
of Orania, Charles I. and Cromwell, James II. William III.
and Louis XVI., Washington and Robespierre, the most stupid
and impudent rebellion and the noblest stand against oppression,
* The Declaration speaks most strongly against the king, because America
yielded no recognition whatever to the right and might of Parliament.

52 FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
in precisely the same manner, and seeks to exalt a few barren
ideas above genuine enthusiasm and profound knowledge.
Without entering upon a closer examination and refutation of
this one-sided system than is here admissible, we return after
these few hints to our historical narration, the course of which
affords a sufficient illustration of these principles.

CHAPTER V.

FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (1776) TO THE BREAKING
OUT OF THE WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE (l778).
Necessity of the War — Washington — Capture of Burgoyne — France and America —
War between France and England.
A righteous indignation at wrongs endured, and a noble
enthusiasm in the cause of liberty and one's native land are, as
a general rule, the most important conditions to success in great
warlike undertakings ; but that these will not suffice without
patience, obedience, and habits of discipline, was experienced by
the Americans after a large body of English troops under Lord
Howe had landed upon their coasts. Before, commencing hostili
ties, he issued demands for submission and promises of pardon ;
but in this the Americans saw only an artifice for sowing dis
union among themselves, and they even printed and distributed
these English proclamations, in order that the people might be con
vinced that where rights ought to have been acknowledged and
confirmed, all they were offered was — pardon !
The Americans, however, were obliged every where to retire
before the English army, which was well commanded and inured
to war ; they thus lost New York, Long Island, New Jersey,
Rhode Island, and the whole country as far as the Delaware ; while
in consequence of this misfortune, all order vanished from their
ranks, many returned home at the expiration of their stipulated
term of service, and whole hosts of inhabitants hastened over to the
royal army to seek peace and protection. Congress alone remain
ed active and firm in this most trying juncture of the American
war of freedom, and delivered to General Washington, with pro
vident sagacity and noble confidence, the supreme command of
the army. He was empowered at his discretion to raise and dis-

TO THE WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE. 53
band troops, to inflict punishment, levy contributions, award com
pensations, &c. That such a man as Washington was to be
found, and that his worth was duly appreciated, were circum
stances highly fortunate and highly meritorious. Without his
personal influence and exertions, the American revolution could
never have succeeded so admirably ; in fact none can succeed
where the excited masses are destitute of wise and virtuous leaders.
George Washington was born in Virginia, in the county of
Westmoreland, on the 22d of February, 1732, sound and strong
in body, cultivated in mind by industry but still more by his way
of life, and distinguished as a leader in the war of 1756 to 1763.
He had an intellect powerful but not dazzling. Even in the
present day in America, happily for the country, merely brilliant
qualities are by no means over-estimated, as is so often the case
in France ; and rectitude, character, and virtue are never regarded
as superfluous, unimportant accompaniments. Few men who
have earned for themselves a celebrated name in the history of
the world exhibit such a harmony, such a concordant symmetry
of all the qualities calculated to render himself and others happy,
as Washington ; and it has been very appropriately observed,
that, like the master-pieces of ancient art, he must be the more
admired in the aggregate, the more closely he is examined in
detail. His soul was elevated above party-spirit, prejudice, self-
interest, and paltry aims ; he acted according to the impulses of a
noble heart and a sound understanding, strengthened by impartial
observation. By calmly considering things in all their relations
and from every point of view, he became master of them, and was
able, even in situations of the greatest perplexity, to choose with
certainty that which was best. To the greatest firmness he united
the mildness and patience equally necessary in the then state of
affairs ; to prudence and foresight he joined boldness at the right
moment ; and the power entrusted to him he never abused by the
slightest infraction of the laws.
Although it is impossible that an American can ever again per
form such services for his country as were then rendered by Wash
ington, his noble, blameless, and spotless image will remain a
model and a rallying-point to all, to encourage the good and to
deter the bad. How petty do the common race of martial heroes
appear in comparison with Washington! how insignificant espe
cially Lord North, who, while internally wavering, strove after an
appearance of decision, feebly pursued measures of violence, and
awakened hatred without instilling fear!
The formation of a new and more effective American army was
promoted by the insubordination and plundering propensities of
many of the English and German soldiery ; for as soon as the
inhabitants perceived that submission could not ensure their

54 FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
safety, they rushed to arms ; and country people who had thought
but little of the right of taxation, or at least had not interested them
selves in the matter, felt the wrongs which the plundering soldiery
inflicted on them. Bold attacks were made by Washington on
portions of the British army at Trenton and Princeton; in which
he came off victorious, and raised the sunken courage of the
Americans to such a pitch, that they encountered greater dangers
with intrepidity.
On the 11th of September, 1777, Washington was defeated at
the river Brandywine by a superior English force ; on the 26th of
September, the victors occupied Philadelphia; and on the 14th
of September, General Burgoyne reached Saratoga with a strong
army, on his march from Canada. The great and judicious plan
of uniting the northern and southern portions of the English army,
of completely hemming in New England, and of then reducing
the less zealous colonies to subjection, seemed to have already
succeeded; and there was scarcely an Englishman at that mo
ment who doubted a speedy and happy termination to the war.
But as the danger became more imminent, the activity and
resolution of the Americans also increased ; and while Washing
ton watched the southern divisions of the English, they kept col
lecting in greater numbers to oppose Burgoyne's progress. The
latter found the ways nowhere open; and while he was anxious
ly awaiting the arrival of his countrymen from the south, they
lost time in useless maraudings, and at length turned back when
they had already traversed the greater part of the way. In the
meantime Burgoyne's army became more closely surrounded, his
retreat was blocked up, his stock of provisions exhausted, and
there remained no hope of winning a battle against his far more
numerous and well posted enemies. Burgoyne was thus com
pelled, on the 16th of October, 1777, to surrender, at Saratoga, him
self and his army to General Gates ;* on condition that all should
be allowed a free retreat to England, and promising that they would
not again serve against America during the war. The Americans
took 5,790 prisoners, 35 pieces of cannon, 4,687 muskets, and
many other munitions of war, which were of great use to them.
This great and unlooked for event decided, if not the fate of
America, at least the views of the European powers, especially
France, concerning the revolt of the colonies. With respect to
this, it has been said time and again, " the cabinet of Versailles
displayed profound policy and unwonted skill. Nay, it can be
affirmed that the French government has never, and on no impor
tant occasion, exhibited so much sagacity and firmness."!
* Gates was for a while opposed to and even exalted above Washington by a
party. The former, however, was presumptuous, irresolute, and altogether of a mean
disposition. — Life of Hamilton, i. 124, 127.
t Marten, Causes Celebres, i. 498.

TO THE WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE. 55
What we are to think of these praises, is shown in the print
ed correspondence of the American envoys and the unprint-
ed correspondence of the English ambassador at Paris, Lord
Stormont.* It deserves to be communicated in this place some
what at length, since it gives very instructive disclosures respect
ing the views of the English, the Americans, and the French.
On the 7th of September, 1774, Lord Stormont writes from
Paris : " I will not trouble you with the particulars of the rea
sonings of our philosophers, wits, and coffee-house politicians
here ; who all, without exception, are zealous Americans, and
affect to regard them as a brave people, fighting for their natural
rights, and struggling to wrest them from the hands of haughty
and passionate masters. Their favorite argument is, that since
the Americans are not. represented in our Parliament, they
ought not to render obedience to our laws. This argument they
turn about on all sides, and amuse themselves with empty, vague,
and general theories, the usual cloak under which men of parts
conceal their ignorance. They speak in a way that must surprise
every body who is not as well acquainted with this country as
your lordship, who knows with what self-conceit the French
talk of what they know least about, and how they make up
in petulance what they lack in knowledge. Then too there are
people here of quite a different stamp, who indeed grant, in gene
ral terms, that our right is very clear ; but who think, or pretend
to think, that it would be better for us to lay it aside and assent to
the claims of the Americans, unfounded as they are, rather than
bring on an open quarrel in which we must be the losers at last.
These say, that by virtue of the natural and inevitable course of
human affairs, in the extraordinary increase of the population,
power, and trade of North America, a time must arrive when the
struggle for independence in all our colonies must become gene
ral. Impelled by this spirit and conscious of their own superior
power, they would cast off all dependence on the mother-coun
try, and form an immense kingdom of their own. This event, it is
said, no human prudence can avert ; and by the greatest wisdom
that which cannot be healed can only be hidden or postponed for
a season at the most."
At that time the French ministers said nothing at all respecting
American affairs, and even a year later (20th September, 1775)
Lord Stormont writes : " The whole tenor of the speeches of M.
de Vergennes (and he spoke on this occasion often and decided
ly) convinces me that the French will grant no aid to the Ameri
can rebels with the consent of the government." Yet M. de
Vergennes had already, on the 7th of August, 1775, written the
following to Count de Guines, to be communicated to the Ameri-
• Raumer's Beitrage, v. 209-264.

56 FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
cans : " We admire the greatness and nobleness of the American
exertions, and have no interest in injuring them. On the con
trary, we would see with pleasure the time when fortunate
circumstances should put it in their power to visit our ports,
where the facilities afforded them with respect to their trade
would evince the esteem which we cherish for them."
These sentiments hardly remained a secret; nor did the out
ward show of non-compliance prevent either the ardent friends
of the Americans or interested merchants from entering with
them into a variety of connexions, which the French govern
ment — in accordance with the above — did not feel itself called
upon to prevent by force. Yet the important question respecting
lawful and illicit trade could even now not be wholly avoided.
To English remonstrances, M. de Vergennes replied : " It is not
allowed to export powder and munitions of war without per
mission from the government, which will not be granted. The
governors of the French islands shall be ordered anew to afford
no sort of assistance to the Americans."
After the actual outbreak of the American war, the state of
things became of course still more involved, and apprehensions
respecting the mutual positions of France and England still
greater. Of this Lord Stormont, on the 13th of October, 1775,
gives the following remarkable account : " M. de Vergennes said
to me, ' We wish to live in perfect harmony with you, and are
far from meditating any thing that could add to the embarrass
ments of your present critical condition.' He used the words,
' Far from wishing to add to your embarrassments, we regard them
with some uneasiness (avec guelque peine). What is now hap
pening to you in America is nobody's business (n'est de la con-
venance de personne). I think,' he continued, ' that I perceive the
consequences that must ensue, if your colonies should ever gain
the independence they seek for. They would at once set about
building fleets ; and as all possible advantages for ship-building
are at their command, they would soon do more than resist the
united naval force of Europe. With such a superiority, con
nected with all the advantages of position, they would be in a
state to take both our islands and your own. Nay, I am satis
fied they would not stop here, but in the course of time would
advance to South America, subdue or drive out the inhabitants,
and at length would leave no European power a foot-breadth of
land in that quarter of the world. All these results indeed will
not ensue immediately ; neither you, my lord, nor I will live to
see them ; but they are none the lesls certain because they are
remote. A short-sighted policy may rejoice in a rival's distress,
without a thought beyond the present hour ; but he who sees
further and weighs the consequences, must regard what is be-

TO THE WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE. 57
falling you in America as a misfortune in which every people
that has possessions there bears its share ; — and in this light, I
assure you, I have always viewed the matter.'
" Maurepas said to me : ' We are not the people to take an
undue advantage of circumstances and fish in troubled waters.
Our wish and intention is to live with you in peace and friendship,
and to regulate the affairs of our own country as well as we can.' "
About the time of the Declaration of Independence (July,
1776) Mr. Silas Deane arrived in Paris as the secret plenipoten
tiary of the United States, and received from M. Vergennes the
reply : " We cannot openly support the Americans, but will lay
no obstruction in the way of their plans for making purchases."*
About the same time Lord Stormont wrote : " Even on the sup
position most favorable to us, that the preparations of France are
founded merely on prudence and are intended for self-defence,
the apparatus at any rate is put in readiness ; and even should
it not be used as long as Maurepas lives, it will be directed
against us the instant it falls into rash hands. I can pass no de
cisive judgment on the present views and intentions of the French
court. When I see their preparations, I think every thing is to
be feared. When, on the contrary, I observe the state of the
country and of parties in the court, the discontent in the army, the
vacillation in their decrees, the exigencies of their finance, the
character of the king (who does not possess the spirit of enter
prise and thirst for glory from which a fondness for war proceeds),
I cannot bring myself to believe that such hostile plans against
us really exist as these preparations indicate. Yet there are men
of consequence here, who, as I know, cherish hostile sentiments
towards us, and who have often declared to their friends, that if
they were in the ministry, they would amuse Great Britain with
all possible promises of friendship, and then, when she least
expected it, would fall on her in order to retrieve the losses of the
last war and to revenge the manner in which it was begun. But
none of these men are in favor, and as long as Maurepas's influ
ence lasts, they will not come into play."
Already, before this account of Stormont's, M. de Vergennes
had written, on the 10th of June, 1776, to the minister Clugny :
" It seems to me that our political and commercial interests
require us to treat the Americans favorably in our ports. Should
they succeed in establishing the freedom of their trade, they will
have already become habituated to dealing with our merchants;
should they be defeated, they will at any rate have carried on for
some time an exchange of commodities evidently advantageous
to us. I think, therefore, we must show the greatest favor to the
American ships."
* Diplomatic Correspondence, edited by Sparks, Vol. i. p. 13.

58 FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Looking anxiously into the future, M. de Vergennes read, on
the 31st of August, 1776, in the presence of the king and of the
other ministers, a memorial in which he carefully examined and
weighed the reasons for and against war. The decision he left
to the king's wisdom, but laid by far the greater stress on the
reasons for war. These reasons in favor of war obtained a two
fold weight, when the new minister of finance, Necker (who, as
Lord Stormont very justly remarked, saw every thing in the fair
est, but on that very account in the most erroneous light), gave in
a brilliant account of the state of the French finances ; and when
Benjamin Franklin, in December, 1776, came to Paris, to assist
Deane in his labors. Franklin's cheerfulness, simplicity, and
sound sense, together with his great knowledge, insured him
applause and influence. Yet it has been remarked that he some
times showed himself cautious, cunning, and even avaricious ;
or that at any rate he sank in comparison with the spotiessly pure
and noble character of Washington.*
To Franklin's propositi6ns the ministers gave the following
verbal reply : " As the king is determined to direct his attention
to the restoration of the finances and the improvement of the
internal administration of his kingdom in all its different branches,
he cannot think of embarking in a war. He is inclined to listen
to the proposals of the colonies, and to promote their views, as
soon as they have given more consistency and stability to their
assumed independence ; but at the present moment, the king
(unless England, contrary to all expectation, should declare war)
can merely grant protection and a refuge to those persons who
may resort to his country. Moreover, he is resolved not to take
part in any way in the present quarrel, but to observe the strictest
neutrality."! These words receive their explanation from what took place.
Numberless Frenchmen applied to Deane, to be taken into the
American service ;\ Lafayette sailed over, full of youthful enthu
siasm and hindered only in appearance, to the land of new
blooming freedom ; Beaumarchais provided warlike stores of
various kinds ; and in March, Deane mentions, not without aston
ishment, that while cannons, muskets, and other munitions of
war had been supplied from the king's magazines to be trans
ported to America, the French minister conducted himself
towards the American plenipotentiaries as if he knew nolhing
about it.§ He did every thing possible to keep the English min
ister quiet, and publicly prohibited what he privately allowed.
* Morellet, i. 290. Grahame's United States, iii. 426.
t Stormont's Report of January 1, 1777.
X Diplomatic Correspondence, i. 71, 93.
\ Diplomatic Correspondence, p. 271.

TO THE WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE. 59
Thus passed the greater part of the year 1777, in mutual accu
sations, excuses, half measures, diplomatic artifices, and untruths,
which it would require too much space to relate in detail. It
will suffice tg communicate some interesting and instructive pas
sages from Lord Stormont's reports. He thus writes, on the
13th of August, 1777 : " M. de Vergennes said to me, ' The pre
dilection for Americans in France is truly a very great and
serious evil. Do not suppose that it arises from love to America
or hatred against England ; Us root lies much deeper, and can
easily escape the notice of a superficial observer, but it deserves
our greatest and most serious attention! Although M. de Ver
gennes did not explain himself further, it was easy to see that he
alluded to the licentious spirit that reigns in France, and is
doubtless a chief cause of the enthusiastic delirium in favor of
the Americans.
" I said to M. de Vergennes, that for my part I had long per
ceived the secret cause and public direction of this partiality. ' I
assure you,' answered Vergennes, ' the king also perceives it. He
made the same remark to me a few days ago ; and I replied that it
was of consequence by every proper means to restrain and counter
act a spirit of whose nature he had formed so correct a judgment.'
" ' I protest by God,' said Vergennes, ' that if you had orders
to tender us Jamaica to-morrow, I would vote for rejecting the offer.
What should we do with the island ? we have more land than we
want; our object must be to support our colonies, and improve
their cultivation ; they are large enough already. Too great
colonies are a great evil, and what is now happening to you fur
nishes a terrible example. Believe me, we have no plans of con
quest whatever. Our object is and ought to be, to improve what
we possess, to secure the blessings of peace, and to give perma
nence to our happiness, which is never lessened by your welfare.
It is a false, narrow, nay, impious policy, ivhich desires to build up
the greatness of one people on the distress and destruction of
another. Viewed in a higher light, all are links of one and the
same chain ; and as the happiness and prosperity of individuals
increase the happiness and prosperity of the state to which they
belong, so the happiness of one people augments in a thousand
ways the happiness of another. This is an evident truth which all
men of plain good sense can perceive, when their sight is not
obscured by national prejudices, national hate, and lamentable
passions, which are so ready at hand to mingle in the affairs of
mankind.' — I told him in reply how heartily I desired that the
conduct of the French court would always be as much in accord
ance with it, as I was convinced our own would be."
Vergennes here certainly enounced in a laudable manner prin
ciples which are at once the simplest and the loftiest of all politi-

60 FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
cal wisdom ; but which a foolish and sinful blindness has but too
often caused both conquerors and nations to mistake and to
transgress. At that time, too, men could not or would not prac
tise them in their purity. In France louder and more numerous
voices constantly asserted, that so favorable an opportunity for
weakening England must not be suffered to pass unimproved ;
while Lord Stormont insisted more and more decidedly that
France must keep true peace with England and leave the Ameri
cans to themselves, or henceforward support them and thereby
force on a war.
" The behavior of the French ministers," writes the ambas
sador on the 19th November, 1777, " is now so constantly the
same, that it is necessary to suppose they have a fixed, decided
plan, viz. : to do us secretly as much harm as possible, and to con
ceal these ill designs by the strongest assurances of friendship
and the greatest apparent attention to our complaints."
It is true Maurepas repeated several times, " There exists no
ground of dispute, no reason for a war, and France will cer
tainly not make a beginning." But after the news of the capture
of General Burgoyne had reached Paris, Lord Stormont wrote
(28th December, 1777) : " The general inclination of the people
is more strongly expressed for war than I can ever recollect ; and
M. de Maurepas must certainly give way to the current, as so
many timid ministers before him have done, who have failed in
energetic measures out of mere weakness and indecision. In
one word, I now regard the whole French cabinet as inimically
disposed towards us, only with different degrees of violence and
activity, according to the measure of their different dispositions,
characters, and designs."
Lord Stormont was not mistaken. On the 6th February, 1778,
a treaty of commerce was concluded between France and Ame
rica, which premised the latter's independence ; and on the same
day a treaty of friendly and defensive alliance was signed, which
promised to mutually maintain this independence against Eng
land's opposition, and forbade the concluding of a separate peace.
On the day when the Count de Noailles produced this treaty in Lon
don (13th March, 1778), commands were issued to Lord Stormont
to quit Paris without taking leave. War had been decided on.
At that time the majority regarded the assistance of France as
absolutely necessary to the liberation of America ; but now this
may well be doubted. A separation from the mother-country
and an acknowledgment that they had attained their majority,
would certainly have been extorted by the colonies at last, with
out foreign assistance. If they were ever so inclined, it was
impossible for the French to sever all connection with America ;
and besides it would have been to them a serious injury. This

TO THE WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE. 61
connection, however, in opposition to the demands of England,
necessarily gave rise to numerous disputes ; and that the alliance
they had entered into must certainly lead to war, the French
ministry were fully convinced.
Although we will not strongly denounce the equivocation,
artifices, and subterfuges so often revealed in the history of diplo
matic negotiations, and of which France was doubtless guilty on
this occasion, as being in a manner established by custom and
to be expected also from her opponent, — yet we must not leave
unnoticed a censure pronounced from another quarter with great
earnestness and weight. " The principle," it has been said, " of
true, eternal right, according to which every disobedience to
authority is prohibited by laws both human and divine, should
alone have been permitted to decide. France was the first to
sanction the principle, that subjects who are discontented with
their government, or have reason to complain of it, may re
nounce their allegiance and revolt." In this conclusion there
certainly reigns the spirit of the school ; that is to say, all is
exhibited in a connected, consistent, absolute manner ; but to this
abstraction (as I remarked before at the end of the preceding
chapter) it is necessary there should be added contemplation and
critical examination of the living and the multifarious. In fact
human and divine laws equally forbid the tyranny of govern
ments and of popular rebellions ; and the school or schools which
are always complaining and striving against the one, while they
disregard, and through passion or wilfulness remain ignorant of
the other, have scarcely apprehended one half of the truth.
Furthermore, it is historically erroneous to say that France
then first gave the example of strengthening or sanctioning a
vicious principle. From the assistance with which Athens fur
nished the Greek colonies in Asia Minor against the Persians,
down to the recognition of the independence of Texas, examples
are found in history of similar proceedings ; and France and
England in particular had already acted in a like manner with
respect to the United Netherlands.

CHAPTER VI.
FROM THE BREAKING OUT OF THE WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND
ENGLAND (1778) TO THE PEACE OF VERSAILLES (1783)-
Views in England— Chatham's Death— Disasters of the Americans— Paper Money
"" — Rochambeau, Arnold, Andre' — Capture of Comwallis — Treaties of Peace-
Results.
After the disaster at Saratoga, the attacks of the opposition
against the government in England became constantly louder,
although they were by no means agreed among themselves.
Thus one party, with Chatham at its head, wished to treat the
Americans justly and put them on a level with themselves, but
not to recognise their independence ; while the second party,
led by Rockingham, declared that this independence must be
recognised, and that they must content themselves with an ad
vantageous treaty of commerce. For, said they, North America
can no more be conquered again, than Normandy or Brittany ;
and in no other way is it possible to make a good stand against
France, who is certainly about to begin the war.
A plan of reconciliation, which ministers did not propose until
France had joined America, was then of course rejected, as it
did not include independence. When the Duke of Richmond,
on the 7th of April, 1778, declared himself strongly in favor of
this recognition, Chatham (who had long been prevented by
illness from attending Parliament) determined to make an impres
sive effort for retaining that quarter of the world which the force
of his genius and character had won in the seven years' war.
He was dressed in a suit of black velvet, and had to be support
ed to his seat by his son William Pitt and his son-in-law Vis
count Mahon. All the lords rose out of respect, and greeted
him as the first and noblest of English statesmen. With the
greatest earnestness and eloquence he laid before them his views
and convictions. His strength and voice then left him ; he fell
back, and expired on the 11th of May, in the 70th year of his age.
The interest awakened by this event was universal ; and bitter
was the recollection, on comparing the glory ^nd greatness of
Great Britain in the time of his administration with its present
deplorable condition.* He was buried at the public expense,
and a monument was erected to him in Westminster Abbey ;
* Belsham, vi. 365.

FROM 1778 TO THE PEACE OF VERSAILLES. 63
moreover, the debts of this disinterested public servant were paid,
and a yearly income affixed to the earldom of Chatham.
In America, in the meanwhile, the. war was carried on not
only against the English, but also amid greater sufferings against
the Indians, who for the most part were connected with them.
The English shifted the seat of war to the southern states ; ob
tained possession of Georgia and Carolina ; and, under the com
mand of Lord Comwallis, defeated near Camden, on the 16th
of August, 1780, the weaker American army under General
Gates. This again inspired the British ministry with the falla
cious hope of speedily reducing all the colonies to obedience.
Lord Comwallis, too, losing sight of moderation and prudence,
ordered that all the inhabitants who had supported the Ameri
cans should be punished in the severest manner. And in fact
many were banished from the country, their property confiscated,
their slaves stirred up against them, and even several of them
hanged. By measures such as these the steadfastness of the
better sort was confirmed ; the timid were forced to be coura
geous ; and the bravery even of the women was excited to such
a pitch, that they encouraged their husbands to resistance and
dared the greatest dangers.
At the moment when the Americans succeeded by redoubled
exertions in arresting the progress of the English, they found
themselves afflicted with a new misfortune. Immediately on
the breaking out of the revolution, those at the head of American
affairs perceived that it was not to be carried through without
money. But since there was none on hand, and none was to
be obtained from mines and commerce, or to be raised by taxes,
it was concluded to issue paper-money, to be redeemed at certain
intervals in gold and silver, and which at first (in the general
enthusiasm and good understanding of the people) every one
received willingly and at par. But now, when the war had
been protracted beyond expectation, and when, as the promised
times of redemption came round, the distress was becoming
more and more pressing, and the issues of paper-money kept
constantiy increasing, its full value could of course no longer
be maintained. The evil was augmented by excessive credits, by
ignorance and error with respect to money and exchanges, by-
fraudulent counterfeits of the paper-money, and by its being
made in the several states. It gradually became so depreciated in
value, that 40, and even from 85 to 110 dollars of currency were
given for one silver dollar.* All propositions to pay interest on
the paper-money, to reduce it within certain bounds, or to do away
with it altogether, failed of accomplishment ; partly from want
of means, and partly because the proposed amendments were
* Polit. Journal, 1781, pp. 102, 169. Gallatin on Currency, p. 26.

64 FROM THE BREAKING OUT OF THE WAR
crude and unsatisfactory in themselves.* Just complaints were
every where made respecting the rise of prices, the loss of pro
perty, and frauds and disputes betwixt creditors and debtors. In
this state of embarrassment, Congress came to the erroneous and
impracticable conclusion, that the price of labor, of produce, and
of merchandize, might be fixed by compulsory laws, or that
every one might be prevented from demanding or receiving more
paper-money than hard money. Of as little use was the sale of
public lands ; since long credits usually had to be given, and the
paper-money kept sinking in the meanwhile. Unhappily these
mistakes and distresses led to carelessness in the fulfilment of
engagements ; to an habitual disregard of justice, which became
almost a law ; and to a lack of truth, honor, and good faith in
trade and intercourse ; — evils which, even in the judgment of
Americans, could not be rooted out in many years.
No one was at that time brought into greater embarrassment
by this state of things than Washington. With paper-money
the troops could no longer be paid; and to purchase any thing
with it was still more difficult, since bad harvests and the inter
ruptions to agriculture had produced a dearth of provisions,
which, in spite of all orders to the contrary, were sold in prefer
ence to the cash-paying English. Washington sought by firm
ness, patience, and mildness, to diminish as far as possible these
great evils ; and when a committee of Congress, entrusted with
full powers, on coming to the camp confirmed the complaints
of the commander-in-chief, and represented in the most forcible
manner the want and hardships they endured, many (and in
particular the city of Philadelphia) undertook to ^advance mo
ney ; and arrangements were made to provide supplies, as also
to raise a stronger body of militia, and to increase the army more
rapidly. The courage of the Americans rose still higher when, on the
10th of July, 1780, 6,000 French troops under Rochambeau were
landed in Rhode Island, and the French government showed its
willingness also to make advances of money.! But the hope of
soon effecting any thing of consequence was frustrated in a great
measure by the proceedings of the English ; who, by means of
their naval superiority, shut up both army and fleet in that state,
and compelled the Admiral Count de Guise to return to France.
It was almost wholly owing to a fortunate accident that the
Americans escaped another great disaster. General Arnold, who
had hitherto fought on their behalf with ability and courage,
determined to deliver West Point on the Hudson (an American
* Life of Hamilton, i. 244.
f Between 1778 and 1782, France loaned 18,000,000 of livres at 5 per cent interest
and became joint surety for a loan in Holland^-iaws of the United States, i. 100

TO THE PEACE OF VERSAILLES. 65
Gibraltar of the utmost importance), with all its stores, into the
hands of the English. At first he had fought under full convic
tion against his country's oppressors ; but he considered that, in
consequence of their defection from England, the wrong was
now on the side of the Americans, and that this authorized him
to go over to the royalists. Others denied the validity of these
excuses, and maintained that his caprices, embezzlements, extra
vagance, and debts had brought him into such a state of em
barrassment, that he adopted this desperate resolution in order
to save himself. Invitations to the soldiers to follow his example
were without effect. An English major named Andre — an excel
lent, talented, amiable man, who conducted the negotiations with
Arnold — fell with his papers into the hands of the Americans.
Arnold fled, and the treason was now easily frustrated. Andre,
however, notwithstanding all the intercessions of the English-in his
behalf, was hanged as a spy, on the 2d October, 1780. By some
this act was justified, and by others condemned; all however
mourned the stern decree which put an end to so valuable a life.
This is not the place to recount the hardships and varying
chances of the American war. On the 19th of October, Lord
Comwallis, with 7,000 men (of whom, however, only 3,800 were
capable of bearing arms), was forced to surrender at Yorktown
to Washington and Rochambeau. This most important victory,
which caused the greatest joy throughout all North America, put an
end to the southern campaign, and almost to the war itself. It was
only against the United States, where the English were in the
wrong, that they suffered disasters of every kind. Against the
French, Spaniards, and Dutch, who enviously and selfishly
hoped to utterly overthrow or at least to plunder that noble king
dom, they defended themselves heroically, and gained glorious
victories. They were also able to maintain against the armed
neutrality of the northern powers (which originated less in a love
of freedom than in intrigues and underhand designs) those prin
ciples without which their naval superiority would have been ren
dered of no avail.
The capture of Lord Comwallis, the total defeat of the French
fleet near Guadaloupe (12th April, 1782, Rodney against De
Grasse), and the abortive attempt of the Spaniards against Gibral
tar, created in all the belligerent parties a desire for peace. As
early as the 27th of February, 1782, General Conway's motion
in Parliament against the American war was carried by a majority
of 19 votes ; sixteen years before, he had moved the repeal of the
Stamp Act. On the 19th March, 1782, the ministry resigned ;
and Rockingham, Cavendish, Shelburne, Camden, Fox, and
others took their seats.
The preliminaries of the peace concluded with America on

66 FROM 1778 TO THE PEACE OF VERSAILLES.
the 30th of November, 1782, without the participation of France,
acknowledged the independence of the United States; and thus
by far the most important point was settled. The treaties of
peace of the 3d September, 1783, and the 20th May, 1784,
between England, France, America, Spain, and the Netherlands,
contained many minor provisions ; and indeed, as the belligerent
powers restored to each other the conquests they had respectively
made, the results of those great exertions appear insignificant
enough. Among them, however, were the following : 1. France
received Tobago and Senegal, in exchange for Gambia and Fort
James. She obtained a greater share in the fisheries of Newfound
land, and took possession of the neighboring islands of St. Pierre
and Miguelon. 2. Spain retained Minorca, the Floridas, and that
portion of the Mississippi valley not belonging to the Americans.
3. Holland ceded Negapatam, and permitted the English to navi
gate all the Indian seas.*
No one at that time doubted that England had suffered an
irreparable loss in being deprived of her colonies, and that she
was approaching her downfall. Only two men were found to
combat these sad forebodings on the one hand, and impious hopes
on the other : these were Adam Smith, who was then but little
read and understood, and Dean Tucker, who was regarded as a
visionary and enthusiast.! France rejoiced at her presumed
increase of power in consequence of England's weakness, and
forgot the admonitions of Vergennes concerning the principles of
an elevated line of policy. Her finances were in a disordered
condition ; and after the experience of the Americans, gradual
progress and improvement no longer satisfied any one. When
Tippoo Saib, in September, 1791, sought assistance from Louis
XVI., the latter observed, " This recalls to mind America, on which
I never think without regret. My youth was then in a manner abus
ed ; we are now suffering for it, and that lesson is too severe to be
forgotten. "J There is, however, no greater historical error than
to compare the French and American revolutions in respect to
origin, progress, events, and issue ; and no greater historical injust
ice, than to set up the latter as a pattern or a warning to present
and future ages, and pay no attention whatever to the greater
American development. That this development, however, even
after the conclusion of the happy peace, had to contend with
many impediments, which nothing but the greatest wisdom and
moderation could have overcome, is not in the slightest degree
doubted by any well in formed person.
* Flassan, vii. 353. t Genz, Histor. Jouraal,1800, ii. 8.
$ Me'm. de Moleville, vi. 225.

CHAPTER VII.
FROM THE PEACE OF VERSAILLES (1783) TO THE ADOPTION OF THE
NEW CONSTITUTION (1789).
Loyalists — Consequences of the War — The Army — Washington's Departure — First
Constitution of 1778 — New Constitution — Washington President.
Great and universal as had been the activity and enthusiasm
of the inhabitants of North America on behalf of the independ
ence of their native land, there were still a considerable number
who held it to be in accordance with their rights, their duty, and
perhaps their interest, to oppose what seemed to them a detest
able rebellion against the mother-country. These persons, de
signated by the name of loyalists, suffered greatly even during
the war, and at its close they found themselves still more distressed
and even maltreated. The English ministers were violently
reproached in parliament for not having takenmore care of these
faithful subjects ; which, however, in opposition to the will and
power of thirteen nearly independent states, would certainly have
been attended with the greatest difficulties. Many loyalists emi
grated, not without sacrifices of property, to British America (to
Canada, Nova Scotia, the Bahama islands, &c), where they
gradually received indemnification and assistance from the
mother-country to a large amount*
On the victors too the war had been productive of the most
various effects. They found opportunities to develope great
talents and virtues, to diminish in seasons of distress the jea
lousies of the individual states, and to compose the vehement
disputes between the religious sects. They acquired a more
exact knowledge of their native country, pursued at least those
branches of science that had reference to war (as e. g. that of
medicine), and learned to think more correctly and to write bet
ter on public affairs. But, on the other hand, there also remained
the evil consequences of every war, and especially of a civil
war ; and it cost much labor to root out the scandalous principles
and practices that had sprung up during the revolution.
One of the greatest and most pressing difficulties was occa
sioned by the army. The government was not in a condition to
do any thing of consequence for the troops, or even to disburse
the arrears of their pay. This caused great discontent ; and the
* Sinclair (ii. 97) says 3J million pounds.— Belsham, vii. 364.

68 FROM THE PEACE OF VERSAILLES
more violent even devised a plan for compelling the Congretes
in Philadelphia to accede to their wishes. The wisdom and
authority of Washington averted also this threatening danger.
By an impressive speech he brought the leaders back to their
senses, and rejected with abhorrence the thought that he, the
liberator of his country, should become its tyrant or even its
ruler. His taking leave of the army, on the 4th of December,
1783, was affecting in the extreme. He drank all their healths
for the last time, and wished that their latter days might be as
happy as their former ones had been glorious and honorable.
He then crossed the North river in a boat, waved his hat once
more in the distance, and vanished from their eyes.
The greatest part of the army also returned by degrees to their
old employments ; but the officers, wishing to remain together in
a community of their own, formed the so-called Cincinnatus
Society, upon which they proposed to confer permanence and
dignity by the admission both of natives and foreigners.
This plan, however, met with so much opposition, as an anti-
republican order and on account of its aristocratic tendency, that
Washington himself had to labor for its dissolution. Jefferson
also, whom Washington consulted, opposed it on just grounds.*
Washington wrote to the governors of each of the states, and
pointed out to them with all the force of truth and eloquence the
necessity of being united, upright, and obedient, and of acting in
conformity with the principles which the new state of things
imperatively demanded. To Congress he rendered an exact
account of his disbursement of the public money; and at a
secret session, on the 23d of December, 1783, he resigned his
office into their hands. The president replied to his speech
with respect, dignity, and gratitude. Washington, the founder
of the great American republic, now joyfully repaired to his
country-seat, Mount Vernon ; devoted himself to agriculture, the
improvement of his neighborhood, and his friends ; and proved
in an affecting and exalted manner that the fame which had been
won by the sword, without crimes and ambition, could also be
maintained in private life without power or outward pomp.
Happier than Timoleon and Brutus, no dark shadows of memory
flitted across the cheerful serenity of his existence.
The tasks imposed on Congress were many and too difficult,
as e. g. the adjustment of the relations with foreign countries and
the piratical states of Africa, the regulation of trade, which had
been interrupted and was carried on partly at a loss, and above
all, the settlement of the finances and the public debt. Not the
Union only, but each individual state, had contracted large debts ;
while nothing satisfactory had been done for discharging them or
* Rayner's Life of Jefferson, p. 207. Tucker, i. 171.

TO THE NEW CONSTITUTION. 69
even paying the interest, or for regulating the paper-money. And
now, when the people saw that the peace by no means ended all
their sufferings, they became turbulent ; and this, in some parts of
the country, as for instance in Massachusetts and New Hampshire,
resulted in lamentable commotions. All able and clear-sighted
men came gradually to the conviction, that a principal cause of
these evils and sufferings lay in the constitution of the Union, in
the Act of Confederation of the 9th of July, 1778.
With regard to this John Adams wrote : " If the union of the
states be not preserved, and even their unity in many great
points, instead of being the happiest people under the sun, I do
not know but we may be the most miserable." And Washing
ton said to Jefferson : " I would willingly assist in averting the
contemptible figure which the American communities are about
to make in the annals of mankind, with their separate, independ
ent, jealous state sovereignties."*
Each state (as we shall show more particularly in the sequel)
had in general a governor and two legislative chambers, who but
too often thought only of themselves and their immediate vici
nity, and regarded as a loss all that an individual state sacrificed
to the whole. Consequently there was every where a want of
order, harmony, and union : so many states, — so many systems
of finance or attempts at regulating taxes, duties, and trade, —
and all opposed to one another, and rendering any judicious
management of the whole impossible. The imperfect federal
constitution never fulfilled us objects ; the independence which
had been won by union threatened to turn into dissension,
and the confederation to fall powerless to pieces. The new dan
gers of peace were as great as the former ones of war; and
besides bravery, there was now needed above all justice and
moderation. The federal constitution of 1778 declares that all the colonies
shall form a federal republic, in which each state shall retain all
those rights, laws, jurisdictions, regulations, &c, which are not
expressly altered or delegated to the Congress of all the states.
They shall defend themselves in common against every power,
and establish between themselves freedom of intercourse and of
settlement. Each state shall send from two to seven delegates
to Congress ; where, however, it shall have but one vote, thus
giving thirteen votes to the thirteen states. As a general rule,
the majority of votes shall determine ; but nine votes are requi
site to decide with respect to declaring war, making peace, form
ing treaties, raising land or sea forces, regulating income and
expenditure, &c. All expenses for the general welfare shall be
* Sparks's Diplom. Correspondence, vii. 100. Encyclop. Americana, art. Wash
ington.

70 FROM THE PEACE OF VERSAILLES
defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by
the several states in proportion to the value of the lands and
other real estate within each state. Disputes between states shall
be decided by Congress according to certain specific regulations.'
When Congress is not assembled, the general affairs shall be
managed by a committee of thirteen delegates, one from each
state. The above are the most important provisions, omitting many
other points of less consequence. This constitution, with only
one chamber, absurdly conferred as many rights on the smallest as
on the largest states ; placed no checks on partial tendencies and
hasty counsels ; and lastly, gave no power to execute the treaties
that might be formed, to collect the taxes that might be levied, to
regulate trade and customs, to found public credit, to pay debts,
&c. Those estimable men, Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, who
wrote the series of papers called the Federalist, and who essen
tially contributed to the formation and adoption of the new Con
stitution, say, in speaking of the then state of affairs : " It may
with propriety be asserted that the United States have reached
the lowest stage of national humiliation. All that can wound
the pride or degrade the character of a people, we have experi
enced. Engagements, to the performance of which we are held
by every tie respectable among men, are constantly violated
without shame. We have contracted debts to foreigners and to
our own citizens, for the preservation of our political existence ;
and yet no provision has been made for their discharge. A
foreign power (England) retains in its possession valuable terri
tories and important posts, to the prejudice of our rights and
interests, and contrary to express stipulations. We, however,
are not in a condition to resent or to repel these aggressions ; for
we have neither troops, treasury, nor government," &c— After
depicting thus at length the lamentable state of the country, the
writer concludes with these words : " In short, what indication is
there of national disorder, poverty, and insignificance, that
could befall a community so peculiarly blessed with natural
advantages as we are, which does not form a part of the dark
catalogue of our public misfortunes ?"* The condition of
things is described in a perfectly similar strain by President
Adams, in his inaugural address : " Negligence of the regulations
of Congress, inattention to its recommendations, if not disobedi
ence to its authority, not only in individuals but in states, soon
appeared with their melancholy consequences : universal languor;
jealousies and rivalries of states ; decline of navigation and com
merce ; discouragement of necessary manufactures ; universal
fall in the value of lands and their produce ; contempt of public
* Federalist, No. XV., Alexander Hamilton.

TO THE NEW CONSTITUTION. 71
and private faith ; loss of consideration and credit with foreign
nations ; and at length discontents, animosities, combinations,
partial conventions, and insurrections, threatening some great
national calamity."*
The extent and magnitude of this evil were such that it could
neither be mistaken nor denied ; and the impossibility of longer
pursuing the erroneous path hitherto trodden, created additional
confidence in the noble men who wished to give to their coun
try a new and more suitable constitution. Washington was
placed at their head ; and the services which he rendered in
this difficult task, by his mildness, prudence, moderation, firm
ness, and wisdom, were by no means inferior to his former
warlike exploits. Indeed the American statesmen of that period
have raised to themselves in the new Constitution, adopted
March, 1787, a monument of imperishable renown. This Con
stitution has endured and stood its ground through circumstances
the most varied, perplexing, and dangerous, and has wonderfully
aided and prospered a great people in its rapid development ;
while numberless other constitutions, projected in empty pride,
have perished after a brief existence, hurling with them the mis
taken nations and statesmen to destruction.
Washington was unanimously chosen president of the new
and renovated republic. His journey from Mount Vernon to
Philadelphia was an unbroken triumphal procession, prepared
for him not by vanity, compulsion, or fear, but by sincere grati
tude, profound respect, and ardent love. This second founding
of the state, this call to the head of a people recent in origin but
sensible of true greatness, the modest and unsurpassed merit of
Washington, and his solemn oath to support and maintain the
Constitution, form one of the brightest and most truly delightful
pictures in modern history. " The propitious smiles of heaven,"
said Washington in his inaugural address, " can never be
expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order
and right which Heaven itself has ordained." To this, Ramsay,
the worthy historian of those times, adds : " The most enlarged
happiness of one people by no means requires the degradation
or destruction of another. There can be no political happiness
without liberty ; there can be no liberty without morality ; and
there can be no morality without religion."!
# Messages of the Presidents, p. 66. For similar complaints on the part of Ran
dolph, see the Madison Papers, ii. 730.
f Ramsay, iii. 383.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION OF 1787.
Representatives and Senators— Rights of Congress— The President— The Judicial
Power — General Regulations.
Although the Constitution of the United States of America, of
the year 1787, is a well known document, it is requisite that I
should here state the essence of what it contains, in order to
render my subsequent observations concerning it more intel
ligible. The legislative power is vested in two chambers or houses,
the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The representatives for Congress are chosen by the several
states every second year. The electors must possess the quali
fications established by each state for electors of the most nume
rous branch of the state legislature. Every representative must
be at least twenty-five years of age, seven years a citizen of the
United States, and an inhabitant of the state for which he is
chosen. On the other hand, no proof of a given amount of pro
perty or of a particular religious creed is required. The repre
sentatives are elected by districts according to the population
(at first one for every 30,000, at present one for every 70,680) ;
and this population is determined by adding to the whole num
ber of free people, three fifths of all other persons (meaning
slaves). The enumeration is repeated every ten years, and the
number of representatives determined accordingly. Each state
sends at least one representative to Congress. The House of
Representatives chooses its speaker and other officers by a sim
ple vote.* It also has the sole power of impeachment.
Each state chooses through its legislature two senators for
six years. Every two years one third of the senators vacate
their seats. Each of them has one vote. A senator must be
an inhabitant of the state for which he is chosen, nine years a
citizen of the United States, and at least thirty years of age. He
is not bound to prove any qualification as to property or religion.
Each representative and senator has an allowance of eight dollars
a day ; the speaker of the House and the president of the Senate
receive double that sum. The vice-president of theUnited States is
* Mason, p. 81.

THE NEW CONSTITUTION OF 1787. 73
always president of the Senate ; but he has no right of voting and
deciding, except when the other votes are equally divided. The
Senate tries all impeachments : the concurrence of two thirds of
the members present is requisite to a conviction. Judgment in
such cases extends only to removal from and disqualification for
office ; but it does not exclude a further prosecution according
to law.
The legislature of each separate state prescribes the times,
places, and manner of holding elections for senators and repre
sentatives ; but Congress has the right to alter these regulations,
except as to the places of choosing senators. Congress assembles
at least once in every year, and usually on the first Monday in
December. A majority of each house constitutes a quorum for
the transaction of business. No person holding a public office
can be either a senator or representative. None of them are to
be responsible elsewhere for speeches made in either house ;
and they are exempt from arrest except for treason, felony, and
breach of the peace. For the preparation of business, commit
tees are to be chosen in both houses or appointed by the vice-
president and speaker.* The committees of the Senate number
from three to five, and those of the House of Representatives
from five to nine members. All bills for raising revenue origi
nate in the House of Representatives ; but the Senate may pro
pose or concur in amendments, as on other bills. Every bill
which has been read three times and has passed through both
houses, is presented to the president for his approval. But if
he does not approve it, it is sent back with his objections to the
house in which it originated, where it is reconsidered. If two
thirds of that house still agree to pass the bill, it is sent, together
with the objections, to the other house, and if likewise approved
by two thirds of that house, it becomes a law, even without the
president's assent ; but the names of the persons voting for or
against the bill are entered on the journals of each house. If
the president does not return a bill within ten days, it becomes
a law, unless its return has been prevented by the adjournment
of Congress.
Very weighty powers are vested in Congress, of which I shall
enumerate only the most important. It can lay and collect taxes,
but only for the purpose of paying the debts and providing for
the common defence and general welfare of the country. All
taxes of this kind must be uniform throughout the United States.
It can effect loans, regulate commerce with foreign nations
and among the severed states, and establish laws respecting
naturalization, bankruptcies, coinage, and weights and measures.
* Mason, p. 84.

74 THE NEW CONSTITUTION OF 1787.
It provides post-road3 and post-offices, secures to authors and
inventors the exclusive right to their productions for limited
times, constitutes tribunals inferior to the supreme court, and
punishes piracies and other crimes against the law of nations.
It has the power to declare war, to raise armies and fleets, and
to call out the militia in order to suppress insurrections and exe
cute the laws of the Union. It has the exclusive control and
management of all forts, arsenals, and dock-yards, belonging to
the United States ; and makes all laws necessary for carrying
these powers into execution.
Congress can grant no title of nobility, and no person in office
can hold any foreign title or dignity.
No individual state can make treaties, grant letters of marque
and reprisal, coin money, emit bills of credit, make any thing but
gold and silver a tender in payment of debts, grant titles of
nobility, lay duties on imports or exports, introduce any duty of
tonnage, keep troops in time of peace, &c.
The executive power is in the hands of the president of the
United States. He is chosen for four years, and is always re-
eligible without any legal restriction* He must be a natural-
born citizen, at least thirty-five years of age, and fourteen years
a resident of the United States. The day for choosing the pre
sident is determined by Congress, and is the same throughout
the Union. Each state appoints, according to the forms pre
scribed by its legislature, a number of electors equal to the whole
number of senators and representatives which the state is entitled
to send to Congress. This choice is made within thirty-four
days before the first Wednesday of December,! in most states by
the entire body of qualified voters (by a general ticket), in some
by the legislatures, and in two by districts. No person holding
office under the United States, and no member of Congress can
be an elector. The electors chosen in the above-mentioned man
ner from all the states now vote by ballot, usually on the first
Wednesday of December. With respect to property and reli
gion, no qualifications are demanded or conditions prescribed.
The names of the persons voted for, with the number of votes
for each, are transmitted to the president of the Senate, who opens
the certificates in the presence of both houses, and counts the votes.
If any person has a majority of all the votes, no matter how
small, he is president ; but if no one has such a majority, the
House of Representatives chooses the president out of the three
that have the greatest number of votes. But here the represen-
* Of the first eight presidents, five were chosen a second time. None laid claim
to a third election.
t According to new regulations, on the same day.

THE NEW CONSTITUTION OF 1787. 75
tation from each state has only one vote, and a majority of all
the states is necessary to a choice.
The election of vice-president is conducted in precisely the
same manner; only in the last case of doubt, an absolute majority
of the Senate decides between the two that have the most votes.
In case the president's office becomes vacant, its duties devolve
on the vice-president, and after him on the speaker of the House
of Representatives. The president receives $25,000 a year, and
the vice-president $5,000, by way of salary or compensation;
which however is scarcely sufficient to meet their unavoidable
sxpenses. The president has the following powers : he is com
mander-in-chief of the army and navy, and also of the militia
when called into the actual service of the United States. He
assembles Congress on extraordinary occasions, requires and
leceives reports from all the departments, appoints (under cer
tain regulations) most of the officers of the United States,* makes
treaties with the concurrence of the Senate, receives ambassa
dors and other public ministers, submits to Congress surveys of
the state of the Union, and recommends such measures as he
judges necessary. He can grant pardons for public offences
except in cases of impeachment, and sees in general that the
laws are faithfully executed. He loses his office, like all other
civil officers of the United States, on conviction of treason, brib
ery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors.
The judicial power is vested in a Supreme Court for the
whole United States, and such inferior courts as Congress may
from time to time establish. The president nominates the judges
of this court by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
They hold their offices during good behavior, and their compen
sation must not be diminished during their continuance in office.
The judicial power of the Supreme Court extends to contro
versies between citizens of different states, between a state and
citizens of another state, and between two or more states ; this
jurisdiction is partly original and partly appellate, but does not
extend to criminal cases. It decides in general all controversies
relating to or arising under the laws of the United States, disputes
of ambassadors and consuls, and cases of admiralty and mari
time jurisdiction. It has the right to interpret the Constitution
so far as it has reference to legal relations, and the authority to
overrule such decisions of individual states as may be contrary
to the Constitution.
The trial of all criminal prosecutions, and all civil suits where
the value in dispute exceeds twenty dollars, is by jury. The citi
zens of one state are entitled to all the privileges of citizens in
the other states. New states may be admitted by Congress into
* The Senate can reject nominations, but cannot appoint officers itself.

76 THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SEVERAL STATES.
the Union. But Congress cannot join two or more states
into one, or erect a new state within the limits of an old one,
without the consent of the states concerned. The United States
guarantees to every state a republican form of government, and
protection against invasion and domestic violence. No religious
test is required as a qualification to any public office. Congress
must make no law establishing or prohibiting any religion, or
abridging the freedom of speech or of the press ; nor must it de
prive the people of the right peaceably to assemble and present
petitions to the government. The people have the right to bear
arms, without which no efficient militia can be established. Sol
diers are never to be quartered on citizens in time of peace, nor
even in time of war except according to prescribed regulations.
No searches of houses or papers can take place without very
weighty reasons and proofs. No person can be deprived of life,
liberty, or property without due process of law, or be compelled
in a criminal case to testify against himself. No private property
can be taken for public use without full compensation. Exces
sive bail, excessive fines, and cruel punishments are prohibited.
All the powers which the Constitution has not delegated to Con
gress or to others, are reserved to the states respectively.
Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed by two
thirds of both houses, or by a convention called for the purpose
on application of two thirds of the states ; and when ratified by
the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by con
ventions in three fourths thereof, they become a part of the cor
rected Constitution.

CHAPTER IX.
THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SEVERAL STATES.
The Territories.
The constitutions of the several states form to that of the whole
United States, of 1787, a corresponding half of equal importance.
It is only by uniting them together that we obtain a connected
and closely interworking whole. But as it would not be proper in
this place to enumerate the slight differences that prevail in each

THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. 77
state, I will state here only what is most general and uniform,
and leave many of the particulars for a synoptical table*
Even before the independence of North America, it was held
an established maxim, that to the colonists, as far as circum
stances permitted, belonged all the rights of Englishmen born.
Yet the constitutions of the several states had no inconsiderable
influence on the extent to which these rights and privileges were
enjoyed. First, there were the so-called charter governments, to which
belonged the right of legislation and taxation within their boun
daries ; as Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
Secondly, proprietary governments, where the crown had
granted extensive rights to the first acquirers, as Lord Baltimore
and William Penn.
Thirdly, provincial governments, where great powers were
given to the king's commissioners or governors, such as a nega
tive on the assemblies' proceedings, the appointment of public
officers, &c.
Yet, from the beginning there was an endeavor, which was by
no means without its effects, to extend their restricted rights either
amicably or by refractoriness ; whence it ensued, that on the break
ing out of the revolution, the internal regulations of the several
states, and their relations to each other, were in fact more simi
lar than they had been in former times. With the declara
tion of independence all controversies respecting the extent of
the public law and the application of private law naturally had
an end, and each state made such further regulations as it
pleased. The following principles, however, respecting the general
rights of men and citizens, are acknowledged by all the states.!
The objects of establishing, supporting, and administering a go
vernment, are to ensure and protect the existence of the civil
partnership, and also to procure for the different shareholders
the power of enjoying their natural rights and the blessings of
life in security and peace. If these great objects are not attained,
the people (with whom is the supreme power, and from whom it
proceeds) have a right, by observing the legally prescribed forms,
to change the government, and to adopt such measures as may be
necessary for their safety, happiness, and prosperity. All men
are born free and equal ; and have natural, essential, and inaliena
ble rights, to enjoy and defend their lives and liberties ; to acquire,
possess, and defend property ; and in general to seek and obtain
* See Appendix I. To the twenty-six states indicated in this Appendix, two
new ones, Florida and Iowa, have since been added. The addition of Texas and
Wisconsin will raise the number of the states to thirty.
t See the Statutes of Massachusetts, and most of the constitutions.
6

78 THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SEVERAL STATES.
safety and happiness. There is no nobility, no hereditary or
family prerogatives, no exclusive rights and monopolies, no censor
ship of the press, no standing army, no quartering of soldiers, no
banishing from the country, no confiscation of property, no esta
blished church, no tithes, no religious compulsion of any kind.
Each ecclesiastical communion has the right to choose its own
ministers, and to raise and expend money for religious purposes.
All public officers are responsible. Every one must contribute
with his person and property to the public good, but only in such
manner as has been lawfully determined on. Every one is to be
tried by jury and according to the laws. No one is bound to inform
or testify against himself. It is permitted to assemble peaceably,
to present petitions, and to bear arms ; but every where the mili
tary remains subordinate to the civil power. No taxes without
a grant, no disbursements of money without consent and render
ing a public account, no retro-active force or suspension of the
laws, no impeachment for what is spoken in the legislative
¦ assemblies, &c.
The legislative power in all the states is entrusted to two cham
bers, a senate and a house of representatives ; the executive
power is in the hands of a governor. This latter retains his office
for from one to four years ; and his re-election is permitted, or pro
hibited for a certain time. He is chosen only in four states by
the legislative assembly, in all the others by the people. His
powers are not every where equally great : thus he fills more or
fewer offices, has an absolute or only a postponing veto, is re
stricted by a special council or is not.
In most of the states every male settler of twenty-one years of
age has a right of voting ; or else the amount of property and of
taxes paid is so small, that no one scarcely is excluded. No reli
gious test is ever required ; clergymen are excluded from all
political offices and employments. Senators remain in office
from one to four years, representatives from one to two years.
From the former are usually required a greater age, a longer
residence, and in some states also a larger property, than from
the latter. In most of the states, on the contrary, no questions
are asked respecting the property of senators and representatives.
It is only in a few states that the choice of the former is left to
the legislative assemblies ; both chambers are usually filled by
popular elections. In three states the elections are public and
open; in the others, by ballot. Money and taxation bills mostly
originate in the house of representatives : indeed, according to
many of the constitutions, all bills must originate there ; while
according to others, any bill can begin in either house. Impeach
ments come from the representatives to the senate, and are decid
ed by two-thirds of the votes. The judges are appointed by the

THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. 79
governors, or the two houses, or the people, for a greater or less
number of years, mostly during good behavior, and there is no
want of provisions for the case of their removal.
The number of senators varies from 9 to 90, and that of repre
sentatives from 21 to 350. Their allowance varies from one
and a half to six dollars a day ; and a governor's salary from
$400 (in Rhode Island) to $7,500 (in Louisiana). The legisla
tures usually meet every year; in some states, however, they
meet every two years, and in Rhode Island half-yearly*
In addition to the twenty-six states, three other territories
(Florida, Wisconsin, and Iowa) are growing up and soon to
enter their ranks ; while the District of Columbia, containing
Washington, the seat of the general government, is in circum
stances wholly peculiar to itself.
As soon as a territory numbers 60,000 inhabitants, it obtains
the rights of a state and draws up its constitution. It is herein
restricted, however, by certain general provisions ; as for instance,
that its constitution must be republican. The president of the
United States appoints the governors of the territories ; but the
inhabitants possess very extensive rights, and are trained to
political action. Thus there are even here two legislative bodies,
and each territory sends a delegate to Congress ; though he has
no vote, but only a voice in the debates.
After this brief abstract of the federal and state constitutions,
it would at first seem most natural to let the general observa
tions and reflections immediately follow. But as these would
have reference only to the forms of public law, without respect
to countless other co-operating circumstances, it would be impos
sible to avoid both incompleteness and indistinctness. Hence
it is more advisable to pursue still further the thread of historical
development, and take into view the other material and spir
itual conditions ; and then, after extending and clearing up the
circle of vision, to embrace the whole of the public relations, and
to consider especially the value and efficacy of the republican
form of government. * Mason's Elementary Treatise, pp. 27, 206.

CHAPTER X,

THE PRESIDENTSHIP OF WASHINGTON AND OF J. ADAMS (1789-1801).
Washington's Presidentship— The French Revolution— Genet— Foreign Relations
—Washington's Farewell— Washington's Death— John Adams— Dispute with
France — Alien and Sedition Bills.
By the new federal Constitution of 1787 many hopes were
necessarily deceived, many prejudices wounded, and many selfish
plans rendered abortive. The power of truth, however, had gradu
ally prevailed, and induced even those states to receive it who had
been the loudest in their opposition. But as the instruction and
support derived from long experience were as yet wanting to
the new institutions, it was hardly possible that all should be
of a like mind respecting the unknown future. Many feared the
too extensive, and some the too restricted power of Congress.
The president, many complained, will soon change himself into
an unlimited monarch, the Senate will introduce aristocratic
privileges, the House of Representatives will favor an unruly
democracy, and the supreme court will interfere with the opera
tions of the legislative power.
As long as these doubts and objections sprang up on Ameri
can soil, and grew out of American circumstances, they were
rather warning and profitable than exaggerated and dangerous.
But on the breaking out of the French revolution, principles and
views were developed which, without respect to time,- place, or
national peculiarities, were held up as perfectly new and unex
ceptionable models, whose universal applicability was stoutly
and presumptuously asserted. The new apostles announced
also to the North Americans, that their political leaders had paid
greatly too much attention to the defective course of the earlier
historical development, and by far too little to the eternal truths
of science, and consequently had not attained their object, but
had stopped when only half-way. The almost childish begin
nings of the Americans, a patch- work of accidents and mutual
concessions, must be rooted out with a bold hand and thrown
aside ; while the new political wisdom of the greatest people on
earth must be cordially and thankfully received, and defended
with united powers against all opponents in every part of the
world.

PRESIDENTSHIP OF WASHINGTON AND JOHN ADAMS. 81
Although it was natural that nations groaning under the des
potism of kings, nobles, and priests, should greet the commence
ment of the French revolution as the dawn of a cloudless day ;
although the sympathy of the North Americans with the fate
of a friendly people seems praiseworthy ; yet there was no rea
son for depreciating the advantages of their own position, and
recommending a hasty imitation of this foreign, uncertain, vacil
lating, untried system, while they themselves had already obtained
more without extravagance and violence.
When citizen Genet landed at Charleston, in April, 1793, as
French plenipotentiary, he met with the most brilliant reception ;
his journey through the United States resembled a triumphal
procession, and not a few united themselves into clubs in the
French manner to pursue political objects. This caused Genet's
vanity, insolence, and presumption to rise to such a height*
that he had ships fitted out against England in American har
bors, made preparations for an expedition against Louisiana,
treated Washington in an unseemly manner, and exhorted the
American people to disobedience against his government.
Washington, who wished not to injure France, and hoped that
the wanderers would soon return to the right path, acted at first
towards Genet with great moderation and forbearance ; but as
soon as he saw that this only led to new intrigues and slanders,
he proceeded with firmness and energy, compelled Genet to be
recalled, and became a third time the savior of his country.!
The narrow and evil-minded calumnies of those times have long
since been forgotten ; and the victory of the American Constitu
tion and of American liberty in the trying ordeal of a struggle
with the flames of revolutionary principles, was the strongest
proof of their worth and vital power.
With the greatest good sense Washington opposed all parti
cipation in the unhappy quarrels that devastated Europe ; and
on the 27th of October, 1795, he concluded a treaty of commerce
with England, — who it is true did not grant all that was rea
sonably desired, but as much as was any way attainable under
existing circumstances.
When on this occasion the House of Representatives trans
gressed the bounds of their authority, and wished to interfere
with that of the president in the management of foreign affairs,
Washington mildly and firmly declared, that the treaty was valid
by virtue of the Constitution, without the participation of the
* " Genet," says Jefferson, " was hot-headed, all imagination, no judgment, pas
sionate, disrespectful, indecent towards the president," &c. Tucker's Life, i. 444.
t Barb^-Marbois, Histoirede Louisiane, p. 168. Janson, The Stranger in America,
p. 74.

82 PRESIDENTSHIP OF WASHINGTON
House of Representatives, and that his duty forbade him to
comply with their requests.*
As soon as his first presidential term of four years had expired,
Washington considered it his duty to resign this high dignity to
another. But worthy friends and even prudent opponents, judg
ing correctly of the state of affairs then existing, called upon him
to sacrifice his personal inclinations to his country's good. Thus
Thomas Jefferson wrote to him : " The confidence of the whole
Union is centred in you. Your being at the helm will be more
than an answer to every argument which can be used to charm
and lead the people in any quarter into violence or secession.
North and South will hang together, if they have you to hang
on; and, if the first corrective of a numerous representation
should fail in its effect, your presence will give time for trying
others not inconsistent with the union and peace of the states.
I am perfectly aware of the impression under which government
affairs lays your mind, and of the ardor with which you pant for
retirement to domestic life. But there is sometimes an eminence
of character on which society have such peculiar claims, as to
control the predilection of the individual for a particular walk of
happiness, and restrain him to that alone arising from the present
and future benedictions of mankind. This seems to be your
condition, and the law imposed on you by Providence, in form
ing your character, and fashioning the events on which it was to
operate."! By 132 votes out of 135, Washington was a second time
elected president, and labored till March, 1797, in a beneficial
manner to promote the tranquillization and the improvement of
his country. The letter in which Washington on laying down
his office took leave of the American people, exhibits an admira
ble impress of his noble nature and mode of thinking. He calls
to mind all the happiness and all the advantages that God had
conferred upon the country ; exhorts in the most dignified and
impressive manner to order and unity ; and shows that morality,
virtue, and true religion, are necessary both to individuals and
to states, and determine their true value. May the Americans
ever regard this most noble, comprehensive, and important politi
cal testament of a good man as their model, their guiding star ;
for then will they never fall into adversity, arrogance, or degene
racy. I cannot refrain from extracting at least a few passages
here. " The unity of government," says Washington, " is a main
pillar in the edifice of your real independence ; the support of
your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad ; of your safety ;
of your prosperity ; of that very liberty which you so highly
* Hinton, i, 425. t Sparks's Washington, i. 480.

AND OF JOHN ADAMS. 83
prize. Towards this union, therefore, you should cherish a cor
dial, habitual, and immoveable attachment; accustoming your
selves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political
safety and prosperity ; watching for its preservation with jealous
anxiety ; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a sus
picion that it can, in any event, be abandoned ; and indignantly
frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate
any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred
ties which now link together the various parts.
"You must seek to avoid the necessity of forming and support
ing over-grown military establishments, which under any form
of government are inauspicious to liberty, and which are pecu
liarly hostile to a free republic.
" In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember
that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true cha
racter of governments as of other human institutions ; that expe
rience 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 per
petual 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 vigor as is consistent with the perfect
security of liberty is indispensable.
" Unfortunately the spirit of party is inseparable from our
nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human
mind. It exists, under different shapes, in all governments, more
or less stifled, controlled, or repressed ; but in those of the popu
lar form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their
worst enemy.
'' Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political
prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In
vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should
labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these
firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. Promote, then,
as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general
diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a
government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public
opinion 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 spar
ingly as possible. Observe good faith and justice towards all
nations ; cultivate peace and harmony with all. It will be
worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distanl period a great
nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel

84 PRESIDENTSHIP OF WASHINGTON
example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and
benevolence. " Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, the jealousy
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 republicarf government.
" The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations
is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as
little political connection as possible. Europe has a set of pri
mary interests, which to us have none or a very remote relation.
Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes
of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, there
fore, it must be unwise in us, to implicate ourselves by artificial
ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary
combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.
" Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration I
am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sen
sible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have com
mitted many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech
the Almighty to avert or 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 incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion,
as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. Relying on its
kindness in this as in other things, I anticipate with pleasing
expectation that retreat in which I promise myself to realize
without alloy the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of
my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a
free government, the ever favorite object of my heart, and the
happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dan
gers." The last hopes of this noble man were fulfilled. He left only
once more for a short time his peaceful rural abode, to defend
his country against the pretensions of France. On the 14th of
December, 1799, he died a peaceful, happy death, in the 67th
year of his age. Congress resolved to solemnize the event of
his decease by a large funeral procession and by wearing mourn
ing for a month, and to erect to him a marble monument,* —
resolutions both appropriate and laudable ; although the admi
ration with which Washington was regarded by all civilized
nations, showed him to be one of the few among mankind to
whom is given an immortality more durable than brass or mar
ble, and whose spotless and beneficent memory is cherished to
the latest posterity. * Laws, iii, 401,

AND OF JOHN ADAMS. 85
In the year 1797, John Adams was elected president in the
place of Washington, receiving 71 votes ;* and Thomas Jeffer
son vice-president, with 68 votes. The former was bom in 1735,
in the state of Massachusetts, was member of the first congress,
one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, ambassa
dor to France, and author of a new constitution for Massachusetts.
Although Adams was known to be upright, well-informed, and
skilful in business,! vet many feared that his administration
would assume a one-sided, Anglo-aristocratic character. His
inaugural address to Congress, however, tranquillized the minds
of most persons. After acknowledging and enumerating the
defects of the first federal constitution, he spoke in terms of
praise of the new one. Far from wishing or urging any altera
tion in it, he declared that, as in duty bound, he would protect
it, would respect the rights of the individual states, never exhi
bit local preferences, maintain every where peace and quietness,
do justice, and show partiality to no foreign nation.
Complaints on this latter head could hardly be wanting during
the wars between France and England, and the vehement parti-
zanship of almost all their contemporaries, extending even to
America. Thus it was said that the commercial treaty con
cluded with England was injurious, and that that country mo
lested and ill-treated American shipping far more than France.
But the position of the United States towards this latter power
soon underwent a change. In the opening speech of his second
congress, Adams complained, with great reason, that France
showed herself very arrogant both in word and deed, that she
had declared and sought to produce an opposition between the
American people and the American government, and had sent
back a new American ambassador. America wished to preserve
peace every where, would readily acknowledge and repair errors,
and institute fresh negotiations. There are bounds however be
yond which a free people cannot suffer affronts, but must arm and
defend itself. Congress agreed on all points with the president,
and the French failed in producing either divisions or dastardly
compliance. The French Directory feigned to be exceedingly wroth at the
president's very moderate speech ; allowed the American envoy
to wait for months in Paris ; and then required that America
should buy of them thirty -two millions of worthless Dutch paper,
pay a large sum to Talleyrand by way of a gratification,! and
whatever other unseemly demands their dishonorable agents had
the audacity to propose.
When this became known in America, all exclaimed in right-
• Wood's History of the Administration of J. Adams.
t Inchiquin's Letters, p. 68. X Jefferson's Writings, iii, 385,

86 PRESIDENTSHIP OF WASHINGTON AND JOHN ADAMS.
eous indignation, " Millions for defence, but not a cent for
tribute !* Thus in the year 1798, a war was brought about with
France, and peace was not restored till after the downfall of the
Directory, in September, 1800. Among the very many stipula
tions then made, this at least is worthy of mention, that free ships
make free goods.
During the dissensions in France and the excitement exhibited
in America, two laws were promulgated, entitled the Alien and
Sedition Bills. The former allowed the president to send away
suspicious foreigners who could give no security for their good
behavior, and granted the right of American citizenship only
after a residence of fourteen years. The Sedition Law was
directed against unlawful unions, malicious publications, libels
on the government, &c, and raised the penalties therefor to
2,000 dollars, or two years' imprisonment. While many approv
ed of these laws as adapted to present circumstances, others
termed them injudicious and tyrannical ; and the great opposi
tion between parties and tendencies, between federalists and
republicans, assumed continually a clearer and more important
position in the foreground.
Adams stood at the head of the former, and Jefferson at the
head of the latter party. Yet Jefferson declares : " Adams was
the chief support of the Declaration of Independence in Con
gress, and its most able defender against numerous attacks. Not
captivating or elegant, not always fluent in his public speeches,
he yet came forward with such power, both of thought and ex
pression, that he moved us all. Never did a man of more per
fect eloquence issue from the hands of the Creator."
Such is the testimony to the second president of the American
republic, as furnished by his greatest opponent !
* Hinton, i. 431.

CHAPTER XI.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Birth, Descent, and Education — Declaration of Independence — Jefferson in Paris —
Jefferson President — Jefferson on Freedom of the Press — Jefferson on Christian
ity—Jefferson on Plato — Federalists and Republicans— Jefferson's Principles —
Jefferson on Slavery — Jefferson on Political Union — Jefferson's Administration —
Jefferson's Message — Louisiana— Contest with the Maritime Powers — Jefferson's
Private Life — Jefferson, Adams, and Washington — Jefferson's Death — Jefferson'*
Fame.
Thomas Jefferson, the eldest of eight brothers and sisters, was
born on the 2d of April, 1743, at Shadwell, in Albemarle county,
Virginia* His father's education had been neglected in youth ;
but as he was gifted by nature with a strong mind, he acquired
by after industry a considerable share of knowledge. His early
death prevented him from effecting much towards forming the
mind of his son ; but he left the latter sufficient means wherewith
to procure himself an independent position. Thomas Jefferson
was as destitute as Washington and Adams of those qualities
which are often over-estimated on account of their superficial bril
liancy; but on the other hand, he possessed that industry, firm
ness, constancy, and force of will, which he needed throughout life.
An ardent fondness for philosophy, art, and classic antiquity,
furnished and enlarged his mind in many ways. He spoke and
wrote admirably, and obtained a reputation at the bar, although
his bodily powers were hardly adequate to severe exertion as a
speaker. Jefferson's conversation was fluent and instructive, and
he won almost every one that came near him by the affability of
his address.. This dexterity and versatility, however, never im
paired his firmness and resolution ; and those opposite qualities
of his mind were found equally necessary and beneficial, on the
breaking out of the quarrel with England. From the beginning,
Jefferson cherished the most fixed conviction, that a reconcilia
tion with the mother-country was advisable only on the broadest
foundations and with the most satisfactory concessions-! " I
steer my bark," said he, " with hope in the head, leaving fear
astern."| The stormy sea of liberty was the element on which
* See Rayner's and Tucker's Lives of Jefferson ; the Encyclopaedia Americana ;
but above all, his most highly instructive Memoir and Correspondence, published ia
four volumes.
t American Review, vi. 497.
} Jefferson's Writings, iv. 271.

88 THOMAS JEFFERSON.
he sailed more boldly and further than ever man did before ;
without injury to himself, and — who can now deny it ? — to the
advantage of his contemporaries and of posterity. " From
Him," was the motto of his seal-ring, " comes liberty, from whom
the spirit comes " (ab eo libertas, a quo spiritus) ; and " resistance
to tyrants is obedience to God."
Jefferson was a principal founder of the associations for the
preservation of the rights of North America ; and of these he
drew up a summary view in so convincing a manner, that
Burke furnished it with additions and had it printed in England.
The idea of the naturalness, justice, and necessity of the com
plete independence of North America was first fully developed by
him ;* and Congress properly appointed himself, Adams, Frank
lin, Sherman, and Livingston, to consult respecting it in close
committee. By the choice of these his friends, (or should we
not rather say, by the gracious election of God ?) Jefferson was
appointed to the task of drawing up the Declaration of Independ
ence of North America ; with which a new period in the history
of social relations and human development begins.
That Jefferson was not thus brought, into the list of men of
undying reputation by any undeserved piece of good fortune, is
shown by the ideas and plans which he propounded and to a
great extent executed, as member of the legislative assembly (as
early as 1769), and afterwards (in 1779) as governor of Virginia.
Among these were : the abrogation of all restrictions on the free
use of property, the abrogation of the right of primogeniture, free
dom in matters of religion, no taxes or tithes in support of other
creeds, the abolition of the slave-trade, the gradual abolition of
slavery,! abolition of capital punishment (except for treason and
murder), a simpler code of laws, provision for general educa
tion, &c.J
After the independence of the United States had been esta
blished and acknowledged, so that the principal object was attain
ed, Jefferson went, in May, 1784, as minister plenipotentiary to
Paris, and remained there until October, 1789. The people who
had joyfully greeted the birth-day of a new quarter of the world,
or rather the day in which it came of age, and who had contribut
ed to bring about the event, were now zealously employed in
breaking the chains of effete customs and partial rights, and in
founding for themselves a new and more happy existence. The
coldest and dullest natures, as has been said, could not resist the
enthusiastic feelings which this new dawn of liberty inspired ;
* Rayner, p. 72.
t The proposal for the abolition of slavery did not succeed.
X The Statute Book, consisting of 90 folio pages, was prepared (1779 — 1785)
chiefly by Jefferson and Madison.

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 89
how then could the American republican Jefferson, placed in the
midst of that brilliant horizon, keep himself from sympathy and
even predilection, and not share in the glowing anticipations-
whose fulfilment was already shown in happy America ! Ac
cordingly he speaks often and vehemently against the king, nobles,
and priests ; looks for the best from all innovatious ; finds nothing
scarcely but injustice and misery in old France ; and entertains
none or but little fear of errors and excesses*
By Lafayette and other friends of weighty improvements, Jef
ferson was respectfully and confidently applied to for advice — ad
vice, however, which they rarely or never pursued. In the begin
ning of June, 1789, he sketched a Charter of Rights for France,.
the main contents of which were : The States General shall
have the right of levying taxes and making laws, with the con
sent of the king. Every person shall be treated in conformity
with the existing laws ; and the military shall be subordinate to
the civil authority. The press shall be free, but answerable for
publishing false facts and libels. The States General shall now
separate, and meet again on the first day of November next.!
These propositions of Jefferson's seem very moderate. He
also wrote on the 3d of June, 1789, on the occasion of sending
this sketch to St. Etienne : " If you obtain this, you will carry back
to your constituents more good than ever was effected before
without violence, and you will stop exactly at the point where
violence would otherwise begin. Time will be gained, and the
public mind will begin to ripen and to be informed."
As soon as the king conceded more than the majority antici
pated, Jefferson expressed himself in favor of not demanding
more, but of securing what had already been obtained. In a let
ter relative hereto, written on the 14th of February, 1815, to La
fayette, he says ; " My dear friend, your letter of August the 14th
has been received and read, again and again, with extraordinary
pleasure. The newspapers told us only that the great beast was
fallen ; but what part in this the patriots acted, and what the
egoists, whether the former slept while the latter were awake to
their own interests only, the hireling scribblers of the English
press said little or knew less  A full measure of liberty is
not now perhaps to be expected by your nation ; nor am I confi
dent they are prepared to preserve it. More than a generation
will be requisite, under the administration of reasonable laws
favoring the progress of knowledge in the general mass of the
people, and their habituation to an independent security of per
son and property, before they will be capable of estimating the
value of freedom, and the necessity of a sacred adherence to the
principles on which it rests for preservation. Instead of that
* Jefferson's Writings, ii. 45, 63, 224. t Writings, ii. 472.

90 THOMAS JEFFERSON.
liberty which takes root and growth in the progress of reason,
if recovered by mere force or accident, it becomes, with an unpre
pared people, a tyranny still, of the many, the few, or the one.
" Possibly you may remember, at the date of the^ew de paume
(June 20th, 1789), how earnestly I urged yourself and the patri
ots of my acquaintance, to enter then into a compact with the
king, securing freedom of religion, freedom of the press, trial by
jury, habeas corpus, and a national legislature (all of which it was
known he would then yield), to go home, and let these work on the
amelioration of the condition of the people, until they should
have rendered them capable of more, when occasions would not
fail to arise for communicating to them more. This was as much
as I then thought them able to bear soberly and usefully for them
selves. You thought otherwise, and that the dose might still be
larger. And I found you were right ; for subsequent events prov
ed they were equal to the constitution of 1791. Unfortunately,
some of the most honest and enlightened of our patriotic friends
(but closet politicians merely, unpractised in the knowledge of
man) thought more could still be obtained and borne. They did
not weigh the hazards of a transition from one form of govern
ment to another ; the value of what they had already rescued from
those hazards, and might hold in security if they pleased ; nor the
imprudence of giving up the certainty of such a degree of liberty
under a limited monarch, for the uncertainty of a little more
under the form of a republic. From this separation of the repub
licans from the constitutionalists flowed all the subsequent suffer
ings and crimes of the French nation. Let the restored dynasty
read a lesson in the fatal errors of the republicans ; let them be
contented with a certain portion of power, secured by formal
compact with the nation, rather than, grasping at more, hazard
all upon uncertainty, and risk meeting the fate of their prede
cessor or a renewal of their own exile."*
From what is here communicated there will be seen at once
the essential difference between the American and French re
publicans. " If science," says Jefferson in another place, "bears
no better fruits than tyranny, murder, robbery, and destruction of
the morals of the people, I would rather wish that our country
should remain as ignorant and honorable as the neighboring
savages." Jefferson left France shortly before the unhappy days of Octo
ber, 1789, and was appointed by Washington secretary of state.
Differences of views already-manifested themselves; but Wash
ington knew how to hear with calmness and decide with firm
ness.! When Genet attacked Washington and the government
in the presumptuous, rude, and unlawful manner already related,
* Jefferson's Writings, iv. 246. -f Writings, iv. 161.

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 91
Jefferson conducted the correspondence and negotiations, like an
American patriot, with impartiality and effect*
From 1793 to 1797, Jefferson lived in modest but not inac
tive retirement ; in the year 1797, however (having received the
greatest number of votes next to Adams), he was chosen vice-
president of the United States. In the year 1801 he received for
the office of president 73 votes; while Colonel Burr also had 73,
and Adams 65. The decision was thus left to the House of
Representatives ; and after thirty-six ballotings, ten states declared
themselves for Jefferson, and four for Burr. These votes show
the great power of the two parties standing opposed to each other,
as also the zeal and obstinacy of the electors and representatives.
But passion rose to a much greater height beyond this constitu
tional sphere ; and never was a man on earth so violently attack
ed by an unbridled press, and so shamefully calumniated, as
Jefferson.! He was by no means insensible to such treatment;
but he never descended to refutations or wordy disputes, rightly
trusting that the power of truth would prevail, and that his pub
lic life would set him in his true light before the world. To his
friend Norwell he afterwards thus expressed himself in relation
to these experiences : " To your request of my opinion of the
manner in which a newspaper should be conducted, so as to be
most useful, I should answer, ' by restraining it to true facts and
sound principles only.' Yet I fear such a paper would find few
subscribers. It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression of the
press could not more completely deprive the nation of its benefits,
than is done by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood. Nothing
can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself
becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The
real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those
who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge
with the lies of the day. I really look with commiseration over
the great body of my fellow-citizens, who, reading newspapers,
live and die in the belief that they have known something of
what has been passing in the world in their time ; whereas the
accounts they have read in newspapers are just as true a history
of any other period of the world as of the present, except that the
real names of the day are affixed to their fables. General facts
may indeed be collected from them, such as that Europe is now
at war, that Buonaparte has been a successful warrior, that he has
subjected a great portion of Europe to his will, &c. &c. ; but no
details can be relied on. I will add, that the man who never
looks into a newspaper i3 better informed than he who reads
them ; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth
than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors. He
* See Writings, iii. 267, 269, 279, 280. t Tucker's Life of Jefferson, ii. 109, 120.

92 THOMAS JEFFERSON.
who reads nothing will still learn the great facts, and the details
are all false.
" Perhaps an editor might begin a reformation in some such
way as this. Divide his paper into four chapters, heading the
1st, Truths. 2d, Probabilities. 3d, Possibilities. 4th, Lies," &e.
" Defamation is becoming a necessary of life ; insomuch, that
a dish of tea in the morning or evening cannot be digested with
out this stimulant. Even those who do not believe these abomi
nations, still read them with complaisance to their auditors, and,
instead of the abhorrence and indignation which should fill a
virtuous mind, betray a secret pleasure in the possibility that
some may believe them, though they do not themselves. It
seems to escape them, that it is not he who prints, but he who
pays for printing a slander, who is its real author."*
Such are the just exclamations of this noble man. Yet his
bitterest experiences could not bring him even to wish for a
restraint upon the press. He said, " He who wishes fire and
warmth also needs a chimney ; and erroneous opinions can be
borne with, where reason is left alone to combat them."! ^n nis
inaugural address to Congress, Jefferson said, with equal truth
and impressiveness : " Let all bear in mind this sacred principle,
that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that
will, to be rightful, must be reasonable ; that the minority possess
their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate,
would be oppression. Let us then, fellow-citizens, unite with
one heart and one mind, let us restore to social intercourse that
harmony and affection, without which liberty, and even life
itself, are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having ban
ished from our land that religious intolerance under which man
kind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little, if we
countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and
capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions."!
• Improper as it would be even to mention here the common
falsehoods and low slanders which were propagated respecting
Jefferson, it is still necessary to state and examine the accusa
tions that have been raised against his religion, philosophy, and
statesmanship. First of all, it has been said that he was no Christian, but an
infidel, an atheist. Let us hear how he expresses himself in
confidential letters on this topic. " I promised you," he writes
to Dr. Rush,§ " a letter on Christianity, which I have not forgot
ten. On the contrary, it is because I have reflected on it, that I
find much more time necessary for it than I can at present dis
pose of. I have a view of the subject which ought to displease
# Writings, iv. 80. t Statutes of South Carolina, i. 306.
X Messages, p. 92. § Jefferson's Writings, iii. 442.

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 93
neither the rational Christian nor deist, and would reconcile many
to a character they have too hastily rejected. I do not know
that it would reconcile the genus irritabile vatum, who are all in
arms against me. Their hostility is on too interesting ground to
be softened. Certain delusions with respect to a clause in the
Constitution gave the clergy a very favorite hope of obtaining
an establishment of a particular form of Christianity throughout
the United States; and as every sect believes its own form the
true one, every one perhaps hoped for his own, but especially the
Episcopalians and Congregation alists. The returning good
sense of our country threatens abortion to their hopes, and they
believe that any portion of power confided to me will be exerted
in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly : for I
have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every
form of tyranny over the mind of man."
" The Christian religion, when divested of the rags in which
they have enveloped it,* and brought to the original purity and
simplicity of its benevolent institutor, is a religion of all others
most friendly to liberty, science, and the freest expansion of the
human mind." "My views of the Christian religion are the
result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from
that anti- Christian system imputed to me by those who know
nothing of my opinions. To the corruptions of Christianity I
am indeed opposed ; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus
himself. I am a Christian, in the only sense in which he wished
any one to be ; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference
to all others ; ascribing to himself every human excellence ; and
believing he never claimed any other. It is to be regretted that
Jesus himself wrote nothing, and that his doctrines have come
to us mutilated, mis-stated, and often unintelligible. He cor
rected the deism of the Jews, and taught the most pure and per
fect system of morals that has ever been announced on earth.
It embraces all mankind, gathering them into one family, under
the bonds of love, charity, peace, common wants and common
aids. But even from the time of the Apostle Paul, the simple
doctrines of Jesus Christ have been sophisticated and perverted.
Every Christian sect too gives a great handle to atheism by their
general dogma, that without a revelation, there would not be
sufficient proof of the being of a God. Christ teaches : that
there is one only God, and he all perfect ; that there is a future
state of rewards and punishments ; that to love God with all thy
heart and thy neighbor as thyself, is the sum of religion. Cal
vin on the contrary teaches : that there are three Gods ; that
good works, or the love of our neighbor, are nothing ; that faith
* Writings, iii. 463, 468, 506. iv. 321. For a more .circumstantial, rationalistic
criticism of the New Testament writings, see vol. iv. 326.
7

94

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

is every thing, and the more incomprehensible the proposition,
the more merit in its faith; that reason in religion is of unlawful
use ; that God from the beginning elected certain individuals to
be saved, and certain others to be damned ; and that no crimes of
the former can damn them, no virtues of the latter save. Now
which of these is the true and charitable Christian? he who
believes and acts on the simple doctrines of Jesus ; or the impi
ous dogmatists, as Athanasius and Calvin ?"*
Jefferson was no theologian by profession ; but though from
these declarations some may acquit and others condemn him, he
certainly took up the right position as a practical American states
man, and his constant and powerful influence for a long time put
an end to all ecclesiastical tyranny. Had it not been for him,
perhaps a dominant church would have been smuggled in, or its
introduction at least ventured on, through a civil and religious
war. In fact, hardly had the attempt been made to expel from
the university founded by Jefferson its alleged infidelity, when
(at least so it is said), four nominally pious sects came in, con
tended for the supremacy, and anathematized one another. As
regards the fulfilment of the chief commandment of Jesus Christ,
that peace should be and remain upon earth — certainly no states
man has ever more ardently enforced it, with all the powers
of his heart and soul, than Jefferson.! Although the dogmatist
may judge otherwise and according to another standard, the his
torian must place rulers fond of persecution and conquest below
the American president, and present to him, in return for the
proffered olive-branch, the laurel crown-!
The philosophers must condemn Jefferson still more strongly
than the theologians, when they hear what he says about the
divine Plato.
" I have been amusing myself," he writes to John Adams,
" with reading seriously Plato's Republic. I am wrong, however,
in calling it amusement ; for it was the heaviest task-work I ever
went through. I had occasionally before taken up some of his
other works, but scarcely ever had patience to go through a whole
dialogue. While wading through the whimsies, the puerilities,
and unintelligible jargon of this work, I laid it down often to ask
myself, how it could have been, that the world should have so
long consented to give reputation to such nonsense as this?
How the soi-disant Christian world indeed should have done it,
is a piece of historical curiosity. But how could the Roman
good sense do it ? And particularly how could Cicero bestow
" ^'t^' iv- 34?' 363-5 , ' + See Writings, ii. 13.
} Mr. Jefferson, instead of being obnoxious to the charge of impiety, was proba
bly one of the most sincerely religious men in the community."— Everett's America,
p. 318.

THOMAS ^JEFFERSON. 95
such eulogies on Plato ? Although Cicero did not wield the
dense logic of Demosthenes, yet he was able, learned, laborious,
practised in the business of the world, and honest. He could not
be the dupe of mere style, of which he was himself the first mas
ter in the world. With the modems, I think, it is rather a matter
of fashion and authority. Education is chiefly in the hands of
persons who, from their profession, have an interest in the reputa
tion and the dreams of Plato. They give the tone while at school,
and few in their after years have occasion to revise their col
lege opinions. But fashion and authority apart, and bringing
Plato to the test of reason, take from him his sophisms, futilities,
and incomprehensibilities, and what remains ? In truth, he is one
of the race of genuine sophists, who has escaped the oblivion of
his brethren, first, by the elegance of his diction, but chiefly, by
the adoption and incorporation of his whimsies into the body of
artificial Christianity. His foggy mind is for ever presenting the
semblances of objects which, half seen through a mist, can be
defined neither in form nor dimension. Yet this, which should
have consigned him to early oblivion, really procured him immor
tality of fame and reverence. The Christian priesthood, finding
the doctrines of Christ levelled to every understanding, and too
plain to need explanation, saw in the mysticisms of Plato mate
rials with which they might build up an artificial system, which
might from its indistinctness admit everlasting controversy, give
employment for their order, and introduce it to profit, power, and
pre-eminence. The doctrines which flowed from Ihe lips of Jesus
himself are within the comprehension of a child ; but thousands
of volumes have not yet explained the Platonisms engrafted on
them : and for this obvious reason, that nonsense can never be
explained. Their purposes, however, are answered. Plato is
canonized ; and it is now deemed as impious to question his
merits as those of an apostle of Jesus. He is peculiarly appealed
to as an advocate of the immortality of the soul ; and yet I will
venture to say, that were there no better arguments than his in
proof of it, not a man in the world would believe it* It is for
tunate for us, that Platonic republicanism has not obtained the
same favor as Platonic Christianity ; or we should now have been
all living, men, women, and children, pell-mell together, like the
beasts of the field or forest."!
Jefferson, many will say after these extracts, is still less of a
philosopher than of a theologian; and yet the practical statesman,
who was to call into new life half a world, was quite right, and it
was very natural for him to declare Plato's doctrines of privileged
# Perfectly similar sentiments are found in a sermon by Mason. — National
Preacher, i. 6.
t Writings, iv. 241, 325.

96 THOMAS JEFFERSON.
guardians, community of goods and women, great barracks
for rearing children, petty republics, &c, to be both silly and
utterly useless and impracticable. Aristotle entertained the same
opinion ; and the beau ideal which Jefferson wished to realize
(and which in spite of all opposition was carried into effect) had
not the slightest resemblance to Platonic dreams.
The oft repeated assertion that, by mere force of thinking
a priori, the best laws might be found out and every where
uniformly applied, was contrary to all Jefferson's convictions.
On the contrary he says, " In so complicated a science as political
economy, no one axiom can be laid down as wise and expedient
for all times and circumstances."* To this proposition all Jeffer
son's practical opponents would doubtless have assented ; but the
chief point in dispute was : What laws and regulations were pos
sible and best in the existing state of American affairs ? Two
parties were gradually formed in reference thereto ; and Jefferson
was the decidedly efficient leader of that which called itself the
republican party. No one complained more than he that the
increasing violence of party-spirit disturbed so many relations and
broke off so many friendships.! " Men," says he, " who have
been intimate all their lives, cross the streets to avoid meeting,
and turn their heads another way, lest they should be obliged to
touch their hats." Jefferson himself, it is retorted by his oppo
nents, was the chief originator of this sad state of things ; — a
groundless, unjust accusation ! The strife was unavoidable ; for
it related to the most important objects, the entire futurity of a
whole continent. Both parties, or at least their noble leaders,
acted conscientiously and according to the best of their know
ledge ; and for that very reason, after the removal and suppres
sion of disturbing elements, their mutual exertions were product
ive of the most excellent fruits.
Jefferson's position, however, was the most arduous of all ; for
all the great men of the war of independence, including Wash
ington, Hamilton, Adams, Marshall, and many others, stood on
the side of the federalists ; and declared themselves in favor of
order, moderation, strict law, and a strong federal government.
They regarded with veneration, or at least with great interest, the
institutions of Europe, or rather of England, which had been
brought to a praiseworthy state of perfection by centuries of
severe labor and profound meditation. The English constitution
was held to be the non plus ultra of human attainment ; and
laments were uttered over the impossibility of transplanting the
whole of it to America, which made it necessary to put up with
something imperfect and inferior. Hamilton proposed that the
president and Senate should be elected to serve during good
* Writings, iv. 282. f Writings, iii. 362.

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 97
behavior, that is to say for life ; and that the former should have
the appointment of all the governors in the individual states.*
He spoke contemptuously of all popular governments, remarking
that they were " but pork still, with a little change of sauce ;" and
wished to bring the American constitution continually nearer to
the English. Mr. Sherman, in the debate on the new constitution,
declared that the people should have as little to do as may be about
the government. They want information, and are constantly
liable to be misled-! Washington said to Jefferson : " I foresee
that sooner or later we shall be obliged to adopt a constitution
nearly related to the English, and I wish to prepare the minds of
the people for it." And even the American people of that day,
going beyond their leaders, fell into the way of thinking which,
in spite of fifty years' contradictory experience, has characterized
nearly all the English writers of travels. The United States in
their eyes are of no account at all, or else are something quite
preposterous ; inasmuch as they have no king, no nobility, no
house of lords, no rights of primogeniture, no established church,
and — to crown all — their judges have no wigs. It seemed as if
Jefferson, who was opposed to all this, longed only for what was
unreasonable and impossible, and went far beyond Plato with
his whims and dreams. What the whole history of the world
had never yet exhibited, nay, what after so many unhappy
attempts had been branded as madness, was now the aim of all
his exertions, of his whole life. Thirteen (now become twenty-
six) sovereign democracies were to govern themselves, keep
themselves in order, and form together a great republic of im
measurable extent ; while the means for exercising a stricter sway,
for setting up a stronger power(which the federalists recommended
and regarded as salutary while in the distance), were to be for
ever banished, proscribed, destroyed.
The following extracts from Jefferson's writings and corre
spondence will explain his views and intentions more clearly :
" The parties of whig and tory are those of nature. They exist
in all countries, whether called by these names, or by those of
aristocrats and democrats, cote drOite and cote gauche, ultras and
radicals, serviles and liberals. The sickly, weakly, timid man,
fears the people, and is a tory by nature. The healthy, strong,
and bold, cherishes them, and is formed a whig by nature. The
tories are for strengthening the executive and general government;
the whigs cherish the representative branch, and the rights reserv
ed by the states, as the bulwark against consolidation, which must
immediately generate monarchy.! An omnipotent assembly be
comes too easily dangerous to liberty ; and an elective despotism
* Register, ii. 1, 375. Madison Papers, ii. 88S, 892, 893. ;
t M'Gregor's America, i. 36. Madison Papers, ii. 753.
} Writings, iv. 384, 385.

98 THOMAS JEFFERSON.
was not the government we fought for.* What is not expressly
granted to the federal government is reserved to the individual
states. The former is not, as a general rule, to have immediate
control over whatever exceeds the- bounds of a state ; it must not
employ at will for this purpose the powers of the whole. The
federal government is not superior to the states' governments,
neither are the latter superior to the former. Each has its proper
position, and decides what belongs to it. In case of a-dispute, no
one alone, but only a peaceable and constitutional assembly of
delegates called for the purpose, can decide."!
" Before the establishment of the American states, nothing
was known to history but the man of the old world, crowded
within limits either small or overcharged, and steeped in the vices
which that situation generates. A government adapted to such
men would be one thing ; but a very different one, that for the man
of these states. Here every one may have land to labor for him
self, if he chooses ; or, preferring the exercise of any other indus
try, may exact for it such compensation as not only to afford a
comfortable subsistence, but wherewith to provide for a cessation
from labor in old age. Every one, by his property, or by his satis
factory situation, is interested in the support of law and order.
And such men may safely and advantageously reserve to them
selves a wholesome control over their public affairs, and a degree
of freedom which, in the hands of the canaille of the cities of Eu
rope, would be instantly perverted to the demolition and destruc
tion of everything public and private. The history of the last
twenty-five years of France, and of the last forty years in America,
nay, of its last two hundred years, proves the truth of both parts
of this observation."!
" A just and solid republican government maintained here will
be a standing monument and example for the aim and imitation
of the people of other countries. I hope and believe that they
will see, from our example, that a free government is of all others
the most energetic. We shall satisfactorily refute those who dis
countenance all advances in science as dangerous innovations,
and endeavor to render philosophy and republicanism terms of
reproach.§ It is untrue that no improvements of our present insti
tutions are henceforth possible. The elective franchise should be
extended and made more general, representation more uniform,
the country more suitably divided, &c. So too the administra
tion of justice must be independent; but the judges should not
have too much control over the mutable electoral bodies, or decide
on constitutional questions." ||
* Notes on Virginia, p. 195. f Statutes of South Carolina, i. 267.
t Writings, iv. 230. § Writings, iii. 454, 461
|| Writings, iv. 289.

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 99
Against slavery — which Plato approved of — Jefferson declared
himself in the most decided manner ; yet his wishes, his en
deavors, his eloquent exhortations, were thwarted not only by
selfish opposition, but also by the very formidable difficulties of
which we shall have occasion to speak hereafter. In the year
1769, Jefferson, as member of the Virginia house of represen
tatives, made an effort for the emancipation of the slaves ; but it
was defeated. Seven years later, he inserted in his draft of
the Declaration of Independence a passage from which the libe
ration of the slaves must have ensued ; but it was struck out, to
prevent a separation of the southern from the northern states*
In the year 1778, Jefferson succeeded in effecting the abolition
of the slave-trade in Virginia.!
As early as 1781 he writes in a paper drawn up respecting
this state : " There must doubtless be an unhappy influence on
the manners of our people, produced by the existence of slavery
among us. The whole commerce between master and slave is
a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most
unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submission
on the other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it ; for
man is an imitative animal. From his cradle to his grave, he is
learning to do what others do. He must be a prodigy who can
retain his manners and morals undepraved by such circum
stances ; and with the morals of a people, their industry is also
destroyed. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure,
when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the
minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God ?
that they are not to be violated but with his wrath ? Indeed, I
tremble for my country, when I reflect that God is just; that his
justice cannot sleep for ever ; that, considering numbers, nature,
and natural means only, a revolution in the wheel of fortune, an
exchange of situation is among possible events; that it may
become probable by supernatural interference! The Almighty
has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest."!
In another place Jefferson exclaims : " What a stupendous,
what an incomprehensible machine is man ! who can endure
toil, famine, stripes, imprisonment, and death itself, in vindica
tion of his own liberty, and the next moment be deaf to all those
motives whose power supported him through his trial, and inflict
on his fellow-men a bondage, one hour of which is fraught with
more misery, than ages of that which he rose in rebellion to
oppose ! But we must await with patience the workings of an
* Writings, i. 14.
t Jefferson, it is true, owned slaves himself; but, as is related by a well informed
person, they seemed to belong to his family, were warmly clothed and well fed.
—Warden, ii. 206.
X Janson's Stranger in America, p. 381.

100 THOMAS JEFFERSON.
overruling Providence, and hope that that is preparing the deli
verance of these our suffering brethren. When the measure of
their tears shall be full, when their groans shall have involved
heaven itself in darkness, doubtless a God of justice will awaken
to their distress, and by diffusing light and liberality among
their oppressors, or at length by his exterminating thunder, mani
fest his attention to the things of this world, and that they are
not left to the guidance of a blind fatality."* In another letter
to Mr. Cole, Jefferson says : " Come out for the abolition of
slavery in the public councils, become the missionary of this
truly Christian doctrine, advocate it with moderation but with
firmness, associate others to your endeavors ; and when the
phalanx is formed, bring forward your proposition, and advo
cate it firmly until accomplished. — The idea, however, of a sud
den general liberation of all, comes from such as possess neither
knowledge nor experience in the matter." ' With regard to the
Indians, Jefferson cherished no less the principles of true justice
and wisdom. Thus he wrote in the year 1803 to the governor
of Indiana : " Our system is to live in constant peace with the
Indians, and to gain their sincere good-will ; while we, as far as
reason permits, do every thing for them that is right, just, and
liberal, and actively protect them from outrage on the part of our
own people."!
Nobly and enthusiastically as Jefferson expresses himself in
his general observations on these topics, he was too much of a
statesman ever to lose sight of the possible and practicable. He
always retained the conviction that white men and Indians could
not live at liberty together in one and the same country ; since
nature, custom, and public opinion, had essentially separated them.
Jefferson held the peaceful continuance of the great North Ame
rican union to be the highest and most sacred of objects, and by
no means thought it allowable to go beyond the forms of the
Constitution, and, with a false democratic, or universally philan
thropic enthusiasm, attempt to carry pretended laudable undertak
ings into effect. On this subject he speaks his mind repeatedly,
and especially in a letter to Jedediah Morse, of the 6th of March,
1822, which is so characteristic, that a communication of its
contents seems almost indispensable for this and some ensuing
chapters. " I have duly received," he writes, " your letter of February
the 16th, and have now to express my sense of the honorable
station proposed to my ex-brethren and myself, in the constitu
tion of the society for the civilization and improvement of the
Indian tribes. The object, too, expressed as that of the asso
ciation, is one which I have ever had much at heart, and never
*Raynor's Life of Jefferson, p. 142. t Hall's Notes on the Western States, p. 153.

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 101
omitted an occasion of promoting, while I have been in situations
to do it with effect ; and nothing, even now, in the calm of age
and retirement, would excite in me a more lively interest than
an approveable plan of raising that respectable and unfortunate
people from the state of physical and moral abjection to which
they have been reduced by circumstances foreign to them.
That the plan now proposed is entitled to unmixed approbation,
I am not prepared to say, after mature consideration, and with
all the partialities which its professed object would rightfully
claim from me.
" I shall not undertake to draw the line of demarcation between
private associations of laudable views and unimposing numbers,
and those whose magnitude may rivalize and jeopardize the
march of regular government. Yet such a line does exist. I
have seen the days, they were those which preceded the Revo
lution, when even this last and perilous engine became neces
sary ; but they were days which no man could wish to see a
second time. That was the case where the regular authorities
of the government had combined against the rights of the peo
ple, and no means of correction remained to them, but to orga
nize a collateral power, which, with their support, might rescue
and secure their violated rights. But such is not the case with
our government. We need hazard no collateral power, which,
by a change of its original views, and assumption of others we
know not how virtuous or how mischievous, would be ready
organized and in force sufficient to shake the established foun
dations of society, and endanger its peace and the principles on
which it is based. Is not the machine now proposed of this
gigantic nature ? It is to consist of the ex-presidents of the
United States, the vice-president, the heads of all the executive
departments, the members of the supreme judiciary, the governors
of the several states and territories, all the members of both
houses of Congress, all the general officers of the army, the com
missioners of the navy, all presidents and professors of colleges
and theological seminaries, all the clergy of the United States,
the presidents and secretaries of all associations having relation
to Indians, all commanding officers within or near Indian terri
tories, all Indian superintendents and agents ; all these ex-officio ;
and as many private individuals as will pay a certain price for
membership. " Observe, too, that the clergy will constitute nineteen-twen-
tieths of this association, and, by the law of the majority, may
command the twentieth part, which, composed of all the high au
thorities of the United States, civil and military, may be out-voted
and wielded by the nineteen parts with uncontrollable power,
both as to purpose and process. Can this formidable array be

102 THOMAS JEFFERSON.
reviewed without dismay ? And even the chosen functionaries of
the government, in whom I otherwise cherish the most implicit
confidence, here leave their official duties, act not by the laws
of their station, but by those of a voluntary society, having no
limit to their purposes but the same will which constitutes their
existence. It will be the authorities of the people and all influ
ential characters from among them arrayed on one side, and on
the other the people themselves deserted by their leaders.
" It will be said that these are imaginary fears. I know they
are so at present. I know it is as impossible for these agents of
our choice and unbounded confidence to harbor machinations
against the adored principles of our Constitution, as for gravity
to change its direction, and gravid bodies to mount upwards.
The fears are indeed imaginary ; but the example is real. Under
its authority, as a precedent, future associations will arise with
objects at which we should shudder at this time. The society
of Jacobins, in another country, was instituted on principles and
views as virtuous as ever kindled the hearts of patriots. It was
the pure patriotism of their purposes which extended their asso
ciation to the limits of the nation, and rendered their power
within it boundless ; and it was this power which degenerated
their principles and practices to such enormities, as never before
could have been imagined. Yet these were men ; and we and
our descendants will be no more.
" Is there no danger that a new authority, marching independ
ently alongside of the government, may not produce collision,
or wrest the object entirely from their hands ? And might we
not as well volunteer to assist in the management of their for
eign, their fiscal, and their military, as for their Indian affairs ?!
Aud how many societies, auxiliary to the government, may we
not expect to see spring up in imitation of this ? In a word,
why not take the government out of its constitutional hands,
associate them indeed with us, but insure them to be our own
by allowing them a minor vote only ? Sincerely as I am con
vinced of the integrity of its views, and highly as I respect many
of its intended members, I am bound to say, that, as a dutiful
citizen, I cannot in conscience become a member of this society."*
All these statements and extracts were necessary in order to
convey a more exact knowledge of Jefferson's character, and to
show how exaggerated were the fears and how intemperate the
attacks of his opponents when he first obtained the office of presi
dent. Undisturbed by all this clamor, he adhered with firmness
and moderation to the path he had prescribed for himself. His
exertions were every where directed to the practice of economy,
* It was on similar grounds that so many declared their opposition to the anti
democratic tendencies of free masonry.
t Writings, iv. 345.

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 103
the diminution of the public debt, the suppression of unne
cessary offices, the reduction of the standing army, and the
formation of a militia, — all in the true republican spirit. When,
after the savings that had been introduced and a stricter super
vision of the administration of the finances, the revenue from the
customs sufficed to pay all the expenses of the federal govern
ment, all the inland taxes were abolished. It caused no regret
to Jefferson, that by the- suppression of many offices his own
patronage was diminished ; and in the same spirit he lived with
simplicity, avoided external show, held no so-called levees, and
even made no speech in Congress, but contented himself with
written messages.
During the four years of his continuance in office, Jefferson
had shown so little assumption, his firmness and mildness had so
thoroughly won the confidence of his fellow citizens, and more
over his views respecting the further true course of development
of the United States had met with such general acceptance, that
in the year 1805, on his being chosen president a second time,
162 votes were cast in his favor, and only 14 against him.* As
before, in his excellent inaugural address, he recommends mode
ration and unity and the calming of the passions. " During this
course of administration," he says, " and in order to disturb it,
the artillery of the press has been levelled against us, charged
with whatever its licentiousness could devise or dare. These
abuses of an institution so important to freedom and science are
deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they tend to lessen its use
fulness, and to sap its safety. They might, perhaps, have been
corrected by the wholesome punishments reserved to and pro
vided by the laws of the several stales against falsehood and
defamation ; but public duties more urgent press on the time of
the servants of the public, and the offenders have therefore been
left to find their punishment in the public indignation. Nor was
it uninteresting to the world, that an experiment should be fairly
and fully made, whether freedom of discussion, unaided by
power, is not sufficient for the propagation and protection of
truth ; whether a government, conducting itself in the true spirit
of its constitution, with zeal and purity, and doing no act which
it would be unwilling the whole world should witness, can be
written down by falsehood and defamation. The experiment
has been made : you have witnessed the result. Our fellow-
citizens have looked on cool and collected. They saw the latent
source from which these outrages proceeded. They gathered
around their public functionaries ; and when the constitution
called them to the decision by suffrage, they pronounced their
verdict, honorable to those who had served them, and consolatory
* Writings, iv. 33. Kufahl, iii. 117.

104 THOMAS JEFFERSON.
to the friends of man, who believe that he may and ought to be
trusted with the control of his own affairs. No inference is here
intended, that the laws provided by the states against false and
defamatory publications should not be enforced. He who has
leisure renders service to the public morals and public tranquil
lity, in reforming these abuses by the salutary coercions of the
law. But the experiment is noted to prove that, since truth and
reason have maintained their ground against false opinions in
league with false facts, the press calls for few legal restraints.
The public judgment will correct false reasoning and opinion,
upon a full hearing of all parties; and no other definite line can
be drawn between the inestimable liberty of the press and its
demoralizing licentiousness."*
These internal conflicts would certainly have exhausted many
another man to such a degree as to make him lose sight of the
future amid the pressure of daily cares. But not so Jefferson ;
he saw with prophetic eye the inevitable advancement, the lofty
destiny of his country, and he determined to establish and secure
it by all the means at his command. All the state taxes levied
in the interior of the country were abolished as early as 1302,
the expenses of the war department greatly diminished, the
detested Alien and Sedition Laws repealed, thirty-three and a half
millions of debt liquidated, the entire expenditure reduced a
million and a half, and fourteen millions collected into the trea
sury.! Let this be compared with what was done in Europe at
the same time. — Jefferson knew how to make a prudent use of
the ill state of affairs there. In the year 1783, the United States
had been wholly excluded from the Mississippi and the Gulf of
Mexico; and there were Americans who rejoiced at these natu
ral, insurmountable barriers. Not so Jefferson and the inhabitants
of the south-western states, which were continually becoming
more active and powerful. If Spain or France were to close
the Mississippi, and England the St. Lawrence, what means of
communication would be left between the states of the interior,
and what outlet would there be for their daily increasing surplus
produce ? What Peter I. did for Russia, must also be done for
North America ; the great water communications must be secur
ed, and to attain this object it would be necessary not even to
shun a war, for which the American dwellers on the Mississippi
were already making preparations on their own account.
Louisiana, or the region extending from New Orleans to St.
Louis, and from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean, equal in
size to all the states of the Union taken together, must, Jefferson
asserted with equal courage and firmness, be gained for the
North American republic ; its boundaries being thus established
* Frances Wright's View of Society and Manners in America, p. 373.
f Warden, iii. 489.

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 105
unalterably and for perpetual peace, it will present the greatest
and most magnificent theatre for the industry of centuries.
Many federalists, opponents of Jefferson, inveighed against the
idea as foolish and chimerical, declared its execution impossible,
and lauded moderation, contentment, a praiseworthy self-
restraint, and a holding fast to former simplicity and to what had
already been obtained ; they prophesied the wasting of powers
already insufficient for the great country they inhabited, unjust
and unhappy wars, &c. &c.
Jefferson did not allow himself to be disturbed in the least by
this short-sighted and malevolent opposition ; but sagaciously
watched the course of events, and boldly seized on the opportu
nities that presented themselves. Louisiana, originally a French
settlement, became in 1763 English, in 1783 Spanish, and in
1800 was given up to the conquering Bonaparte. Hereupon
Jefferson declared, that the United States could in no wise suffer
this, but must be masters of the Mississippi. If France should
adhere to the plan of founding a great dominion in these regions,
it would lead sooner or later to a war with that country and to
the closest connexion with Great Britain. Jefferson wrote to
Monroe, the American envoy in Paris : " On the results of your
negotiations depend the future destinies of this republic. If we
cannot make this acquisition in a peaceful way, we must prepare
ourselves for war; it cannot be far distant."* Bonaparte perceiv
ed that he could not protect Louisiana at a distance ; he wanted
money, and he thought, too, that by a sale he would involve the
Americans in a bitter war with the English. For sixty millions
of francs the former obtained, in the year 1803, the second half
of North America. Never were great wars averted in a more
peaceful manner ; never for so comparatively small a sum had
such wholly inestimable advantages been secured-! The
objection of Spain, that, as Bonaparte had not fulfilled all the
conditions, he had no right to make a further disposal of the
country, was at first not attended to, and afterwards removed.
Exploring expeditions were judiciously despatched by Jefferson
into the newly obtained and in part wholly unknown western
territory, and these confirmed his views and prophecies for the
future-! Meanwhile the naval war between England and France, or
rather the principles on which both of them acted with regard to
neutrals, inflicted incalculable injuries on the Americans. " We
consider," said Jefferson, " the overwhelming power of England
* Barbe-Marbois, Louisiana, 261. Laws of the United States, i. 140. Writings,
iv. 7.
t In the Senate 24 were for, and 7 against the acquisition. Of the Representa
tives, 89 were for, and 23 against it.
I Lewis's Travels. North American Review, li. 96. Murray, i. 487.

106 THOMAS JEFFERSON.
on the ocean, and of France on the land, as destructive of the
prosperity and happiness of the world, and wish both to be
reduced only to the necessity of observing moral duties. We
believe no more in Buonaparte's fighting merely for the liberty of
the seas, than in Great Britain's fighting for the liberties of man
kind. The object of both is the same, to draw to themselves the
power, the wealth, and the resources of other nations."*
An incredible number of American vessels had been seized
by both the belligerent powers ;! and by the English every sea
man found in those ships and not born in America, had been
pressed into their naval service. Remonstrances against the
unrestrained exercise of despotic power of every kind, had no
effect either in London or in Paris ;! to throw the American
power into the scale of one or the other party, by making war,
seemed unreasonable ; and to quarrel with both of them toge
ther, would certainly have been still more senseless. The decrees
of Berlin and Milan, as also the English orders in council, ren
dered the trade of neutrals henceforth impossible ; and in this
extremity of grievance, Congress resolved by a large majority,
on the 22d of December, 1807, to lay an embargo on all ships,
and thus put a temporary stop to trade. This measure, it is
true, inflicted great injury on the belligerent powers; but they
were not restrained by it from carrying out their vindictive plans.
The stoppage of trade during the revolutionary war was indeed
a similar measure ; but the extent of the intercourse, as well as
the wants and circumstances of the country, had since become
changed, and what was then regarded and performed as a noble
sacrifice, was now looked upon by many as an abortive expedi
ent, and created an opposition that compelled Jefferson's suc
cessor, Madison, to adopt other measures.
With the same cheerfulness and gladness as Washington,
Jefferson, after the expiration of his second presidential term,
retired into private life, and confuted all who had complained of
and dreaded his unbounded, indomitable ambition. With
respect to this he writes : " Never did a prisoner released from
his chains feel such a relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles
of power. Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of
science, by rendering them my supreme delight. But the enor
mities of the times in which I have lived, have forced me to
take a part in resisting them, and to commit myself on the bois
terous ocean of political passions. I thank God for the oppor-
* Writings, iv. 173.
t Barbe'-Marbois says (p. 397) that 2500 vessels were lost by the Americans in
eight years !
X " France declared that we suffered the robberies of England with more patience
than her own, and England that she alone had a right to plunder us." Bracken-
ridge's History of the Late War, p. xix.

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 107
tunity of retiring from them without censure, and carrying with
me the most consoling proofs of public approbation. I leave
every thing in the hands of men so able to take care of them,
that if we are destined to meet misfortunes, it will be because
no human wisdom could avert them."*
" I have given up my newspapers," writes Jefferson another
time to his predecessor Adams, "in exchange for Tacitus and
Thucydides, for Newton and Euclid; and I find myself much
the happier." But he by no means so withdrew himself from
public affairs as no longer to take an interest in them. The
foundation in particular of the University of Virginia, in Char
lottesville, was the object of his most zealous exertions.
The difference in political opinions which had separated
him for a time from Adams lost its keenness ; their ancient
friendship returned, and the correspondence between these two
noble and venerable men is equally instructive and affecting.
Jefferson had also dismissed his former misgivings respect
ing Washington's leaning towards England and English aristo
cracy since he himself had gained the day on contrary principles,
and had proved his superior confidence in the people.! Par fr°m
cherishing an overweening self-esteem, Jefferson says of Wash
ington : " His integrity was most pure, his justice the most
inflexible I have ever seen ; no motives of interest or consan
guinity, of friendship or hatred, being able to bias his decision.
He was indeed, in every sense of the word, a wise, a good, and
a great man."!
With these men was associated Jefferson's faithful friend of
fifty years' standing, the wise Madison, the fourth president of
the young and blooming republic. They cordially reciprocated
each other's sentiments; and the difference in their political
views, which in less generous natures would have led to a
destructive, selfish enmity, had here a salutary influence in
promoting the prosperity of their country and countrymen in
manifold ways.
With his friends and relations Jefferson lived in cheerful
social intercourse on his estate of Mqnticello. To one of ihe
latter he communicated, between jest and earnest, the following
ten rules of practical life :
1. Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.
2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
3. Never spend your money before you have it.
4. Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap ; it
will be dear to you.
* Writings, iv. 126, 169. t Writings, iii. 328, 358. iv. 185, 493.
X Sparks's Washington, i. 545.

108 THOMAS JEFFERSON.
5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.
6. We never repent of having eaten too little.
7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
8. How much pain have cost us the evils that have never hap
pened! 9. Take things always by their smooth handle.
10. When angry, count ten before you speak ; if very angry,
a hundred. Until the eighty-third year of his age, Jefferson enjoyed
uncommon health and strength of mind and body. But now
they evidently declined, and the physicians foretold his speedy
dissolution. When he expressed the wish that he might survive
till the 4th of July, 1826, they declared that it would be impossi
ble. But his ardent desire and his force of will wonderfully
sustained him ; so that he lived till one o'clock on the 4th of
July, .1826, — the same day and the same hour in which, fifty
years before, he had signed in Congress the Declaration of Inde
pendence of the United States, drawn up by himself. On the
same day, a few hours later, died, in his ninetieth year, John
Adams, his companion in labors, dignity, and age. On the
same day, in the year 1830, died James Monroe, a third presi
dent of the United States, and fifth in the order of succession.
Jefferson died poor. Some unmerited misfortunes and a hos
pitality moderate in its character, but frequently claimed by
admirers and friends, had consumed his property.* Greater
than the consuls of Rome, who despised riches only while the
republic was poor, Jefferson (like many a noble American of the
same stamps showed himself at the head of the greatest of all
republics, according to Thucydides' expression used by Pericles,
stronger than all possessions, and superior to wealth. When the
government of Louisiana, a state to whose prosperity he had
given a powerful impulse, heard of the circumstances just relat
ed, they passed the following act: " Thomas Jefferson, after a
life devoted to the service of his country and of human nature,
has died, leaving to his children, as their only inheritance, the
example of his virtues and the gratitude of the people whose
independence he has proclaimed to the universe. The legisla
ture of Louisiana, a state acquired for the Union by his wisdom
and foresight, owes to him her political and civil liberty ; and, to
perpetuate the remembrance of her profound respect for the
talents and virtues of this illustrious benefactor, it is enacted by
the Senate and House of Representatives of Louisiana, in gene
ral assembly convened, that ten thousand dollars be transmitted
to Thomas Jefferson Randolph, for the benefit of the family of
* Register, 1827, p. 166. Tucker, ii. 488.

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. 109
Thomas Jefferson."* A like resolution was passed by the legis
lature of South Carolina.
The entire progress of mankind is never committed to the
hands of an individual; but hardly ever has one man ventured
and performed as much in this way as Thomas Jefferson. The
veneration felt for the experience and institutions of Europe, the
natural inclination towards what is customary and known, and
the dread of what is unknown and unheard of, would perhaps
have caused America (notwithstanding the essential difference
in her circumstances) to permit herself to be forced or talked
into adopting the worn out institutions of old Europe. The
opposition raised by Jefferson and his friends excluded this pos
sibility for ever, and put an end to the strife. Then, and not till
then, was a new world for the historian and statesman really
created ; and Jefferson remains the greatest, most active, and
most peaceful republican of all that history has recorded.

CHAPTER XII.

THE RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
Slaverv in general — Justification of Slavery — Aristotle — Hobbes — Races of Men —
Negroes, Mulattoes, Quadroons — Mind and Morals of Negroes — History of
Slavery — Arguments for and against Slavery — Condition of the Slaves — Madi
son's and Jefferson's Slaves — Ills of Slavery — Backward condition of the Slave
States — Liberia — St. Domingo — Abolitionists — Channing — Laws of the States —
Abolitionists — Emancipation, Indemnification — Jefferson's views — Partial Eman
cipation — Defence of the Colored Men — Antilles— Arguments in favor of the
Slave States — Congress — Missouri and Columbia — Internal Slave Trade — Manu
missions — Labor of Whites and Blacks — Ascription to the Soil — Subjection to
Tribute — Dangers and Prospects.
Were it my intention to write a history of the United States, I
should be obliged still to confine myself to the order of time.
Their development however has not been, like that of so many
other states, chiefly in an external direction and for the most part
impeding and destructive, but has been, on the contrary, an inter
nal, promotive, and truly progressive one — in a word, one which,
with slight interruptions, has proved essentially peaceful. Hence,
* Barbe-Marbois, Louisiana, n. 474. It is so much the more to be lamented that
Jefferson's simple monument at Monticello should be in such a neglected and even
ruinous condition. 8

110 RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
after having described the liberation and founding of the United
States, the further account of them may be more suitably arranged
according to subjects than by years or the changes of presidents.
It is only after our survey has been more widely extended, and
when the state of things both material and spiritual has become
better known, that the dramatis personse will also appear to us in
their true light and be more easily understood.
No question is taken up by the friends of the United States with
more anxious concern, or by their enemies with more reproving
wrath, than that of slavery ; and now, after so much has presented
itself to us in a brilliant light, it is necessary to examine into this
dark or rather black side of American affairs, to explain its origin,
ascertain its present condition, and contemplate its future pros
pects, before we can prudently and safely proceed further onward.
It will not answer either to condemn slavery unqualifiedly before
hand and demand its unconditional abolition, or to look upon
the fact as one which is natural and unalterable. On the contrary,
the fact that slavery extends throughout the history of the world,
compels us not to confine our observation to North America
alone, but to set out from general principles, and to ask ourselves
whether and in what manner that which is local and temporal
can be regulated and judged thereby.
Differences in mental vigor, moral dignity, and outward pos
sessions, found and justify dominion and dependence among
men. But since these differences never destroy personality, and
convert a man into a mere thing, — and since every one is entitled
and bound to social relations, and is not excluded therefrom like
the brutes, — it follows that no man should have unlimited dis
posal over another, or, in other words, that slavery is unnatural
and rests on force alone. It is a relation in which all reciprocity
is wanting; where the rights are all on one side, and the compul
sory obligations on the other ; and where no means of dissolving
this obligation is afforded or indicated by the law.
This view is said to be contradicted by : 1st, history; 2dly, the
teachers of law ; and 3dly, many of the most esteemed philoso
phers. We reply :
To objection 1st. From the mere historical existence of slav
ery, it by no means follows that it is either natural or just ; other
wise all the follies, crimes, and sinful practices that have crept
into society, might be justified in a like manner. History shows
us rather, that cruelty and wrong ever meet sooner or later with
their just punishment. The revolts of slaves are more natural
than slavery itself.
To objection 2d. The Roman law seeks to establish and jus
tify slavery in three ways :
a. By the jus gentium. According to the law of nations, pri-

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. Ill
soners of war become slaves. But this so-called national right is
now allowed on all hands to have been a national wrong; and
from the right of putting to death, which is founded only on
imminent peril, no right of reducing to servitude can be deduced
after the danger is past.
b. By the jus civile. According to the civil law, he becomes a
slave who sells himself to me as a slave. But for freedom and
life there is, in the first place, no suitable price ; and every trans
action of this sort involves an enormous wrong (lasio enormis).
Secondly, the purchase-money, according to the notions of slav
ery, usually goes at once to the master; so that in fact no com
pensation whatever is made. Thirdly, a man has even still
less right to grant to another a despotic power over his life than
he has to kill himself. Fourthly, none but a person can make a
contract ; but slavery destroys personality, and consequently it
cannot proceed from a contract.
c. By the jus naturale. It is said, Some are born slaves. If the
two preceding props of slavery are unsound, this falls away of
itself, and there is left no mode of origin but through force and
injustice. To objection 3d. Aristotle says : " Wholesome as it is that
the soul should rule the body, so wholesome is it that the master
should rule the slave ; for the difference between the two is almost
like that between the soul and the body. The master stands by
nature pre-eminent in excellence, mental powers, and virtue ;
while the slave uses only his body, and has merely sufficient
intellect to comprehend that it is good for him to be governed."*
I reply :
The soul's dominion over the body is by no means an unli
mited one ; on the contrary, there exists a reciprocity, a mutual
influence exerted by the one upon the other. Neither is there an
immeasurable difference as regards excellence between man and
man. But even granting this to be the case, it would then be
necessary to keep up a constant valuation of these differences,
the results of which would to-day transport the slave into a mas
ter, and to-morrow the master into a slave.
Aristotle goes on to say, that he is by no means a defender of
despotism and tyranny ; that where dissension exists between
master and servant, the natural slavery maintained by him (which
can manifest only friendship) does not exist ; and moreover, that
a man of worth taken prisoner of war is not in his opinion a true
slave at all.
Now as this presupposed friendship scarcely ever exists, Aris
totle's theory of slavery falls wholly to the ground. Nay, he in fact
admits as much himself, when he says in another place : " If
* Politica, i.4,

112 RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
there be virtue among slaves, wherein consists the fundamental
distinction between them and the free ? And how can there be
no virtue among slaves, seeing that they are still men and reason
able creatures ?"
This dilemma should have revealed to Aristotle in the first
place the unnaturalness of slavery ; moreover, he was by no
means blind to the actual evils that arise from it. Plato also
makes mention of these evils and of the unnaturalness and dan
ger of this relation ; but he calls for no abolition of it, but merely
for a mild treatment of slaves*
It has been maintained that the Bible and the Christian reli
gion nowhere prescribe the abolition of slavery. But the exist
ence of slavery among the Jews furnishes no model whatever for
imitation in our times ; and if the New Testament contains none of
the doctrines of the violent abolitionists, still less does it advocate
the cause of the slave-dealers. How the command, " Whatsoever
ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so lo them," is to
be reconciled with slaveholding, it is not easy to conceive.
It was the common opinion of the ancient world, that the
greater the freedom possessed by some, the less must be that
enjoyed by others. But with Christianity, the right and the
recognition of personal freedom in the state, and of equality in
the sight of God, were brought forward in so decisive a manner,
that slavery can only continue to exist in opposition to the new
doctrine that claims a release from it.
Hence, too, the pretended arguments in favor of slavery brought
forward by modern philosophers, are less consistent and appro
priate than those of ihe ancients.! Thus Hobbes makes slavery
originate in a contract, but allows to the master only, and never
to the slave, a right to dissolve it. He contends that an injury
can never be done to the slave by the master, since he has volun
tarily subjected himself to the latter, and volenti non fit injuria.
And along with this sophistry he has a large chapter on born
slaves. Again, he maintains that if men should imprison and
fetter their slaves, so as to show that they were not slaves wil
lingly and by agreement, the latter would have a natural right
not only to escape, but even to slay their masters !
Many other doctrines of modem law-teachers go no deeper
into the subject : as for instance that virtue in slaves is indeed
more difficult, but then it is so much the more meritorious ; —
consequently in order to produce such virtue, all the other insti
tutions of the state should be so adapted as to render virtue
difficult. So, too, the maxim, that it is good to have slaves and
so keep them out of war, because war is thus made less sangui
nary, would lead us rather to turn all the citizens into slaves,
* De Legibus, vi. 177. t De Cive, viii. 4-8.

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. 113
and thus after a novel fashion introduce perpetual peace into
the world. Lastly, they say that the slave is better off than the
freeman, inasmuch as he is released from many of the duties of
citizens ; — but then cattle are better off still, and why not tie
men up to the ox-crib at once ?
It is not a subject of the slightest doubt for the philosopher,
statesman, historian, and Christian of our day, that slavery and
serfdom (the tyranny of the minority over the majority) are lo
be condemned, and that a quiet and suitable dissolution of these
relations is possible. This assertion, however, holds good in the
first place only for men of the same stock, of the same race. But
now arises the very important and very difficult question, whether
it is also applicable to men of a different stock, of different races,
or whether in this case other principles and another mode of
proceeding can be justified.
The view of some theologians, who connect the diversity of
human races with the doctrine of original sin and a greater or
less declension from God, can be of no practical use to us, inas
much as the speculative questions respecting the how and the
wherefore of this condition always remain unanswered. There
is somewhat more precision in the question, whether or not all
mankind descend from a single pair. The affirmative, which
accords with the biblical narration, is usuallv held to be the most
pious and religious. Naturalists, however, have very properly
not allowed themselves to be deterred by this supposition from
independent investigations. But while Rudolplii opposes the
idea of a single Adam, and denies the degeneration of one race
into others* Prichard and Johannes Mailer assert that all men
are only varieties of one and the same stock, and that differences
of color, size, &c. are never of so much weight and influence as
to form separate species either among men or animals.
Much depends, in the first place, on what is meant by species.
If the power of inter-reproduction is sufficient to determine this
idea, then doubtless all men belong to one species ; but this again
does not establish a priori that God might not have created
several pairs, whose posterity would be capable of reproduction
with one another.
The doctrine of mankind's descent from several original pairs
does not by any means deny the unity of the human race ; any
more than the descent from a single pair can disprove the exist
ing diversity between men, or demonstrate their perfect corporeal,
mental, moral, civil, and political equality. Many, especially
theological writers, have sought to find a blasphemy, an impeach
ment of the goodness and justice of God, in the assumption of a
great and essential diversity in the races of men. But when they
* Physiologie, i. 50-53.

114 RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
assume, on less satisfactory testimony, that God has created I
know not how many classes of angels, why should there not be
several classes of men ? Swans are different from geese ; cats
cannot be trained like dogs ; by the noblest charger stands a
wretched hack ; — and all without detriment to the wisdom and
justice of God.
Let us then leave the mazes of intangible and unfounded hypo
thesis, to seek for aid and instruction in historical facts. In so
doing we find that only the white race of men, and not the black
and red, who here come under consideration, possess a history
in the higher sense of the term ; and that, although among indi
vidual white men and white nations great differences prevail,
yet far greater ones are discovered between whites, negroes, and
Indians. These latter have never formed a leading, dominant
state, that filled and enlarged the history of the world ; only in a
few solitary cases have negroes reached that height to which, as
a general rule, every white man is capable of being raised. The
physical difference, moreover, by no means consists in the color
merely (when a white man paints himself black, it does not make
him a negro) ; but also in the essentially different conformation
of the head and of several other parts of the body ; so that a
nobility graduated according to the color and form of the body
has a far more natural foundation than the separating and op
posing of men of the same stock on the mere ground of ancestry.
Again, this diversity of race is shown no less in the mind than
in the body. The negro, along with an uncontrollable sensuality,
has less memory, foresight, and understanding than the white
man, and single exceptions do not destroy the rule.
If now we consider the physical and moral nature of the color
ed people, i. e. the mulattoes, &c.,* this mixture of two races
cannot in the first place be termed wholly unnatural ; the horror
naturalis, or natural aversion, cannot be said to be wholly uncon
querable. On the contrary the question suggests itself, whether
a sort of men inferior in body and mind is actually produced by
this mixture of races, and whether the new variety thus arisen
may not also have its own peculiar value. By combining to
gether the various characteristics of each race, might not a truly
perfect whole be produced, and thus their several defects be
obyiated ?! Did perhaps Adam occupy a middle place between
* The several gradations of color are : 1. Whites ; 2. Negroes ; 3. Indians ; 4. Mu
lattoes, from whites and negroes ; 5. Mestizoes, from whites and Indians ; 6. Samboes,
from negroes and Indians ; 7. Terzeroons, from a white man and mulatto woman ;
8. Quarteroons, from a white man and a terzeroon ; 9. Quinteroons, from a white
man and a quarteroon. — In Mexico the law places all classes on an equal footing;
but in fact almost all the power is in the hands of the Creoles, or American descend
ants of Southern Europeans. Miihlenpfordt's Mexico, i. 200-204. Encyclopaedia
Americana, art. Mexico.
t Almost all travellers praise the corporeal beauty and mental amiability of the

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. 115
white and black, and did that which was united in him after
wards become separated among his posterity into harsh contra
rieties ?
It is certain that the mulattoes, although by reason of their
white fathers they possess a mental superiority over the blacks
(being squeezed in as it were between the two races), hold an
unnatural and far from satisfactory position, which impels them
to discontentedness and vice. Above all, experience shows that
it is a delusion to think of ennobling the races by mixing and
crossing them ; for the white race loses at least as much as the
black gains. The mixture of races, too, which is common in
Central America, where it is considered a mere matter of taste,
has not produced the slightest improvement*
The aversion between negroes and mulattoes is in general
not less than that between blacks and whites! Mulattoes also
seldom have children. That there are fewer lunatics and deaf
and dumb among the slaves than among the free negroes is far
from well attested, inasmuch as slaves who suffer from these in
firmities are seldom placed in public institutions. Neither is it
satisfactorily proved that slaves live longer than white men ; for the
year of their birth is often uncertain, and they purposely make
themselves out to be older than they are, in order to escape hard
labor and excite compassion. Still, moderate labor, want of
care, and simple food, contribute to keep them in good health ;
while so many whites perish from dyspepsia, which prevails in
America to a greater extent than in any other country.
With respect to this asserted difference of races, it is objected :
" If it be possible for the negro to be as moral as the white man,
he can also make equal advances in knowledge. Somewhat
more or less cannot decide on this possibility and on the general
position which should be granted according to reason and equity."
To this it is replied : " Negroes can certainly attain to the mo
rality (or at least it should be required of ihem) which the laws
prescribe for private life ; but of the grand morality of public
political life they have no conception, and in this respect they
stand even much more in need of guardianship than women and
children. The greatest gain for them, on the contrary, is their
quarteroons, especially in Louisiana. Other writers testify, on the contrary, that
they are neither as handsome nor as well bred as the whites. But as custom and
prejudice exclude them from honorable marriage, many of them (at least those of
the poorer sort) are driven to a course of life which seeks to throw the appear
ance of mental culture over their levity in other respects, and usually charms the
ennuyeed traveller. The social connection into which many quarteroons enter
with the whites is very defective and blameable from the very fact that it can be
dissolved at pleasure on the part of the man, and the children are always regarded
as illegitimate,
* Stephens, i. 12.
t Poussin, Richesses Americaines, ii. 412.

116 RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
subjection to a race of men of greater mental development and
whose vocation it is to rule over the earth. Wherever different
races of men have come in contact, this aristocracy has existed ;
it is more natural, wholesome, and necessary, than the domina
tion of priests, nobles, and soldiers."
Even from these brief intimations it will be seen, that where
masters and slaves (or serfs) were of the same race, as in ancient
times and in Europe, the too long delayed amelioration or even
abolition of this evil state of things, was a perfectly easy matter
in comparison with the United States of North America, where
different races have become involved in these difficulties.
Let us begin with the history. Negro slavery in North Ame
rica by no means proceeded from republican forms, neither does
it stand in any connection therewith, as is seen from the fact
that one half of the twenty-six states are free ; on the contrary, it
was brought thither by Europeans, and England thought she
had achieved something allowable and even great and praise
worthy, when she obtained from the king of Spain, by the
Assiento treaty of 1713, the exclusive right of supplying his colo
nies with slaves, and obliged him to be content with taking
some shares in this detestable trade* Even while the number
of negro slaves in the North American settlements was still
small, many perceived the lasting wrong and increasing danger
of this traffic in human flesh ; but no proposition, no bill of the
individual colonies for taxing, impeding, diminishing, or abolish
ing it, received the sanction of the mother-country.
On the 6th of April, 1776, Congress prohibited the importa
tion of slaves ; an example not imitated elsewhere till a long
time after. This decree, it is true, was not put into immediate
execution in such a manner as to stop the introduction of slaves
from Africa altogether ; although it has now for years had that
effect. So much the greater was the increase of the negroes in
the slave-states themselves. An opposition arose between those
states which condemned slavery on moral grounds, and regarded
it as unnecessary in a politico-economical point of view, and
those states which laid greater stress on the natural differences
between the races of mankind, and which declared slavery to be
indispensable, because otherwise large tracts of land would re
main untilled, and the most profitable kinds of cultivation must
cease. It was declared, too, that it was above all impossible to
carry on the cultivation of cotton, rice, and the sugar-cane, in
the southern states of the Union by the labor of whites ; that here
the connection between the two races was necessary beyond a
doubt; and that the white man must guide and govern the black.
—In reply it was alleged (although it had not yet been proved
* Bancroft, iii. 232,411,415. Grahame, iv. 326,

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. 117
by long continued experiments) that white men might also be
successfully employed on cotton and sugar plantations* It is
certain that every while man dies who in summer passes only a
night in the rice-swamps of Georgia and Carolina, while the ne
groes never get sick there ; and my own experience has convinced
me that the heat, even in the more healthy regions of the South, is
so great, that white laborers must very soon perish. So, too, the
white girls in a factory at Columbia, South Carolina, looked
very sickly and miserable ; while the negresses on the contrary
were healthy, strong, and sprightly.
While the opponents of slavery, in order to strengthen their
cause, detail a long series of instances of wanton tyranny and
cruelty, the defenders of the system do not deny that such hor
rors have really occurred in individual cases, especially in former
times ; but they assert that a great deal is owing to pure inven
tion, that some are raked together from times long past, and that
self-interest and fear (even if not very noble inducements) cause the
owners of slaves to treat them in the main so well and mildly,
that, as their increase of itself demonstrates, they are in a healthy,
comfortable, and contented condition.!
A slave in Columbia, South Carolina, said to me in private:
" There are good and bad masters, easy and hard labor; on the
whole the treatment is milder than formerly, and the slave of a
good master is far better off than the free negro who is left to
himself. Religious principles and humanity are of more conse
quence than general precepts, while there are so many obstacles
to prevent their being carried out."
If we compare the condition of the negroes in Africa and in
North America, it cannot be doubted that on the latter continent
they are both physically and mentally improved, and are in a far
better condition than in their primitive home. Even where no
mixture with the whites has taken place, the form and character
of the head,! as also the whole carriage and movement of the
body, are improved ; while their manner of life, employment,
intercourse with the whites, the learning of a far more perfect
language, &c. are not without an elevating and salutary influ
ence : and thus Dr. Skinner says truly, in writing from Liberia,
" Slavery exists in Africa in a far more dreadful form than in the
United States."^ — There are certainly found here, especially
* Hinton, Topography, ii. 205. Wappius, Die Republiken von Siidamerika,
p. 147.
t Southern American Review, October, 1843. Latrobe, ii. 15. Flint, Missis
sippi, i. 528. Vigne, ii. 33. It is said that the French, the Irish, and planters newly
arrived from the North, are severer masters than the native, habituated Southerners,
or the moderate Germans,
X Perhaps because a stop has been put to the deforming compression of the head.
§ Wilkeson's History of Liberia, p. 59.

118 RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
among the house-slaves, instances of the greatest fidelity and the
fondest attachment, such as scarcely ever exist between masters
and free servants. Many have refused the offer of freedom, or,
after being set at liberty, have voluntarily returned to their old
quiet and secure condition. When Madison, an excellent mas
ter by the by, formed the noble design of giving liberty to all
his slaves, they begged him to remain their protector, and not to
change their ancient relations. — Respecting the reception of the
much calumniated Jefferson on his return to Monticello from
Paris, an eye-witness relates : " The negroes discovered the
approach of the carriage as soon as it reached Shadwell, and
such a scene I never witnessed in my life. They collected in
crowds around it, and almost drew it up the mountain by hand.
The shouting, &c. had been sufficiently obstreperous before ; but
the moment the carriage arrived on the top, it reached the climax.
When the door of the carriage was opened, they received him in
their arms, arid bore him into Ihe house, crowding around, and
kissing his hands and feet — some blubbering and crying — others
laughing. It appeared impossible to satisfy their eyes, or their
anxiety to touch and even kiss the very earth that bore him. They
believed him to be one of the greatest, and they knew him to be
one of the best of men, and kindest of masters. They spoke to
him freely, and applied confidingly to him in all their difficulties
and distresses ; and he watched over them in sickness and in
health ; interested himself in all their concerns ; advising them
and showing esteem and confidence in the good, and indulgence
to all."*
Although these justifications or excuses have their weight, —
and that there is even much that is praiseworthy is not to be
denied, — still the question returns, Should the slave be contented
with a condition founded on unlimited obedience ; and ought he
not rather to be educated for a higher existence? The whole
tendency of the age, the greater publicity, and many other causes,
doubtless conduce to a constantly milder treatment of the slaves.
The wounds and scars too, spoken of in descriptions, are
not always produced by the masters, but are owing, as several
physicians testified to me, to fights, scrofula, and contagious
diseases. But the alleged harshness and cruelty cannot be
wholly denied, for the very reason that where despotism is per
mitted, it will also be practised more or less. Besides, the grand
question is not respecting the good or bad dispositions of indi
vidual masters ; but has reference to the general laws of several
slave states, which are prejudicial to the negroes, while they give
the masters a literal right to the exercise of despotism in various
ways. Thus, for instance, the power of the masters to inflict
* Tucker's Life of Jefferson, i. 302.

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. 119
chastisement is usually very great, and the right of trying, judg
ing, and punishing, is often confined to themselves ; while but
few means are granted to the slaves of legally prosecuting their
rights. In many places they are not allowed to testify against a
white man, and are often still more severely punished for such an
offence, together with every other kind of inequality and injus
tice. Still there are some few states whose constitutions make
it a duty to treat the slaves mildly, and where the white man is
punished as well as the black.* The practice of despotism and
injustice certainly blunts the feelings and natural sense of right
of the masters; while reliance on the industry of others easily
leads to indolence, love of pleasure, and extravagance. So
that the question very naturally suggests itself, whether the whole
system does not tend to debase and corrupt the masters even
more than the slaves themselves.
If we compare the condition of ihe free with that of the slave
states,! we see at once that in a material point of view the latter
remain far behind. The negroes multiply, it is true (though in
this there is more of the dangerous than the agreeable) ; but nei
ther rich nor poor whites emigrate to a slave state, for the latter
do not wish to be mixed with slaves, and the former are unwil
ling to be entangled in a false position in other respects.
In 1790, the population of the Iree states amounted to 1,930,000
slave states " 1 ,394,000
In 1840, " free states " 9,782,000
" slave states " 4,793,000.
From 1830 to 1840, the population increased :
in the slave states 23 per cent.
in the free states 38 "
in Virginia 2 "
in New York 39
Arkansas (slave state) had in 1S30,
Michigan (free state) " "
Alabama (slave state) " "
Illinois (free state) " '¦"
Kentucky (slave state) " 1790,
Ohio (free state) in 1790 a wilderness, had in 1810, 230,000 ; in 1840, 1,549,000.
Kentucky sent in 1802, 6 representatives; and in 1842, 10 representatives.
Ohio " " 1 " " 21
These results, it is true, are produced by a variety of causes,
as for instance, climate, fertility of soil, &c. ; but the most import
ant, without doubt, are the contrary influences of slavery and
freedom. Many complain that the African is every where
* See, for instance, the Constitution of Georgia, iv. 12 ; of Alabama, vi. Slaves,
3; of Kentucky, Art. 7; and of Mississippi.
t Thirteen states are now free from slavery : Maine, Massachusetts, New Hamp
shire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan.

30,000

in 1840,

97,000

31,000

"

212,000

191,000

"

337,000

147,000

"

476,000

61,000

1810,

325,000

1840,

597,000

120 RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
America's evil genius, and causes a state of things to spring up
which is less suited to the times and more to be condemned than
that which existed in the states of antiquity before the birth of
Christ. The rapid increase of the slaves, in which short-sighted
persons discern perhaps only an addition to their capital, en
hances the danger. The opposition between the attackers and
defenders of slavery daily augments, and with it the impatience
of the slaves, the suspicions of the masters, the danger of dread
ful revolts, of foreign interference, and of a dissolution and
breaking up of the Union.
We shall be better able to consider and comprehend what the
slaveholders bring forward by way of correcting and mitigating
these reproaches, when we have enumerated and closely exa
mined the schemes that have been proposed for abolishing the evils
denounced. At first we will mention a plan formed by some
benevolent men for founding a colony in Liberia in Africa, as a
place of settlement for free and liberated blacks from America.
To this it was objected, that negroes would be as little capable of
self-government in Africa as in America. There, too, it was said,
they must remain essentially dependent on the whites, or else
destroy one another. It is certainly no benefit, but a hardship, to
transport well kept American negroes to Africa, where they will
suffer from want of every kind, and find themselves worse off
than before. The entire plan is deceptive, ensnaring, impracti
cable, and dangerous ; for even were it possible in the shortest
space of time to transfer any where a population of two millions of
people, one half the United States would become a waste, while
the white inhabitants would be completely stripped of their pro
perty and reduced to beggary. After all their exertions for twelve
years past, they have been able to transport only about 2500
negroes to Liberia, while during the same time 700,000 have been
born in America ; which single circumstance is sufficient to cha
racterize this well meaning plan as one entirely inefficient, and, as
before said, incapable of being carried out.*
Although these objections are for the most part well founded,
the attempt cannot be called altogether a failure. On the
contrary, a beginning has been made towards introducing into
Africa a higher civilization, order and laws, and the Christian reli
gion; and also to supplant the slave-trade, by a commerce lauda
ble in itself and at the same time more profitable for all parties.
All attempts to root out this shameful traffic by guarding the
sea, have failed of success. It is on the land therefore that the
struggle must be brought to a victorious close ; and if the loca
lity of Liberia is too unhealthy for whites, the free negroes and
men of color will take the firmer root. Since these have no
* Statutes of South Carolina, i. 276. Abdy, i. 49. ii. 360, 390.

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. 121
prospect of ever obtaining consideration and fair treatment in the
United States, they will perhaps become desirous of going to Li
beria, as soon as the already favorable reports have become more
widely spread, and so well authenticated that no doubt of their per
fect accuracy can any longer be entertained.* But all the Ameri
can negroes can never be transplanted in this manner lo Africa;
indeed the majority of them will not consent to quit their new home.
The attempt at sending negroes to St. Domingo has met with
no approval or success in either country. Another idea, that of
sending away all the young negresses, and thus leading to the
extinction of the blacks, no one (to say nothing of its impracti
cability) can recommend as either natural, mild, or human. So
too the placing of difficulties in the way of marriage, would only
increase the number of illegitimate children-!
In view of these experiments and the difficulties atlending them,
the slaveholders have declared with redoubled warmth, that the
whole system of slavery has been historically, rightfully, and law
fully established for thousands of years ; and that above all it is
so interwoven with the entire condition of the slave stales, that it
must remain unaltered as it is. Hence, they say, it has been
unanimously agreed to by all parties since the founding of the
Union, that Congress should not interfere at all in the slave ques
tion, but must leave its solution entirely to the slave states. Men
can never be suddenly converted by general laws; it is only
through persons, through the masters, that the slaves can be
beneficially operated upon.
These circumstances and assertions of ihemselves necessarily
incited and irritated the opponents of slavery more and more ; but
their anger burnt still fiercer when slavery was introduced into the
new state of Missouri, and retained in Washington and the Dis
trict of Columbia, while the right of petition for abolishing it was
denied as illegal and conducive to strife. All these reasons led
to the union of the abolitionists, who demanded an immediate,
unconditional abrogation of slavery and a complete equalization of
blacks and whites, and who determined to carry out their views by
every possible means. They adopted, as they said, the eternal prin
ciples of right and the holy doctrines of Christianity as the guid
ing star of Iheir endeavors ; but many in fact paid not the slight
est regard to existing circumstances, opinions, and difficulties, and
were wholly destitute of prudence, mildness, and tact. While
they meddled with the internal affairs of the several^glave states,
* Report on African Colonization, 1843.
t To the marriage of negroes the legal consent of the master is not in all cases
absolutely necessary; although it is usually obtained, and (so it is said) is only re
fused in cases where afather could also refuse his consent. The children go uith
the mother, and the husbard is allowed to pass his evenings and nights with his wife.
The negroes are often more faithful to their masters than to their women.

122 RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
they printed and distributed an astonishing number of papers and
tracts, and setup the doctrine, that in the prosecution of so sacred
an object no regard whatever should be paid to consequences ;
by this means they naturally excited the anger and apprehensions
of the slaveholders, whom they represented as robbers and crimi
nals, and thus made the condition of the slaves — now looked upon
with double suspicion — worse instead of better.
With regard to the excesses of many abolitionists, Channing,
himself an ardent opponent of slavery, says : " They have fallen
into the common error of enthusiasts, that of exaggerating their
object, of feeling as if no evil existed but that which they opposed,
and as if no guilt could be compared with that of countenancing
or upholding it. The tone of their newspapers has often been
fierce, bitter, and abusive. Their imaginations have fed on pic
tures of the cruelty to which the slave is exposed, till they have
seemed to think that his abode was perpetually resounding with
the lash, and ringing with the shrieks of agony. They have
sent forth their orators, some of them transported with fiery zeal,
to sound the alarm against slavery through the land, to gather
together young and old, pupils from schools, the ignorant, the
excitable, the impetuous, and to organize them into associations
for the battle against oppression. Very unhappily they preached
their doctrine to the colored people, and collected these into their
societies. To this mixed and excitable multitude, minute, heart
rending descriptions of slavery were given in the piercing tones of
passion ; and slaveholders were held up as monsters of cruelty
and crime."
In this state of things the planters, threatened with the loss of
life and property, regarded every means as allowable that could
help to ward off the threatened danger ; and the fanaticism in
favor of slavery became as wild and unrestrained as that for free
dom. This is shown by many, mostly recent, laws of the slave
states ; on which account I will here furnish from them a few
extracts. In Georgia, the legislature can pass no law relative to the manu
mission of slaves without the consent of their owners.
In Maryland, the abolition or modification of slavery can be
proposed only by a unanimous resolution of both houses of the
legislature,* and can never be carried into execution without full
compensation to the masters. Free negroes are not allowed to
settle there, and liberated slaves must leave the state ; though this
last decree has not been put in force.
In Kentucky, the legislature has no right to command the ma
numission of slaves, without obtaining the owners' consent, and
making them compensation. The latter may liberate their slaves,
* American Almanac for 1839, p. 167.

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. ' 123
under reservation of the rights of their creditors, and on giving
security that the freedmen shall never become a burden to the
state. As other states command the emigration of free negroes,
here their immigration is forbidden. Neither is it permitted to
bring slaves as merchandize to Kentucky. No free colored per
son can sell spirits to slaves : no negro or mulatto can testify
against a white man. Slaves are to be treated with humanity ;
they have a right to an impartial trial by jury. Slaves cruelly
treated may be sold to another master, on information by a person
well advised of the fact.*
In South Carolina, a knowledge of its evils caused them to
prohibit the importation of slaves from Africa as early as the
year 1787, and afterwards also lhat from other states. Neither
can free negroes or colored people immigrate into the state ; or if
this for special reasons is permitted, they must each pay fifty dol
lars a year. Free negroes that leave the state must not return.
Manumission from slavery is allowed ; but it must be effected
through a magistrate, and proof must be given that it is not done
to get rid of the care of those who stand in need of assistance,
and also that the liberated slaves are in a condition to support
themselves. A person emigrating to South Carolina may take
with him the slaves belonging to him for his own use ; but he
must not bring slaves for sale, otherwise he will have to pay a
fine of one hundred dollars for each slave, and the slave will be
declared free. Whoever purchases negroes contrary to the
legal regulations, must pay for each a fine of $500. Every free
negro must furnish a surety for his good conduct ;! otherwise
he will not be tolerated, but will be considered as a lawless
vagabond and sold. No one can buy cotton, rice, maize, or
wheat from a negro, under penalty of 1000 dollars and one
year's imprisonment. No negro can possess fire-arms. Assem
blies of negroes and colored persons must never be held with
closed doors or between sunset and sunrise. Any one that
distributes writings inciting the slaves to rebel, shall pay a
fine of 1000 dollars and be imprisoned for one year. Negroes
must not be taught to read or write. A white teacher will be
fined 100 dollars, and be imprisoned for six months ; a colored
teacher must pay 50 dollars, and receive 50 lashes. Congress
has no right to extend its legislation to the means that may be
used for bettering the condition of the slaves.
I was repeatedly assured in South Carolina, that the laws
respecting reading and writing, which had been passed in times
of terror and excitement, had for the most part become a dead
* Laws of Kentucky. Milder laws were passed by Louisiana in the year 1806,
respecting the food, clothing, hours of labor, and punishments of slaves.
t Statutes of South Carolina, vii. 331-468. vi. 239, 516.

124 RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
letter, and that even children and the members of families gave
instruction to the negroes. When too the president of the United
States wished to prohibit the transmission of violent publications
through the post, Calhoun himself opposed it, because it would
involve an unconstitutional restriction of the liberty of the press.
He maintained that it must be left to each state to adopt the mea
sures necessary to its safety; among which indeed the imposing
of restrictions on an unbridled press might come to be included.*
In many free states slavery is not only prohibited, but must
never be introduced by any alteration in the constitution. Se
curity, however, must be given for every freedman, that he shall
not fall a burden on the community.
It was certainly a gross piece of injustice that, according to
the old laws of some stales, a white man who had had inter
course with a black woman was let to go unpunished; while
every black man who committed the offence with a white woman,
with her own consent, was condemned to death-! In a hke spirit
(and perhaps with reference to dogmatic and Old Testament
views) there is elsewhere a talk of abominable intermixture
and an impure posterity. — In Massachusetts marriages of this
sort are indeed allowed, but none are contracted ; and it is said
that the black women have applied to the courts to have this to
them injurious permission revoked. In this non-amalgamation
of the races there is presented an insurmountable obstacle to
political equalization.
Time and experience have cooled down the immoderate zeal
of both parties : only a few planters hold to the doctrine that
their laws and institutions, which they assume to be altogether
faultless, must be preserved without any alteration whatever;
and only a few abolitionists venture to prefer violence and civil
war to a gradual, mild, and voluntary amelioration. One of the,
most moderate and worthy of the abolitionists writes to me on
this head : " A few years ago a split took place among the oppo
nents of slavery, and the society no longer possess unity of feel
ing or of organization. Of ihe 1350 auxiliary societies which
were scattered throughout the United States, probably nine tenths
are formally dissolved or have gradually come to an end; — yet
their influence lasts even to the present day. During their exist
ence, they effected a great alteration of public opinion in the
country; and they ceased chiefly because their wish was accom
plished, and because among so large a number differences of
opinion naturally arose which prevented consistent and harmoni
ous action. But the principal question which separates them is
one of use and expediency ; namely, whether or no it is advisa
ble to form a third political party, and give support to no candi
date for office who is not an abolitionist."
* Calhoun's Speeches, p. 189. f Laws of Kentucky, ii. 53.

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. 125
After these necessary statements, let us return again to a con
sideration of the propositions which have been made with
respect to the abolition of slavery. One of the first and most
important questions here was, How are the masters of slaves to
be indemnified ? Some zealots indeed were of opinion that, as no
man can be the property of another, they had no claim whatever
to indemnification at all, but must be glad if they were not pun
ished as godless robbers. But as the planters, according to the
existing and recognized laws of their country, were in possession,
and it seemed senseless to attempt to carry out this view by
force, they found it necessary to enter more accurately and mode
rately into the matter. If we estimate the value of a slave at
only 500 thalers on an average,* that of two millions (and their
number has now risen to two millions and a half) will amount
to the sum of 1,000 millions of thalers. To take these thousand
millions at once from the owners, would be the greatest robbery
ever recorded in history, and would inflict an indelible stain on the
whole transaction. The next proposal, viz. that the slave owners
should raise that sum and indemnify themselves, seems either a
silliness or a mockery. If, on the other hand, it were desired to
lay this enormous burden on the free states, it would not only be
a horrible injustice, but would surpass all their present and
future powers. The only expedient then that remains is, for the
slaves (that part of them who gain their liberty) to pay off the
capital of this indemnification money, or discharge the interest
of it at stated periods, or give labor in return. But as this often
times proved very difficult for the serfs of Europe under more
favorable circumstances, the American negroes, for many pecu
liar reasons, would thereby be brought into a still worse condition
than before ; in fact it is wholly impossible to suddenly impose
upon them this load of a thousand millions of thalers! m any
way whatever.
Since then the liberation of the slaves without indemnification
to the masters would unjustly inflict utter ruin upon the latter,
while an indemnity of a thousand (or as some say, two thousand)
millions is not in any way to be procured, it seems to follow
incontestably that the present state of things must continue.
This clear conviction, as many assert, has at least this advan-
* In the extreme south indeed, in consequence of the increasing demand, a slave
is worth from $1000 to $1200 ; and the traffic thither from the more northern states
is very profitable. Buckingham's Slave States, i. 235, 249. In the property-tax, on
the contrary, the slaves are estimated at a much lower value; e. g. in Baltimore,
a man between 14 and 45, at $125
a woman " 14 and 36, at 80
a child " 8 and 14, at 40.
t A dollar is equal to 1J thalers. — Te.

126 RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
tage, that it casts aside all the nostrums commended and thrust
forward by political and theological quacks.
Before examining whether this wholly negative conclusion is
actually the final and inevitable one, let us consider how emancipa
tion (supposing that by some miracle the pecuniary difficulties had
been surmounted) would operate in a political respect, and what
consequences must ensue. To grant freedom, say the abolitionists,
without full rights of citizenship, would in America be doing
things by halves, and would by no means satisfy the negro freed
from the fetter and the lash. In this manner, too, there would be
created nothing but a countless rabble. We reply, that to bestow
suddenly on the negro, who for the most part is incapable of
self-control, not merely the civil rights of a European, but all
the political and legislative rights of an American, — involves
such an immeasurable leap, such a saltum mortale, as to render
it as impossible as it would be for the indemnification money
to rain down from heaven* Such a political experiment could
be better attempted with all the white women than with the
negroes. Nay, if all the rights and duties of American citi
zens were suddenly conferred on the citizens of the most civilized
European countries, they, from a greater or less want of habitua
tion to the exercise of political rights, would fall into many errors
and mistakes ; but the presentation of this gift to negro slaves, would
prove to them the box of Pandora, which destroys both giver and
receiver. It would be then far more difficult than now, to main
tain peace and order ; and there would arise imminent danger
that the most perfect condition of the whites would be made a
sacrifice to the idolized blacks. Nothing can be more untrue,
nothing more unjust, than to ascribe the non-liberation of the
slaves solely to ill will, prejudice, and selfishness : and to pay no
regard whatever to the objections made by the most free-minded
men on the score of the difficulties which present themselves to
their view.
Thomas Jefferson (a greater republican than most of the oppo
nents of slavery, and long an advocate for improving their con
dition) writes with respect to other crude and hasty attempts :
" The real question, as seen in the states afflicted with this unfor
tunate population, is, Are our slaves to be presented with freedom
and a dagger ? For, if Congress has the power to regulate the
conditions of the inhabitants of the states within the states, it
will be but another exercise of that power, to declare that all
shall be free. Are we then to see again Athenian and Lacede-
* Great praise is bestowed on Mexico for abolishing slavery ; but the number of
negroes there is small, and there are far more Indians than Creoles. The labor of
the Indians is cheap with respect to the wages ; but dear in reference to the work
done. Stephens, ii. 306.

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. 127
monian confederacies ? — to wage another Peloponnesian war, to
settle the ascendency between them? Or is this the tocsin of
merely a servile war ?"*
These declarations of Jefferson, it is true, seem to recommend
the retention of the former state of things ; he was, however, by
far too philanthropic and practical a man, not to have taken a
look beyond the past and the present! He says with reference
to the above : " The coincidence of a marked principle, moral
and political, with a geographical line once conceived, I feared
would never more be obliterated from the mind ; that it would
be recurring on every occasion, and renewing irritations, until
it would kindle such mutual and moral hatred, as to render sepa
ration preferable to eternal discord."
Since then a sudden and general emancipation presents such
great difficulties with respect to property and political rights, many
have proposed a partial, gradual manumission, or have advised
that the new-born children of the negroes be considered freeborn.
— But to this it has been objected, that where the labor of negroes
appears neither necessary nor profitable, or where people wish
to rid themselves of the old, the useless, and the infirm, eman
cipation may meet with little difficulty, or rather with approba
tion ; but that elsewhere it will always involve a considerable loss,
which should not be imposed or forced upon any one. The
same holds true of the emancipation of new-born infants ; besides
which it would have the evil effect of creating a contrast and
division between the parents and children, and many emancipa
tions would doubtless excite the discontent of those not set at
liberty, and increase the dangers of the white population. Lastly
the free negroes, in consequence of the prevalent opinions and of
the aversion entertained towards them, would be much worse off
than those who were not liberated ; they would be mere slaves
without masters, for whom no one would care. To this must be
added, that after liberation they discard all foresight, and have
neither the will nor the ability to take care of themselves. Hence
Henry Clay exclaims : " Of all classes of our population, the free
people of color are the most vicious."!
To this it may be replied, that, when even in most of the
free states a free negro or colored man obtains the rights of citi
zenship only under very hard conditions ; when he is almost
every where refused admittance into society, and is excluded
from theatres, stage-coaches, and steamboats — nay, even in
churches (excepting the catholics, who are more tolerant in this
respect) is thrust aside as unclean ; when hatred, scorn, and
tyranny pursue him, and all this is considered as natural and
necessary as the position and treatment of the Pariahs in India ;
* Hinton, i. 471, t See above, pp. 99, 100. 1 Speeches, i . 282.

128 RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
— what right have we to charge cunning, deception, laziness,
malice, and crime solely on the black or mixed blood ? On the
contrary, both reason and experience go to prove that these faults
are for the most part the consequences of the civil institutions,
laws, and manners of the country. Between the granting of all
political rights, and the refusal of every legal and social favor,
there could be discovered many intermediate degrees. And if
this be not done, it is certainly just as natural for the free negroes
and people of color to die off, as for the slaves to increase ; or for
the former to emigrate to Canada, where laws and prejudices are
less opposed to them.*
The Americans have very often set before them (especially by
Englishmen), as a model and example, what has been done for
the slaves in Jamaica and some of the Antilles. It should not
however be forgotten, that the circumstances of America and
England are essentially different. In the former country over two
millions of slaves are living in the midst of the whites, whereas
England is thousands of miles distant from Jamaica ; there too
not only civil equality but also the grant of political rights is
demanded for the negro, which rights the dominant class of Eng
lishmen in their own country deny to the greater part of their
white fellow-citizens.
Notwithstanding this discrepancy, and although experience
as to the utility and recent effects of these measures is still par
tial and unsatisfactory, it would certainly be a great error, nay,
it is impossible, to thrust it all aside and close one's eyes against
it.! Thus it is attested that the free negroes are willing to labor
for moderate wages, that their moral condition is improved, that
they are admitted into the society of the whites, and even appear
with advantage among the civic and provincial authorities. In
an official report on the negroes of Jamaica, Sir Charles Metcalfe
says : " I think that no peasantry in the world have as much inde
pendence, comfort, and enjoyment. Their conduct is peaceable,
and in many respects admirable. They willingly attend divine
service, contribute to the erection of churches, send their children
to the schools, and provide adequate support for their ministers.
Their morals have improved, and their temperance is remarka
ble."! On the other side it is asserted, that emancipation has
proved a complete failure, in so far that incomparably less is now
produced by the free and often indolent negroes than before.§
Although this bright picture may also have its dark side,
although a humane sympathy may have represented much in too
* Poussin, Puissance Americaine, ii. 211.
t Gurney, A Winter in the West Indies, pp. 48, 55, 62, &c.
J Report on African Colonization, 1843, p. 1043.
§ " The labor of the negroes has proved far less productive, without offering the
consolation of having improved their condition."— President's Message, 1844, p. 42.

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. 129
favorable a light, it still leaves a more agreeable impression on
the mind, than when we hear it asserted, that slavery is absolutely
necessary to the attainment of a high degree of civilization and
freedom. The advantage obtained by the masters is less than the
injury done to the slaves ; and the sum of civilization and of poli
tical activity amounts to less than where all are free and at liberty
to exert themselves. The following toast therefore, which is said to
have been actually given, is opposed both to correct theory and to
historical experience : " Southern liberty and southern slavery! —
like the Siamese twins, inseparably united, and mutually depend
ent on, and necessary to the existence of each other."*
The allusion to the unhappy and unhealthy existence of the.
Siamese twins, speaks but little in favor of slavery and its boasted
union with liberty ; but instead of going into an examination
of this and similar coarse and trivial sayings, it is just that we
should show how even the opponents of slavery have elevated
their views to a higher sphere and have corrected or at least made
them intelligible.!
Thus says the zealous preacher of abolition, Channing, in a
letter to the defender of slavery, Henry Clay : " Nothing decides
the character of a people more than ihe form and determination
of labor. Hence we find a unity at the South unknown at the
North. At the South too the proprietors, released from the neces
sity of labor, and having little of the machinery of associations
to engage their attention, devote themselves to politics with a
concentration of zeal which a northern man can only compre
hend by residing on the spot. Hence the South has professional
politicians, a character hardly known in the free states. The
result is plain. The South has generally ruled the country. It
must always have an undue power. United, as the North can
not be, it can always link with itself some discontented portion of
the North, which it can liberally reward by the patronage which
the possession of the government confers. The free states have
no great common interest, like slavery, to hold them together.
They differ in character, feelings, and pursuits. They agree but
on one point, and that a negative one, the absence of slavery. In
some districts it is hard to find representatives for Congress, so
backward are superior men to forego the emoluments of their voca
tion, the prospects of independence, for the uncertainties of pub
lic life."
Some of the Coryphaei of the South speak with still greater
boldness. Thus Calhoun says : It is only in the non-slavehold-
ing states that there exist parties (of about equal strength) that
* Abdy's United States, i. 381.
t Vierteljahrsschrift, 1838, iii. 113; and Murhard in Politz Jahrbiicher : —excel
lent articles.

130 RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
advocate the cause of labor or capital against each other ; where
as the slaveholding states are of one and the same mind. To
dissolve the relation hitherto existing between blacks and whites,
would be to destroy both. It conduces by no means to their
unhappiness, but to their happiness ; and in thousands of years
the black race has not made such physical, moral, and mental
advances, as it has within a short period through its American
position with respect to the whites, and that too without the lat
ter's having sunk or degenerated. In view of the undeniable
corporeal and mental differences between the two races, the pre
sent position of the negroes is for themselves and their masters
no evil, but a good. Ever since the dawn of history, one part of
mankind has been obliged to labor for the other ; and among us
the relation is more patriarchal and mild than in a thousand other
places. Our so-called slaves are certainly better off than most
of the nominally free factory operatives or the poor who are shut
up in workhouses.*
With respect to the negroes, say others, we do indeed form an
aristocracy; but amongst ourselves there is only one class —
that of planter. We form the purest democracy that has ever exist
ed ; and we alone (since we are both consumers, and by means of
our slaves producers, at the same time) are in a position to make
laws in favor of the working classes of the North, who can never
come into competition with us. A manufacturer or merchant of
the North, who advocates the cause of wages or defends the
poor, speaks against his own interest. The democrat of the
South is not afraid of confounding himself by too great a free
dom of speech with the laboring classes, or of even being out
voted by them.! The producers of the South are dumb, and
their reward is increased only in proportion to their obedience.
Until now, only southerners have operated in favor of freedom;
and with the exception of Van Buren and the two Adamses
(which latter, without the opposition of the South, would have
destroyed the Union in a few years), all the presidents of the
United States have been southerners ; nay, what is still more, the
peculiar heroes of the revolution, Washington, Jefferson, Madi
son, Jackson, and others, were slaveholders.
The liberty of the descendants of Africa in the United States
is incompatible with the safety and liberty of the offspring of
Europeans. And beneath the ruins of the Union would be
buried, sooner or later, the liberty of both races.!
You laboring classes of the North, who pay your wages but
* Speeches, pp. 220, 230.
t " A more humane, generous, and high-minded class of men does not exist than
the southern planters." Kennedy's Texas, i. p. xxv.
X Clay's Speeches, ii. 418.

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. 131
the slave states ? Who protect you against taxes and monopo
lies, but we? And if you doubt our sincerity, come to us, and
convince yourselves, that there are no paupers and no populace
amongst us ; and that our slaves lead a happier and more con
tented life 1han (to say nothing of wretched Europe) your own
day-laborers and factory operatives, who toil for two-thirds of
their existence that they may not starve the remaining third!
On our estates we are patriarchs, in Congress the champions of
unbounded freedom. Without us, you had long ago become
slaves to your banks and speculating companies. The factory
system of the North is a greater enemy to liberty than the slavery
of the negroes. Among us there is no hatred like that of the poor
laboring classes against the rich ; but sympathy and union.
Our slaves are, so to say, members of our families, and we care
for them as a part of ourselves. You, who labor fourteen or
fifteen hours a day, and then sink exhausted to bed, do not know
the value of liberty. You feel merely when you are oppressed,
when you are in want of the commonest necessaries of life.
We, on the contrary, know its entire value, are as free from
degrading compulsion as from depressing cares, and have higher
views for a nobler sphere of action. We never enter into jealous
competition with you, or lender you (like the brokers of New
York and Boston) a niggardly recompense for severe toil. We
willingly grant you equal rights with ourselves ; we are the best
members of a republican commonwealth. We need not to
enrich ourselves with the sweat of your labor ; we slaveholders
are the only unselfish democrats in the Union !
Such are the representations of the lordly masters, in the bold,
grand style and feeling of the ancient classical world. But while
they make an impression, and cast light into a region not before
known or observed, the shadows which were spread over other
portions of the picture are not diminished. We feel that a coun
ter statement is possible on the side of the slaves ; that the noblest
of all republics can no longer be founded on slavery par excel
lence; and that even those who are averse to all dogmatic
influences and disputes, cannot here deny that Christianity has a
power and might of wholesome efficacy which tends to universal
emancipation. When I now look back on what I have here stated as impar
tially as I could, I feel as though I had been wandering about in
a labyrinth, and had attempted to draw others uselessly into it.
And have not the Americans indeed been for fifty years winding
and unwinding this Ariadne's clue, without making any progress
in advance ? and has all the talking and disputing been any thing
else than a for the most part inefficient accompaniment to what the
tremendous force of circumstances has produced and is daily still

132 RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
producing ? But does mere letting alone ever lead to satisfactory
results? Is not every one who takes a hearty interest in these
matters almost irresistibly impelled, in view of the past, the pre
sent, and the future, to ponder them again and again, and to
cast about — with or without success — for correctives ? Let me
too then be permitted to make such an attempt.
If we begin by taking a look at the forms of the Constitution,
we see that the entire legislation respecting slavery is vested in
the individual states ; and subsequently a resolution was adopted
by a majority of votes (although lately again repealed) to the
effect that Congress had no right to discuss or determine any
question relative to slavery. With respect to this, Calhoun ob
served: " No one disputes the general right of presenting petitions
to Congress ; but Congress has both the right and the duty to
reject them beforehand, when they contain matters on which it
cannot decide at all." * But since slavery is a state of things not
confined to any single state or shut up within its limits ; since
even the free states are affected by it, while the laws passed in
consequence (e. g. respecting emigration, immigration, settling,
&c.) contradict one another and lead to hostile divisions, — is not
the formal and real nullity of Congress as great an injury and an
evil, as if, on the contrary, it had been intrusted with the sole de
cision of all questions thereto belonging, with a complete disregard
of the rights of the single states ? Would not the interpretation
of the laws of the Union or an explanatory addition for extend
ing the powers of Congress have turned out differently, had the
slaveholders supposed that it would join in and support their

views

?

That a new-born state like Missouri should blindly embrace
the curse of slavery, that a few slaveholders should be able to
extend it over all posterity, that Congress itself on the birth-day
of the new state should proffer the gift and not dare to with
hold it, although aware of its deadly nature, — all this shows an
unsound and evil state of things, which all counter arguments
and reasons may explain, but cannot restore to a healthful con
dition. So too it is not a mere incidental contradiction (contradictio in
adjecto); it remains a substantial stumbling-block, — a grating, un
resolved discord,' — that slaves in Washington, as they are dragged
away by the dealers in human flesh, should chant in piteous
mockery, " Hail Columbia, happy land !" that the District of Co
lumbia, the seat of the noblest and greatest of republican go
vernments, should be condemned by a resolution of Congress to
remain a grand slave-mart to all future time. ! Here the indi-
• Speeches, p. 200.
t The city of Washington grants licenses (according to Mason, p. 174) for the
slave-trade, tor 400 dollars.

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. 133
vidual parts have obtained a false preponderance over the central,
vivifying power of the Union, and, instead of promoting gradual
ameliorations, have rendered them impossible.
Just as little consistency is there in the fact lhat Congress
regulates the traffic in general, and stigmatizes the African slave-
trade as a capital crime; while it suffers the American slave-
trade under its very eyes, and holds this outrage to be right and
just, because definitions are placed above eternal laws. Not
only are the free states shocked at this circumstance, but even
several of the slaveholding states have passed restriclive laws
with respect to it ;* union and unanimity, however, are nowhere
to be found. Even admitting that the holding of slaves is not to be
interfered with, it does not follow that the sale of them should be
permitted ; and in general the practice is not found to exist
where, as in South Carolina, all the young slaves can still be
employed and made use of. Where on the contrary, as in Vir
ginia, their natural and irrepressible increase far exceeds the
demand, and is extremely burdensome to their owners, the latter
rejoice at the newly opened market in the southwestern states,
which enables them to make money by selling human beings,
and at the same time to get rid of a superfluous and dangerous
population. That this is the best way of wholly freeing Kentucky,
Virginia, and Maryland from slavery, is true only in case
the breeding of slaves for sale is not regarded as a profitable
business, and purposely carried on ; neither can the sale of
individual criminals — a sort of transportation — be confounded
with the trade in innocent slaves, or serve to justify it.
Every where slave-dealers are hated and despised, and exclud
ed from virtuous, respectable society ; for amid all the horrors
and sufferings of slavery, the worst and bitterest is this heartless
separation of families, whereby parents and children, brothers and
sisters, are sold off into the remotest parts of the world, so that
at the close of the auction they must all look upon each other as
dead-! By doing away with this iniquity, the most heart-rend
ing and inhuman of slavery's practices would be put a stop to,
without ever materially affecting property, or giving rise to po
litical dangers. With this correct feeling, the constitutions of
some of the states (as e. g. Mississippi) distinctly intimate that,
and prescribe the time when, this internal trade shall have an
end. Far more difficult is it (and that we saw) to interfere with
the holding than it is with the selling of slaves ; and above all it
would seem utterly impossible to procure indemnification to the
* In Kentucky, for instance, the importation of slaves as merchandize is pro
hibited. t It is preposterous to liken these sales to the voluntary separation of members
of a family.

134 - RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY.
amount of 1000 or perhaps 2000 millions of thalers. And yet it
is very probable that the slaveholders themselves will be driven
by degrees to a point, where this bugbear will lose the greater
part of its terrors, and where their interests will coincide for the
most part with the wishes of their opponents.
When in several of the European states, and especially in
Prussia, an alteration was discussed in many of the relations and
burdens of serfs, tenants, vassals, and the like, a party advocated
the retention of the existing state of things without alteration,
on the ground of the immensity of the loss and the impossibility
of raising the emancipation or indemnification money. And
still the thing was accomplished, to the satisfaction of all parties.
Might not the same or at least something similar be possible in
America ?
An important question which here arises, is that respecting the
relative cost and value of the labor of blacks and whites. Sta
tistical writers have calculated the time when the latter, in conse
quence of the increasing population and competition, must become
cheaper than the former ; and have joyfully predicted that then will
slavery be wholly and easily abolished. To me, on the contrary,
it seems that the difficult problem would by no means be fully
solved with the occurrence of that event. For though I willingly
allow that the free white man labors, produces, and accumulates
more than the slave ; and though for the present I lay aside the
important question, as to whether white men are able to perform
every kind of work in all climates ; their successful introduction
into the slave states would leave nothing decided respecting the
future fate of the two millions of blacks. If these do not work more
than before, the slaveholders will be ruined ; if the masters di
minish their reward and maintenance, the slaves will find them
selves worse off than before. If they let them go free as soon
as they change from a valuable property into an expensive bur
den, the so-called freedmen will stand in a deplorable position
towards the shrewder and more dexterous whites.
As soon as the slaveholder, in consequence of an increasing
white population, reckons and must reckon among his outlays
the capital and interest of the purchase money, the cost of food,
lodging, and clothing, the care of the infirm and aged, the
absconding of the refractory, the value of slave as compared with
that of free labor, &c, the holding of slaves will no longer appear
so cheap and advantageous as it is usually assumed to be. —
Very gradual was the enlightenment of European masters in
similar circumstances ; those, however, who first became aware
of the truth managed by far the best, and served to the rest as an
example. The experiments made in the Antilles, where, it is said, real

RACES OF MANKIND AND SLAVERY. 135
estate rose greatly in value on the abolition of slavery, and the in
demnification seemed almost a gift ;* the vast progress made by
the free states of the West ; the far slower development noticed
for some years in many of the slaveholding states ; these and the
like facts, will have the effect of directing a constantly increasing
attention to the subject, and of suggesting ameliorations, which
should be at the same time reasonable and beneficial.
As in the abolition of the internal slave-trade I behold the first
great means towards an essential improvement of the existing
state of things; so too I regard as the second, not by any means
a sudden, forcible, and in fact impossible equalization of blacks
and whites, — but, what is already in many places begun,! a
gradual and voluntary grant of property in the soil. Offensive
as it may sound, the introduction of a sort of serfdom, or glebes
adscriptio, appears to me a measure which, while it avoids sud
den social and political leaps, includes in itself a better condi
tion, and prepares for one better yet. The former slave is then
no longer a mere chattel, without any recognition of or regard
for his personal rights, but stands on solid ground; he is no
longer a piece of moveable properly to be sold at pleasure like a
brute, but there is opened to him the possibility of acquiring
something for himself: in fact, a man bound to the soil is in many
respects better off than he who is bound to a machine.
The objection, that by this means a feudal system, a feudal
nobility, a new sort of property, would be established, seems to
me of no great weight. For there is here no question of the
oppressive prerogatives of great feudal barons, but only of the
salutary and useful relations of patron and client; and if our
feelings are opposed to institutions of this sort, still more are they
to that of slavery properly so called.
In conformity with these views are both the means and the
objects proposed in a law of Kentucky, which says : Every
proprietor is at liberty to determine, that his slaves and their pos
terity shall descend to his heirs and their posterity, as a part of
his freehold estate.!
Another improvement connected herewith, and of the highest
importance, has already been adopted in several cities, amongst
others in Charleston. The masters namely allow many of their
negroes to seek free employment for themselves, and to pay them
out of their earnings a certain monthly sum. This forms the
transition to emancipation connected with the obligation to pay
tribute, and forms a counterpart to rural settlement. It is certainly
not necessary that the boasted patriarchal relation should be put
* Gurney, p. 54. Madison Papers, iii. 1263.
t M'Gregor's America, i. 423. Martel's Briefe, p. 64.
X Statutes, p. 1478.

136 THE INDIANS.
an end to by the establishment of a better social condition for the
slaves. Perhaps along with the grounds of discontent, the diffi
culty of supervision and the danger of a revolt will also be
diminished. With mild and humane treatment, the present and
future condition of the slaves can never be as dangerous to the
United States as many imagine. From exorbitant demands and
selfish refusals, men will fall back to a middle, practicable course.
The dissolution of this great Union on the score of the slave
question would certainly be the grossest folly and the bitterest of
misfortunes ; for both parties mutually need assistance from, and
protect each other.
It is certainly true, as I have already remarked, that the Euro
pean abolition of the dependent relations between men of one
and the same race was an easy matter, in comparison with the
task which the Americans have to perform. But if, on the one
hand, this task carries with it many cares, pains and sufferings ;
on the other hand the necessary instruction and guardianship of
the blacks, and their final reconciliation with the whites, offer an
employment so noble, influential, and sublime, that the Ameri
cans should testify with awe and humility their gratitude to Pro
vidence for intrusting them with this duty also, in addition to the
many others of the greatest importance to the progress of the
human race. Were its performance really impossible, it would
never have been imposed by an all-wise and all-gracious Creator
upon his too feeble creatures.

CHAPTER XIII.
THE INDIANS.
Nature and Origin — Property of the Indians — Indian Characteristics — Whites and
Indians — Indolence of the Indians — Cherokees — Future Prospects.
Several questions which we have already touched upon with
regard to the negroes, recur on directing our attention to the
North American Indians. * Whether we assume that all mankind
are descended from one or from several pairs, it is certain that the
* We do not speak here of the civilized Indians in Mexico and Peru, who mostly
practise agriculture. Kennedy's Texas, i. 249. The monuments of Copan and
other cities of Central America testify to the existence and industry of a race who
far surpassed the savages of North America. These monuments, however, should
not be over-rated : they are mostly without variety, tasteless, hideous, and supersti
tious.

THE INDIANS. 137
Indians are corporeally and mentally so very different from the
whites and blacks, that naturalists and historians have properly
designated them as a peculiar race. For although the different
tribes bear their own national appellations, and make war upon
and persecute each other in the cruellest manner ; and although
they can be distinguished apart by those accurately acquainted
with them ; still on the whole the same physical and moral cha
racter runs through them all, and there are found amongst them
no such complete and characteristic distinctions as are exhibited
among the nations of the Caucasian stock.
Every where we observe among the Indians the copper color,
the coarse, straight, black hair, the brown eyes, and the prominent
cheek-bones. The white nations, it is true, have also adopted
for the purpose of embellishment a great many tasteless and ugly
fashions ; these, however, relate mostly to dress, and there is now
nothing but the use of corsets that stands on a level with the
practices of savages. The means of embellishment adopted by
the latter apply, almost without exception, immediately to the
body. For this purpose they press their children's heads into a
pointed or flat shape ; paint their faces green, yellow, red, or black ;
tattoo the other parts of their bodies ; bore holes through their
noses, lips, and ears ; and draw the latter by means of weights
down to their shoulders.* There is every where revealed among
them such an entire want of feeling for true beauty and art, that
they even transform the admirable gifts they have received from
nature into the vilest caricatures.
Whether the Indians are autochthones sprung from the soil, or
are immigrants from Asia ; whether a more civilized people pre
ceded them, and whether the latter retired voluntarily or through
compulsion towards the south, — on these topics much may be
conjectured, but. very little proved. At any rate their degree of
culture is so low, that it may well be indigenous ; and even in the
grave-mounds raised by them or by older tribes, there are found
only bones, shells, and stone weapons ; but nothing of iron or
other metal. !
The numerous and often apparently independent languages of
the Indians have been reduced by modern investigations to three
essentially distinct mother-tongues. | They all exhibit a lively
perception of the sensual, but are destitute of the finer develop
ment for the spiritual. Some letters are wanting in one, and
some in another, as for instance v,f, m.
• Lewis's Travels, ii. 33: The portraits in the Travels of Prince Von Neuwied
recall to mind the Jews ; yet no connection whatever can be proved.
t Long's Expedition, i. 64. [In some of them articles of copper and even of silver
have been found. See Trans, of Amer. Antiq. Soc, i. 161, 169. -Trans, of Amer.
Ethnol. Soc, i. 400.— Tr.]
X The Iroquois, Lenape, and Floridian— Collections of the New York Histor.
Society, iii. 187.

138 THE INDIANS.
As the Indians occupy themselves almost exclusively with the
chase, and are attached to it alone, their domestic life is on that
account necessarily disturbed and interrupted. Moreover polyga
my is allowed and practised among them, and their treatment of
their one or many wives exhibits in general nothing of the fancied
mild and happy relations of mere children of nature. On the
contrary, the women are forced to do the hardest work, and are
treated like slaves. They see to bridling and feeding the horses,
putting up and taking down the tents, packing and unpacking
the effects, and cutting up the game that has been taken. They
must dress the skins, make the clothes, and attend to the cooking;
while the men, except hunting and fighting, do nothing at all !
Most of the tribes know nothing of bread, salt, or spices ; drink
no milk ; and have, excepting a few most necessary articles, no
property. And yet teachers of law and philanthropists are accustomed to
assert that all North America is the property of the Indians, from
which they have been driven by force and fraud. It is true that
the titles to possession often set up by the whites — to wit, the
first seeing and discovering of a country, the erecting of a flag,
publishing in newspapers, and the like — are of very slight import
ance, and have always lost their efficacy when opposed by a better
right or a stronger power. But in fact it is difficult to perceive
why the Indian title should be regarded as better founded ; why
an entire continent should be and become the property of a few
ravages, because they have perchance hunted, and perchance not,
over immeasurable tracts ! In such wise, by such a distant and
momentary taking of possession, a single man might have con
verted the whole earth into his pretended property, and thus have
rendered all settling and all progress impossible. Wild men and
beasts must of right retreat before civilized man ; and the former
have stil Heft for their scanty numbers a limitless space, on which
hundreds of millions of industrious men could dwell and sup
port themselves. God, say some semi-theologians, has given
the whole land to the Indians ; to which it may be replied in like
manner, God has taken it away from them. The land in truth
was no man's land, a res nullius, inasmuch as it was by no means
made a suitable use of ; industry and labor are found in the long
run to be the only true means of founding and retaining property.
As disgust at the defects and excesses of European civilization,
or rather perversion, called forth animated eulogies on the South
Sea islanders, so the interest taken in the outward fate of the
North American Indians has produced a like effect. Praises
have been lavished on their self-command, their hospitality, their
simple energetic language ; in bodily endowments they have been
represented as superior to the whites, and as almost equal to them

THE INDIANS. 139
in mental capacity.* Others say more truly, that the germs of
human capabilities are found equally amongst the whites and the
Indians ;! but their smaller quantity among the latter is shown
not only in individuals, it springs from their entire organization,
and is characteristic of the whole race. More general and louder
are the accusations of others, that the self-control of the Indian
arises chiefly from insensibility ; and that a deep and durable
feeling is exhibited only in the forms of hatred, revenge, and sav
age ferocity.! And not only are these feelings entertained
towards the whites who may have injured and defrauded them ;
but their devouring and destroying fury is directed still more
strongly if possible against their fellow-tribes. To scalp men and
steal horses, is considered among them the greatest glory of a man,
or Indian brave.§
It is an unjust reproach, to affirm that the whites are chiefly
answerable for the degeneration of the Indians. The latter have
learnt a great deal from the former ; and if they have not profited
more, it is owing to their constant aversion to the use of foresight
and regular industry, to settling down on the land, to cultivating
the earth, and to social connections. No where else is there so
clearly exhibited the truth of the proverb, that Idleness is the
mother of want, vice, and misery. || One may, and with justice,
censure the whites for defrauding the ignorant Indians, IT and sell
ing them (in spite of severe prohibitions) ardent spirits, which
moreover are often mingled with unwholesome ingredients ; but
their unbridled passion for drink is their own fault, and if the
whites on the contrary were to suffer themselves to be seduced
into vicious practices by Indian productions, they could by no
means be held guiltless on that account. Unhappily the laws
against the traffic in ardent spirits are often but a dead letter:
since there are no means for putting them into execution and
seizing the spirits ; while to have recourse to the law is usually
without effect, on account of the distance at which the courts of
justice are situated, and the difficulty of procuring witnesses and
proofs. A shirt received from the government and which costs
three dollars, is often bartered away by the Indians for a bottle of
brandy !
One may extol the Indians' love of independence and the cir-
* Reise des Prinzen von Neuwied, ii. 134.
t Bancroft, iii. 302.
X Buckingham's Slave States, i. 253, 525. Murray's Account, i. 408: Schoolcraft,
p. 98. Cox's Columbia River, ii. 382. Townsend's Sporting Excursions, ii. 14.
§ Long's Rocky Mountains.
|| The Indians of Mexico, who are altogether of a higher grade, are far more indus
trious than those of North America. Miihlenpfordt, i. 238.
IT In many states there are strict and excellent laws for protecting the Indians
against frauds of every kind; yet they have not proved sufficient.

140 THE INDIANS.
cumstance that they can never be enslaved.* But to them
every regular government seems like slavery,! and their untame-
able disposition is but a very partial advantage ; whereas the
domesticated and laboring negro occupies a higher ground, and
readily adapts himself to a change of circumstances. The condi
tions of both these races of men involuntarily remind us, if the
comparison be admissible, of untameable and tameable animals;
at least here also the natural consequence ensues, that the number
of the Indians diminishes, and their complete annihilation is fore-
1 old, while the negroes are daily increasing, and many white men
are laboring for their emancipation and regard them as capable
of a higher social existence. Even if many other causes might
not be assigned for these phenomena, the obstinate adherence of
the Indians to the hunter-life would explain the impossibility of
a numerous, thick-settled population-! ^ again we doubt, as
some do, that the number of Indians is very much diminished in
comparison with former times, they have at any rate not profited
by their contact with civilized nations sufficiently to improve their
own condition and adopt new ways of life. Thus, for instance,
while fire-arms, which were formerly unknown to them, were
found useful in hunting, they also gave additional effect to
savage feuds ; and scarcely ever was the beneficent plough placed
by the side of the destructive rifle. As time advances, however,
the implement of peace becomes constantly more powerful than
the partially used weapon of war ; and to the exaggerated com
plaints on the subject of driving back the Indians, we may oppose
the question, What would have been gained for mankind, had
they prevailed in America ? The answer is certainly simpler and
clearer, than if one had to decide between the Romans and Car
thaginians, the English and the French.
If any people belonging to the white race had ever come into
contact with one more highly civilized, how quickly would they
have appropriated whatever was new and useful, what advan
tages would they not have derived from the mutual intercourse !
With the Indians, however, trade has been a means of improve
ment only by way of exception, while as a general rule it has prov
ed the pathway to degeneracy. They became acquainted with
new wants, without becoming willing to satisfy them by increased
exertion ; and while corporeal enjoyments and sensual passions
acquired a greater prominence, the mind remained stationary at
its former low stage of development, or even sank deeper still.
# Many Indians even hold slaves themselves. — Brackenridge's History of the
War, p. 91.
t Schoolcraft's Onedta, i. 14.
X Bancroft, iii. 253. According to another summary, the Creeks number 24,000,
the Choctaws 15,000, the Cherokees 25,000, &c. About 168,000 lived beyond the
Mississippi, and 89,000 have been transplanted thither.

THE INDIANS. 141
Wild hunters surrounded by husbandmen must either turn hus
bandmen themselves or perish. While the former are striving to
be independent and regard themselves as such, they are the most
dependent beings in existence, and without protection even
against hunger and cold. Labor alone makes independent. But
this the Indians regard as vile and slavish ; and one of their
commonest curses or denunciations is, May you be forced by
hunger to till the ground !
Spaniards, Frenchmen, Englishmen and Americans, Catho
lics and Protestants, Jesuits* and Methodists, have labored in the
most praiseworthy and devoted manner to introduce Christianity
among the Indians ;! but for the most part without any real and
lasting effect. They usually accepted all that the missionaries
related to them, but required equal credence for their own tra
ditions and precepts. It certainly was injudicious to wish to
initiate the Indians into the niceties of conflicting dogmas, and
even to place before their eyes the unchristian brawls of the differ
ent sects. The Indians needed an entirely different preparation
for introducing them to genuine Christianity ; and we will will
ingly hope that new and more judicious attempts may meet with
greater success than heretofore.! This applies also to the instruc
tion in reading, writing, and arithmetic ; which is of but little
use to the Indians, and along with which quite other employ
ments should be introduced and required. The endeavor to
educate young Indians in schools and gymnasia has failed;
even those who made good progress at first, either could not or
would not change their untameable dispositions, and fled back
to their native forests.
When the very considerable sums which the Indian tribes
receive from the United States according to former treaties shall
have been exhausted, their wretchedness must redouble, unless
they relinquish their present indolence. § The whole number
now living beyond the Mississippi is reckoned at from 300,000
to 332,000 ; these can no longer disturb the internal quiet of the
states, but may threaten them with a border war.||
Respecting the above mentioned facts and observations the
Americans are mostly of accord ; but a difference of views and
convictions was produced (as in the dispute on negro slavery)
when the Cherokees quarrelled with the state of Georgia, within
whose boundaries they resided. The Cherokees distinguished
* Miihlenpfordt says (i. 226) of the Indians of Mexico : " Until now the introduc
tion of the boasted civilization of Europe, with the Catholic form of the Christian
religion, has been to them of but little use ; and even now there is hardly here and
there to be discerned a trace of progress towards bettering their condition."
t M'Gregor's America, ii. 331, 97.
X Long's Second Expedition, ii. 246.
$ State of the Finances, 1842, p. 12.
|| Finance Report for 1838, p. 18.
10

142 THE INDIANS.
themselves essentially from the rest of the Indian tribes, and had
unexpectedly made great and surprising advances in civilization.
They cultivated the ground, made cotton stuff's, had stone houses,
laws, magistrates, printing-presses, newspapers, schools, and
churches* They demanded to be recognized for the future, as
they had been long before, as an independent people living on
the soil which had descended to them from their forefathers; and
to be protected by the government of the United States. Geor
gia, on the other hand, maintained, that to her alone belonged
the right to regulate her internal affairs ; she could not endure the
formation within her boundaries of an independent, every where
obstructing, inimical state ; the Cherokees must adopt the insti
tutions of Georgia and submit themselves to her laws, or emi
grate. The Cherokees now sought assistance from the Supreme
Court of the United States.! Georgia, they said, has arbitrarily
and of her own power abolished all our laws, institutions, cus
toms, &c. ; she declares our possessions, which were guarantied
to us by the treaty of Holston, in the year 1791, to be her pro
perty ; she neither displays to us the justice due to a foreign state
nor to fellow-citizens ; she rejects all former provisions, accord
ing to which any changes that might be requisite were to be
introduced in a kind and peaceable manner; she does not allow
an Indian to testify against a white man ; she prohibits our hold
ing lawful assemblies, under penalty of four years hard labor ;
and the same threat is held out to prevent us from working on
our gold mines.
Georgia, according to some statements, repealed a few of her
harshest decrees, or postponed their strict execution ;! she ad
hered, however, on the whole to the above demands, and denied
the right of the Supreme Court to decide the dispute in question.
The court annulled some of Georgia's decisions, but could not
agree on the main question. § Investigations and discussions
were gone into, to determine whether the Cherokees formed a
separate, foreign state, or whether they should be regarded as a
state of the Union ; whether similar circumstances had ever
occurred in history before ; how they ought to be treated, &c.
At length it was declared, by a majority of the members of the
court, that, according ioform, they were not entitled to pronounce
a decision, and must dismiss the appeal of the Cherokees ;
although they did not intend hereby to express any opinion on the
merits of the case. The minority (among whom were Chancellor
* It is asserted, however, that all power was in the hands of a few educated
chiefs, and that the masses were worse off than before. Register, 1830, p. 1120.
t North Amer. Review, xxx. 62 ; xxxi. 139, 423. The Case of the Cherokee
Nation, p. 282.
X North American Review, xxxvii. 284. § Kent's Commentaries, iii. 383.

THE INDIANS. 143
Kent and Judges Thomson and Story) maintained on the contrary,
that it was necessary to go beyond the doubtful letter, to explain
it in the right spirit, and not to sacrifice material right to unim
portant forms. Georgia by her decrees broke all the treaties
between the Cherokees and the United States ; and the consti
tution and legislation of the Union must be miserably defective,
if they afforded no relief against open despotism. When Gene
ral Jackson asserted that the federal government could not assist
the injured party, he was in error^ and the Supreme Court was
by no means under the necessity of referring to his opinion, but
was itself the proper place of first and last resort. Suppose the
Cherokees are not a foreign state, suppose they are a corpora
tion, or whatever else you will ; in no case are they destitute of
rights, or subject to mere arbitrary power.
To the remark of Judge Johnson, that he had nothing to do
with the morality of the matter, as the discussion was only con
cerning a question of law, it may be replied, that the question of
law cannot be separated from considerations of morality, and
that the immoral acts which had been committed (the violation
of treaties and invasion of the rights of property) were likewise
unlawful. Or if the formal reply of the court be approved of
as such, the task of ascertaining what was right and just fell to
the legislative power, to Congress ; for in the courts of Georgia,
and against the will and superior power of that state, the Che
rokees could obtain no redress whatever.
President Jackson, in his message of 1831, expressed a noble
sympathy on behalf of the condition and fate of the Indians :
but their condition was not to be changed with words ; a legal
decision or an open feud would perhaps have interrupted many
an arbitrary proceeding, but could never have transformed the
general state of things. All parties, from Jefferson to Van Buren,
have been unanimously of opinion, that a complete amalgama
tion of the Indians and whites, owing to the countless differences
between them, is wholly impossible ;* and a mere outward com
mingling, or living together, would only prolong and aggravate
the evil, to which a decided separation or transplanting of them
would put an end. " They have," said President Jackson, " nei
ther the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire
of improvement, which are essential to any favorable change in
their condition. Established in the midst of another and a
superior race, without appreciating the causes of their inferiority,
or seeking to control them, they must necessarily yield to the
force of circumstances, and ere long disappear."!
As the European settlers had relinquished their original seats,
* Amer. Quarterly Review, viii. 109.
t Message of 1833. Annual Register, p. 424.

144 THE INDIANS.
so could the Indians do likewise, and all the more easily, inasmuch
as they left no monuments, works of art, historical recollections,
&c. behind. Beyond the Mississippi were immeasurable tracts
of land ; there the requisite possessions should be secured to them,
the expenses attending their removal provided, advances granted
to them, their support for the first year attended to, schoolmasters
and ministers procured, &c. — The Cherokees, for 9,492,000 acres
of land, received 13,554,000 beyond the Mississippi; and in
addition thereto a compensation of $5,600,000 and $1,160,000
for provisions and other necessaries. From 1829 to 1838 the
United States have fairly acquired from the Indians 116,349,000
acres of land,* and have paid or laid out therefor in many differ
ent ways $72,560,000 — a sum that fully equals, nay, exceeds the
value of the land, but which has often benefited only the Indian
chiefs and their white associates.!
Whether the Cherokees, like many other Indian tribes now
settled beyond the Mississippi, will fall back into utter barbarism
or become extinct, or will gain for themselves a separate inde
pendent existence by virtue of the advantages above described,
it is difficult to determine beforehand-! However the latest
official accounts speak more favorably than before. According to
them, the Creeks, Choctaws, and Cherokees may now be regard
ed as husbandmen ; and in consequence of this important change
in their way of life, there are gradually introduced among them
laws, courts, juries, schools, and even political forms imitated
from the American. The temperance societies already count
many members; and since the time when doctrinal subtleties
have not been exclusively pressed upon their attention, but have
been brought into connection with other means of culture, they
exhibit a regular progress in various directions. Bigoted clergy
men, however, are still here and there to be found, who complain
that the bulwarks of religion are utterly overthrown, because the
Indians — play at ball of a Sunday !
But there are other and weightier defects, which cannot remain
concealed from the impartial observer. Many tribes adhere to
their repulsive rudeness and beastly intemperance. The high
annuities which the American government pays for surrendered
lands (as for instance $92,000 per annum to 2183 Foxes) seduce
them into laziness and extravagance, and lead to frauds on the
part of the chiefs against their tribes. Many improvident or dis
solute whites marry Indian girls in order to share their income,
the amount of which to their joy increases, as intemperance
diminishes the number of the Indians.
* The conduct of the Americans has certainly been milder and more peaceable
than that of the French in Africa.
t Calhoun's Speeches, p. 441.
t Van Buren's Message of 1838. Casswall, p. 360. American Review, xi. 4.
Buckingham's Slave States, ii. 101.

IMMIGRANTS. 145
While some, in view of the constant savageness and unsocia
bility of the Indians, prophesy their gradual extinction ; others
conclude, from advances they have already begun to make, that
they will yet attain to perfect civilization. The most unbiassed
observers distinguish between the different tribes; they regard
the destruction of the more savage tribes as inevitable, and deny
that — praiseworthy as the progress of the better tribes may be— •
they will ever be able to raise themselves to an equality with the
whites.

CHAPTER XIV.
IMMIGRANTS.
Nationality of the Americans — Immigrants, their Origin and Character — Germans
and Irish — Native American Party — European Governments — Whither Emi
grate ? — Advantages of the United States — Number of Immigrants.
It is an established fact for the present and perhaps for all future
times, that the negroes and men of color can never amalgamate
or coalesce with the Americans into one people. Sometimes
however the nationality even of the white Americans is disputed ;
because they have no long magnificent past, no antiquity to look
back to ; and because a conflux of many nations, a colluvies gen
tium, excludes the possibility of a finished, independent, peculiar
character. To this it may be replied : The European past belongs
also to those who have transferred themselves to America; it is
the foundation, the pervading thread of their civilization, and
they take with them to the new world whatever is worth the
taking. But in truth that weak and idle predilection in favor of
a dead antiquity, which is so widely spread only because it is
indifferent to the present and no longer trusts to the future, is
wholly foreign to their ways of thinking.
Again, it may be asked, Does not the mixture of several
nations enlighten partial patriotism, prepare the way to higher
forms of human development, and smoothe down rugged contra
dictions, by its salutary and instructive influence? Servility,
arrogance, and hatred (e. g. among the Christian sects) are doubt
less then repressed ; and the highest wisdom is no longer sought
in greatly prizing these feelings, but instead thereof union and

146 IMMIGRANTS.
mutual support in state and church spring up into a new and
higher existence, and with a power and a moderation hitherto
unknown. To those who believe that in this way no progress is possible,
we reply that the inhabitants of the North American republic are
of one stock, the Germanic. For to the vast majority of English
are to be added the nearly related Germans ; and the French and
Spaniards are so few, that they cannot impart a different direc
tion or form to the mass. The same holds true of the immi
grants ; for great and increasing as is their number, the popula
tion receives much larger accessions by domestic births, and the
new-comers are soon blended with the majority.
The number of emigrants from England to the United States
was : in the year 1825, 5,500 persons,
" 1835, 26,700 "
1836, 37,700 "
" 1837, 36,700 "
Next to the emigration from England and Ireland, that from
Germany is by far the greatest.* The whole number of new
comers amounted in the year 1833, to 59,513,
" 1844, to 84,764;
and, according to Tucker's estimates,! within the ten years from
1830 to 1840, to about 631,000 ; of whom, however, many emi
grated again to Texas and Canada. Within fifty years, the popu
lation has increased by immigrants and their descendants about a
million. The whole number of Germans in North America is
stated. at 4,886,632.
Complaints have been made against the morals and character
of many of the immigrants ; and a fear has arisen that they will
convert North America into a sort of Botany Bay-! ^l *s lrue
that many criminals, idlers, malcontents, and the like, seek here
a place of refuge ; but their number is proportion ably very small,
and bitter experience or punishment forces them to begin a new
life in the new world. §
The United States proffer to immigrants the noblest moral and
political education ; and he who rejects it, who proudly considers
himself above it, who trusts more to luck than to prudence and
sagacity, who thinks to become rich without exertion, or perhaps
to renovate and revolutionize mature America with superficial
* There left Bremen in 1837, 14,700; in 1838,8,934; in 1839, 12,421 ; in 1840,
12,650; in 1841, 9,505.— Soetbeer, Hamburgs Handel, i. 174; ii. 121.
t Report for 1S33, p. 33.
X " America is a great vortex; it drags all the straws and chips, and floating sticks,
driftwood and trash into it." — The Clockmaker, p. 39.
§ American Almanac for 1841, p. 82.

IMMIGRANTS. 147
theories — will soon and rightly find himself deceived in his fool
ish anticipations.
On the whole the German settlers are highly commended as
industrious, moral, persevering, and averse to novelty and change.
Hence they are useful as a restraining, tranquillizing counterpoise
to the unquietness of other inhabitants. But unhappily there are
exceptions to this rule also. One German traveller relates how
he was deserted and cheated by some of his countrymen to whom
he had shown kindness ; and another mentions that a German
clergyman in America said to him : " The German teachers
here, like many of their countrymen, have acted like complete
rogues. One ran away with a foster-daughter of mine; and
another, a music teacher whom I had recommended, made off,
after cheating a number of people and leaving many debts behind
him : so that one is almost ashamed to speak German or to bear
a German name."*
While for my own part I heard no complaints against the
Germans and nothing but praises of them, the reproaches cast
upon the Irish were loud and frequent. The blending of this
foreign stock with the Germanic, in America as in England,
is certainly very difficult ; still even those who dislike them can
not deny that on the whole they are industrious and contented,
and in the second generation are scarcely to be distinguished from
those of a different origin. Where, too, one considers what an
immense leap it is from Irish bondage to American citizenship,
one ought to hold them excusable, if in excess of joy at their
newly acquired freedom they fall into a few errors and extrava
gances. It is complained that they suffer themselves to be led
and dictated to by their priests ; but it may be questioned whether
this influence is more hurtful than that of many other dema
gogues. Still more numerous than the rogueries of immigrants are the
follies which they enact to their own hurt ; as for instance when
one goes to America to teach Sanscrit, and another to get for him
self the situation of butler to a prince, and for his wife the care of
the plate.
The laws respecting the naturalization of immigrants are not
quite the same in all the American states : as a general rule, the
renunciation of titles of nobility and a blameless residence of
five years, are sufficient to make one a citizen of the Union. In
several states however a shorter period of settlement (e. g. in
Vermont a year, in Connecticut six months) suffices to acquire
the citizenship of the place and state.! Every new-comer is at
once permitted to purchase real estate.
* Martel's Briefe, pp. 40, 186. Streckfuss, der Auswanderer nach Amerika, i.
58. M'Gregor's America, ii. 449.
t American Almanac for 1838, p. 85. Jefferson (Messages, p. 100) was opposed
to all excessive and tedious restrictions in this respect.

148 IMMIGRANTS.
In recent times a party has been formed, chiefly in some of
the sea-port towns, which takes to itself the name of Native
Americans. Their object is to throw difficulties in the way of
immigration, and they wish to prevent naturalization until after
a residence of twenty-five years ; because, as they say, no immi
grant can acquire the necessary knowledge in a shorter time, and
a too early qualification of foreigners abridges and undermines
the rights of native citizens*
Even granting the truth of the loudly proclaimed and probably
too well founded censure, that these views and doctrines proceed
mostly from business jealousy, and religious intolerance (towards
the Irish catholics), they still require a satisfactory investigation,
and the movement might more properly be termed a European
than a truly American one. When even in the dangerous times
of the French revolution, the Alien Law was rejected as impru
dent, unjust, and un-American, how can it now be sought, in
quieter times and on weaker grounds, not merely to revive it,
but to render it more severe ? In comparison with the immense
number of native votes, those of the foreigners annually admitted
to the rank of citizens are wholly insignificant and indecisive ;
besides which most of them are divided amongst the different
political parties. Again, if some few venture to vote, as it is
complained they do, before the expiration of the time prescribed,
the fault lies, not in the perfectly clear and satisfactory laws, but
in the fact that the natives and magistrates are afraid to apply
the laws, or wink at abuses in order to bring the majority of
votes on their side.! Eet the natives bind and engage themselves
to support these admirable laws ; but let them not for that pur
pose surrender all the principles of American liberty, and in pre
tended patriotic songs (as in Philadelphia) proclaim fire and
sword against foreigners, and then put their own exhortations
into effect.
Time is not the only measure or the only source of a citizen's
understanding and knowledge ; many a new-comer stands at
once on a par with the natives as regards these qualifications, and
what he will not learn in five years he will probably never learn at
all. Moreover it is not intended, or at least is not possible, that
every American citizen should fully comprehend the most diffi
cult questions of political science ; confidence in the leading men
of the country is always necessary, and it seems more commen-
* In some places, as in Boston, there are stringent laws respecting the landing of
paupers, sick persons, and lunatics ; although great difficulties must attend their
execution. Societies for aiding immigrants have a beneficial effect and deserve
great praise.
t Judge Elliot in Louisiana sold 1700 false certificates of citizenship for $17,000;
for which he was properly punished. It is asserted, however, that even in New
York, out of 40,000 voters, only about a couple of hundred vote without having the
right to do so.

IMMIGRANTS. 149
dable to exhibit this in elections, than for each individual to
thrust himself forward with his imperfect knowledge and try to
decide all for himself.
If all the immigrants entertained quite other views on impor
tant topics (e. g. nobility, ecclesiastical matters, freedom of the
press, and the like), if they rudely opposed themselves as a body
to the Americans, there would then be some reason for complaints
and counter measures ; but since they every where join the Ame
ricans, and vote in the same manner as millions of native citizens,
how can these latter lay claim to a sort of hereditary wisdom,
and denounce foreigners of the same opinions with themselves
as fools and knaves ? An enthusiastic desire is felt for the ac
quisition of the Oregon territory, and complaints are made that
such vast tracts of land should still lie uncultivated ; and yet
this Native American party is recommending measures that
secure to the bears and wolves a longer possession of them.
Now what inducements would there be to immigration, what
advantages would it present, if political rights were refused, the
feelings of honor wounded, and every new-comer told that he
must content himself for a quarter of a century with the worship
of mammon ?
It is true that Washington, Jefferson, and Madison, warned
their countrymen against foreign influence ; but it is clear as day
that by this they did not mean the influence of new American
citizens. If possible it is still more preposterous, to hold up
the monopolizing measures of the Venetian aristocracy as a
model worthy of the imitation of American democrats.
Some indeed, impelled by ignorance or passion, assert that
one of the great American parties can suddenly convert and has
converted whole masses of foreigners (contrary to the provisions
of the law, and unnoticed or uncensured by their opponents)
into citizens having the power to vote, and has thus gained the
victory in the presidential contest ; but such an absurdity is not
deserving of a serious refutation. I will merely remind the
reader, that 40,000 new-comers per annum certainly bring
with them a million of property, and their yearly labor is to be
estimated at more than five times as much. And yet it is sought
to turn away this importation, and send it to other countries.
Most of the governments of Europe, notwithstanding their
tendency to govern too much, have made but very few regula
tions, and those for the most part absurd, with respect to emigra
tion. Their only thought was to throw obstacles in its way, —
nay it was regarded as a sort of crime, or else as an infectious
disease ; while it was rarely that any thing was done or could be
done to remove the causes that made the emigrants averse to a
longer abode in their native land. Where the threefold pressure

150 IMMIGRANTS.
of standing armies, enormous taxes, and ecclesiastical domination
continues, many, even where there is no excess of population,
will seek to better their condition by emigration.
The spreading of the human race over the whole earth and
the reducing of all the land to cultivation, is moreover a com
mendable object, designed by Providence itself, and to which
governments should lend a suitable degree of assistance, by
causing accurate inquiries to be pursued in all directions, by
disseminating information, and appointing honest men to pro
tect the emigrants against error and fraud, &c.
Emigrants are now exposed to countless deceptions, and that
which, under judicious management, would have proved advan
tageous to all parties, is ruined by follies that might have been
avoided ; these are then made a pretext for general complaints
against a useful and often necessary proceeding, and for Jere
miads of the most singular and contradictory kind.
Every emigrant should possess a courageous character, he must
also be prepared for great exertions and bitter privations ; but if
he gets through these with a sound body and strong mind, and
knows how to adapt himself to his new situation, a rich return
will seldom be wanting, and as a general rule he will find him
self better off than before in his old home.
It is singular and surprising that Europeans so often reproach
the inhabitants of the United States with disregarding every
thing lofty and intellectual, and thinking only of what is earthly
and material ; and yet we find that in all the plans of emigra
tion — whether proposed by high or low, by governments or so-
called liberals, by philanthropists or speculators — these earthly
and material features are always made prominent and highly
extolled. Thus a fruitful soil, easy tillage, high wages, a pleasant
climate, a good market, &c, are among the grand induce
ments held out* But whether this mammon is to be sought
among the serfs of Russia, the Bedwins of Africa, the convicts
of Australia, or the anarchists of Central and South America,
among Turks and heathens, or in the United States, — is regarded
as a matter of perfect indifference, and is never taken into
account. Blessings of inestimable value — such as the liberty of
a North American citizen, his rights, his security, the estimation
in which this great republic is held, the most unbounded reli
gious freedom, perpetual peace, freedom from military service,
and all that I have yet to spread before the reader's eyes — are as
naught to those whose only desire is to raise corn, to eat bread,
and to make money! But at least they ought to reflect that
* The climate however is frequently not attended to, and many hot regions are
recommended to which the German constitution is not so well adapted as to Penn
sylvania, Ohio, and states similarly situated.

IMMIGRANTS. 151
money-making in general is closely connected with these bless
ings. Laws, rights, personal, civil, religious, and political free
dom, which are hardly mentioned even as supplementary
inducements, are in fact the main requisites, and are of greater
importance than all else in augmenting population and wealth.
Instead of this unhappy scattering of German emigrants over
all the regions of the earth, let all unite in proceeding in one
direction to found a new Germany; and let governments at
length comprehend, that hereby they would lose nothing at
home, but would really be gainers in numberless respects.
As matters stand, up to the present time, German emigrants
find already in the United States about five millions of their
countrymen, and a thousand times more rights, more assistance,
and more enjoyment, than they can have in uncivilized or wholly
unsettled countries* Their predecessors have shown themselves
capable and worthy of joining the great democracy, live in
friendly unity with their fellow-citizens of the same great stock,
and move restlessly forward hand in hand in the same honora
ble career.
* Out of 18,980,000 inhabitants, there are (in the year 1844) 4,886,000 Germans.
Of these there are :
In the state of Pennsylvania 889,000, out of 1,968,000 inhabitants.

u

Ohio

764,000

u

1,784,000

"

New York

527,000

((

2,641,000

«

Indiana

309,000

"

783,000 '

(C

Tennessee

281,000

U

921,000 '

a

Illinois

267,000

"

633,000 '

In the city of Philadelphia

81,000

tl

301,000 '

u

New York

63,000

(C

364,000 '

(c

Baltimore

52,000

(C

164,000 '

(I

Boston

23,000

(C

118,000 '

(C

St. Louis

19,000

ct

37,000 '

a

Cincinnati

17,000

[(

56,000 '

u

Brooklyn

14,000

«

67,000 '

u

Pittsburg

11,000

u

31,000 '

CHAPTER XV.

POPULATION.

Population — Materialism.

There . was a time when the prosperity, riches, worth, and pro
gress of a state were estimated simply according to its popula
tion. But views have undergone such a change in several of
the states of Europe, that complaints respecting over-population
are now the order of the day ; individuals regard a numerous
family as a misfortune, and governments would be glad to
free themselves by mild and even by forcible means from the
weight of this pressing evil and increasing danger. The former
view was, it is true, a partial one ; but the latter, besides par
ticipating in this defect, proves the existence of great social dis
eases, the true and efficient remedy for which is by no means to
be found in a diminution of the population. The decrease in
the number of the people and the formation of great estates or
latifundia in the Roman empire, were certainly no signs of im
proving or returning health. Every addition to the numbers of
mankind is an increase, a blossoming of the intellectual ; and to
the intellectual is committed the task of finding out and indicating
the ways and means for sustaining the corporeal. If this for
many reasons is more easily accomplished in America than in
other older countries, it may be disputed whether there is any
merit in this condition of superiority ; but it certainly is a hap
piness, and a proof of vigorous and pleasing youth.
The history of the world knows no country of equal size where
within a brief period the population has increased so regularly
and to such an extent as in the United States. The simple figures
are here so eloquent and instructive, that we must present at least
a few from the countless mass. The entire population amounted,
in the year 1780, to 2,051,000
« " 1844, " 18,980,000*
The vast progress made of late years is exhibited most conspicu-
* And furthermore in the year 1790, to 3,929,000
1800, 5,309,000
" 1810, 7,239,00.0
" 1820, 9,638,000
1830, 12,858,000
" • 1840, 17,062,000
Of this last sum there were 7,249,000 white men,
6,939,000 " women,
386,000 free negroes and people of color,
2,487,000 slaves.

POPULATION. 153
ously in the immense valley of the Ohio and Mississippi. Thus
in fifteen years the population has increased
in New England about 221 per cent.
the middle states 382 "
the southern " 226 "
northwestern " 5,654 "
southwestern " 6,174 "
This difference of increase is owing to very various causes ; such
as freedom or slavery, fruitfulness or barrenness of the soil, im
migrations and emigrations, &c.
It is only in two states, South Carolina and Mississippi, that
the number of slaves exceeds that of the free persons. During the
last twenty years, however, the latter have increased faster than
the former, which gives rise to pleasing anticipations for the
future. The increase between the years 1830 and 1840 was :
of the entire population 32.67 per cent.
white " 34.66 "
free people of color 20.88 "
slaves 23.81 "
entire colored population 23.04 "
The state of New York numbered,
in the year 1702, 20,000 inhabitants
" 1840,2,428,000 " *
The state of Kentucky, not discovered till between 1766 and '70,
had before 1775 no white inhabitants ; in 1840 it had 779,000.
The state of Alabama^ had
in the year 1800, 2,000 inhabitants
" 1840, 590,000 "
The state of Ohio had
in the year 1790, 3,000 inhabitants
" 1840, 1,519,000
The population of the several cities has augmented with the
Of the entire adult population there are employed,
in agriculture one in i\
manufactures " 21 J
commerce " 145
learned professions " 261
ocean navigation " 304
internal do. " 516
mining " 1122
Of these there live
in the six New England states 675,000
six middle states (including the District of Columbia) 1,251,000
five southern states (including Florida) 1,073,000
five southwestern states 713,000
eight northwestern states (including Wisconsin and Iowa) 1,085,000
* Furthermore, in the year 1731, it had 50,000 inhabitants
1771, " 158,000
1800, " 586,000
" 1830, " 1,919,000
t Flint's Mississippi, i. 482 ; ii. 315. Amer. Almanac for 1844, p. 206, Hinton,
ii. 563.

154 POPULATION.
like rapidity.* " How many inhabitants," asked a traveller,
" does this city contain ?" " Five hundred." " How old is it ?"
" Twenty-three months."! The population of London increased
in 30 years, 70 per cent. ; that of New York, 235 per cent. Sixty
years ago there lived on the other side of the Alleghanies fifteen
thousand souls ; their number is now five millions.
The size of the different states increases from Rhode Island,
containing 1340 English square miles, to Virginia, which con
tains 64,000 ; and their population from that of Delaware,
amounting to 78,000, to that of New York, which numbers
2,428,000. In Michigan and Missouri, there are from five to
seven persons to a square mile ; and in Massachusetts, about one
hundred. Even when the United States shall number two hun
dred millions of inhabitants, they will not be as thickly settled as
Massachusetts is at present ; consequently the prospects are well
founded of a rapid increase for many years to come.
In Mexico, amidst great natural advantages, the population
increases but very slowly-! '^e reasons, says M'iihlenpfordt
(i. 198), are to be found in the operations of the restrictive policy
with which Spain oppressed her colonies in the civil wars, pro-
* The inhabitants of the following cities numbered,
1790. 1800. 1810. 1820. 1830. 1840. 1844.
Baltimore 15,000 26,000 46,000 62,000 80,000 102,000 164,C00
Boston 18,000 24,000 33,000 43,000 61,000 93,000 118,000
Cincinnati  750 2,300 10,000 25,000 46,000 56,000
Louisville  800 1,357 4,000 10,000 21,000 
St. Louis     5^00 16,000 19,000
Mobile    1,500 3,000 12,000 
New York 33,000 60,000 96,000 123,000 203,000 312,000 364,000
Brooklyn (suburb)  g7 qqq
Philadelphia 45,000 70,000 96,000 119,000 167,000 228,000 SOljooO
Buffalo ..... in the year 1825, 2,300 18,000 
In the year 1840 the population of the following cities was :
Albany 33,000
Charleston 29,000
Washington 23,000
Providence 23,000
Pittsburgh 21,000
Lowell 20,000
Rochester 20,000
Richmond 20,000, &c
About one eighth of the population live in cities of over 2000 inhabitants
t Reed, i. 114. Chevalier, Voyes de Communication, i. 13, 83.
X In Mexico, whose population is estimated at between nine and ten millions the
several classes of inhabitants bear an entirely different proportion to one another
from what they do in the United States. There are reckoned (Kennedv's Texas
l. 7) to be : * '
Pure Europeans from 10 to 20,000
Cre°les 1,000,000
Mestizoes 2,000,000
Mulattoes 400,000
Negroes , 100,000
Indians 3 to 4,000,000
Samboes 2,000,000

AGRICULTURE. 155
scriptions, celibacy of the priesthood, the numerous convents, the
neglect of children, epidemic diseases, &c.
Notwithstanding the prevalence of the yellow fever in many
of the sea-port towns, and the unhealthiness of swampy or too
thickly wooded regions, the average duration of life in the United
States seems to be not lower than that of Europe.
Rapidly as the number of inhabitants increases, it can still be
maintained with certainty, that the growth of capital far outstrips
that of the population ; and nowhere has such ocular demonstration
been afforded as in America of the proverb, Mens agitat molem.
That which in this tendency is termed materialism and mecha
nism, has not shown itself as obstinate, presumptuous, intolerant,
dangerous, and cruel, as fanatical spiritualism and mysticism ;
hence on both sides it is necessary to separate the gold from the
dross. The spiritual developes itself in the mass in proportion as
it becomes master of the material, and satisfies the indispensable
outward wants and aims in a shorter time and with better and
easier means. Thus mechanism liberates the mind, procures
leisure, and releases from mere corporeal exertion ; not however
to resign itself to luxurious indolence, but to begin labor in higher
and nobler paths.
The more the North Americans acquire the mastery over nature,
the more powerful become their minds. Nature has been far
more prodigal of her gifts to the South Americans ; but they,
often despising so-called material industry, have made no pro
gress in the path either of outward or inward improvement. Men
must not only be counted ; we must also examine into what they
accomplish, and how much the result of their exertions is worth.
To such an investigation let the foregoing remarks serve as a clue.

CHAPTER XVI.

AGRICULTURE.

Grain, Horticulture, Culture of the Vine— Sugar, Rice, Silk, Tobacco, Cotton-
Produce and Improvements.
In a country of such great extent and diversified climate as the
United States, the working of the soil must be very various, and
of such a kind that a judgment and estimation of the process
without the closest observation of local and personal peculiarities,

156 AGRICULTURE.
would be wholly incorrect. At least we must not lose sight of
some few essentially important points. These are :
1. That a principal object is, to obtain the greatest returns with
the least labor ; for the laborers are so scarce and wages so high,
that it is necessary to employ quite other means and follow other
modes than in countries where wages are low and laborers plen
tiful. 2. The land is mostly very cheap ; it consequently yields of itself
no rent, and is tilled almost exclusively by the proprietors. The
class of farmers, intermediate between that of proprietor and
laborer, has developed itself but. rarely ; iHs also of no advantage,
especially in the free states, to acquire and cultivate great tracts
of land, except for the purpose of soon selling them again.
3. The North Americans too are certainly, next to the English,
the greatest trading people in the world ; but this has often been
erroneously so understood and explained, as to mean that the
inhabitants of the United States consist almost exclusively of trad
ers and shopkeepers smitten with the love of gain ; whereas by
far the greater part cultivate the ground, and six sevenths or per
haps nine tenths of all exported articles are the produce of the
soil. By the cultivation of all known sorts of grain, not only are the
daily increasing inhabitants provided with a sufficiency of food,
but there remains also a considerable surplus for exportation.
Nay in Boston, between 1795 and 1834, and in contradiction to
the theory of Malthus, almost all the articles of food, as wheat,
rye, barley, rice, fish, meat, coffee, tea, and sugar, became
cheaper. Horticulture is injuriously affected by the rapid changes of the
climate, heat, drought, and cold ; yet the great advances which
have been made are quite evident. Thus from the rich produce of
the orchards of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, &c, a great deal
of cider is made ; and perhaps nowhere in the world are there
so many peaches as in New York and New Jersey. In New
Hampshire, he who injures or destroys trees is fined ten times
their value.* And also in regions which are richer in trees and
forests, experience has shown that the practice of burning down
the trees and leaving the stumps, is neither the cheapest nor
the most convenient mode of preparing land for tillage.!
The culture of the vine has been attempted at Vevay in Indi
ana and in Kentucky (from grapes of the Cape of Good Hope) ;
a pleasant wine is also made by the Jesuits, at Georgetown,
near Washington.!
* Laws of New Hampshire, 1834, p. 167.
t M'Gregor's America,ii. 57.
j Ernst, Bemerkungen auf einer Reise in Nordamerika, p. 42. Hinton, ii. 214.

AGRICULTURE. 157
Maple sugar* is obtained in great quantities in Vermont, Vir
ginia, Pennsylvania, Maine, Ohio, and Kentucky. Sugar has
also been procured from corn-stalks ; but it has hitherto been
found difficult to crystallize.
The sugar-cane may be planted to advantage as far as the
31st degree of north latitude, in Georgia, Florida, and Louisi
ana-! 1'he last-mentioned state produced in 1810 about 10
millions, and in 1838 over 100 millions of pounds.
Orange-trees and date-palms north of the 30th degree of lati
tude are liable to suffer from the frost.
The rice culture is extended throughout the Atlantic slave
states. In the year 1840, South Carolina produced 26,964,000
kilogrammes; Georgia, 6,099,000 ; Louisiana, 1,802,000, &c!
The silk culture is making considerable progress, and in many
states is encouraged by bounties ; but there is a want of persons
sufficiently acquainted with its management, and the wages for
the necessary hand-labor are very high. Experiments made
with different sorts of mulberry-trees and silk-worms have led to
useful discoveries.^ — The cultivation of the tea-plant and olive-
tree has been commenced in many places ; with respect to the
latter at least, the prospects are good.
The principal seat of the tobacco culture, performed by slaves
and exhausting to the soil, is Virginia. There were exported on
an average, ||
from 1772 to 1775 annually 99,000,000 pounds.
" 1776 « 1782 " 86,000,000 "
« 1815 " 1835 " 99,000,000 "
Thus the exportation of raw tobacco has not risen on the whole ;
but that of manufactured tobacco and snuff has. The domestic
consumption in America has increased still more ; so that there
is reckoned three times as much per head as in England, and
eight times as much as in France. Nay, it is asserted lhat the
value of the tobacco consumed in New York exceeds that of all
the bread used there.
No branch of agriculture has made such great progress as that
of cotton-planting. In the year 1784, a very trifling quantity was
sent out by way of experiment to Liverpool ; in 1793, the export
amounted to 487,000 pounds ; in 1803, to 41 million pounds ;
in 1823, to 174 millions ; in 1833, to 325 millions ; in 1841, to
530 millions.TI From a single pound of cotton a thread can be
# A large tree furnishes in the spring from 10 to 15 pounds of sugar. Warden,
i. 449. Buckingham's Eastern States, i. 157.
t Ferry, p. 74. Encycl. Amer., art. Louisiana. Buckingham's Slave States,
i. 307. J: Poussin, Richesses Americanes, ii. 290.
§ Hinton,ii. 210. Hamilton's Eastern States, ii. 89. Southern States, i. 205.
|| Amer. Almanac for 1838, p. 123.
IT Gerstner, p. 304. Seabroock's Memoir on the Cultivation of Cotton.
11

158 AGRICULTURE.
spun 180 miles in length; and the threads spun in England
during a year would reach 51 times from the earth to the sun*
By means of a machine invented by Whitney of Massachu
setts for cleaning cotton, so much tedious manual labor is
saved, as to lower the price without too much diminishing the
profits. Yet fears are entertained respecting the competition of
cotton from the East Indies, where free labor is cheaper than
slave labor in the United States. The prospects for Carolina
and the eastern coast in particular are by no means flattering ;
since the soil of the southern part of the Mississippi valley is
much more fertile, and the returns are greater with less outlay.
Although statistical tables of the extent and productions of
trades and agriculture are necessarily subject to great imper
fections, especially as the produce of the several years is so very
different, I still submit a few figures from the last census, that of
1840, in the note below.! From these it appears that almost
every branch of agriculture thrives ; Indian corn plays a far
more important part than wheat ; rye, barley, and hops are com
paratively little cultivated ; flax and hemp bear no proportion to
the cotton ; the culture of the vine, of silk, &c. is just beginning.
Of course the northern states cultivate neither sugar-cane nor
cotton, the Carolinas neither flax nor hemp, and Louisiana no
wheat. The distillation of ardent spirits has very much decreased
* For some particulars respecting cotton, see my Briefe aus Columbia.
t There were in the United States, 1840. 1842.
Horses and mules 4,335,000
Neat cattle 14,971,000
Sheep 19,311,000
Swine 26,301,000
Poultry, value in dollars, 9,334,000
Wheat, bushels 84,823,000 102,317,000
Barley,

Oats
RyeBuckwheatIndian Corn

4,161,000 3,871,000
123,071,000 150,883,000
18,645,000 22,762,000
7,291,000 9,483,000

377,531,000 441,829,000
Wool, pounds 35,802,000
Hops " 1,238,000
Wax " 628,000
Potatoes, bushels 108,29SJ000 135,883,000
Hemp and Flax, tons 95,000 158,000
Tobacco, pounds 219,163,000 194,694,000
Rice " 80,841,000 94,007,000
Silk 61,000 244,000
Sugar " 155,100,000 142,445,000
Wine, gallons 124,000 130,000
For 1842, see 27th Congress, third session, Senate, p. 129. Agricultural Statistics.
Great complaints have been made of late years respecting a dangerous disease
among the potatoes, and for which the most various and even opposite causes have
been assigned, At first there often appears a black speck, which quickly spreads
and produces rottenness, or the whole turns into a slimy substance. It is commu
nicated by contact. Hogs have died after eating of these black potatoes.

THE PUBLIC LANDS. 159

in consequence of the temperance societies. The breeding of
swine confers new advantages, since a mode has been discover
ed of making a very useful oil out of the lard and fat.
In the theory and practice of agriculture, as for instance the
rotation of crops, manuring, machines of all kinds, physical and
chemical appliances, &c, great progress has been made in later
times.* Many societies and periodicals have been established
for these' purposes, tending to the promotion of agriculture and
horticulture ; and their operations have been uncommonly bene
ficial in increasing and disseminating useful knowledge. Thus
there emanated from the New York Society of Agriculture the
plan of imparting the principles of husbandry, physics, and
chemistry to children in public schools, and to cause proper
books on these sciences to be written for the district libraries.
This last part of the plan will doubdess be attended with good
effects; but with respect to the first part, there are still some
scruples to be tested and removed, as for instance with respect
to the ability of the teachers, the extension of the hours of study,
the various destinations of the scholars, particularly in cities, the
danger of a too directly practical tendency, &c. This society,
like many others, holds fairs, and offers premiums, e. g. for the
best managed farm or dairy, the best yield of grain, specimens
of silk culture, foddering, irrigation, &c.
The assertion which has sometimes been made, that the coun
try people who began with log-cabins and wooden houses would
retain them without caring for any thing better, is wholly errone
ous. The gradual but rapid improvements which are effected
cannot fail to strike every observer.

CHAPTER XVII.
THE PUBLIC LANDS.
Claims of the single States — Mode of Sale.
The strongest evidence of a happy youth, the best means of pre
serving it, and the surest guaranty for a prosperous future, are
furnished by the yet unoccupied public lands. The general go
vernment obtained possession of them in the fairest manner : by
purchase from foreign powers and from the Indians, and by a
* Natural History of New York, i. 128. Excellent reports have also appeared
respecting agriculture in Massachusetts.

160 THE PUBLIC LANDS.
praiseworthy cession on the part of the several older states* It
is true those tracts might in a certain sense be called ownerless ;
but it was in conformity with and conducive to good order, not
to let every one seize upon and appropriate the lands at his own
discretion, but to allow the government to proceed with system
and method, and promulge judicious laws respecting them.
Those individuals who had settled here and there at pleasure
were treated with proper fairness and allowed the right of pre
emption.! When greater assumptions on the part of individuals had pro
perly been repulsed, some states preferred the claim that all the
land'lying within their boundaries belonged to them, and that the
general government had nothing to do with it. To this it was
replied : Although a territory, when its inhabitants amount to the
requisite number, is raised to the rank of a state of the great con
federacy,1 it does not follow that the Union has bestowed or must
bestow on it all the public land lying within its borders. The
new settlers possess not the slightest right in this respect ; whereas
the right of the Union rests on purchase and cession, has never
been disputed, but has been confirmed times without number.
Such a paitial and inconsiderate bestowal of the public lands
would rob the government of one of its principal sources of
revenue, cast all the burthens of the state upon the customs, and
deprive the older states of what they obtained for their money
or by their exertions. They have purchased, defended, sur
veyed, valued, and brought it into market, and have employed
the proceeds for the public good ; the government shows itself rea
sonable enough, in claiming no rights of sovereignty within the
bounds of an individual state, but only the rights of a private
proprietor, while it also assumes the obligations that rest on
one. The moderate defenders of the claims of those states responded :
Our purpose is not to make an immense donation to them, but to
simplify the inappropriate and complicated duties of the central
administration, to do away with injurious influences, and to put an
end to perpetual disputes between Congress and the single states ;
in order however to supply the wants of the general government,
we will take from the proceeds of the sales conducted by the states
so much per centum as remains after deducting the expenses of
managing the lands.! Should the management and sale of the
lands lying in the several states be transferred to them, the sums
to be paid to the general government would be augmented rather
than diminished ; and consequently the Union would not be a
loser, but a gainer, by the more active exertions of the states.
# Namely, Virginia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Ten
nessee. Statutes of South Carolina, i. 169. Murray, ii. 432.
t Arend's Mississippi, p. 227.
X Calhoun's Speeches, pp. 405, 452.

THE PUBLIC LANDS. 161
In recent times many whigs have gone beyond these proposi
tions, and vehemently advocated an unconditional distribution of
the proceeds of the public lands among the single states; while
the democrats have combated this demand with equal zeal.
The former have often assumed without proof, that if the pro
ceeds were not distributed in the above manner, the amount would
be senselessly squandered away. But since the decision relative to
the disposal of these moneys rests with Congress, such an abuse is
nearly impossible, or at least it is not easy to perceive what security
there is for a more judicious course of proceeding on the part of
the single states. The fear lest the states within which the lands
lie should forcibly take possession of them and let the other states
have nothing, is also exaggerated; for the majority in Congress
would always guard against such open usurpation.
If the income from the public domain is large, this fortunate
circumstance should be employed for the reduction of taxes ; but
it seems almost as though there were a desire to cut off this
resource, for the sake of raising the duties (for this and totally
different objects) constantly higher. At any rate a deficiency in
the income from the land must be covered in one way or another ;
and the joy at its distribution would be turned into sorrow on
reflecting that, besides the amount of such deficiency, the. expen
ses of managing the customs must also be raised ; which would
be giving each individual a five-franc piece, and taking from his
pocket a silver dollar.
Both the letter and the spirit of the federal Constitution point
to the revenue arising from land, as the first financial resource of
the Union ; and in fact it would be no misfortune, if there were
no need of any other tax. Those certainly who wish to annihi
late it cannot call themselves conservative in this respect. On the
contrary they must own that what they propose is an innovation,
and are under the necessity of proving that it would be beneficial.
If, however, at some future period all the public lands should be
sold, and this source of revenue be exhausted, the wealth and
population of the country will have been so much increased in the
meanwhile, that even a far greater amount can be easily raised.
For the present, I agree with an earlier declaration of Henry Clay,
where he says (Speeches, ii. 112 : " Every consideration of
duty to ourselves and to posterity enjoins that we should abstain
from the adoption of any wild project that would cast away this
vast national property, holden by the general government in
sacred trust for the whole people of the United States."*
Besides many millions of acres of uncultivated land which are
the undisputed property of the single states, the land belonging to
# A second very eloquent passage in favor of retaining the proceeds of the public
lands is found in Clay's Speeches, ii. 490.

162 THE PUBLIC LANDS.
the Union is estimated at from 1000 to 1100 millions of acres. For
the management of these the greatest domains in the world, there
is in Washington a general land-office which directs the surveys,
preparation of maps, auctions, collection of the receipts, &c. The
land is divided into townships, six English miles square ; and
each township into 36 sections, of 640 acres each. Section No.
16 of each township is set apart for common schools, and other
land for colleges and universities. Two per cent, of the purchase
money is reserved by the government for the encouragement of
learning, and three per cent, for the construction of roads ; toge
ther with all salt-springs and lead-mines* At first the land was
sold in great tracts,; and this enticed speculators, who either made
a fortune by their operations, or turned bankrupt. Now smaller
portions, down to 80 acres, are offered.
Moreover, a great deal was formerly sold on credit, in which
case it was often impossible to collect the debt ; hence it is now
sold only for ready money at $1.25 per acre, with a guaranty
of five years' exemption from taxation.! These favors have neces
sarily had the effect of depressing the price of land in those states
of the Union which were already settled ; for which reason, if
for no other, the idea of giving away the public lands gratui
tously can meet with no general acceptance.! On the other
hand, the price cannot be raised, without putting a stop to the
sale. To the proposal, of setting up lands of different qualities
at different prices, it was replied : The valuation would be at
tended with great difficulties, occasion a vast expense, and fur
nish opportunities for frauds of every kind. At first in these
transactions all is a subject of hope and imagination, every thing
is indeterminate and relative. If the plan were adopted after the
best lands of a district have been culled out, of reducing the
price for the remainder at stated periods,^ many would put off
buying, and the advantages of a dense population would be lost.
High prices and great costs of settling repel small proprietors,
andlead (which is less desirable) to the formation of large estates.
Care must be taken also not to set the price too low ; lest rich
adventurers should selfishly press forward, and afterwards retail
their purchases to poor people, and so enslave them after the
manner of the Irish. The receipts from the sales of land have
greatly risen in comparison with former times ; yet even in the
last ten years their amount has fluctuated in an extraordinary
manner ; for which very different reasons have been assigned,
as for instance the bank system or want of system, payments in
paper or specie, the number of immigrants, &c.||
* Hinton, ii. 273. t Grund, Handbuch, p. 43.
{ Calhoun's Speeches, p. 182. § Amer. Quarterly Review, vi. 263.
|| The proceeds of the public lands amounted in the year 1796 to $4,836 ; in 1835,
to 16 millions; and in 1836, when payments were made in depreciated paper
money, to 25 millions. Afterwards, when specie payments were restored, they

CHAPTER XVIII.

MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE.

Progress of Manufactures — Commerce — Imports, Exports, Tonnage — Regulations
of Trade — Rate of Interest — Value of Imports and Exports.
There is no doubt but that the natural circumstances of North
America point especially to the profitable cultivation of the
extremely cheap land, and that it will continue to be an agricul
tural country in the main for a long while to come.* From this,
however, there results in the first place, the development of many
branches of domestic manufacture in linen and woollen ; as also
the preparation of soap, candles, and other articles of daily use.
Another principal means of promoting American manufactures
was the last war with England (from 1813 to 1815). The Ame
ricans, thus thrown violently back upon their own resources,
were obliged to set up establishments for the production of many
indispensable articles ; and when the war was brought to a close,
many manufactures remained in a sound progressive state. For
it lies in the nature of things, that a country which augments so
rapidly in population and wealth should extend its manufactures
more and more, until they gradually include articles of every
kind. The opinion that it was an unprofitable and perhaps
immoral squandering of their powers, to establish manufactures to
a greater extent, gradually died away ; and another and still more
erroneous one sprang up in its stead, to wit, that the increase of
manufactures should be promoted by artificial means and even
by force. The legislation consequent hereupon, this aping of
European theories and systems of over-government (otherwise
so detested in America), has led from time to time to the most
violent complaints, and even threatened the permanence of the
Union itself. But of this we shall hereafter speak more par
ticularly. In consequence of these laws, or, as others maintain, in spite
of them, the proceeds from manufactures have increased enor-
sank as low as li to 2 millions ; and amounted in 1842, to $1,335,078. In Michigan
the receipts amounted in the year 1836 to 5 millions ; and in 1838, to only $154,000.
In Mississippi they reached in 1836 over 3 millions ; and in 1838, only $96,000, &c.
* Official Report on the statistics of Agriculture for 1838, p. 8 ; for 1842, p. 9. ^

164 MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE.
mously ; they were reckoned in the year 1840 at 239 millions of
dollars.* Of this there came,
to New England 34.3 per cent.
the Middle states 42 "
the Southern states 6.2 "
the Southwestern states 4.6 "
the Northwestern states 12.9 "

100
In the year 1820 there were occupied in the United States in
manufactures of every kind, 349,000 persons; and in the year
1840, 791,000. About the year 1815, all the weaving in
America was done by hand; in 1843, in the factory town of
Lowell alone there were 201,076 spindles, and there were made
weekly 1,425,000 yards of cotton goods.! A like progress is
found in the iron and other factories. In the belief that the high
protective tariff secured to every adventurer great and certain
gains, competition has increased immensely and even gone
beyond all bounds, where the capital would doubtless have been
applied to other purposes in the natural course of things.1
Humane laws have been passed respecting the treatment of
children in the factories, though they are not always strictly
obeyed. Thus, for instance, they are not to be taken before 12
(in some places 15) years of age, are not to be employed over ten
hours, and are to be sent to school.! The evus °f a t0° nume
rous and impoverished factory population have not yet arisen ;
or where they do appear, the fruitful tracts of land still unoccu
pied present an adequate means of release from them.
A glance at the geographical position and extent of the United
States, shows that they are called by nature to carry on an exten
sive commerce; but that mere position is not the only requisite,
will appear on a comparison of North with South America. The
spirit, the activity, the boldness that animate the inhabitants of
the United States, have led them further and caused them to
make greater attainments in this pursuit, than friends at first hoped
for or opponents feared.
What a difference ! During their dependence on England,
the trade of the colonies was thwarted and restricted in countless
ways ; nay, many branches of manufacture (e. g. iron-working,
hat-making, &c.) were wholly prohibited. Now, on the contrary,
there are throughout the Union no internal lines of demarcation,
no export duties, equal import duties, and a commerce that
* Tucker's Progress of the United States, p. 195,
t Further particulars will be foundjin the letters at the close of the work, and in
Appendix II.
X In February, 1844, a petition was signed by over 400 female operatives in
Lowell, praying that the time of labor should not exceed ten hours a day.

MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE. 165
spreads without hindrance over every quarter of the globe.* We
subjoin a few figures, which, without any further elucidation, will
speak for themselves.!
That in consequence of the enormous increase in the population
the consumption of many articles has augmented to an extraordi
nary degree, is a matter of course ; thus e. g. the quantity of coffee
consumed was,
in the year 1821, 11,886,000 pounds.
" ' 1838, 82,872,000 "
" 1841, over 114,000,000 "
Although the trade of the United States has on the whole and
for a long time been rapidly increasing, yet no country in the
world exhibits such sudden and such great fluctuations. For —
not to speak of the difference between years of peace and of
war — the pecuniary embarrassments, the raising of money on
credit, excessive speculations, bankruptcies, high duties, &c.
have exercised a very great and injurious influence ;! and similar
* It is worthy of remark, that since forty years, great improvements have been
effected in the harbors and coasts, and about 200 new lighthouses erected. — Steven
son's Sketch of Engineering, p. 187.
t In the year 1701, the value of all exports to
England was  309,000 pounds.
the whole imports  343,000 "
" 1773 the exports were  1,369,000 "
the imports  1,979,000 "
" 1842 the exports were  104,000,000 "
the imports  100,000,000 "
The tonnage on the domestic trade amounted
in the year 1794 to  189,000 "
" lS38to  1,086,000 "
The tonnage on all American vessels amounted
in the year 1842 to  3,046,000 "
(Tyler's last Message, Financial statement for 1838, p. 24.)
The whale fishery gives employment in the United States to over 500 ships, making
200,000 tons burthen, and furnishes returns of more than six millions of dollars in
value. The exports of New York amounted in the year 1791, to  2,500,000 dollars.
" 1838, to  33,000,000 "
The exports from New Orleans amounted
in the year 1811, to  2,000,000 "
" 1838, to  33,000,000 "
Mobile, a city hardly known by name thirty years ago, now exports more than
the whole industrious state of Massachusetts. Three fifths of all the imports fall to
New York. Of the number of tons of shipping there came in the year 1838 to
Charleston, 54,000 Philadelphia, 99,000 Boston, 291,000
Mobile, 60,000 New Orleans, 264,000 New York, 547,000
Baltimore, 89,000
X Thus the total value of imports amounted in round numbers
in the year 1836, to 189 millions of dollars.
1837, 140 " "
1838, 113 " "
1839, 157 "
1842, 100 " "
The imports from England, which in 1836 amounted to 86 millions, sank in 1837 to

166

MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE.

crises will return, unless something more effectual is done to pre
vent them than has hitherto been attempted. — It remains how
ever to observe, that the whole numbers of imports and exports
are little to be relied upon ; since cases occur where the value
of articles has risen 73 per cent., and the quantity only 2 per
cent. ; and because the calculations are rendered doubly difficult
by the fact that the duties are laid on some articles according to
their value, on others according to their quantity, while others
again are admitted duty free.
Woollen and cotton goods come mostly from England ; silk
goods from France; wines from several countries, particularly
from France, Portugal, and Spain ; figs from Turkey ; tea direct
from China; coffee from Cuba, St. Domingo, and Brazil.
In several of the states there are many regulations relative to
the inspection of articles intended for exportation. They must
be serviceable, of good quality, sound, properly measured and
packed ; and precautions are taken against all frauds in these
respects. In Massachusetts* these regulations extend to the
quality of the articles, the vessels containing them, and the pack
ing ; to marks, stamps, and attestations ; and include meat, butter,
lard, chocolate, fish, corn, hay, hops, salt, water, powder, wood,
nails, oil, paper, leather, ashes, &c. — It is' scarcely conceivable
how, with such an extensive commerce, all these legal requisi
tions can be executed.
The legal rate of interest is fixed in most of the states at 6
per cent. ; it rises however in some of the new states to 10 per
cent. Usurious contracts are void, and mostly involve a penalty
in addition to the loss of the debt ; but nothing is easier or more
common! than to evade all regulations respecting the rate of
interest. Note. — In order not to overload the text with figures, I place what follows in
a note. According to the Census of 1840, Tucker estimates the value of annual
products from Agriculture at 654 millions of dollars in round numbers.

Manufacture

s 239 '

Commerce

79 <

Mining-

42 '

Forests

16 '

Fisheries

12 '

Total

1062 '

52, and in 1838 to 49 millions. In the exports the differences were less considera
ble. Their total value amounted J
in the year 1836, to 128 millions of dollars.
1837, 117 " "
1842, 104 " " &c.
* And likewise in New York and New Hampshire.
t Martineau, ii. 45.

MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE. 167
There were employed in
Woollen factories  21 ,342 persons.
Cotton factories  72,119 "
Preparation of leather of all kinds  26,018 "
Soap and candle manufactories  5,641 "
Breweries and distilleries  12,223
Glass factories  1,612
Paper "  4,726
Printing-offices and binderies  1 1,523 "
Coach, wagon, and agricultural implement making. 21,994 "
Mills of all kinds  60,788 "
The following is taken from the official report on trade and navigation for the
¦nine months from the 1st of October, 1842, to the 1st of July, 1843 :
The exports amounted (in round numbers) to  $84,346,000
among which were domestic articles  77,793,000
foreign "  6,552,000
Of the former there were exported :
in American vessels, to the amount of  60,107,000
foreign " "  17,685,000
Of the foreign articles there were exported :
in American vessels to the value of  4,945,000
foreign " "  1,606,000
The imports amounted to  64,753,000
in American vessels  49 ,97 1 ,000
foreign "  14,781,000
The tonnage of the whole American shipping amounted to. . 2,158,000
For exportation there are furnished by
the fisheries  2,112,000
the forests  3,351,000
agriculture  10,919,000
among which are beef, tallow, hides, neat cattle .... 1,092,000
hogs, hams, lard, &c  2,1 20,000
wheat  264,000
flour  3,763,000
ship-biscuit  312,000
rice  1,625,000
&c.
tobacco  4,650,000
cotton  49,119,000
the manufactories of tobacco  278,000
iron  370,000
distilled liquors  117,000
beer and cider  44,000
refined sugars  47,000
copper and brass  79,000
lead  492,000
drugs  108,000
cotton stuffs  3,223,000
books and maps  23,000
glass  25,000
combs and buttons  23,000
&c.
Of the $77,793,000 worth of exports there went
to England  $45,428,000
to all other countries  32,364,000
among them to the Hanse towns  2,018,000
Prussia  222,000

168

MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE.

Holland  #1,698,000
Belgium  1,674,000
France  11,934,000
Italy  541,000
Mexico  907,000
Brazils  1,568,000
China  1,753,000
Hayti  610,000
Russia  309,000
Cuba  2,926,000
&c.
Of the imports there came
from England  $26,141,000
all the English possessions  28,978,000
the Hanse towns  920,000
the French possessions  7,836,000
the Dutch "  815,000
Belgium  171,000
Cuba  5,013,000
Mexico  2,782,000
Brazils  3,947,000
China  4,385,000
Venezuela.  1,191,000
Chief Exports. Chief Imports.
Virginia $1,954,000 $187,000
Pennsylvania 2,071,000 2,760,000
Maryland 2,820,000 2,479,000
Massachusetts 4,430,000 16,789,000
Georgia 4,522,000 207,000
South Carolina 7,754,000 1,294,000
Alabama 11,157,000 360,000
New York 14,443,000 31,356,000
Louisiana 26,653,000 8,170,000
The number of tons of vessels leaving and entering port amounted
in Savannah to 15,444 New Bedford 100,081
Mobile 16,094 Philadelphia 104,348
Norfolk (Virg.) 17,926 New Orleans 149,409
Charleston 20,711 Boston 202,599
Baltimore 74,825 New York 496,965
&c.
The vessels built in those nine months contained 63,617 tons.
There was imported :
Coffee, duty f/ee  92,295,000 pounds.
subject to duty  618,000
Tea, duty free  13,866,000
subject to duty  3,229
Sugar, brown  69,534,000
white (clayed)  1,098,000
refined  699,000
candied  3,919
Wine, champaign  13,638 gallc
red claret in bottle  35,317
" in cask   873,895
burgundy  1,820
white French wine in bottle  8,352
" " in cask  99,478
port in cask  38,593

CANALS, STEAMBOATS, AND RAILROADS. 169
port in bottle  8,352 gallons.
Spanish wines  51,719 "
German wines in cask  2,788 "
"' " in bottle  355 "
Cotton goods through the Hanse towns, amounting to. .$210,000
from England  2,400,000
Silk goods through the Hanse towns  508,000
In New York, during the first six months,
of 1843, of 1844,
The imports amounted to $24,830,000 $38,679,000
the exports " 10,836,000 17,119,000

CHAPTER XIX.
CANALS, STEAMBOATS, AND RAILROADS.
No country presents so many favorable opportunities for the
establishment of land and water communications as the United
States. A great part of the ground is level or offers only gentle
declivities ; and even the long mountain-ranges of the Allegha-
nies permit in several places the construction of artificial roads.
The lakes and the St. Lawrence furnish most advantageous out
lets on the north ; the sea connects the eastern and southern
coasts with the whole world ; and those great arteries, the Mis
souri, Mississippi, and Ohio, are navigable a3 far up as the
dwellings of men are or can be established. Even in the
smaller rivers the tide penetrates so deep, or else they have such
a slight descent and are so free from impediments, as to be navi
gated much further-and by larger vessels than in most countries
of the world.
The inhabitants of the United States have not only made good
use of these natural advantages, but have also employed their
well known activity and enterprise in forming roads, digging
canals, and laying down railways ; and in these undertakings
they have accomplished more in proportion than any other peo
ple. According to the amount of its population, America has
3| times as many canals, and 6| times as many railroads as
England ; and 4 times as many canals, and 17 times as many
railroads as France* The advantages hence arising for trade
and intercourse are inestimable ; besides another circumstance
which is of the highest importance, although often overlooked,
* Chevalier, ii. 549.

170 CANALS, STEAMBOATS, AND RAILROADS.
namely a closer uniting of the several parts of the great republic
The canals, steamboats, and railroads clasp it together in their
embrace ; they have abridged both time and distance ; have
immeasurably augmented intercourse, as well as the imports,
exports, and means of sale ; have given value to the worthless
timber ; and have suddenly brought into the thinly peopled, un
cultivated country, the most powerful means of effecting a rapid
improvement. They form a mental no less than a physical bond
of union,— ^an additional reproof to the folly which would sepa
rate these two tendencies, or even oppose them to each other.
It is impossible, or at least it would here be out of place, to
speak of all the canals of America ; I shall give some account
only of the most important one, which connects the Hudson and
New York with Lake Erie. When Gouverneur Morris, De Witt
Clinton, and a few others of the same way of thinking, proposed
the construction of the Erie Canal, even the daring Jefferson, it is
said, regarded the plan as hasty and premature.* By far the
greater number of persons entertained the same opinion, and the
general government refused its participation and support. But
all these obstacles could not terrify Morris and Clinton, those
great generals of peace, and numbers constantly flocked to their
standard. On the 4th of July, 1817, the anniversary of the Decla
ration of Independence, the great work was begun ; and it was
finished in eight years and four months, on the 4th of October,
1825, at an expense of 9J millions of dollars. Clinton and his
assistants first in peaceful triumph descended the canal, rejoicing
at the sight of a free people whose prosperity and unity had been
advanced through their exertions. Cheers resounded throughout
the towns and villages which they had called into existence, and
they were every where received with expressions of the sincerest
gratitude and love.!
The canal is 360 miles long,! rises and falls 692 feet, has 83
locks, and (after its results had exceeded all expectation) has
been considerably enlarged and indeed almost rebuilt. The
necessity for this enlargement, and the ability to^ perform it,
resulted from the success of the experiment ; for if this double
scale, exceeding all belief and all powers of execution, had been
adopted at first, the whole undertaking, like many others, would
have fallen through. The highest estimate which had been made
for the first ten years' income from the canal was a million and a
half of dollars ; it amounted in reality to ten millions, or more
than the entire outlay. All the land on both sides of the canal
rose in value exceedingly ; everywhere sprang up houses, ham-
• Hall, i. 173. t Natural History of New York, i. 117.
X The largest canal in Europe, that of Languedoc, is only about 130 miles long,
although it is constructed with greater care.

CANALS, STEAMBOATS, AND RAILROADS. 171
lets, towns, factories, churches, and schools. Rochester numbered
1,500 inhabitants in the year 1820, and 15,000 in 1835. Buffalo
had 2,000 inhabitants in 1820, and 16,000 in 1835* The popu
lation of Albany and New York doubled itself in this period ; and
the latter city took the start, which it will doubtless keep, of
Philadelphia and Baltimore. The comparatively small state of
New York, not satisfied with having constructed out of its own
resources and by its own exertions, the longest canal in the world,
kept on in the way in which it had begun, and had in the year
1839! about 850 miles of canals with 547 locks, on which there
were annually transported goods to the value of 100 millions
of thalers,! arl<^ me amount of toll collected was on an average
about two millions of thalers. Although the canals are shut up
for from three to four months in the winter, there went in one year
through the lock at Schenectady 24,000, and through Alexan
der's lock 26,000 boats and rafts, or very frequentiy ten boats on
an average within the hour. In the year 1836 there went
through the Erie canal, 48,777 boats.
the Champlain canal, 6,782 "
" all the canals, 67,270 "
For 2,700 miles, from New York to New Orleans, river naviga
tion has since been in most successful operation ; and the length
of the completed canals amounted in the year 1836 to 2,723 miles.§
The canals in Pennsylvania yielded about 6, and those in New
York about 8 per cent, interest. The costs of transportation were
everywhere extraordinarily diminished, and the time shortened.||
The length of canals finished in the young state of Ohio is
reckoned at 767 miles.1T
Ramsay as early as 1784, and Fitch in 1785, had fully worked
out the theoretical problem of the feasibility of propelling a vessel
by steam ; but when Fitch and Fulton prophesied the coming
wonders of steam-engines and steamboats, they were misunder
stood and laughed at. In the year 1807, Fulton built the first
steamboat at Pittsburg ; and in 1838 the number of steam-
engines in the United States was reckoned 3,000 ; of which about
800 were used in steamboats, 350 on railroads, and the rest in
factories.** Their power was estimated at that of 100,000 horses ;
* Buffalo shipped Wheat, bushels,
Flour, barrels,
Tobacco, pounds,
Butter, do.
Ashes, do.
(Official Report of 1838, p. 285.)
t Gerstner, p. 19.
X Of course the amount differs in different years.
§ Stevenson's Engineering, p. 213. Tanner, Canals, p. 22.
|| Poussin, Puissance Americaine, ii. 137.
If American Almanac for 1844, p. 279.
** M'Culloch's Diet., append. Steam-vessels.

in 1832,

in 1837,

100,000

450,000

21,000

126,000

772,000

1,215,000

780,000

1,100,000

2,546,000

3,467,000

172 CANALS, STEAMBOATS, AND RAILROADS.
though one engine alone drew from Boston to Lowell a weight
of 524,000 pounds* In Louisville, from 1819 to 1838, 244
steam-engines were constructed ; and in Cincinnati, during the
year 1836, 35 steamboats. In the year 1835, one steamer only
navigated the great lakes ; but in 1839, after the opening of the
Welland and Erie canal, the number of steamers amounted to
61.! The fare from Buffalo to Chicago, 1000 miles, is twenty
dollars, meals included. The young state of Ohio possesses
more steamboats than France ; and there are as many steamers
on Lake Erie as in the Mediterranean!. The passage from
Pittsburg down to New Orleans formerly lasted two months;
and the return passage, with enormous expenses and exertions,
four months : they are now accomplished in about 8 and 16 days
respectively. Indeed formerly the vessels were mostly broken
up at New Orleans, and the crews returned with unspeakable
toil and danger by land.§ The American steamboats, especially
those on the Mississippi, are some of them of extraordinary size ;
they have three decks and as many as 400 beds.|| Formerly the
number of accidents was greater ; owing to the badness of the
boilers, the wanton running of races, obstructions in the rivers, &c.
Misfortune however has produced greater prudence,Tf many obsta
cles have been removed, the authorities exercise a stricter super
vision, and penalties have been prescribed for negligence. After
all, the loss of life from these dangers of peace is not greater
than what takes place in Europe in so-called reviews and sham-
battles. In the year 1825, the first railroad in North America was
begun ; in 1836 there were 1600 miles completed, and now there
are double that number. Many of these undertakings, it is true,
have failed ; others however yield an interest of 8 per cent., and
the average is said to amount to b\ per cent. In 1832 the state of
New York did not possess a single railroad; in 1839 it had
already 440 miles. Most of the rails are of wood, with con
siderable ascents and very bold turns; they are nearly all traversed
by locomotives.** The transportation of goods amounts to only
about one eighth that of passengers.
In New England the land for the most part was dearer, and
the obstacles were greater, than in the other states ; which
enhanced the expenses considerably. The roads however are
* Gerstner, i. 265.
t Gerstner, pp. 368, 372. North Amer. Review, xlvii. 34. American Almanac,
1837, p. 192.
X Chevalier's Communications,!. 4t.
§ Buckingham's Slave States, i. 405.
H Buckingham's Eastern States, i. 24. Information on Steam-engines, 1838.
(Official Documents.)
\ American Almanac for 1835, p. 116; for 1840, p. 112.
** Gerstner, p. 280.

CANALS, STEAMBOATS, AND RAILROADS. 173
better constructed, the charges are no higher, and the speed even
greater. In Massachusetts, the laws allow a profit of 10 per
cent. ; but the state can buy in the roads 20 years after their con
struction. In the year 1840, about 337 miles had been com
pleted in Massachusetts, and had been traversed by 749,000
persons* In Pennsylvania too a great many canals and railroads have
been begun. Although no accurate account has been furnished
as to how many of them are completed, the tolls in 1839 already
amounted to $1,142,000.!
A great many experiments have been tried in the United
States, to ascertain the best mode of laying down railroads, on
account of the peculiar dangers to which they are exposed dur
ing the very severe winters. Their cost however is diminished
by the cheapness of timber and land. It amounts to from 1800
to 12,000, and on an average to 5,000 pounds sterling, per mile. —
In England the expenses are increased by the fact that all the
preliminary steps, including the sanction of Parliament, cost a
great deal of money, and that the rate of going is faster there
than in America.
There are, with very few exceptions, only one class of car
riages, which in quality may be compared in general with the
second class of German carriages. They travel no faster in
America than in Europe ; but they make fewer stoppages on the
route than in Germany. With us the number of officials is beyond
comparison greater than in America : a proof that even our free
companies are infected with bureaucracy and the thirst for over-
governing. Accidents moreover do not arise from the want of
officers. The fares are much higher than with us ; which must
proceed in part from the small number of travellers. Yet Presi
dent Tyler complains in his message of 1841, and with great
justice, of the injurious consequences of the monopoly of rail
roads ; in Europe also these are becoming intolerable, except
where the legislature has interfered to regulate them. — Many
railroads terminate in the hearts of cities ; but for the last mile or
two the cars are drawn by horses. Almost every where there are
separate baggage-places for the principal hotels, whose cars and
waiters take care of all to the traveller's satisfaction.
* Amer. Almanac for 1841, pp. 190, 202. t Tanner, Canals and Railroads, p. 22.

12

CHAPTER XX.

THE BANKS.

History of Banking— The National Bank— Opponents of Banks— Theory of Bank
ing— Paper-Money — Abuses of Banking — Misfortunes through the Banks— Jack
son's Measures— Bank Laws— New Defects— Specie and Paper Currency^-
Sub-Treasury Bill— Exchequer Bill— Hopes and Prospects.
Admirable as is the activity and even the boldness with which
the United States have labored for internal improvements of
every kind, it would be difficult to justify the manner in which
they have ordered, or rather have plunged into the greatest dis
order, their currency and banking affairs. Nay, notwithstanding
repeated and bitter experiences, they have not yet discovered the
right path; or else they allow themselves to be seduced from it
anew into error and injustice.
Whep, after the peace of 1783, the before mentioned difficulties
from public debt and the old paper-money arose, a few pointed out
with judicious moderation the advantages that would result from
founding a national bank. Others, without any thorough insight
into the matter, gave themselves up at once to the erroneous
belief, that in this way wonders would be accomplished, and
countless wealth conjured up with the greatest ease. First arose
the question, whether Congress had the right to found or author
ize such a bank. The Constitution does not expressly deter
mine any thing on the subject ; but it gives to Congress the
control of the money and coinage, and decrees that nothing but
gold and silver shall be made a legal tender of payment. This
plain provision was doubtless adopted in view of the evils and
sufferings caused by the old paper-money; and the object unde
niably was, to render the recurrence of such a state of things
impossible. The assertion or opinion, that bank-notes which
can be converted at pleasure into gold and silver are not paper-
money, and interfere in no respect with the circulation of the
metals, was of essential assistance to the friends of banking
institutions; so much so that Washington, after an anxious
investigation and many doubts, gave his assent, in the year 1791,
o the founding of a principal bank, which should issue notes
under five dollars and upwards, to be redeemed in specie on
lemand, under penalty of paying 12 per cent, interest on them,

THE BANKS. 175
At the same time there kept springing up in the several states,
and with their permission, a number of local smaller banks, with
respect to the advantages and disadvantages of which there has
always prevailed a difference of views.
When the charter of the old United States bank expired, in
the year 1811, many pressed for a renewal of the same ; others
opposed it, on good or bad grounds; and it was not till after
several years' experience of the monetary embarrassments which
ensued, that the bank of the United States was rechartered, in
1816, for twenty years. Its capital was to consist of 7 millions
of dollars in gold and silver, and 28 millions in specie or United
States stocks, to be received at various rates.* The govern
ment was to subscribe 7 millions of this capital, and to draw
from it a proportionate income. One and a half millions of
dollars were paid in instalments by the bank for its charter. In
addition to the general reasons in favor of the usefulness and
necessity of such an institution, it was affirmed that a national
bank creates a uniform medium of exchange between the different
states of the Union ; facilitates all the transactions of commerce ;
takes charge of the surplus funds of the government, attends to its
receipts and payments in the several states, and compels the
smaller and local banks to adopt a reasonable and just course of
proceeding, which hitherto they had by no means done.
Long before the charter of the new bank had expired, its
friends and opponents engaged in a violent controversy. By
thorough investigations, by speeches and writings of various
kinds, they sought to exhaust the reasons for and against it, and
to arrive at an accurate and full knowledge of the truth. Not
withstanding this, opinions still remained divided, and party
aims in full force. The majority of both houses declared in
favor of retaining the bank ; President Jackson, however, oppos
ed this resolution, and two thirds of both houses were not found
to annul his veto. After this veto, opinions were still more
divided than before ; and what some called exceedingly salu
tary and essential, was designated by others as destructive and
arbitrary. All questions respecting currency and banking were at that
time discussed with 'such a show of pretended science, — and
reasons, means, and consequences were displayed with such hair
splitting nicety, — that most persons were incapable of following
out the trains of reasoning to their conclusions, but swore by the
words of some pretended master, and blew through his trumpet.
Some sought to justify, or at least to represent as natural, all that
the great bank or the small banks had done ; while others unspar-
* Perkins, p. 48. Warden, iii. 443. Schmidt fiber den Zustand der vereinigten
Staaten, i. 418.

176 THE BANKS.
mgly condemned both what they had done and left undone, and
saw no help or safety but in a metallic currency. In this place.
it will be sufficient to extract merely what is simplest and most
intelligible from the lengthy speeches and writings of the period.
Among the arguments in favor of founding and supporting a
national bank, it was affirmed that, " in a great commercial
country, the general medium of payment cannot, without a fool
ish extravagance, consist solely of costly metals. By the intro
duction of bank-notes, specie capital is for the most part dis
pensed with, circulation and transmission are facilitated, credit is
raised, and means are procured for obviating thewant of money and
for setting on foot the greatest undertakings. It is only by means
of a great and powerful national bank that the numerous smaller
banks can be kept in order ; besides which, it provides the govern
ment with the cheapest and best opportunity of collecting its reve
nues, making its disbursements, and securely depositing its
funds." — When, in the year 1811, the charter of the old bank
expired, Congress refused to renew it, chiefly because seven
tenths of the stocks belonged to the then detested English. And
yet, notwithstanding this excitement and passion, the resolu
tion was carried only by a majority of a single vote.* But the
embarrassments which at once arose in the currency, soon showed
that such a bank is both useful in peace and necessary in war.
It was re-established by a considerable majority as a national
bank, although opposed by the banks in the individual states.
But this very opposition (which on the part of the careless and
dishonest arose from a dread of supervision) gave added proof of
the necessity and utility of a general control and powerful curb
on their proceedings. The individual banks must adopt the wiser
course of the national bank ; or, if they continue in a wrong one,
they are discarded and deserted by it. With such a rapidly
increasing population, with the pressing necessities of new set
tlers and new states for capital, and with the impossibility of pro
curing it all in specie, — these defects can alone be obviated, and
progress in all directions facilitated, by means of a judicious bank
system. To this it was replied : The Constitution of the United States
prescribes with great wisdom, that specie alone can form a legal
currency. Its letter has indeed been adhered to, but not its spirit ;
for when the bank was started, it was said : " Paper convertible
at pleasure into specie is not injurious, but useful ; wcw-converti-
ble paper will never be taken, so that it cannot properly be said
to have any existence." These hopes however have proved
utterly fallacious.
A bank, unless it enjoys undue advantages, cannot even make
* Register, 1830. Appendix, p. 104 ; 1831, p. 47.

THE BANKS. 177
as much money and pay as large a rate of interest as a private
individual, so long as it loans its capital only* Its real profit
does not begin until it loans its credit, and thus goes beyond its
capital. When this profit arises, temptations, dangers, and
abuses increase.
The principles and proceedings of the lauded national bank
were by no means as wise as its defenders assert. On the con
trary, as early as 1817, it had entered into such venturous specu
lations, that its paper fell from 156 to 90 ; when the directors were
changed, and a better line of conduct prescribed.! Yet it was
equally unable afterwards as before to keep the smaller banks and
their host of officers and shareholders in order, and was itself sus
tained by the power and the enormous profits of its monopoly.
It runs counter to both the spirit and letter of the Constitution,
to grant monopolies of such a kind, to transfer the profitable
use of many millions of the public money to a bank interest-
free, and thus make an immense donation to the stockholders.!
Such a centralization of money transactions is injurious ; the
power of irresponsible officers, chosen not by the people, but by
the government and the stockholders, is unrepublican ; the facili
ties presented for getting into debt are ill advised ; the treating of
private debtors more severely than the banks is unjust ; and the
participation of the government in all these things is at least
improper. It is said that in times of difficulty the government
receives assistance from the bank. It can however just as easily
refuse to furnish any assistance ; and if, for instance, it should be
displeased at a war, it could throw the greatest obstacles in the
way, and presume to play a great political part. It adds to the
riches of the rich, and seconds the selfishness of the powerful;
but helps the poor to nothing whatever. § In a word, the bank
is neither constitutional, nor necessary, nor useful. It has never
been able to compel the resumption of specie payments ;|| but
by sudden expansions and contractions, it has led to inordinate
speculations, created panic and embarrassment in order to pro
mote its own designs, sought to seduce and control the press,
interfered with politics, and has never fulfilled the great and
too sanguine expectations formed with regard to it. Such a
compact financial power, having the control of so great a capital,
and uniting in itself such vast means of influence, might under
certain unavoidable circumstances become master even of the
political power of the people. Instead of calling forth the manly
virtues which confer dignity on human nature, this bank and
# Raguet on Currency, p 84.
t Perkins, p. 143. Calhoun's Speeches, p. 289.
X Register, 1832, appendix, p. 73. Rayner, p. 384.
$ Jackson's Message, 1S33. Register, 1831, p. 42; 1832, p. 1222.
|| Van Buren's Messages, 1838, 1839.

178 THE BANKS.
paper nuisance nourishes an insatiable passion for voluptuous
enjoyments and for becoming suddenly rich without labor. In
place of republican simplicity and frugality, there arises a sickly
tendency to effeminate degeneracy : while instead of the political
equality for which America contends, there is reared a system of
exclusive privileges by means of party legislation.
The bank system allots the honors and rewards of the commu
nity in a very undue proportion, and has a most unfavorable
bearing on the moral and intellectual development of man* It
leads to the decay of scientific pursuits ; it diverts from literature,
philosophy, and statesmanship, and from the great and more use
ful pursuits of business and industry. The rising generation
cannot but feel its deadening influence, and will no longer be
pressed forward by generous ardor to mount up the rugged steep
of science as the road to honor and distinction ; when perhapsjhe
highest point they could attain, in what was once the most honor
able and influential of all the learned professions, would be the
place of attorney to a bank.!
Such are the main principles and assertions of both parties.
Let us be permitted to examine them more closely, and to add
something of our own.
In no state worthy of the name does the individual citizen stand
wholly alone ; each one requires the aid of others, and extends the
same to others. This reciprocal action increases, as civilization
and industry increase. The principal means of promoting this
industry lies in the excess of what is produced over and above
what is consumed, that is to say in capital. To set this in motion,
to bring it speedily and in the right place to a proper and profit
able use, is one of the most important ta^ks of commerce. The
owners of capital are willing to share or loan it, only on two con
ditions : namely that the borrower be something or have, some
thing ; the former gives him personal, the latter real credit. He
who lends or borrows where both conditions are wanting, incurs
danger and loss, is deceived and defrauded. Every country,
every individual requires credit; but should obtain it only when
it is deserved : credit founded on nothing, is swindling and fraud.
It is commendable and useful for individuals and corporations to
inform themselves where capital may be had to loan, and also to
what persons it may be intrusted with safely. In this manner
arose establishments for loaning on credit, associations for bor
rowing on joint-liabilities, registries of mortgages, and similar
# Calhoun's Speeches, p. 282.
t The most erroneous principles and the worst management were exhibited in
the principal bank when transferred to Philadelphia under another name. It had at
last only one dollar in cash for 23 dollars of debt ; it loaned to ten persons $3,692,000,
and to newspaper editors $170,000. Similar scandalous accounts of the banks in
Illinois are to be found in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, September, 1844, p. 240.

THE BANKS. 179
useful and perfectly safe institutions. These set capital in motion
and bring it to the right place; but they have only a very remote
similarity to banks. Although every one not wholly ignorant
of the subject can point out the difference between banks of
circulation, discount, and deposit, the term bank is too often
used in such a vague and general sense, that confusion and
strife are almost unavoidable. — Banks, says one, are necessary
for the benefit of borrowers and debtors. They are needed for
the advantage of lenders and creditors, exclaims another. We
require them, says the East, because we have a large commerce.
We want them, says the West, because as yet we have no com
merce. They are founded for the poor, because their money
(the paper-money) is cheap ; gold and silver are money for rich
people only. — This last assertion, utterly erroneous as it is,
points to the true gist of the dispute, namely the question
respecting the comparative worth of a paper and a metallic cur
rency, and the relation they bear to each other. " We must
cease," exclaims Henry Clay, " to be a commercial people, we
must separate, divorce ourselves from the commercial world,
and throw ourselves back for centuries, if we restrict our busi
ness to the exclusive use of specie."* — But who requires this ?
Who requires that bills of exchange, checks, drafts, letters of
credit, and a thousand other modern auxiliaries of commerce,
should cease ? In truth all the objections apply only to the
nature, quantity, advantages, and disadvantages of paper-money.
Many still assert that in the United States there is no paper-
money at all ; because, according to the letter of the law, specie
alone is made a legal tender. But the force of circumstances
renders this letter of not the slightest effect; in practice both
creditors and debtors, buyers and sellers, do incomparably more
business with paper than with gold and silver. Nay Webster
himself says : " That bank-notes have become money in fact,
that they answer the uses of money, that in many respects the
law treats them as money, is certain."!
As soon as men recognize the truthful maxim, that "labor
alone begets prosperity,"! the defence of paper-money becomes
exceedingly difficult. For if (as the most cautious require)
there should lie as much specie in the vaults as there are notes
issued, the banking business would produce no gain; on the
other hand, as soon as the notes issued exceed this measure, they
are mere paper without a sufficient pledge for their redemption,
and the quantity of the circulating medium is increased without
a natural foundation and beyond the natural proportion. It is true
* Speeches, ii. 325.
t Webs.ter's Speeches, iii. 329. North Amer. Review, xxxii. 29. Gallatin on
Currency, p. 6.
X Webster, ii. 312.

180 THE BANKS.
there is recommended a reasonable expansion of the currency, an
expansion of credit in the shape of capital ; but to these indefi
nite, obscure expressions a closer examination opposes great
doubts. Credit in fact produces no capital, but only sets the
existing values in better and quicker circulation. If it exceed or
forestall these, it rests on nothing, and least of all on creative
labor. The evil consequences are then unavoidable which the
American banking system exhibits, and which men of the most
different views and positions equally deplore.
" A disordered currency," says Webster, " is one of the greatest
of political evils. It undermines the virtues necessary for the
support of the social system, and encourages propensities destruc
tive of its happiness. It wars against industry, frugality, and
economy ; and it fosters the evil spirits of extravagance and spe
culation. Of all the contrivances for cheating the laboring classes
of mankind, none has been more effectual than that which deludes
them with paper-money. This is the most effectual of inven
tions to fertilize the rich man's field by the sweat of the poor
man's brow. , Ordinary tyranny, oppression, excessive taxation,
these bear lightly on the happiness of the mass of the community,
compared with fraudulent currencies and the robberies committed
by depreciated paper. Our own history has recorded for our
instruction enough, and more than enough, of the demoralizing
tendency, the injustice, and the intolerable oppression, on the vir
tuous and well disposed, of a degraded paper currency, authorized
by law, or in any way countenanced by government."*
It will suffice to state a few facts in confirmation of these just
complaints. In the years 1812 to 1814, most of the banks stop
ped payment; between 1811 and 1830 one hundred and sixty-
five of them became entirely bankrupt or contracted their busi
ness.! In me year 1787 there were 3 banks ; in 1839 there were
850, and together with the branches, about 1000. Of these
498 continued specie payments,
56 stopped altogether,
48 afterwards resumed payments,
60 partially stopped specie payments,
343 wholly " " "
With these were connected in New York between January and
July about 1000 bankruptcies. The entire capital of a bank in
Illinois consisted in the plates for striking off the notes. In
another branch bank two dollars only were paid in, which were
kept as curiosities.!
* Webster, ii. 81.
t Hinton, ii. 477. Calhoun's Speeches, p. 143. American Almanac, xi."245; xii.
137. The numbers do not exactly agree.
X Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, 1844. September, p. 240.

THE BANKS. 181
Even if, as asserted, the debts of most of the banks exceeded
their capital only from 40 to 80 per cent.,* that of itself rendered
them bankrupt the moment all their notes were presented for
specie payment. But there were also banks which had issued
with impunity a hundred times as many worthless bills as their
capital amounted to. In consequence of the different values or
want of value of all bank notes, and the utter want of a specie cur
rency, there was no fixed measure of the value of commodities;
prices fluctuated excessively ; and in order to escape deserved or
undeserved distress, not a few permitted themselves all kinds
of arbitrary and fraudulent acts. Banks which were doubtless
broken, distributed notwithstanding large dividends, and made
notes of 25, and even as low as 5 cents ; whereby the number of
sufferers was continually increased, while the authorities had no
means of preserving or restoring order-! Even those states which
were inimical to the entire banking system were involved in these
sufferings, or were compelled in self-defence to resort to desperate
means, to prevent their losses from reaching too great a height.!
In a like spirit the general government in this season of distress
gave permission to pay depreciated notes into its treasury at par
value. This was a reward, a premium for the worst notes and
most careless management, to the injury of the better banks ; and
it created a totally different taxation in the different parts of the
United States.
In these times of misfortune, public and private undertakings
were brought to a stand-still ; auctions at far below the former
prices, and the imprisonment of debtors unable to pay, were una
voidable ; the innocent suffered exceedingly, while the guilty
remained unpunished ; and a pernicious indifference was created
with regard to obligations of payment. Indebted corporations in
particular dissolved themselves with the vilest audacity, and by
their own authority released themselves from their indisputable
obligations. All confidence, all truth and honesty, seemed to have
vanished. This caused M'Culloch to exclaim in just indignation :
" A man can lend his money with more safety in Russia and
even in Turkey than in America. The bank system there is the
worst of all, and the greatest of misfortunes to a free country ."§
Let us now see what with this knowledge, with this bitter expe
rience, was accomplished by the president, by Congress, and
by the single states, for abolishing the evil. President Jackson
first lost patience : he would no longer spare the crafty impostors,
or capitulate with pretenders to profound science. While many
* Gallatin on Currency, p. 65.
t Raguet, p 131. Chevalier, Lettres,i. 58, 66, 94. Buckingham's Slave States,
i. 355. Trotter's Observations, p. 101.
X Calhoun's Speeches, p. 142.
{ Article, Banks. Appendix, p. 21. Gouge, p. 115. Flint's Mississippi, i. 450.

182 THE BANKS.
wished to delay or adjust matters, or only to proceed by degrees,
the old, favorite, victorious general grasped his sword, smote in
pieces the bank he disliked, for the reasons aforesaid, and saw in
the establishment of a specie currency the only deliverance from
all the evils of paper-money* That in consequence of this blow
the pieces flew about and wounded many, was to him a subject
of small concern : the crisis seemed inevitable, and restoration
possible only after the unsound parts had been boldly cut out and
cast away.
The notion that all the sufferings and embarrassments of the
year 1837 proceeded wholly from JacksOn's measures, is both
one-sided and erroneous ;! they proceeded still more from
¦what he combated. But the accomplices in wickedness were
too glad of a pretence to acquit themselves; and ihey fancied
they could get rid of their own guilt, by making a solitary scape-
goal of the old hero, and dragging him to the altar by way of a
sin-offering. All the force of character, all the popularity of Jackson, had
scarcely sufficed to procure him the victory over the great central
bank. All ihe state banks still remained untouched; nay their
number and importance must necessarily increase, since their
most powerful rival was dead, and they had received ihe depo
sits of the public moneys. As fast as Jackson cut off one of the
Lernean monster's heads, several others grew in its place ; a radi
cal cure according to his system would have required the annihi
lation of all the state banks, and the passage of the new Sub-
treasury Bill, — which bold means however were partly left untried,
and partly failed in execution. Congress possessed neither ihe will
nor the power to reduce this monetary confusion to order; and
while in one place it coined gold and silver, the banks increased
their paper money to an unlimited extent in eight hundred places.
The coining institutions and privileges of the middle ages,
which have been cried down as stupid and barbarous, were but
trifling evils in comparison with 800 mints, in which weight,
fineness, and fixing of value are of course never thought of, while
counterfeiting is carried on to an unprecedented extent.! If
Congress would set aside one of the clearest and most salutary
provisions of the Constitution, which it is so careful in adhering
to and expounding, it would have been far better to grant at once
to the twenty-six states the right of coining according to a uni
form standard of weight and fineness, than to intrust it to 800
paper-mills, every miller and printer of which commends his
own rags as a part of the national currency.
* Chevalier, i. 90.
t Nor did it proceed alone from the pretended injurious balance of trade. Apple-
ton on Currency, p 21.
X In Bicknell's Counterfeit Detector 1,395 counterfeit bills are described.

THE BANKS.' 183
Several states which had hastily and incautiously conferred
banking powers, sought by appropriate laws, if not wholly
to do away with the evils which had accrued, at least to ward
them off for the future. In Illinois, Indiana, Alabama, and
Missouri, for instance, only one bank will henceforth be
allowed.* In New Hampshire no one can conduct banking operations
without legal permission. Notes under one dollar are prohibited ;
a suspension of specie payments annuls the charter of a ba"nk, and
obliges it to pay an interest of twelve per cent. The declaring
of dividends during such suspension is punishable with five
years' imprisonment.
Similar laws exist in Kentucky. The liabilities of a bank
must not exceed double the amount of its capital.! The govern
ment takes 20.000 shares, and receives 25 cents for each 100 dol
lars of capital. It has the right to make investigations and inflict
penalties, and the bank officers are responsible lor the observance
of all the provisions. The counterfeiting of bank notes is pun
ishable with from two to ten year^' imprisonment.
In Massachusetts no bank is allowed to issue notes under five
dollars; and none can commence business, until it can be shown
that one half of its capital has been deposited in gold and silver.!
The notes must never exceed the capital more than 25 per cent,
and the gross liabilities must never amount to more than one
half the capital. All directors are responsible with their pro
perty for abuses. Each bank loans the state one twentieth of its
capital at 5 per cent, interest, and pays one half per cent, of the
same for the favors it has obtained. The government has the
right at any time to examine into the management of the bank,
and — in case of non-fulfilment of the conditions — to abolish it.
Bank-note counterfeiters are severely punished, and informers
are rewarded. Since 1803, the number of banks in Massachu
setts has increased from 7 to 129.
In South Carolina, as in most of the states, no bank-notes can
be executed under five dollars ; and in case of bankruptcy, the
stockholders are liable for double the amount of their invest
ment^ In New York no bank must issue more notes than it deposits
in New York or United States stocks ; and each note, to increase
the security, is countersigned by the comptroller.
Well intended and well devised in many respects as these and
similar laws may appear, complaints are still made that means are
* Hall's West, ii 188, 192, 194.
t Laws, i. 200, 1292.
X Buckingham (Slave States, i. 453) speaks of repeated payments and loans made
with the same money.
§ Statutes, vi. 34 ; viii. 3.

184

THE BANKS.

every where found to evade them,* that there is a lack of legal
remedies against secret frauds and public bankruptcies, and that
the allurements of self-interest cannot be destroyed by mere
words. Injustice and heedlessness in this respect are chargeable
on both creditor and debtor ; and as mfldness towards the latter
has its light side, it has its dark side also.
In such a dilemma it is very natural that men should seek for
some thorough, efficient aid ; and this the whigs see in the found
ing of a new, grand national bank ; while the democrats descry in
it only a return to former evils, and insist more or less strongly
on a metallic currency.! First of all I must repeat, that to the
word bank no definite idea is as yet attached ; hence objections
were redoubled under the supposition that former defects would
not be obviated, — nay that there was no wish to obviate them,
because they were best calculated to promote private advantage
and party aims. Accordingly many whigs laid aside the name of
bank altogether, and demanded only a " sound currency ;"
against which as a general proposition there is certainly nothing
to object, while each one is at liberty to see in it what pleases
him. Yet more specific views were at the same time brought
forward, of which I will cite a few, hitherto not mentioned, by
way of example. Thus it is said : It is a necessity of every civil
ized country, and a mark of its civilization, to have paper-money.
The American system of banking, including the national bank,
was a well constructed, practicable, and beneficent one.! Bank
notes and paper-money are a safe and convenient substitute for
capital. Where there is only a metallic currency — nothing but
gold and silver, almost all trade falls into the hands of large capi
talists. Where Ihe bank-notes on the contrary are by law con
vertible at any moment into specie, there exists full security for
their value. This security is doubled, where the deposit of state
stocks and the counter-signature of the comptroller are required.
A great deal may be said in opposition to these maxims. In
the first place, Germany has but little paper-money, and France
none at all ; and this without depriving them of the right to be
called civilized countries, or obstructing their trade. It is equally
true, however, that nearly all the countries of Europe have suf
fered from the consequences of paper-money no less than the
United States. The latter's banking system (even including the
national bank) is by no means entitled to the above laudations.
The opinion which lies at the bottom of all this, erroneously
regards Jackson's abolition of the defective national bank as the
* The defectiveness of all laws is shown for instance in the official Report on
the banks in Massachusetts, for 1844.
t Yet in the year 1843, $11,967,830 were coined in gold and silver.
\ Webster, ii. 312 etseqq.

THE BANKS. 185
sole cause of every evil, and its restoration in an improved form
as a sovereign remedy for them all. Quite different was the
opinion expressed by Jefferson respecting the principal and
branch banks. This institution, said he, is one of deadly enmity
to the principles and the form of our Constitution* — Adhering
to this his predecessor, and remaining true to his former convic
tions of the unconstitutionality of the bank, President Tyler
uttered his veto, when Congress presented to him a bill for its
restoration.! Without going into a closer examination of the
bitter reproaches made against him on that account, I only permit
myself to observe, that it would be very unjust to condemn
Tyler because he held fast to his earlier doctrine ; while his
chief opponent Clay is commended for changing from a former
enemy into a defender of the bank. Both acted up to their
best convictions, and Tyler had said before : The banking system,
as conducted in this country, has not one correct principle, of
political economy for its support. It is a gross delusion, the dream
of a visionary, which has done more to corrupt the morals of
society than any thing else, &c. True, for a moment it has
operated as a stimulus ; but, like ardent spirit, it has produced
actiyity and energy but for a moment ; relaxation has followed,
and the torpor of death has ensued. " Our bank system,"
exclaims Buchanan, "is the worst and most irresponsible that
has ever existed."
The maxim, that bank-notes and paper-money are a safe and
convenient substitute for capital, requires a closer examination.
It is clear that the capital must first be created by labor and
economy, — it must first exist ; for paper and a printing-press can
not charm it into being or double its quantity. Credit with
out foundation — a representative with nothing to represent — .
deserves no eulogy. On the other hand, there is by no means a
cessation of credit or the means of credit where paper-money has
been renounced. It is a strange thing to imagine, or at least
rhetorically describe, that in that case numberless huge wains
must painfully traverse the land laden with gold and silver ; and
that merchants could no longer make use of checks, drafts, bills
of exchange, letters of credit, &c. There is just as little reason
for applauding the convenience which is nominally secured to the
traveller by eight hundred sorts of unsafe paper ; in spite of all
his prudence, he will most probably find that too great care has
been taken of him and his.
Why, where there is only a specie currency, all trade should
fall into the hands of large capitalists, it is hard to comprehend.
If bank-notes are of any value, the rich man has many of them,
* Tucker, ii. 158. t Tyler's Life, pp. 39, 47.

186

THE BANKS.

and the poor man few ; it is precisely the same as with gold and
silver. If however they are worth nothing, the poor man is
usually defrauded the most. I cannot comprehend wherefore
paper-money should be an especially useful money to ihe poor.
It is only in return for labor, only for real or personal credit, that
either it or gold and silver come into his possession. In many
parts of Germany, and in France where there is no paper-money,
business is neither more nor less in the hands of rich capitalists
than in England or the United States.
The assertion, that where bank-notes are by law convertible at
any moment into specie, there exisls full security for their value,
is confuted by all experience. No letter of the law has yet been
able to prevent excessive issues of paper-money. It is only in
moments of danger that every one hastens to convert his paper
into specie, and then the banks are but too often found insolvent.
The measures adopted in New York, of depositing state stocks
and countersigning by the comptroller, are certainly better calcu
lated to answer the end than many others ; though even here
some very serious doubts remain. In the first place, state stocks are
also exposed to the danger of sinking in value under unfavorable
circumstances ; and secondly, it is a very erroneous belief, that as
soon as there is a safe pledge in hand, the amount of its value
may be converted into paper and issued without danger or evil
consequences. Money is not only a measure, it is also something
measured ; and in case its quantity is in any way increased or
diminished, it becomes a different measure, and changes its value
as something measured. If one were suddenly to bring into market
a hundred times as much of any necessary article (e. g. corn, pota
toes, wine, cloth, or whatever it might be) as had heretofore been
required and disposed of, who would purchase these quantities, and
how could they retain, their former price ? The same holds true
of specie and paper-money. The security of the pledges, the
existence of an original value represented by paper, produces no
alteration in these necessary results ; and this is more than suffi
ciently proved by Law's system and the history of the assignats
and mandates. When even the laws permit that each bank may
issue at least twice as many notes as it possesses capital, what
is it but a purely arbitrary increase of the currency, without
any real increase of value, of capital, of labor? The specie
gradually disappears, until a general revulsion puts a fearful end
to careless management and premature rejoicing. Until then,
the monopolizing stockholders draw more than double interest,
both from the pledged state stocks and the double amount of
notes issued. When, notwithstanding, the dividends are not
immoderately high, this proceeds from several circumstances ;
e. g., excessive competition, heavy taxation by the states that grant

THE BANKS. 187
the charter, bad management, &c. Perhaps in this increasing
unprofitableness may be found the best means of reducing the
bank evil.
Similar to this would have been the operation of the Sub-
Treasury law, which was vehemently opposed, then adopted,
and soon after abolished in its most essential particulars. Among
the principal complaints against the national bank was this, that
the public moneys were deposited in it without interest, whereby
an unfair and immense advantage accrued to the stockholders;
while the country which made this enormous sacrifice was not
even furnished with the requisite security. Although the average
amount of the moneys in deposit may not have reached, as some
assert, fifteen millions,* — let us suppose it did not exceed five
millions, — still the gain to the bank in the way of interest was
uncommonly great, and was by no means counterbalanced by
the duties and payments which it assumed. It is certain that
Jackson's victory over the institution, complained of and attacked
by him on so many grounds, was decided the moment he with
drew from it the use of the public moneys. As he thereupon
intrusted these moneys to the several state banks selected by him,
these latter gained as much as the national bank lost ; but the
country lost the interest as before, and gained nothing in respect
to the security of the deposited money. It is true, that none of
the single banks could hereafter acquire the power and influ
ence of the national bank ; but these new facilities seduced them
very frequently into rash speculations and indiscreet issues of
bank-notes. The design of the Sub-Treasury Bill was to release the finances
of the Union and the great amount of surplus revenue on hand
from all connexion with the banks, and to establish a treasury
with officers for its management such as has long existed in
almost all the states. Against this plan a most violent out
cry was raised ; and it was found that the interests of the many
single banks which would lose in consequence, were advocated
with still greater vehemence and energy than those of the con
quered national bank had been. This system, it was exclaimed,
will totally subvert all the state banks, will place the purse and
the sword in the president's hands, will destroy all security for
the public moneys, commit them to the keeping of dishonest
officials, form a new central bank — and that too of the worst
kind, and throw difficulties in the way of transmitting funds and
rendering accounts. The scheme too is against all our usages
and all our habits. It locks up the revenue under bolts and bars,
from the time of collection to the time of disbursement. Govern
ment separates itself, not from the banks_ merely, but from the
* Webster, iii. 303.

188 THE BANKS.
community. It withdraws its care, it denies its protection, it
renounces its own high duties, and with cold and heartless egoism
abandons the suffering people to their unhappy fate. It is a law
for the times of the feudal system ; or a law for ihe heads and
governors of the piratical states of Barbary. It is a measure fit
for times when there is no security in law, no value in com
merce, no active industry among mankind, &c*
These vehement denunciations are factious and exaggerated.
The sword and the purse have indeed been transferred to the pre
sident ; but he cannot draw the former from its sheath, or take a
dollar from the latter, without the consent of Congress. If he, who
could formerly intrust the public treasure to the banks as he pleased
without demanding interest therefor, must henceforth deposit
them in the treasury of state, it is plain that his power and influ
ence are hereby diminished instead of increased. Moreover, all
actual disbursements now as before require an appropriation by
Congress, and suitable provision could easily be devised for the
concurrence of the Senate in the appointment of treasury officers.
That the public moneys are less safe in the treasury and in the
custody of responsible officers, than they were in the hands of
irresponsible banks (where so much was lost), is an unproved
assertion ; in those countries too where the state treasury has
nothing to do with banks, funds are transmitted and accounts ren
dered without difficulty. Lastly, that it is an innovation on old
customs, is not an absolute fault ; nay, it should rather be made a
subject of commendation, if it turn out to be a plan of utility in
place of one that was of no value. Hence all resolves itself at last
into the question, whether the banks have a right to use the pub
lic moneys in the interval between collection and disbursement,
either interest-free or under advantageous terms ; and whether the
government is bound to let this practice continue.!
After the repeal of the Sub-Treasury law, President Tyler
proposed that, instead of treasury notes bearing interest, there
should be issued fifteen millions of dollars (about a third of the
yearly revenue) in paper not bearing interest, that this should be
receivable in all the public offices, and that provision should be
made to insure its convertibility into specie at pleasure. The
sum was to be not so large as to create danger ; but still large
enough to regulate the transactions of the banks, and to operate
advantageously as a general medium of circulation. In the exe
cution of this plan no additional power was to be conferred on the
president, nor was there any question of a dubious banking insti
tution. This proposition was at first favorably regarded, then
* Clay, ii. 324. Webster, iii. 222, 265. Phelps on the Tariff, p. 14.
t Calhoun, Life, p. 50.

TAXATION AND FINANCES. 189
neglected, and finally cast aside, — partly, no doubt, because it
neither favored nor engaged in its behalf any private interests.
The great similarity of the new English bank law introduced by
Sir Robert Peel* to President Tyler's proposition, will proba
bly direct attention to the latter anew, and lead to improvements.
There is certainly but little hope of seeing the American banking
institutions placed on a perfectly sound footing : for people are ac
customed to violations and evasions of the letter and spirit of the
Constitution with respect to the currency ; and Congress will not
be able to govern the twenty-six states, nor the twenty-six states their
eight hundred banks. Yet intelligent and impartial men, guided by
science and experience, have plainly enough indicated the course
which should be pursued for the gradual cure of these evils, the
greatest of all next to slavery.! I heartily hope therefore that the
following declaration of two experienced Americans may not
prove correct. They say : The subject of currency is now hope
lessly overwhelmed in the cant and ferocity of party politics. A
man might as well go to Constantinople to preach Christianity ,as
to get up here and preach against the banks !!

CHAPTER XXI.

TAXATION AND FINANCES.

Revenue and Expenditure — Internal Improvements — Surplus Revenue — Single
States — Europe and America — Indebtedness of the States — Repudiation — Taxa
tion of Single States.
In all countries of great extent we find revenues and expendi
tures of the general government, and revenues and expenditures
of the several provinces. But nowhere is the distinction, the
contrast between them, so decided as in America.
The general government has only two great sources of revenue
— the import duties and the sales of public lands. In return
* This law is also aimed at the gradual suppression of all the paper-money of pri
vate banks. See § 910.
f Specie, like other articles of commerce, goes where it is sought and used. Yet
in the year 1838 alone, money to the amount of 17 millions of dollars was imported;
and if in 1814 the specie amounted to only two dollars a head, it had arisen in 1837 to
five dollars. American Almanac, 1841, p. 123. Report of the Treasury, 1838,
pp. 14,43, 51.
X North American Review, No. cxxv. 501. Gouge's History of Paper Money,
p. 80, quoting Randolph. 13

190

TAXATION AND FINANCES.

for these, all internal taxes were abolished as early as'1802, under
Jefferson's administration ; and it was only during the war with
France and England that they were laid again for a while on
iron, hats, paper, leather, watches, sugar, &c, and temporarily
also on villas and slaves*
Consequently there are now in the United States no general
taxes whatever ; no land-tax ; no excise, or tax on internal con^
sumption; and, excepting the officers of the customs, no tax-
officers belonging to the general government ; no system of
exclusion between the several states ; and no provincial taxation
which extends or operates beyond its own boundaries. And
herein the financial system of the United States is distinguished
from every other.
Furthermore, there is scarcely any where exhibited such a
fluctuation, such a rapid rise and fall in revenues and expendi
tures; and this doubtless is owing to the alterations in the tariff,
the change from specie to paper payments, immigrations, the
embarrassments of the banks and the currency, depressions in
trade and over-speculation, &c. In consequence of its wealth,
the government became extravagant ; and in consequence of its
distress, it was obliged to resort to many objectionable expe
dients. Even in the United States, the most peaceful and secure of all
confederacies, an immense burden was created by its wars and
the debts that arose out of them. The latter however were paid
off as early as 1835 ;! and in 1839, there was a surplus in the
treasury of 34,866,000 dollars. This surplus, it was maintained
* Warden, iii. 389.
t Prom 1791 to 1832, the revenues of the general government were :
from customs  • -$594,909,000
internal revenues  22,235,000
direct taxes  12,736,000
the post-office  1,091,000
sales of public lands  40,627,000
; loans and treasury-notes  156,181,000
dividends and bank proceeds  11,052,000
miscellaneous  5,428,000
Total in round figures $844,262,000
The expenditures were :
for the civil list  $37,15S,000
the public debt  408,090,000
the navy  102,703,000
the army  214,547,000
Indian affairs  13,413,000
foreign "  24,143,000
miscellaneous  32,194,000
Total $842,250,000
— M'Gregor's Legislation, p. 207.. The numbers do not agree in all the statements.
That under the head of "the army" many other expenses are included, will be
shown in the chapter that treats of that subject.

TAXATION AND FINANCES. 191
with the greatest zeal, should be expended in internal improve
ments. Gradually however the enthusiasm in favor of this
opinion cooled down, and the arguments against it were urged
with constantly increasing force. It was said : The new inter
pretation of the Constitution, by which Congress desires to regu
late every thing pertaining to the general welfare, destroys the
independence of the states. And even if we should be willing
to grant it such a right, there is hardly any undertaking or im
provement that is equally for the advantage of all the states, and
to which all are equally bound to contribute. Let what belongs
to the states be planned and executed by the states ; the general
government possesses for this purpose neither the right nor the
requisite skill. During the last sessions of Congress, 103 pre
tended improvements were lightly adopted, and $12,600,000
granted for them. Of this sum four states received $7,060,000 ;
and the rest complained with reason of the partial and unjust
nature of the distribution* Of these 103 undertakings,
3 were never begun,
1 was given up,
4 were postponed,
11 were perhaps completed,
61 were not completed,
20 were completed, and these cost only $409,000.
Congress has since given up the system of internal improve
ments out of the surplus revenues ; and has become convinced that
it is an absurdity, to extract from the people more money than is
needed, by means of high taxation conducted at a great expense,
and then to distribute it among the several states. Better would
it be to let it remain from the first in the pockets of individuals ;
and then ask, not how much shall we raise, but how little will
suffice. The general government, says President Jackson, should
not become a sharer in private undertakings, or take part in the
construction of roads and canals, in the elections, &c, and thus
acquire an influence injurious to the liberties of the people.!
In this manner, says Calhoun, the government would be convert
ed into a mere machine for collecting and distributing money,
to the neglect of all the functions for which it was created,!
The seasons of surplus were followed, from causes elsewhere
explained,§ by seasons of deficiency ; which furnished occasion
for numerous censures respecting erroneous calculations, ineffi
cient supervision, extensive frauds, superfluous printing of unne
cessary papers and reports, injudicious and excessive granting of
* Financial Report for 1838, p. 15.
t Messages of 1830 and 1834. Trotter, Observations on the Finances, p. 10.
Register, 1830, append, p. 184.
X Speeches, p. 449.
$ For instance, in the chapters on Banks, Taxation, the Army, &c.

192 TAXATION AND FINANCES.
annuities, &c. But notwithstanding all errors and defects, the
government has only about 17 millions of advances and debts ; it
has raised in the last four years a revenue of 120 millions of dol
lars, and has not only covered the deficit, but possesses a cash
surplus of seven millions of dollars.
The expenses of government and costs of administration are,
compared with other countries, uncommonly small ; which is
evident from the single fact that the president's salary is $25,000
per annum (about £5,000 sterling), while the queen dowager of
England alone draws £100,000. The expenses of Congress
amount to about $200,000.
The vice-president receives $5,000
Only four ministers* receive each 6,000
The chief justice of the supreme court, 5,000
The postmaster general, 6,000
Eight judges, 32,000
A minister plenipotentiary, 9,000
A secretary of legation, 2,000, &c.
It has been asserted (paradoxically it may appear, but not
untruly) that, for the maintenance of free institutions in a repub
lic, and to facilitate returns to order and moderation, it is salutary
from time to time to have a deficit in the treasury.! The above-
mentioned surplus certainly arose from excessive taxation based
on false principles ; and the distribution and expenditure of those
moneys gave occasion for the exercise of improper influence, and
produced factions and indirect corruption among individuals and
even states. The general government can certainly never want
means for meeting all really necessary expenditures; and by the
adoption of wise and sound principles respecting currency, bank
ing, and customs, the difficulties and mistakes that have formerly
occurred will almost wholly vanish.
If we now turn to the taxation of the several states, we see
in the first place that they must lay taxes on no article that has
been assigned to ihe general government. In other respects
the amount of taxation is of course higher or lower, according as
the possessions, wants, aims, and acquisitions of the people are
greater or less. Neither praise nor blame can here be founded
on figures separated frofn their context. The grand principle in
the taxation of the single states, and the one most important in its
consequences, is, that there shall be no land-tax, no excise, and no
* These at the end of 1844 were :
Calhoun, secretary of state ;
Bibb, secretary of the treasury;
Wilkins, secretary of war ;
Mason, secretary of the navy
t Calhoun, Speeches, pp. 360, 462. Life, p. 36.

TAXATION AND FINANCES. 193
burthens on articles of food ;* on the contrary, by far the greatest
portion of the disbursements are provided for by property and
income taxes, so that the rich man pays his due proportion.
If the democracy allows no system of taxation to be adopted
that would press immoderately on the poor, neither has it unjustly
attacked the rich by an increasing percentage of the property tax ;
so that all parties have reason to be content. The difficulties of
a property tax, which are elsewhere often regarded as insur
mountable, vanish for the most part in the United States ; because
the supervision, mode of raising it, appointment of collectors, &c.
are thoroughly republican, — but above all, because the amount
required and collected is very small.^
This American system of taxation presents the most perfect
contrast to that adopted throughout nearly the whole of Europe.!
Where bread, meat, beer, spirits, tea, coffee, wood, coals, in short
all the necessaries of the lower classes, are heavily taxed, while
the rich pay but little in proportion, those classes must grow poorer
still; where, as in the United States, they are free from taxes, the
people are vastly better off than in Europe. Societies for the
purchase of sheeting and table-linen, for aiding poor laborers, for
tending little children, for nursing lying-in women, — all these and
similar means of relief are benevolent and philanthropical: still they
will never root out the evil, but often aggravate it. They disturb the
course of trade, awaken hopes that cannot be realized, encourage
improvident marriages, and are but new editions with alterations
of the old foundling-hospitals, &c. Neither is the end proposed
by these charitable precautions any more likely to be accom
plished by the wild, fantastic schemes of the St. Stmonists, Fou-
rierists, and Communists. As long as we in Europe retain stand
ing armies, expensive governments that interfere with every thing,
splendid courts, settlements, endowments, &c. — so long will it
be impossible to introduce the American system of low taxes ;
and poverty, which is not to be exorcised with mere words, wiU
continue frightfully to increase.
The dark side of the bright picture we have been contemplat
ing is exhibited in the indebtedness of the single states. As early
as 1783, there arose on the conclusion of peace the weighty
question, whether the general government should assume all
the debts of the states incurred during the war. As it was feared
on the one hand that too many obligations would thus be cast upon
the government, and on the other that it would be allowed too
* Calhoun's Speeches, p. 449.
t Where the requirements, as in Europe, are great, they can never be covered by
property and income taxes alone.
X In Mexico the people are pressed down by a host of absurd taxes. — Miihlen-
pfordt, i. 394.

194 TAXATION AND FINANCES.
much power and influence, only those debts were transferred to it
which the states had incurred for the common welfare.
Since that time the states and cities have paid off a great deal ;
but much more they have either borrowed, partly at high rates of
interest, or issued in the form of state stocks : so that in the year
1840 the debts of nineteen states (the remainder* were free from
debt) were estimated at 200 millions of dollars, exclusive of con
siderable debts on the part of single cities.! It has been pro
posed, that the general government shall assume these state debts,
create paper to their amount, bearing interest at four per centum
payable out of the proceeds of the public lands, and distribute
these new stocks among the states, in proportion to the number
of senators and representatives. As the property tax cannot be
increased, as no excise can be introduced, and as there is no specie
currency for the payment of interest in foreign countries, it is
asserted that this proposition offers the only true, practical means of
escape from every difficulty. But notwithstanding these difficul
ties, the proposal has not been well received. It has been regarded
as holding out a premium for imprudence, bad management,
swindling and speculating at the cost both of the present genera
tion and of posterity.
The loud and bitter complaints which have been made, espe
cially in Europe, respecting what is termed repudiation, demand
a closer investigation. The Americans, it is said, have had the
wicked audacity to repudiate, — that is, to declare that they
will not pay their debts, but defraud their creditors of all their
just demands ! — There is no doubt that many of the states in bor
rowing and expending large sums of money have acted with
imprudence and want of judgment, that jealousy and selfishness
have been allowed to interfere, that secondary considerations
have been raised to undue importance, that undertakings have
failed, &c. ; but from all this it by no means follows that the states
in general, with their constantly augmenting resources, are not in a
condition to meet their engagements. If therefore by repudiation
be meant a declaration, by the governments or the majority of
voters, of a selfish or even fraudulent bankruptcy, this would be so
utterly contrary to the sense of right and even the worldly pru
dence of the Americans, that we readily adopt the explanation,
that this much talked of measure is neither more nor less than a
temporary respite, such as under the pressure of circumstances
has often been granted before.
Moreover, national bankruptcy, the reduction of interest, the
* Viz. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Dela
ware, North Carolina, and Iowa.
t Thus Albany had a debt of $360,000 ; Philadelphia, of about $1,000,000 ; Boston,
$1,700,000 ; New York, as much as $13,000,000. These sums however are constantly
changing. — American Almanac, 1S41, p. 130 ; 1844, p. 229.

TAXATION AND FINANCES. 195
depreciation of the value of paper issues, &c, have occurred so
frequently in Europe, and have been so arbitrarily managed by
the ruling powers, without allowing their creditors a voice in the
matter or a legal remedy, that the Americans might justify simi
lar measures by such examples — provided that injustice could
thus be justified at all.
Since of the debts of the American states 8 millions have been
expended in roads, 42 millions in railways, 69 millions in canals,
and 52 millions in bank undertakings* it follows that there is an
essential difference between the state debts of Europe and Ame
rica. The former were mostly incurred on behalf of destructive
wars, and can produce no further fruits ; the American loans on the
contrary were employed in peaceful enterprises, which in great
part will be still more useful to posterity than to the present gene
ration, and most of which will sooner or later pay the interest of
the capital expended on them.
It seems indeed to many Americans as impossible to impose
extraordinary taxes upon themselves for the fulfilment of their
obligations, as it does to many Europeans to reduce their stand
ing armies for the same purpose; yet both are equally in the
wrong, and do themselves the greatest injury. Hence it was said
by the governor of Louisiana, Alexander Mouton : " It is mani
fest that we have raised ourselves again from the deplorable state
of immorality and wretchedness into which the country was
plunged by indolence, extravagance, the credit and paper system,
and the mad speculations produced by imprudent legislation."
At all events it is a proof of ignorance, folly, or blameable
excitement, to stigmatize all the United States, or all the Ameri
cans without discrimination, as fraudulent bankrupts. Out of
twenty-six states, seven have no debts at all, thirteen pay their
interest regularly, and only six do not come up to their engage
ments. Of these Maryland,! Michigan, Illinois, and Arkansas
commenced undertakings with their borrowed capital, which for
the most part are still incomplete. They are now earnestly
engaged in restoring their credit ; in order with additional means
to bring to a conclusion the works that remain unfinished, and
from which till then no income can be derived. Pennsylvania,!
who with proper exertions would doubtless have been able to
pay, and who has therefore been the most violently attacked on
the score of repudiation, has at length perceived that those
wrho violate the rights of others always do the greatest injury to
themselves ; she has imposed a tax upon herself, will pay next
year the current interest, and it is to be hoped will soon satisfy
* American Almanac, 1840, p. 105.
t The debt of Maryland is stated to be about 11 millions of dollars.
X Pennsylvania has a debt of about 37 millions of dollars, of which 30 millions
have been expended on canals and railroads.

196

TAXATION AND FINANCES.

her creditors altogether. Lastly, Mississippi has asserted that the
pretended state loans were never recommended and approved in
a legal manner, and that little or nothing of them has reached the
state treasury ; wherefore she is under no obligation to pay either
capital or interest out of the public revenues. Let those, it is
said, be responsible who received the money, or let those suffer
who imprudently furnished it at their own risk. — 'We cannot here
go into the question as to how far those persons who negotiated
the loans were empowered to do so, or transgressed the laws ; and
whether the demands of the creditors can legally be brought
against the state, or only against the recipients of the money.
We can only express a hope, — since twenty states of Ihe Union
have had no share whatever in the injustice or misfortune of
repudiation, and five are about to free themselves from it as fast
as they can, — that the twenty-sixth will also find ways and means
of coming to an agreement wilh her creditors; and that thus
the complaints of Europeans respecting America may be not
only reduced to their proper measure, but entirely removed.
Note. — I will here give, by way of example, a few further particulars respecting
the taxation of the single states.
In Alabama, taxes are levied on slaves, goods at auction, cotton in store, sales
on commission, &c. (Amer. Alman. 1844, p. 264.)
In South Carolina the principal tax was levied as early as 1787 on real
estate and slaves. In later times there has been added to it a sort of tax on trades,
and one on theatrical performances and public exhibitions of all kinds. State
ments on oath respecting property and income are made the basis of taxation ;
investigation and punishment however are resorted to in cases of necessity.
Absentees pay double.
In Georgia the land-owners have contrived to have the taxes laid chiefly on
merchandize and stock in trade ; at which of course the burthened parties loudly
complain. (Buckingham's Slave States, ii. 115.)
In Illinois the state and city expenses are raised in proportion to property ; and
this is the usual plan. (Ernst's Reisebemerkungen, p. 174.)
In Kentucky this tax amounted to only one tenth per cent.
In Massachusetts there is mention of a poll-tax on persons between the ages of
16 and 70, and a tax on personal and real estate; the former is said not to
exceed $1.50, and does not amount at most to moie than a sixth of the sum
required. All the rest comes from the property tax. Church property is not
exempt from it ; but exceptions are made in favor of the property of charitable and
learned institutions, household furniture not worth over $1000, clothing, agricul
tural and mechanical implements, young cattle, the Indians and their effects,
churches and church-pews. — As the income from bank stock (J per cent.) and
from auctions nearly covered the expenditure, the property tax was for a long lime
laid aside; and this occasioned in 1840 a new inquiry into the value of property,
which was estimated at 300 millions. The entire revenue of the state amounted
from 1837 to 1842 lo about 5J millions of dollars. In the year 1843, the expenses
in round sums were :
Pay of the legislature $70,000
Salaries 61,000
State printing 7,777
Agricultural Society 4,060
Premiums for silk culture 1,798

POST-OFFICE.

197

Institution for the Blind 9,772
for the Deaf and Dumb 2,967
Militia services 27,295
Support of paupers 56,000
The governor 3,666
&c. &c.
In Missouri, the taxes raised from lands, houses, mills, negroes, cattle, and
watches, amount to from ^j to % per cent. (Arnd's Missouri, p. 268.)
In Ohio the taxes amount to about lj per cent, of the 132 millions of dollars at
which the taxable property is estimated. (Amer. Alman. 1844, p. 278. Grand's
Handbuch, p. 139 )
In Pennsylvania the income is raised from estates, auction-sales, collateral
inheritances, tavern licenses, turnpikes, bank dividends, &c.
In Tennessee the taxable property was rated in 1840 at 125 millions of dollars,
and the taxes amounted to $136,000. (Amer. Alman. 1841, p. 227.)
In Virginia taxes are levied on lands, slaves, horses, wagons, licenses to mer
chants, attorneys, watches, pianos, &c.
In New York, the taxable property was estimated in 1840 at §654,224,000, and
the taxes produced were $3,148,000. The entire debt, the interest of which is
regularly paid, amounts to about 25 millions. (Amer. Alman. 1841, p. 195;
1845, p. 224.)

CHAPTER XXII.

POST-OFFICE.

The post-office establishment in the United States has never
been mixed with the department of finance, or viewed as a prin
cipal source of public revenue. The intention is merely to make
the receipts always cover the expenditures, and to prevent the
necessity of any additional appropriation for the benefit of rich
letter-writers. In the year 1790 there were 75~post-offices, 1,875
miles of post-roads, and an income of $37,000; in the year 1829
there were 8,004 post-offices, and 115,000 miles of road;
in 1838* there were 12,553 post-offices.
1842 " 13,733 "
1843 " 13,814 "
1844! " 14,103 "
* Report of the Postmaster General. Hinton, ii. 276. Message of 1839. Ma
son, p. 219.
t In the year 1843 there were transmitted :
Letters subject to postage, 24,267,000
" postage-free, 3,015,000
Drop-Letters for delivery, 1,026,000
Newspapers subject to postage, 36,334,000
" postage-free, 7,161,000
Pamphlets and magazines, 2,000,000, &c.

198 POST-OFFICE.
The total transportation for last year amounted to 35,409,624
miles. The entire revenue amounted in 1790 to $37,935; and
in 1844 to $4,237,285* The postage of a letter, i. e. of one
piece of paper, no matter how large it may be, is for
not over 30 miles, 6 cents.
" 80 " 10 "
" 150 " 12| "
" 400 " 18| "
over 400 " 25 "
Two pieces of paper are charged with double, three with triple
postage, &c.
Newspapers not over 100 miles pay 1 cent ; over 100 miles,
they pay 1| cents. Every publisher of a newspaper may send
(under certain regulations) a copy of his paper to all other news
paper publishers free of postage. From Maine to New Orleans,
at least 2000 English miles, the postage of a letter amounts to
little over a shilling sterling, or to from 10 to 11 silver groschen
for 500 German miles.
The post here as elsewhere, from the want of sufficient legal
provisions, has fallen into disputes with the monopolizing con
tractors of roads and railways respecting the time of conveyance
and costs of transportation.! Congress then made use of its
constitutional right, to pass a law that the department should not
pay over $300 a year per mile for the daily transportation of
one or more mail-coaches, and that the railroad companies must
demand no more. According to the contracts, usually made for
four years, the transportation per mile costs on an average,
by horse and sulky, 6T3W cents.
stage-coach, IOttj "
railroad and steamboat, 12T77 "
Jackson is blamed for dismissing an unusually large number
of postmasters, and appointing none but persons of his own
political creed.! Hence since 1836 a right of co-operation has
been given to the Senate, at least in the appointment to the most
considerable offices. Formerly the entire right of appointment
lay in the hands of the postmaster general. The postmasters
receive a share of the proceeds ; but this must not exceed a cer
tain sum.
If, as is asserted, there were actually sent in one year, by
government officers, senators, representatives, postmasters, &c,
* Among these receipts the letter postage amounted to $3,676,161, the newspaper
postage to $849,743.
t Report of 1838. The transportation for about one forty-eighth of the distance is
per railroad.
X Buckingham's Slave States, i. 233.

THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION. 199
three millions of letters postage-free,* this abuse must very con
siderably lessen the receipts. In the United States the post-
office lays no exclusive claim to the transportation of packages
and goods ;! but in recent times its exclusive right even to
the conveyance of letters has unexpectedly been disputed,
and it has been asserted that every single state and every
individual projector has the right to establish post-offices as
well as the general government. It seems absolutely necessary
that an appropriate and decisive law should be passed relative to
this subject, and that the abuses of the franking privilege should
be abolished. So long as this is not done, any considerable
reduction of the postage, without great deficits, will be impos
sible ; and indeed the entire system of national postage must sink
into embarrassment, to the serious > detriment of all the remote
lying provinces.
According to news that has just reached me, the postage of a
letter under 300 miles has been fixed at five cents, and over that
distance at ten cents.!

CHAPTER XXIII.
THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION.
Introduction of Duties — Reasons for and against Protective Duties — Nullification —
Compromise Act — Jackson and Calhoun against High Duties — New Tariff— Com
mercial Independence — Wages — New Factories — Advantages and Disadvantages
of America— Protective Duties for Agriculture — Raising of Taxes — False views
respecting Duties — Clay and Webster on the Tariff— Proposals for Compromise —
Evils and Means of Remedy — Smuggling — German Customs- Union.
The words of the Constitution of 1787 respecting the right of
Congress to levy taxes, are as follows : " The Congress shall have
power to levy and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to
pay the debts, and provide for the common defence and general
welfare of the United States ; but all duties, imposts, and excises,
shall be uniform throughout the United States."
* American Almanac for 1844, p. 132.
t Mason, pp. 134-143.
X This law went into operation on the 1st of July, 1845. It further says, that
" every letter or parcel not exceeding half an ounce in weight shall be deemed a
single letter; and every additional weight of half an ounce, or additional weight of
less than half an ounce, shall be charged with an additional single postage." — Tk.

200

THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION.

With very transient exceptions in times of necessity and war,
the general government has imposed no excise or other taxes, but
has provided for the general expenses wholly out of the sale of
public lands and the duties on imports. Yet it is said in the first
custom-law of the 4th of July, 1789, that "duties shall be im
posed for the payment of the public debt, and the encouragement
and protection of manufactures." As however they amounted to
only five per cent, on an average, no great objection was made.
But during the last war with England, many domestic manu
factures were established ; which it was said could not support
themselves on the restoration of peace, without higher duties to
protect them against British competition. It was declared also to
be but proper, to retaliate on the English corn and tobacco laws.
Hence ensued in the year 1816 the first, and in 1824 a second
augmentation of the tariff. In the year 1827 long investigations
and interrogations were ordered respecting the costs of production,
the price of labor, &c. ; and, as is usually the case, the fluctuating,
uncertain, partial information procured, led to still more erroneous
conclusions, on which was based a new and much higher protec
tive tariff for the manufacturers.* That the question of revenue
was utterly laid aside, appears from the simple fact that the pub
lic debt was then almost wholly extinguished, and the income
with good management exceeded the expenditure.
The consequence of these new custom-laws was, that on the
coast and particularly on the Canadian border,! an immense con
traband trade sprang up ; and thus honest merchants suffered, to
benefit a few smugglers and manufacturers. But the partizans of
protective duties did not suffer themselves to be disturbed by these
and similar results. They said : " The words of the Constitution
(quoted above) give to Congress absolute authority to determine
what are the wants of the general government, and how much is
required for the welfare of the whole country. As now in particu
lar the several states do not protect their fellow-citizens against
foreign and injurious competition, do not establish and promote
home manufactures, and cannot regulate the prices, all this
becomes the peculiar duty and office of Congress, to whom the
entire legislation respecting duties has been committed. Herein
consists the true American system, which every friend of his
country is bound to support."
In refutation of these views, the opponents of high protective
duties said : " Congress has a right to collect only what is actually
* Thus on ready-made clothing of every kind there was laid an import, duty
of 50 per cent, as if the tariff had been made by tailors and shoemakers. Wool was
raised from 15 to 50 percent., woollen goods from 25 lo 50 per cent., hemp from 30 to
60 per cent. — Hinton, ii. 237. M'Gregor's Legislation, p. 194.
t E. g. from the island of Campobello in New Brunswick and in Passamaquoddy
bay. — M'Gregor's America, ii. 37.

THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION. 201
needed for the payment of the public debts and for the defence
of the country. It has no right to declare that any undertak
ing seems useful to it, and that money must be raised and
expended for such purpose ; for in this way the power and influ
ence of the general government would soon undermine the inde
pendence of the several states. The easily invented pretext of the
public good, the eulogies bestowed on some dazzling scheme, will
not suffice to take money at pleasure out of the pockets of citizens ;
the more these are let alone, the less they are put into leading-
strings, the more will they succeed in the attainment of useful
objects by their own prudence and energy. All raising of the
duties beyond the public wants, and for the mere purpose of
protecting certain manufactures, is unconstitutional, unjust, and
imprudent. It is an obvious absurdity to suppose that labor,
capital, professions, trades, prices, are in this great confederation
to be restricted, regulated, or promoted in any sensible way by
the power of Congress. It is a folly and a falsehood, to call this
system of monopoly, this favoring of certain classes or pursuits,
the American system ; while it violates the doctrine of republi
can freedom and self-government ; transplants hither the errors of
Europe, in opposition to the letter and spirit of our Constitution;
selfishly or blindly wrongs the whole people, in order to gain the
applause of a few; or divides with partial hand the surplus trea
sure that has been unjustly accumulated, to attract supporters to
these false measures.
" Natural manufactures will grow up of themselves ; artificial
ones are an injury to the people, and at last to the projectors like
wise. America must and will acquire by degrees the greatest
manufactures of every kind ; but every thing has its time, and
what is forced and premature is never in season. The absurdity
and injuriousness of high rates of duty were long ago demon
strated in the justly venerated Federalist;* and yet, after so many
years of instructive experience, we return to what was then
scorned and rejected."
As early as the year 1823, the North American Review (p.
186 et seqq.) gave an exposition of the matter as moderate as it
is complete : " The laments over the distress and downfall of our
commerce are one-sided and exaggerated. These are only tem
porary crises, arising out of too great boldness; and which must
themselves be. regarded as a consequence of very great pro
gress. Other evils arise from negligence, ignorance, want of
machinery and capital ; against which protective duties would
prove no efficient safeguard. At least it would be a simpler
mode of proceeding, to seek for no specious pretexts, but give
money at once to such as have none. Protective duties, on the
* Chapter xxxv.

202 THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION.
contrary, drive capital into perverse directions, and are as absurd
and injurious for manufactures as for agriculture. — As soon as
we comprehend that specie is nothing but an article of com
merce, we perceive that it is absurd to say that a people buy
more than they sell. The balance must always be paid in cot
ton or silver. Just as absurd is it to speak of the exportation of
specie as a misfortune : it may be exceedingly advantageous ;
and under certain circumstances it may be less advantageous to
export cotton or tobacco. What we do not need we send away ;
and what would become of Mexico, if she exported no silver ?
In a free trade nothing is imported or exported beyond the natu
ral measure ; nothing is imported that we do not need, and
nothing exported that we cannot dispense with. None but an
idiot can set up the proposition, that specie is always more
needed than other things. If we want it, it comes ; if we do
not, it is better to get something else. Who complains that he
has lost a dollar, if he has bought with it a needful pair of shoes ?
When people who never had any thing turn bankrupt, they cry
out that there is a drain of specie ; and the rich cry out along
with them, in order to secure a monopoly and tax their fellow-
citizens by means of protective duties. What if the shipping
merchants, who always carry on an extensive business, were to
demand a tax on domestic manufactures, in order to be protected
against them and be able to import more ?
" Every imported article is balanced by an exported one.
The Englishman pays American, and the American pays
English industry. It is only thus that trade and commerce and
a beneficial reciprocity are possible. Some however would
senselessly wish to have foreign articles, without using and pay
ing for foreign industry, capital, &c. If I buy less, less is bought
of me, and it is foolish to expend more power or money (either
at home or abroad), when one can do with less. Otherwise we
should have to propel steamboats by hand, in order to give
employment to a greater number of people. A fall in the price
of manufactured goods does not by any means invariably indi
cate a diminution of the profits ; and even with protective duties,
it is in general only the rich who gain, while the small traders
are ruined."
The American tariff (says a sensible English paper, the
Globe) — unjust and partial in its principles, like all laws intend
ed to encourage a particular branch of industry, and calculated
to favor certain classes or districts of a country, to the injury of
the rest — bears its natural fruits; since in the provinces that
suffer from it great discontent prevails. The attempt in America
to make laws for the protection of manufactures, is, in the pecu
liar circumstances of that country, of very dubious policy and
certainly unjust, &c.

THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION. 203
Arguments drawn from science and experience, which were
urged in speeches and writings against excessive duties, as well
as the most earnest remonstrances made to Congress during
many years by the representatives of the southern states, which
had seriously suffered from them, were equally in vain ; the
majority obstinately adhered to their one-sided, erroneous views.
At last the citizens of South Carolina lost all patience ; they
increased their measures of opposition, and in December, 1832,
adopted the bold resolution, to declare the custom-laws of the
Union null and void, and to renounce obedience to them.
This resolution, which foretold a dissolution of the great and
happy federal Union, and indeed partially carried it into effect,
naturally created the greatest excitement and the most determined
opposition. Such a nullification of the Union, it was said, is
illegal, unconstitutional, imprudent, and not to be tolerated. No
single state can decide whether or no Congress has unconstitu
tionally transgressed its rights and privileges. This is the prero
gative of the Supreme Court ;* or if it be doubted whether its
jurisdiction extends so far, let it be decided by three fourths of the
votes of all the states in a convention called for that purpose.
When a contract is not fulfilled by one party, the other cannot
on that account annul and destroy it, but can only enforce its per
formance. The grievances of South Carolina are exaggerated,
the legal means for their redress have not been made use of, and
the results not waited for. The American Union is by no means
a mere alliance of independent states ; neither does any such
grievous oppression exist, as to confer the right of revolution.
How if each state were thus to single out some object of dislike
(as war, taxes, slavery, &c), and thereby seek to justify nullifica
tion and its secession from the Union ? How if, on the other
hand, the Supreme Court, or Congress, or the majority of a con
vention, should wish on that account to nullify and destroy the
nullifying state itself, or to alter the Constitution in essential
respects ? Nowhere in the Constitution is a right given to the
single states to correct Congress, in case of transgressing its
powers, by annulling the laws which it makes. Nullification is
revolution ; it breaks up the Union, and leads to war, conquest,
and subjection. Never can a single state have more weight than
Congress, never can a minority decide against the majority;
for every congressional resolution is the voice of the majority of
the people in the House of Representatives, and of the majority of
the states in the Senate. The loss that would arise from nullifi
cation would certainly far exceed any possible gain ; — and what
would then become of the public lands, fortifications, debts, free
* Knapp's Life of Webster, p. 156. Jackson's official Proclamation. Webster's
Speeches, i. 409.

204

THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION.

navigation, &c ? Accordingly no state has declared itself in
favor of nullification ; all regard it as a forbidden revolutionary
proceeding. Such were the general complaints respecting the proceedings
of South Carolina. They seem, when viewed from the point of
positive law, almost incontestable ; but they enter into no exa
mination or refutation whatever of the existent grievances and
abuses of the tariff. Let us now see how this state viewed the
circumstances in question, and sought to justify her measures.*
The substance of her declarations both official and unofficial was
as follows : According to the letter of the Constitution of 1787, and
according to the tenor of the negotiations respecting it, Congress
has no right to impose taxes for other purposes than to cover the
national expenditure. When therefore it raises money for a
monopolizing protection of one class of citizens at the expense
of all the rest, its proceedings are unconstitutional, oppressive,
and unwise. Ever since 1816, the duties have been raised
repeatedly under false pretences ; from 33 to 38 per cent, has
been laid on woollen goods, and other rates have been increased
from 7J to 100 per cent. ; yet this mass of absurdities has been
presumptuously and hypocritically called the "American system."
South Carolina did good service by stoutly opposing this mon
strosity ; and though the remedy of nullification may seem a
harsh and dangerous one, it was both lawful and necessary, and
after ten years of vain endeavor, there was no other left. Be
sides, it is a palpable and wilful misrepresentation, to assert that
the object of the so-called nullifiers was a dissolution of the Union
or a total separation from it ; they directed their attacks solely
against certain unconstitutional decrees, and acknowledged the
authority of all laws made according to the Constitution. Con
gress has no right to alter the Constitution itself; for that pur
pose other provisions have been made. As soon as these are
disregarded, the opposition of the single states is the sole and
legal means of upholding the laws, and in fact of preserving the
Union itself.
It is a self-evident proposition, that in every kind of voting,
political or otherwise, the majority binds the minority. But it is
a dangerous and wicked doctrine, that, the former can therefore
do whatever it pleases, and that all rights may be annihilated by
the force of such majority. On the contrary, the minority has
also its indefeasible rights ; otherwise this mode of decision
would be the worst kind of tyranny. The relation of the peo
ple to the representatives, of the latter to the senators, of the sena
tors to the president, of Congress to the states, shows that reliance
is by no means exclusively placed on an abstract numerical
* Statutes, i. 201. Calhoun's Life, pp. 39-46. Speeches, p. 67.

THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION. 205
majority; but, for the protection of liberty, there is given at the
same time a proportionally greater weight to certain minorities.
Thus both the letter and spirit of the Constitution prescribe to
Congress the bounds of its authority, by which no taxation of
the kind described and unhappily introduced is allowed. This
unconstitutionally creates a privileged class, lowers the price of
raw produce, raises that of manufactured goods, and ruins the
Southern agricultural states, to enrich those of the North. Sup
pose the former states were to demand similar premiums and
favors for the exportation of their productions ; what an outcry
would the Northern manufacturers and legislators raise ! Out of
100,000 citizens there is hardly one manufacturer. These con
stitute a class but few in numbers ; while the consumers are the
great body of the people.
The cheaper a man can supply one want, the more he has left
for satisfying the rest ; and natural right and natural prudence are
not to be violated, to satisfy the selfishness of a few who wish to
sell dear. He who cannot carry on a business with free compe
tition, should let it alone ; the contrary principle is in fact destruc
tive of trade, it sets the costly and artificial above the natural, and
takes much from many in order to bolster up what is unsuitable
in itself. All trade is founded on buying where the articles are
cheap and abundant ; the contrary principle leads to rearing vines
in hot-houses, and making sugar out of substances that contain but
little of the saccharine matter.
Protective duties prohibit or render difficult the introduction of
articles because they are good and cheap, and close the market of
the world to favor that of monopolists. To say, that " nothing
more is desired than a temporary protection for young manufac
tures," is mere empty talk. Never did a manufacturer volunta
rily give back to his fellow-citizens this compulsory boon, and
every passing year renders the return to sound principles more
difficult. Never was a manufacture permanently established by
protecting duties which would not have succeeded without them.
Every protective duty that impedes importation, impedes expor
tation also ; and he who will not buy, will find at length that he
cannot sell. The native manufacturers, like many agriculturists,
possess only a local interest ; and Congress has no right to show
preference and favor to such interest. They cry out to raise the
duties; because they know that they contribute to them little or
nothing, while prices are raised in a proportionate degree to their
own profit. Without this protective tariff, South Carolina would
buy 45 per cent, cheaper, and thus would be able to produce and
to sell more cheaply. On that account purchasers are now seek
ing cotton in other countries; and if the South loses this branch
of cultivation, she must be utterly impoverished ; for she can esta-
14

206 THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION.
blish no factories with negroes.* If at any time a greater cheap
ness has resulted, it was transitory and by no means a conse
quence of the protecting duties, but. of cheaper materials, improved
machinery, increased capital, competition, peace, cic. The govern
ment can do nothing to raise the price of American produce, and
it should do nothing to enhance the price of manufactured goods.
For that which is designed to secure the home market, the for
eign market has to suffer ; and high prices are of no use where
the market of the world is open. Europe answers duties with
duties ; and this will lead to Chinese institutions at last. All this
proceeds from folly that sets itself up for wisdom, and selfishness
that claims the title of patriotism.
Thomas Jefferson and Madison both declared that for unconsti
tutional decrees of Congress, nullification was the natural and law
ful remedy. Human sagacity can devise no more complete means,
no more perfect principle for a despotic government, than the unre
strained omnipotence of a majority, and the arbitrary power of de
claring what is the public good according to which such majority
should govern its conduct. The Supreme Court may resolve sin
gle doubts respecting the Constitution ; but where this is silent, the
court cannot determine any thing new, or subject to itself the indivi
dual states. It is only through the independence of the latter thatit
becomes possible to uphold the rights and existence of the minority
against the despotism of a mere majority ; and hence the question
respecting the adoption of the Constitution was decided, not by the
collective majority of the American people, but by the majority of
the states about to unite. In the. worst case, and when all other
means have been exhausted, every slate must be allowed (as
essential to its very existence) to leave the Union ; none have the
right to coerce it into remaining.
Such are the views and arguments of South Carolina. They
seem the more important, because Virginia, Georgia, North Caro
lina, Alabama, and Mississippi, began likewise to find fault with
the tariff, although they did not approve of the bold steps of South
Carolina. There was the greatest danger that the Union would
be broken up, or the protective system completely overthrown.
The idea of nullification necessarily deterred all parties from act
ing in a tyrannical or hasty manner ; it operated beneficially,
inasmuch as it led men to the abyss of destruction and gave them
a look into its depths. On all sides was urged the necessity of
mutual agreement and accommodation ; and this was seconded by
public opinion, veneration for the federal government, respect for
the individual states, and the numerous minority inimical to the
existing system. The strongest right and the most indispensable
* Jefferson said: " Whenever southern and northern prejudices have come into
conflict, the latter have been sacrificed and the former soothed."  Tucker i. 385.

THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION. 207
prudence equally ordained that the middle course, recommended
especially by Virginia, should be pursued. Notwithstanding all
complaints, there remained to South Carolina the merit of hav
ing indicated and enforced its adoption ; and to President Jack
son and all the other states the merit of demonstrating that the
preservation of the Union was of all objects the greatest in import
ance and the. indispensable condition of liberty and happiness.
Prophecies that on this or some other question the Union will
be entirely dissolved, are mostly the result of partial or exagge
rated views, or of a lack of courage and confidence. On the
contrary, the history of nullification provides a new guarantee
for the future wisdom, moderation, and stability of the Union ;
men will come to an understanding, before they drive matters to
extremes. Clay properly exerted himself to compose the differ
ence ; and rivals were unjust who saw in this nothing but a
proof of weakness. Congress in the year 1833 adopted his
reasonable proposition, that the duties should be gradually
reduced, by the year 1842, to 20 per cent. South Carolina here
upon immediately withdrew her nullifying resolutions ; and it
would seem as if quiet, unity, contentment, and the public pros
perity, had received a happy and lasting impulse.
Soon however new complaints arose, and all the great and
before mentioned evils of the succeeding years were ascribed
solely to the stoppage of the national bank and the low tariff,
although numberless other causes co-operated with these. In the
superficial estimate of the balance of trade, the most important
facts were overlooked; e. g. the large income of the Americans
from freight and shipping, from imported metals, and from loans
contracted abroad. It was erroneously desired that exportation
should increase in proportion to the population, forgetting that
this rapidly growing population consumed a great deal itself, &c.
Hence General Jackson said in 1837, in his farewell address :
" The various interests which have combined together to impose
a heavy tariff, and to produce an overflowing treasury, are too
strong and have too much at stake to surrender the contest. The
corporations and wealthy individuals who are engaged in large
manufacturing establishments, desire a high tariff to increase
their gains. Designing politicians will support it, to conciliate
their favor, and to obtain the means of profuse expenditure, for
the purpose of purchasing influence in other quarters. And if,
encouraged by the fallacious hopes of an annual distribution of
surplus revenue, the states should indulge in lavish expenditures
exceeding their resources, they will before long find themselves
oppressed with debts which they are unable to pay ; and the
temptation will become irresistible to support a high tariff, in

208 THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION.
order to obtain a surplus distribution. Do not allow yourselves,
my fellow-citizens, to be misled on this subject."*
With equal impressiveness, Calhoun, that sagacious advocate
of a reasonably free system of taxation and trade, said in 1842
as follows : " Every augmentation of the duties is a violation of
the Compromise Act of 1833. In order to give such violation
an appearance of necessity, the proceeds of the sales of land
were surrendered to the several states, the expenditures increased,
loans contracted, the public credit prostrated, and none of the
promises of retrenchment and economy were kept. Even the
detested act of 1828 was not as censurable as the new one,
because then so much instructive experience had not yet been
gained. Since that time the expenditure has been unwisely
increased from 21 millions to 27 millions, and the public debt
from 5^ to more than 20 millions ; and all this for the favorite
object of forcing upon us banks and a protective tariff. If an
alteration of the tariff was requisite for the sake of revenue, why
were many articles wholly freed from duty, while that on others
was raised to such a height, merely for the protection of a few
manufacturers, as to destroy all competition to the injury of con
sumers, and furnish no revenue at all? By cutting off' the pos
sibility of importation, exportation is also ruined ; and thoughtless
and ignorant speculators are thus attracted to artificially created
branches of industry. When these sink together into unforeseen
but very natural embarrassments, they raise a new and loud cry
for additional protective duties, and legislators unwisely and
selfishly assent even to the most preposterous demands."
" A people who do not raise the raw materials, but are forced to
buy them, cannot manufacture to advantage, if their sales are
confined lo the home market ; neither can a people that raises far
more raw produce than it can use or work up, seclude itself from
other nations by excessive protecting duties. If in the United
States capital is less abundant and wages higher than in England,
still other things are nearer at hand, cheaper, and the produce of
the country: and we have found that manufactures have flour
ished most when duties were low."
" But pernicious as the prohibitory or protective system may
be to the industrial pursuits of the country, it is still more so to
its politics and morals. That they have greatly degenerated
within the last fifteen or twenty years ; that there are less patriot
ism and purity, and more faction, selfishness, and corruption ;
that our public affairs are conducted with less dignity, decorum,
regard to economy, accountability, and public faith ; and, finally,
that the taint has extended to private as well as public morals, is
unhappily but too manifest to be denied. All this originates
* Messages, p. 594.

THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION. 209
mainly in the fact, that the most influential portion of the com
munity are not only exempted from the burden, but are benefited
by that which weighs down all the rest. Hence they crowd our
tables with unheard-of petitions, imploring Congress to impose
high taxes ; and in this they are joined by the crowd of office
holders who prosper most when the revenue is greatest, together
with the banking and other associated interests, stock-jobbers,
brokers, and speculators."
" The great popular party is already rallied almost en masse
around ihe banner which is leading the party to its final triumph.
On that banner is inscribed : Free trade, loiv duties, no debt,
separation from banks, economy, retrenchment, and strict adher
ence to the Constitution."*
These and similar reasonings lost a great part of their weight,
from the fact that the public expenditure far exceeded the reve
nue ; and sure and efficient aid within a short time appeared
indispensable. This could not be procured by mere economy,
nor by taxes on consumption or loans in time of peace ; and
thus in the year 1842, a new tariff was perforce adopted, which
in many instances raised the former 20 per cent, duties to 50 per
cent. ; indeed on seventeen important articles the duty amounts
to from 45 to 235 per cent-!
It was easy to foresee that these measures would be judged
very differently. Thus in fact one party saw in them the fulfil
ment of sacred duties towards their country and fellow-citizens,
the only means of restoring order and prosperity, the necessary
protection against European misery and beggary, the glorious
commencement of an epoch of complete independence, the
source of ample revenues and internal improvements, &c.
During the excitement of the presidential election in the sum
mer of 1844, the views and hopes of this party rose still higher.
Numbers enthusiastically advocated the tariff, as an infallible
means of speedily becoming rich ; and even the originally mode
rate leaders were perpetually driven to declarations of a more
extreme tendency: — for this tariff-intoxication there was wanted
a separate temperance society. But these very excesses necessa
rily led to a revulsion, which was manifested in the victory of Polk.
* Speeches, pp. 513-532.
f Thus, e. g. a pound of English books pays 30 cents, or as much as the German
Customs Union takes for a hundred weight. Furthermore
Cotton goods pay  49-63 per cent.
Woollen "  40-87 "
Glass  186-234 "
Gloves  50-75 "
Leather  53 "
Silks  -40-65 "
Shoes  50-75 "
Soap  50; "
Wine  60-67 " &c.

210 THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION.
The declaration of his opponent, Clay, in favor of retaining the
high tariff absolute and unaltered, must have revolted many ; al
though they acknowledged his services on behalf of the customs,
and approved his former more moderate course.
After the present over-excitement shall have passed away, some
reasonable, middle course will doubtless be adopted ; and this
problem, although sufficiently formidable in appearance, will be
more easily solved than that of slavery or the banks. Let us,
however, even at the risk of some repetitions, examine the matter
once more on all sides.
A perfectly free trade, a complete annihilation of duties, is, in
the United States as in other countries, impossible. This income
cannot be dispensed with, neither can its place be supplied by an
excise or by direct taxation. If, on the other hand, importation is
prohibited or rendered impossible by excessively high duties, this
equally results in a destruction of all revenue. Although indivi
duals of either party may have pushed their views to one or the
other of these extremes, yet the friends of free trade in general
are as far from meaning by its adoption to abolish all duties, as
the advocates of a high tariff are from desiring to put a total stop
to importation. But between these extremes there are many
intermediate points, on which men can unite and come to an
understanding. That in drawing up tariffs, respect should be had
to the proceedings of other countries, is natural and proper ;* but
it is by no means advisable or advantageous, to imitate those
foreign measures or even go beyond them. Care must be taken
especially not to be seduced by uncertain statistical enumera
tions, brief experiments, and partial conclusions, into sweeping
and erroneous measures.
The endeavor to attain complete commercial independence
(that old European, and now so-called American error) is both
foolish and impious ; commerce binds together countries and
nations for their mutual advantage, and none but an unpractical
philosopher like Fichte could regard a wholly exclusive commer
cial state as the triumph of human developement. The entire
independence of countries with respect to each other destroys all
foreign trade (witness China) ; the entire independence of fami
lies (who are to make every thing for themselves, like Robinson
Crusoe) destroys all inland trade, and leads, not to an active all-
sufficiency, but to narrowness of mind and physical want. An
American historian observes, far more correctly than the German
philosopher : " Mutual intercourse creates mutual dependence,
mutual gain, and mutual friendship. May this continue for
* England lays a duty of 103 per cent, on an average, on IS American articles of
exportation ; but she reduced her tariff at the moment when America raised hers.

THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION. 211
us and our children, for our Eastern brethren and their pos
terity."* It is a very natural and commendable desire, that of warding
off from America the poverty and misery of European factory
operatives ; but if a high protective tariff were an adequate defence
against these evils, they would certainly not have made their way
into Europe, almost all the states of which have surrounded
themselves for these two hundred years with a Chinese wall of du -
ties. It is true thatfor the moment the competition of foreign ven
ders may hereby be prevented or at least impeded ; but while pro
tecting the producers, men quite forget the unprotected consumers
equally entitled to regard, and create within the country itself an
artificial competition, which at length depresses prices and wages,
in spite of all the prohibitions against foreign goods. When it is
represented as the right and duty of one government to guard its
subjects by a high protective tariff, the same rights and duties
cannot be denied to any other government ; and thus by means of
custom-laws they all set themselves in a useless counterpoise to
each other. All depends then on whether a government has
particular reasons for such a proceeding, which others can
not adduce. The necessity of procuring employment at home
for an excessive population does not exist in the United States
and it would be ridiculous to say it did ; — but then perhaps it is
necessary to stir up the indolent, stupid, spiritless Yankees by
artificial laws, and force them to industry and enterprise ! The
same hands which manufacture only with the help of the tariff,
would probably produce more, if left to their natural employ
ments ; what is turned into one channel is averted from another,
and the number of consumers is not increased by a mere change
in their occupations.
The West and the South, goaded on by high protective duties,
are now determined to manufacture also, and to turn even the
negroes (as in the District of Columbia) into factory operatives.
" They will not drive us out of the market," say the Massachu
setts people ; but one undertaking will certainly restrict the other,
which would be only a subject of congratulation if brought about
in the natural course of things. The prohibitory system, like
Saturn, devours its own children ; and the lawgivers who at first
acted the part of godfathers to the new-born infants, very often
accelerate the child-murder by a necessary change of measures.
It is brought forward as a principal and perhaps the weight
iest reason in behalf of the high American tariff, that for the well-
being of the people it is necessary to keep wages high, and exclude
the competition of the too cheap and beggarly labor of Europe.
* Atwater's History of Ohio, p. 312. May the Western people always be of this
mind !

212 THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION.
I have already observed, that artificial protection to manufactures
almost inevitably produces by degrees a poor population, and then
an excessive reduction of wages ; but I must here protest against
another contracted view. The friends of high duties in America
only compare the wages of labor with that of Europe, and draw
from this their favorite conclusions and results, without bestowing
the slightest consideration on numerous other equally important
circumstances ; as e. g. facility of water-communication, immense
water-power, mines of coal of immeasurable extent and exceed
ingly cheap in the vicinity of the factories, iron ores incomparably
richer than in Europe* cheaper cotton raised in their own counlry,
cheap land and cheap food, far lighter taxes, no obstructions 10
industry by military service, a free internal trade from Maine to Lou
isiana, &c. &c. If these and similar advantages are thrown into
the scale of receipts, and the higher wages into that of expenditure,
it will be seen that the American manufacturer enjoys a far better
position than the European, and that the latter might lay claim
(as indeed is also done for the purpose of mutual exclusion) to
still higher protective duties. Thus, according to these principles
of political economy, the German duty on Virginia tobacco ought
to be raised higher, to compensate for the advantages of slave-
labor, climate, &c. But it seems wholly inexcusable, if viewed
after the manner of protectionists, that North American cotton
should enter duty free into Germany, and the Silesian weavers be
almost starving ; while attempts are made to destroy the cotton
factories in Germany, and to force people to buy linen shirts and
table-cloths. Such are the inextricable embarrassments into
which every government falls which endeavors to artificially pro
mote or hinder the natural and in the end the most beneficial
course of things.
As soon as one branch of manufacture desires protection
against the rest, the entire agricultural interest, with equal justice
or injustice, demands protection against the entire manufacturing
interest; and it depends altogether on chance or superior influ
ence, whether the duties are to be laid on corn, or on cotton and
woollen goods ;! — but why not protect waggoners by a tax on
railroads ? It is certain that one branch of industry (agriculture)
suffers as much injury from protective duties, as the other (manu
factures) receives benefit from a more extended use of capital.
* Even Clay admits (Speeches, ii. 41) that iron requires no protection against
England ; and the same remark was made to me by manufacturers in Lowell with
respect to the articles of their production. The American ore contains from 60 to
80 per cent, of iron, while the English ore yields only about 25 per cent.
t In America the minority of the manufacturers have for the most part decided,
and in England that of the great landholders. Hence they are termed by Jefferson,
" the nobility and landed aristocracy of England, men booted and spurred to ride the
consumers legitimately by the grace of God." Owen's Speech on the Tariff, p. 4.

THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION. 213
If when the prices of tobacco, cotton, and lard-oil begin to fall,
it were proposed to grant bounties on exportation, the shrewd
Yankees would not suffer themselves to be persuaded it was
done for their benefit.
That in Europe more respect is paid to inherited than to
acquired possessions, is true ; but both are destitute of the high
est estimation, if they are seen to be separated from mental culti
vation. Nor is labor regarded in Europe as degrading or
degraded : it is only more poorly paid, because the supply
exceeds the demand ; wherever this is not the case, wages and
prices are high.
It is possible, to be sure, that the imposing of heavy taxes (as
those in Prussia on distilling and brewing) may prove such a
spur to industry, ingenuity, and economy, as to enable the pro
ducer to sell his wares cheaper than before ; but in general every
tax increases the cost,* and must be borne either by the buyer or
the seller. Were this not the case, the manufacturers would cer
tainly advocate a reduction of the duties ; because raising them
would then diminish prices, and along with high duties smuggling
must also come to an end. No mode of levying imposts can
give to one part of the people without taking as much from the
other ; and if a manufacturer allege that he cannot yet sell cheap
with a duty of 20 per cent., he will not with one of 50 per cent.
Those who assert that high duties are attended by a fall of prices,
do not in general stop to consider whether the new and unexpect
ed act of legislation may not compel some foreign manufacturers
to put up for the moment with a loss ; and whether the diminu
tion in prices is not rather the result of numberless other circum
stances than of the tariff. People very often content themselves
with the abstract proposition, that demand alone governs prices !
but what governs the demand? Does this continue the same
with high and low duties, with prohibitions on importation and
with free trade? Are we not thus brought to the conclusion,
that high duties must make a people happy, and low duties
unhappy ?
Still more unfounded is the flattering belief, that the duties are
paid by foreigners ; and that by raising the American tariff in
particular, a great burden has been cast upon the shoulders of
the English, which American citizens formerly had to bear!!
This easy wisdom all nations would soon get by heart; the much
lauded protective system would produce the wondrous result of
forcing the English to pay the American, and the Americans to
* " In general it may be taken as a rule, that the duty upon an article forms a por
tion of its price." Thus says Clay himself (ii. 144), the present advocate of
high duties.
t Twenty-seventh Congress, third session, State of Finances, p. 5.

214

THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION.

pay the English taxes ; an increase of duties would always give
a blow to one's neighbors; and at length a happy equipon-
derance would be obtained by mutual and total exclusion. This
balancing-pole, with which old Europe and still older China
have so long exercised their rope-dancing skill, and with which
they have so often rapped their own pates, has also been taken
in hand — and it is to be hoped for the last time — in America.
He who spoils the market of others, ruins at the same time his
own ; he who regards specie as the ware of all wares, the most
desirable of all possessions, and who thinks that when one party
in trade gains the other must lose, has not yet mastered the ABC
of political economy.
It would however be most unfair to represent or complain of
the declarations of a few zealous partizans, or assertions made
in moments of high excitement, as true exponents of American
science. On the contrary, sensible men of both parties stand
nearer to each other than they themselves often think ; and
though it cannot be maintained that the Compromise Act is a
faultless and unalterable law for all times, it does not appear to
me so very difficult, as regards either theoretical doctrines or
practical experience, to establish a new and suitable compromise.
According to their own declarations, both Clay and Webster,
the advocates of a protective tariff, are willing to give their con
currence. The former says :* " Extreme measures are always evil.
Truth and justice, sound politics and wisdom, are always to be
found in the middle path, the juste milieu. All ultraism is des
tructive, and is even attended with injurious consequences. We
must reject as well the doctrine of entirely free trade, as that of
excessive duties. Let me not be misunderstood.! I am not
advocating the revival of a high protective tariff. I am for abid
ing by the principles of the Compromise Act, and am only for
giving an incidental protection to our home industry. I too am
a friend to free trade ; but it must be a free trade of perfect reci
procity. If we do not sell, we cannot buy ; and the measure of
our imports is furnished by our exports-! A duty of 20 per
cent, to be paid in ready money, and a free admission of articles
used by manufacturers, would in my opinion afford sufficient
protection. A high tariff I do not consider necessary. A system
of duties founded on common conviction and consent, implant
ed in the breasts of all, is better than one forced from a discon
tented and opposing minority. Above all the theory of pro-
• Speech in Raleigh, 23d April, 1844.
t Speech of 1st of March, 1842. Speeches, ii. 548; i. 142, 155, 230, 246; ii. 439,
582, 168, 169 ; i. 220.
X Very true ; but this rule also works the other way.

THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION. 215
tective duties presupposes that after a certain time they will no
longer be necessary. Both parties, as regards their opinions, are
equally upright, honest, patriotic, and eager to increase the hap
piness of their country. We should therefore exercise every
forbearance, and constantly exhibit moderation and affability
towards each other."
Let us now hear Webster. " I think," says he, " that a tariff
with moderate rates and carefully prepared, is useful for the
country. If the proceeds of the customs add to the surplus reve
nue, the duties must be reduced, even at the hazard of injuring some
branches of manufacturing industry ; because this, in my opi
nion, would be a less evil, than that extraordinary and dangerous
state of things, in which the United States should be found lay
ing and collecting taxes, for the purpose of distributing them,
when collected, among the states of the Union."*
On these sensible, moderate views we will rest our hopes ; and
we will not animadvert or lay any great stress upon the fact that
Clay, yielding to the zeal of many of his adherents, designated
the present tariff — which was drawn up with the greatest haste in
the moment of necessity, and passed through the Senate only by
a majority of one — as unalterable.! Injurious as unnecessary
changes in tariffs may appear, it is just as certain that there is
scarcely any part of legislation which more frequently needs alter
ation ; because the circumstances on which the scale of duties
depend are constantly varying. Errors on both sides will best
be avoided by leaving self-interest and partizanship out of the
question. Webster sneers at the demand of the democrats for a " judi
cious" tariff, on account of the general nature of the term, though
the same objection applies to the demand of the whigs for a
" sound " currency ; but it would be unjust to deduce the extreme
of absurdity from such preliminary general expressions. Web
ster's too violent accusation, that " the democratic party meditate
the utter destruction, root and branch, of the whole system of do
mestic protection,"! would deserve severer censure, had he not in
a cooler moment very commendably said : " I am quite sure that
a calm and dispassionate consideration of this whole subject, by
intelligent and enlightened men on either side of the Potomac,
would result in the conviction that there is really no such wide
difference, in regard to what the interests of the different parts of
the country require, as ought either to endanger the security of
the Union, or create ill will. For myself, I fully and conscien-
* Address at Andover, p. 25. Speeches, iii. 82.
t So once spoke Sir Robert Peel ; but he afterwards altered a great many things.
X How far the democrats are from this, is shown among other things by Mr. Polk's
letter of the 19th of June, 1844, to Mr. Kane.

216 THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION.
tiously believe that, in regard to this whole question, the interest
of the North and East is entirely reconcilable to the real, solid,
and permanent interest of the South and West." *
All sensible persons, and those in America form after all the great
majority in this respect, are agreed that the duties should not be
wholly done away with, and not be equally high for all articles;
that ad valorem duties are very difficult to estimate, and lead to
inequalities and frauds ; that a new examination is necessary as to
what articles should in future be admitted duty-free ; and that
payment of the duties in bank-notes of doubtful value should not
be allowed. Thus the field of dispute is narrowed down to the
amount and gradation of the duties — to a mere question of more
or less.
As every duty carries with it a direct or indirect protection,
while to an average duty of 20 per cent, on imports there are to
be added about 15 per cent, for freight, insurance, damage, &c,
the American manufacturer enjoys in this case an advantage of 35
per cent. If this will not suffice, even the considerate advocates of
protective duties must allow that forced trades are not advantage
ous and proper, but are artificial and injurious to all. Hence it is
said by Brough, the auditor of the State of Ohio : " In consequence
of the increase of our duties, the English have set up a system
of retaliation ; which forms a complete obstruction to trade. The
agriculturists of the West experience this first, both in the lessen
ed value of their produce, and in the diminution of the income
from their canals and other public works. The deficiency must
be covered by new taxes — an evil consequence of the recent
measures of our government!"!
Another inevitable consequence of high duties is, as before
remarked, the practice of smuggling. For, the assertion that "all
Americans are too honest and too patriotic to engage in this culpable
employment," may well admit of doubt; at least legislators should
not — contrary to the Paternoster — lead them into temptation.
Neither can the possibility of smuggling over the northern boun
dary and on the sea-coast of America, be denied. " In conse
quence," says Stephens, " of the heavy duties on regular impor
tations into Mexico, most articles are smuggled in from Balize
and Guatimala. Indeed, smuggling is carried on to such an
extent, that many articles are regularly sold for less than the
duties."! Now is not this a lamentable and wretched state of
things, where the smuggler defends the natural liberty of the peo
ple, against the despotism and partiality of their legislators?
That with the increase of trade and population in America, a
moderate duty will suffice to cover the public expenditure, is not
* Speeches, iii. 425. t Report for 1843, p. 40.
X Central America, ii. 252, 378.

THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION. 217
to be doubted; and it will also (it amounts to several millions)
certainly suffice to protect the home manufactures. Indeed the
required amount might be raised with loiver rates of duties, if a
slight tax were laid on some articles, as tea and coffee, which now
come in free. The reason assigned for this free admission, viz.
the good of the people, would appear much more commendable
and receive greater credence, were it not too flimsy to hide the
real object, which is to raise the protective duties all the higher,
and thus take with one hand more than the other gives.* The
revenues may increase either with rising or falling duties ; a sys
tem of duties may fill the treasury, and still be good for nothing.
It is true that consumption increases with the ability to buy ; but
this ability does not augment in direct proportion to higher rat.es
of duties, or in consequence of the protection granted to certain
branches of manufacture. There are in the world as many poor
agriculturists as there are poor manufacturers, and equally strin
gent tariffs have not elevated the different nations to the same
degree of prosperity. In the most recent times the states of Eu
rope have proceeded on a vast many different principles : while
one has retained its older tariff, a second has raised it, and a third
lowered it.
Facts such as these must put an end to the superstitious notions
respecting the omnipotence of a tariff, and cause a return from
extravagant hopes and fears, to that moderate course, which alone
contains within itself the earnest of its duration, and leads to uni
versal contentment.
The relations also with foreign countries, especially with Ger
many, will be improved by a judicious adjustment of the American
tariff. That the treaty with the Zollverein proposed this summer
would not be accepted in Washington, might have been foretold
without the gift of prophecy. For there were united against it
the momentary dislike of President Tyler and the intrigues rela
tive to the choice of his successor, the ignorance of the Americans
respecting German affairs, the zeal of all the friends of high pro
tective duties, the short-sightedness of some of the Hanseatic
corporations, the interference of England, &c. It is to be regret
ted that there was not some respected, well informed ambassador
at hand, to represent the interests of Germany, to allay prejudices,
and combat ill will ; but all was left to chance, or rather was
given into the hands of jealous rivals. As however the sagacity,
activity, and concurrence of the American minister Wheaton
failed to make any impression, certainly no endeavors of the
* John Quincy Adams fairly says in the letter to his constituents : " The tariff is
eminently protective, far more than it is financial." And Clay admits that several arti
cles have been freed from duty altogether, " with a view to the benefit and protec
tion of manufactures." Evans's Speech, March, 1842, p. 17.

218 THE TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION.
most able German ambassador would have succeeded ; still he
might have prepared the way for the future, removed obstacles,
and corrected errors. Thus for instance, it was asked whether
Bavaria or Prussia was the larger state ! It was asserted that
North America had no trade with Germany, but only with the
Hanse towns, and that this must come to an end with the expira
tion of the treaty! It was forgotten that the Hanse towns, and
also Rotterdam and Antwerp, re-export to Germany most of their
imports, and that on the reduction of the tariff they would
import and export still more. Men allowed themselves to be
persuaded that Prussia merely wished by means of this treaty to
force the Hanse towns, Oldenburg, and Hanover, to enter into the
Zollverein, and would then take back the privileges which she
now offered to the United States. England claimed that, accord
ing to existing treaties, she must be treated in the same manner
as the most favored nation ; and that consequently any reduction
of duties that might be allowed to Germany, must not be refused
to herself. That Germany would make considerable concessions
in return for these allowances, instead of receiving a large dona
tion gratis, the English ambassador very well knew;* but of
course he did not bring forward this point, and was glad that
neither Germans nor Americans publicly availed themselves of it.
When England puts its duties as low as Germany, whose tariff
taken altogether is the lowest in the world, America can concede
to her the same advantage. But in regulating the commerce
between two great nations, men ought not to proceed in a petty,
shopkeeping spirit, and cast up deceptive penny reckonings ; but
should seek with enlarged views to promote freer development
and closer intercourse. It is to be hoped that under the presi
dentship of Polk this course will be adopted, the merits of Whea
ton recognised, and the purely American question respecting the
participation of the House of Representatives in making com
mercial treaties easily answered. If Germany and America will
moderate their tariffs of their own free will, the desired end will
be attained, without any necessity for making treaties and thereby
tying up each other's hands.
* England lays on a pound of raw tobacco a duty of 73 cents ; and on a pound of
manufactured tobacco, $2.16. Germany on the contrary charges on a hundred
weight of tobacco-leaf -5 thalers 15 groschen, and on a hundred weight of wrought
tobacco 11 thalers. In official documents of the United States (Digest of the Cus
tom-Laws, iii. 27) praise is conferred on the liberality and wisdom of the German
Zollverein, but the opposite course is adopted.

CHAPTER XXIV.
THE ARxMY, MILITIA, AND NAVY.
Number of the Army — Division, Officers— West Point — Army Expenses — The
Militia — The Navy — Standing Armies.
Nowhere hardly is there exhibited so great a difference between
European countries and the United States, as in respect to the
army and the defence of the country. I will first communicate a
few facts, and then append my remarks.
After the peace of 1783, there were retained as a standing
army only  800 men.
in 1790, the army numbered .... 1,200 "
1796, " «--... 3,000 "
1812, " (during the war with England) 100,000 "
1821, " "  6,000 «
1S40,* " "  9,920 "
According to a resolution of the 23d of August, 1842, the regu
lar force was to be reduced to 3,920 men ;! it consisted however
in 1843 of 7,590 men, among whom were 650 dragoons, 2,100
artillery-men, 4,400 infantry, 650 riflemen, &c. In the year 1844
the army numbered 8,616 men.
The gradual increase of the army to between eight and nine
thousand men, is censured by many as excessive ; it is however
justified by others, who declare that this number, spread over a
surface of such immense extent, is too small, rather than too
large. The English, it is said, keep a comparatively far stronger
force in Canada ; against attacks or ill conduct on the part of the
Indians, a quick protection is required ; and at all events there is
needed a body of practised men, to whom in case of war the
militia may be attached. For this last reason there are placed in
the American army at least three times as many officers as in
other countries; and there is a very well conducted institution at
West Point, for educating and training them. It numbers on an
average 250 pupils, and has 30 teachers and assistants. It is richly
provided with a library and every requisite for military education ;!
and a secondary result by no means unimportant is, that the youths
* North American Review, xxiii. 246.
t American Almanac for 1844, p. 129.
X Northern Traveller, p. 33. Mason, p. 128.

220 THE ARMY, MILITIA, AND NAVY.
here brought together from all parts of the Union contract warm
friendships which are preserved through life. The president and
secretary of war select those who are to be received from the seve
ral states, in proportion to the number of their representatives.
The choice is not bestowed as in other countries on poor noble
men's sons, or other aristocrats ;* on the contrary, among 221
cadets, 59 were sons of farmers and planters, 14 of mechanics, 5
of hotel-keepers, 12 of physicians, 27 of judges and advocates, 10 of
arm y officers, 4 of naval officers, 4 of clergymen, 48 of widows, 23 of
men in various stations oflife, and only 5 were sons of public officers.
The discipline is so strict and severe, as to displease many. The
subjects of the four years' instruction are, as enumerated : the
science of war, tactics, the knowledge of fire-arms, moral philoso
phy, mineralogy, geology, chemistry, natural philosophy, experi
mental physics, mathematics, French and English. Geography
and history I do not find expressly mentioned.
It is very wisely remarked, in the Report of the Examining
Committee respecting the Academy in the year 1842, that the
cadet should be so educated, as to acquire a love and a taste for
all liberal studies, and that he should be penetrated with the
desire of employing every leisure moment in the cultivation of
his mind and the increase of his intellectual acquirements.
It is remarkable and characteristic, that in Europe the occu
pying of the cities with soldiery, especially the larger ones, is
regarded as absolutely necessary to the maintenance of order and
obedience; while in America no military whatever are stationed
in the cities, but all are distributed along the borders and among
the forests. In these fixed quarters, fortified in part against the
attacks of Indians, the officers, notwithstanding much severe exer
tion, have still leisure enough at eighty stations to render many
services to physical science, to make observations with barometers,
thermometers, hygrometers, &c! The pleasing results of this
scientific activity on the part of well instructed officers have
brought many things to light in America for which in Europe
observers of a similar kind are wanting.
If we reflect that in America there is no conscription whatever,
no obligation to serve in the army, that with high rates of wages
every one can earn a great deal, while the large proportion of
officers increases the expense, — it will appear very natural that a
given number of soldiers should cost far more in America 1han
in Europe, where the government pays the conscripts whatever
it pleases, where many supplies and quarterings are not put into
* Yet it has been remarked, and with justice, that it is not advisable that youths
who are too poor should devote themselves to the military profession in America,
and have to wait for tedious and uncertain promotion.
f Forry, Climate of the United States.

THE ARMY, MILITIA, AND NAVY. 221
the account, and no notice is taken of what the volunteer and
the officer are obliged to spend over and above their pay, and
where to set down time as any thing profitable or valuable is
never thought of. Very characteristically and very justly, the
time spent in military exercises (e. g. in the militia) is reckoned in
the official statistical documents of the United States as a tax, and
the value of the time which the people thus bestow is set down
as an expense.
Notwithstanding all these particulars which directly or indirectly
increase the expenditure of the war office, people are frightened
when the secretary of state annually demands for that department
twelve millions of dollars. This example however shows very
clearly how easily and how greatly figures may deceive, when
not subjected to a closer scrutiny. Thus among these 12 millions
there lie concealed :
for improvements of roads  $587,000
surveys  71,000
lighthouses  116,000
harbors and rivers  1,713,000
Indian department  842,000
pensions of all kinds  2,499,000
After these and other immense items of expendi
ture, there is then set down the " pay of the
army," at  \ . . 555,000
clothing expenses, at about  395,000
and so on. Suffice it to say, that the whole expenditure for the
army, fortifications, the military academy, stores, &c, amounts
only to from one fourth to one third of the apparent total given
above. The men enlisted, usually for five years, must be
between the ages of 18 and 35, at least five feet in height, and
acquainted with the English language. Those who are willing
to remain in the service after their time is out, receive by way of
extra compensation three months' pay* Among the provisions
* A company of infantry has a captain, a first lieutenant, a second lieutenant,
four sergeants, four corporals, two musicians, and eighty rank and file. A company
of artillery has three gunners in addition, but only 80 rank and file. A regiment
numbers : Dragoons  649 men
Artillery  585 "
Infantry  557 '
Riflemen  549 "
The yearly expense of a private of dragoons is :
for pay  $96.00
food  43.80
clothing  32.43
Total $172.23
15

222 THE ARMY, MILITIA, AND NAVY.
which the soldier receives are enumerated tea, sugar, rice, beans,
potatoes, meat, &c. The serving out of spirits in the army has
been entirely done away with ; its place is supplied with coffee,
sugar, or a compensation in money.* In the navy no one
receives spirits who is under twenty-one years of age ; older
persons have their choice.
Many assert that the expenses occasioned by the army and
navy might be considerably diminished without injury to the
public service ;! or rather that by a neglect of proper foresight
and economy, they have gradually been suffered to attain such
an overgrowth, that every soldier and every sailor now costs
incomparably more per annum than he did twenty years ago.
Although this censure, may be just, the pay of the army is still not
so great as to attract Americans born ; on which account foreigners
are also taken into the army. It is certain that many expenses,
as for instance the costs of transporting men and munitions of
war, have been greatly reduced by the construction of roads,
canals, and railways : thus it is said that to transport a mortar
from New York to Buffalo now costs 24 instead of 200 dollars.
It is a principle distinctly laid down and strictly adhered to, that
the military is altogether under the control of the civil power and
is to be directed by it.
An institution of more importance than the small standing
army, or at least of a more national character, is the militia,
respecting the formation of which a complete law was passed as
early as 1792. Every able-bodied man between 18 and 45 years of
age, is bound to serve in it and to provide his own accoutrements.!
Of a private of artillery :
for pay   SS4.00
food  .43.80
clothing  27.58
Total $155.38
Of a private of infantry :
forpay  $84.00
food  43.80
clothing  27.45
Total $155.25
The yearly receipts of the officers, in the shape of pay, rations, compensation, &c,
is thus given :
Major-general Scott, commander-in-chief  $7,539
Two brigadier-generals  $4,436 to 4,951
A colonel (according to the arm to which he belongs)  2.298 " 3,781
A major  1^530 ¦' 2,fc7
A captain  1,113 " 2,024
A first lieutenant  821 " 1,355
A second lieutenant  , . .797 " 1 290
* Grund, Handbuch,[p. 24. Mason, pp. 127, 130.
t Calhoun, Speeches, pp. 463, 467.
} Jackson, in 1814, at the battle of New Orleans, took colored men into his army,
and they behaved better than was expected.

THE ARMY, MILITIA, AND NAVY. 223
The president is empowered to call out the militia and put them
into actual service.
The general regulations respecting the militia are rendered
more specific, clear, and complete, by tho laws of the several
states ; although these are not perfectly unanimous. I give a few
examples. In Massachusetts, every white male between 18 and 40 years
of age is bound to serve in the militia. Official personages and
clergymen, the Quakers and Shakers, are however excused,
although not always without paying.
Each one procures his own uniform and accoutrements, accord
ing to certain regulations ; or else he takes them from a military
depot. Artillery, standards, and musical instruments, are pro
vided by the state. The officers of the militia, and also of the
army, are appointed in different ways by the senate and represen
tatives, by the governor, and by the officers themselves. Subal
tern officers and captains choose the militia-men. Each officer
and private who performs all his duties receives a bounty.* The
number of training-days is very small; non-attendance and some
other misdemeanors are punishable by fines. About 10,000
separate from the mass as volunteers, and in case of need are
first called out; these are more carefully drilled, and if they
fulfil all their duties are more highly paid.
In Alabama, the fines for non-attendance are :
for a private in the militia, from 1 to 3 dollars,
a lieutenant, " 3 to 30 "
a colonel, « 10 to 100 "
In New Hampshire and Kentucky there are similar regulations
to those in Massachusetts.! He who from religious scruples will
not appear in person, pays a dollar a day during the period of
service. Many subalterns are chosen by the higher officers. For
military offences there is a court martial. The officers wear the
same uniform ; for the privates no dress is prescribed.
In South, Carolina, public officers, clergymen, school-teachers,
pilots, and a certain number of persons that cannot be spared from
mills, forges, &c, are exempt-! ^ tne mjlifia is employed out of
the state, it receives the pay of the regular army. If kept engaged
for a considerable time within the state, the monthly pay, to which
some supplies are added, amounts to six dollars and a half. A
uniform is prescribed. The officers are mostly chosen by elec
tion either by their inferiors or superiors. The governor pre
scribes when and how often they are lo train. In this, however,
colonels and majors also have a voice.
In Virginia, the militia are exercised for four days in the year ;§
* American Almanac for 1841, p. 187. t State Laws, p. 1167.
% Statutes, viii. 485. § American Almanac, 1839, p. 170; 1844, p. 1*7.

224 THE ARMY, MILITIA, AND NAVY.
and the officers are required, in addition, to train three days before
the regimental muster.
The whole number of militia in the year 1844 is stated at
1,750,000 men. Of these
Massachusetts furnishes .... 86,000
Virginia, "  116,000
New York, "  180,000
Ohio, "  180,000
Pennsylvania, "  247,000, &c.
Every where is exhibited a disinclination lo spend much money
and time in paying and exercising the militia. Yet it is said that
many young men willingly enter the militia, for the sake of the
gay dresses, and to win the admiration of the ladies. *
Every European officer will declare that three or four days'
training in the year is insufficient ; they will also find fault with
the want of uniforms which is sometimes seen,! will animadvert
upon the variety of accoutrements, will be offended at the idea
of training in shirt-sleeves, and will regard it as a horrible crime
for the men to amuse themselves with attaching paper queues (as
I was once told they did) to the backs of the officers standing
before them ; nor would it meet with their approbation that, when
the fines for absence are to be inflicted, the reporting officer
should be prevented from reaching the court-room by a crowd
brought together for the purpose, and thus after the time has
elapsed be forced to go away. Indeed in the new constitution
of New Jersey, it is enumerated, as I learn, among the inaliena
ble rights of man, that no fines should be paid for absence on
a training-day. The humorous proceedings here alluded to meet
with scarcely less sympathy lhan the serious ones, and all is dis
posed of without any visible enforcement of strict obedience or
severe punishment. It would be the grossest absurdity, say the
Americans, and the most useless expenditure of time, strength,
and money, for us to exercise our militia like a European army.
would cost us still more, and be of no sort of use. Buckingham
notwithstanding found the militia of Georgia so well drilled and
clothed, that he places them on a level with the Parisian National
Guard.! In New Orleans there was exhibited, chiefly among the
French inhabitants, a predilection for military exercises and
parades ; and I myself have in several places witnessed reviews of
militia which could not be distinguished from those of European
troops. Competent judges are of opinion, that out of the militia of
more than a million and a half, 100,000 men might be selected
for a first draft, and more carefully drilled. At any rate, on some
* Buckingham's Eastern States, i, 28. f Slave States, i. 126, 355 ; ii. 69.
} Duncan, i. 229.

AND NAVY.

225

serious occasions, evil consequences have been seen to result from
the present state of things. Thus in the war conducted by Jack
son against the Creek Indians, the militia in an unbecoming
manner demanded leave to go home ; and in 1813, the negligent
Americans were every where beaten by the strictly disciplined
English troops. But when the former saw how much was at
stake, and what their country and their honor demanded of them,
they very soon learned (like the Prussians in 1813) what the pro
fession of arms requires, and their enthusiasm effected what no
mechanical discipline can ever accomplish. They obtained at
New Orleans under Jackson and on the Canadian borders the
most brilliant victories, even over Wellington's veterans; and
General Harrison found himself compelled, particularly with
respect to the Kentucky volunteers, to issue the surprising com
mand, that they must restrain their boldness and moderate their
excessive ardor.*
An American seaman who was pressed on board an English
man-of-war, chopped off one of his hands, to disable himself
from serving the enemies of his country, and said : " If that is not
sufficient, I have still a hand left to strike off a foot."f The
Roman feeling of this sailor, which was not, like that of Mucius
Scsevola, connected with a crime, and the enthusiastic courage of
those militia, are not to be produced by drilling on the parade-
ground ; a right*knowledge and appreciation of the inestimable
blessings of peace cause the flame of true bravery to burn up far
more brightly and strongly than a fondness for long destructive
wars. During their voyages across the ocean and upon the dan
gerous Mississippi, in their struggles and privations among
swamps and wildernesses, the Americans need a constant and
determined bravery of disposition, which is seldomer found and
seldomer appreciated, than mere military courage. They are the
greatest conquerors in peace that history knows. It is there that we
usually find exhibited the most laudable and noble courage, where
men, supported by higher views of the destiny of individuals and of
nations, dare to despise the vain '•glory" of military conquerors and
destroyers. This peaceful bravery surpasses all warlike courage
that depends on mere over-excitement; and thus that which ren
ders Germanic North America glorious, South America has never
yet been able, to attain. And indeed the same may now be
said of Europe, to which the words of the virtuous Pestalozzi
too well apply: "Many take more delight in looking at the
parades of idle soldiers, are better able to judge of their deport
ment and their finery, and prize them more highly, than they do
the industry and the honor of citizens."!
# Schoolcraft's Travels in the Mississippi Valley, p. 26.
t F. Wright's Views of America, p. 312,
X Raumer's Geschichte der Padagogik, ii. 301.

226 THE ARMY, MILITIA, AND NAVY.
The Americans are just as little desirous of keeping up a
numerous navy, as a large standing army ;* yet according to the
latest summary, they possess 10 ships of the line, 15 frigates, 23
sloops of war, 7 brigs, 8 schooners, 8 steamers, and 4 store-ships-!
It was shown in the year 1814, that the Americans could very speed
ily strengthen their naval force from stores laid up, man their ships
with able seamen, and even overcome the English. In addition to
this, they took in the years 1813 and 1814 over 1600 merchant ves
sels.! Both parties bitterly felt the misery of thai war, and they
certainly will not lightly break the salutary peace by any dispute
about a boundary. It is to be hoped however that the power of
Congress and of the single states either is or will be made suffi
ciently strong, to prevent rash and passionate individuals from be
ginning feuds on their own score, and thus endangering the peace
and safety of entire nations.^ " War," said the peaceful democrat
Jefferson, "is a wholly useless implement for redressing wrongs ;
it multiplies the loss, instead of furnishing compensation for it."
Standing armies, which were originally regarded (like the libe-
rum veto in Poland) as a folly and a misfortune, are now looked
upon as useful, necessary, indispensable, and salutary. Panting
in their grasp and drained of her best blood as if by vampyres,
Old Europe drags on her feeble yet over-excited existence,
unable to accomplish as great objects as were formerly within
the power of a single city (Cologne for example*, or Strasburg)
or of one state of America just born in the wilderness. || With
the outlay made for European armies, or even for fortifying
Paris, it would have been possible, by the adoption of well judged
measures, to effect vast internal improvements, and to free the
oppressed masses from their burdens and elevate them in the
social scale, without the slightest danger to the state. It is not
true that necessity imposes that brilliant but blighting curse to its
present wide extent ; certainly not in the mighty kingdoms of
France and Russia. On the contrary, they are every where the
result of ancient abuses, custom, errors, prejudices, poverty, vanity,
want of employment, indolence, <fcc.
* " I should consider it as madness in the extreme in this government, to attempt
to provide a navy able to cope with the fleets of Great Britain, whenever they might
be met." — Clay's Speeches, i. 25.
t Amer. Almanac for 1845, p. 120. Message of 1844, p. 518. Some of these
vessels are not yet quite completed.
t Warden, iii. 430. The navy costs more than the army. The seamen are very
well paid. Sailors and stewards, when in service receive from $300 to $750 a \ ear;
a lieutenant, from $1200 to $1800 ; and a captain from $3,500 to S4.500. On board
a steamboat in Alabama, the white sailors received $40 a month. — Buckingham's
Slave States, i 264.
§ Message of 1837.— Annual Register, 1838, p. 484.
|| In Mexico likewise the numerous armyisthe ruinof the finances; and yet itwas
entirely routed by a handful of Texans ( Miihlenpfordt, i. 397). Since 1820, all the
disturbances and insurrections have proceeded from that army and its leaders.

THE LAW AND THE COURTS. 227
Transplant the Americans and their system to Russia, and the
standing army will be superfluous ; the distinction between citi
zens and soldiers, so injurious to real freedom, will be at once
removed ; and the country and its president will be far safer with
out one mercenary soldier, than the emperor of Russia with his
body-guards. Were genuine Christianity and genuine philanthropy to find a
place in the hearts of all kings and all nations, no standing army,
no vast apparatus of hatred and enmity would be needed ; and
modern regenerated Europe would put forth with redoubled
vigor new flowers and new fruits, upon the stock of its ancient,
glorious, and manifold civilization.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE LAW AND THE COURTS.

Legal System — Legal Studies — The Supreme Court — Circuit Courts, District
Courts, and Courts of Equity — Justices of the Peace — Lynch Law — Mexico —
Juries — Criminal Law — Bankrupts, Debtors — Number of Criminals — Law of
Inheritance — Marriage, Divorce.
If it is very difficult for a foreigner to comprehend the law of
England and the constitution of its courts of justice, it is still
more difficult to become thoroughly acquainted with the corre
sponding features of the American system. For :
In the first place, the Revolutionary contest was not at all
directed against the existing private law and the constitution of
the judiciary ; on the contrary, the English system, complicated
as it is in many particulars, was for the most part retained.
Secondly, even after the separation from the mother-country,
it was permitted to refer to the decisions of the English courts
which preceded, but not. to those which followed that event.
Thirdly, a peculiar American development could not fail to
take place. This however was far from being exactly alike in
all the states ; and the departure was still wider in the Spanish
and French systems of law, which prevailed in Florida and
Louisiana. Indeed the twenty-six states exist under such a variety of
circumstances, that it would have been impossible to fit them
with one general code of laws, or to commit such an office to

228

THE LAW AND THE COURTS.

Congress. On the other hand, most of the states have themselves
formed codes, or at least statute-books, and — what is doubly
necessary in America — have made them accessible to the people
by composing them in their simple mother-tongue, and (as in
Ohio) by the translation and explanation of the scientific terms.
Moreover there are instructive works, both large and small, from
the pens of Kent, Story, Walker, and others, which are intelligible
even to non-professional people, and treat of public law, the
rights of persons, the rights of things or law of property, the
criminal law, and legal proceedings.
The study of legal scienceliowever is in many respects limited in
America, and takes little or no cognizance of the earlier historical
development, of the Roman law, and of the legal views promul
gated by philosophers. After at the most a two-years' course at
the University, students hurry into practice with a view to
income, and regard the profession of a lawyer as the best pre
paration for that of a statesman ;* though the latter never can and
never should be satisfied with the views of a mere attorney.
Nevertheless there are found in America some generally received
principles which are equally important for the lawyer and the
citizen, equally fruitful in results, and of general application.
For example : There is no national church, and no distinction of
rank or inheritance. All citizens have equal rights and duties,
and the union of the states is founded upon a compact. The
sovereign power rests with the people, and shows itself in the
majority of votes. Laws refer only to rights and actions, not to
morals and opinions, &c.
In America there are two classes of law courts, whose spheres
of action are peculiar and wholly distinct, although at times they
intrench upon one another's spheres of operation ; namely, the
United States' courts and those of the separate states. To the
former belong : 1. The Supreme Court,
2. The Circuit Courts, and
3. The District Courts.
First, the Supreme Court is composed of a chief justice and
eight judges, whose sphere of action is determined by the Con
stitution.! Though it attracts less attention and interest, and pos
sesses less political influence than the two Houses of Congress
and the president, still it is of the highest importance and useful
ness. It is in the United States alone that the highest court of
judicature has the right to interpret the Constitution ; to reverse
such resolutions of Congress and of the states as are opposed to
* " Like greyhounds when the game is started, you pant to be let loose." —
Walker, p. 17.
t See page 75.

THE LAW AND THE COURTS. 229
that instrument; and generally to maintain itself as the third
co-ordinate branch of the government, the Judiciary, in contra
distinction to the Legislative and Executive branches. Still this
power does not by any means extend beyond the interpretation
of the Constitution : the court can neither change it, nor limit the
rights of the people in this respect. Otherwise this ostensible
application of the law would be very likely to degenerate into
legal tyranny ; since, as history has often shown, mere jurists are
far from being the best advocates and defenders of civil liberty.
Peculiar and even embarrassing relations arise from the cir
cumstance that the Supreme Court decides some cases alone,
others by appeal, and in others again it has concurrent jurisdic
tion with the state tribunals.
Secondly, there are nine circuit courts, each composed of two
judges, one of the Supreme Court of the United States and one
of the court of the state. These courts, which sit twice a year,
take cognizance of various matters in the first instance, and of
others by appeal from the district courts ; while other causes are
carried up from the circuit and district courts, to the Supreme
Court of the United States.
Thirdly, there are thirty-five district courts* each composed of
only one judge. They decide (excluding the state tribunals)
respecting all crimes and misdemeanors against the United
States, and in many civil suits in which the general government
or its officers appear as plaintiffs ; and lastly, they have juris
diction as admiralty courts in matters relating to the sea, to
consuls, &c.
I cannot here enlarge upon the exact condition of these tri
bunals, or upon the constitution and gradation of the courts in
the several states. It is enough to remark in general that the
English organization is every where taken as the foundation.
The very complicated forms of proceeding which sometimes
occur have rendered courts of equity and chancery necessary in
the United States, as well as in England. Decisions however
are far from being made according to the dictates of uncertain
feeling or mere caprice, without respect to law; on the contrary,
the course of practice has here also reduced every thing to settled
proceedings, the peculiarity of which consists chiefly in dispens
ing with certain very difficult and involved forms, in facilitating
the reception of testimony, and in not always requiring the aid of
a jury. Out of a thousand lawsuits only about twenty are
brought before these courts of equity ; which for the most part
are held by the same judges, though not constituted alike in all
the states.
The judges of the United States courts are appointed by the
* By the last accounts this number is already increased.

230 THE LAW AND THE COURTS.
president, mostly with the sanction of the Senate ; the judges of
the separate state courts, and also the justices of the peace (who
decide many causes in the first instance, and with merely verbal
proceedings) are appointed or chosen by the governors, the legis
latures, or the people. Their term of office is from one to three
and even seven years, or during good behavior; more danger cer
tainly arises from too frequent changes than from too long continu
ance in office. It is unreasonable to find fault (especially in the
new states, where there are few persons of legal acquirements)
with the choice of farmers and other such non-professional men
for justices of the peace. These very persons are best acquainted
with most of the matters that come before them, and have the
greatest influence in preventing the adoption of arbitrary and
lawless measures.
The so-called Lynch law, or resort to tar and feathers, which
cannot be justified or even palliated in a country whose social
and legal institutions are completely formed, exhibits, in addition
to a reprehensible licentiousness, defects both in making and exe
cuting the laws, to supply which recourse has been had in all
times and places to violent attempts of this sort. The traveller
Hail says : " An administration of justice cheap and at every
man's door, is the heaviest curse ever inflicted upon a coun
try." According to this mode of reasoning, a justice expensive
and remote would also be the best ; but in fact it is the want of
near, upright, and acknowledged tribunals, that has mainly given
rise to the despotism of Lynch law. If ever such outrages occur
in populous states like New York, they are evidence of an auda
cious presumption which sets private opinion above the law, sub
stitutes popular licentiousness for popular rights, and absurdly
doubts of the possibility of a legal reformation of abuses.
Those who first settle in the distant forests and prairies of the
West are no doubt in part hard-handed men, of coarse feelings,
and disinclined to obey laws that are not to their liking.* Expe
rience teaches us, say they; that a man lives more agreeably and in
greater freedom, if he has but few neighbors. But gradually the
population becomes more dense, and the children and grand
children of the first settlers must accustom themselves to another
sort of freedom, where the individual is not lo follow out his own
views in redressing his own wrongs.
Vastly worse is it in Mexico, where, in the province of Oajaka
alone, from 1824 to 1831, over two thousand murders were com
mitted ;! and where, in the city of Mexico and its immediate vici
nity, the number amounts to about one hundred and fifty a year.
Even in Europe there occur instances of violence, which remind
* Murray, ii. 421. Long's Rocky Mountains, i. 106.
t Muhlenpfordt, i. 322.

THE LAW AND THE COURTS. 231
us of the horrid practice of self-redress known under the name of
Lynch law : for example, the outcry raised against the Jews ; the
storming of the house of Haber in Carlsruhe ; the riotous pro
ceedings against a clergyman in Heidelberg; the contests of the
Swiss respecting the Jesuits, &c.
The proceedings of the Courts are every where public, and
juries are summoned in every important civil and criminal cause.
Fifteen compose what is called the grand, and twelve the petty
jury in criminal cases ; five are required in matters relating to
apprentices, seven in investigations of insanity, and six in disputes
with regard to property.* Many in America complain of the
provision, that the jury must be unanimous. In several cases a
second trial is granted with a new jury, for example in case of
improper conduct on the part of the jurymen, or of a verdict that
manifestly contradicts the evidence, or where new and important
circumstances have been brought lo light-! Jurymen in general
must possess the same qualifications as voters, and there are pre
cise regulations as to their selection, rejection, &c-! They
usually receive a compensation of a dollar and a quarter for
every day's attendance, and five cents for every mile of travel.
According to the letter of the law, the jury decides only upon the
fact; but in truth they often decide, in America as well as else
where, on the legal question inseparably connected with it; and
in this they mostly follow their feelings, being guided by the cir
cumstances of each individual case. This may be the manifesta
tion of a noble and more lofty sense of right, § and may supply the
defects of legislation ; or their decisions may proceed from pas
sion and partiality, and undermine the necessary rules of law.
Yet where the people effectively co-operate in making the laws,
they would probably observe these rules more strictly than else
where, where the laws are often so framed as to have a one-sided
bearing. If notwithstanding we condemn the excessive lenity
of many proceedings of the Americans, they on the other hand
often find fault with our severity, as for instance towards Silvio
Pellico, Jordan, Behr, Hoffman, Eisenrnann, and others.
The criminal law differs in different states ; in general how
ever it is very mild, so that the capital punishment, hanging, is
inflicted for only a few crimes ; for the most part only for murder
# In some states such is the case ; but the practice varies widely in the different
states. — Te.
t Walker, p. 538, especially in Ohio.
X In Massachusetts, for example, they must be people of good understanding and
fair character. State or United States officers, clergymen, physicians, and persons
over sixty years of age, are exempt. The lowest ratio is one juryman for every one
hundred inhabitants ; the highest, one for every fifty. For every trial, they are
selected by lot ; and under certain circumstances, as many as twenty may be rejected.
§ In that case the jury exercises a sort of pardoning power.

232 THE LAW AND THE COURTS.
and treason* Vagabonds and other worthless characters however
betake themselves to where the laws are the mildest. Corporal
punishments exist in only a few states, and are seldom inflicted.
There is in the United States no general bankrupt law ; and
from this much evil has resulted. The imprisonment of honest
debtors is for the most part abolished, or will soon be so. Where
there is nothing, imprisonment does no good ; and confinement
usually increases the debtor's inability to pay-! Creditors
loo must be careful in trusting out their money. In cases of
failure in business, a proportionate division of the property among
all the creditors usually takes place. The laws of the different
states are not unanimous as to whether a subsequent inheritance
shall be subject to the unsatisfied claims of creditors, or not.
That the number of crimes against the person should decrease,
and those against property increase, is to be expected with the
advance of civilization and the growth of wealth. Besides
this, innumerable causes and circumstances exert such a mani
fold and important influence over the increase or diminution
of crime, that it is impossible from mere figures and statistical
tables to draw accurate conclusions as to the morals of a people.
Slaves apparently commit fewer crimes, because the masters
themselves usually punish them. The crimes of the colored
people and of free negroes depend no doubt chiefly on the degree
of immorality prevalent among them ; but somewhat also on their
civil position, the stricter laws sometimes enforced against them,
different proceedings as to proof, the difficulty of procuring testi
mony in their favor, &c.
As to the right of inheritance, there are many minor points of
difference :! but the abolition of the right of primogeniture, and
the equal division of estates among the heirs, are universal ; and
* In New York, capital punishment is inflicted only for murder, treason, and arson
in the first degree. Homicide is punished with imprisonment for from two to seven
years ; rape, compulsory marriage, and duelling, for different periods up to ten years ;
bigamy, for five years. If an intoxicated physician prescribes for a patient, it is
treated as a misdemeanor, and punished. In Pennsylvania, murder in the second
degree is punishable with from two years, to life-long imprisonment ; homicide, from
two to six years ; arson, one to ten ; sodomy, one to five ; forgery, one to seven ;
horse-stealing, one to four; perjury, one to five years. The punishment is made
much heavier in case of a repetition of the offence. In Massachusetts, the strange
proposition has been made, either to abolish capital punishment altogether, or to
pass a law that the clergy should execute the sentence on a Sunday before the church
door, since God demanded blood for blood. The laws against duelling are very strict
in many of the states.
t In the year 1839, there were imprisoned in Baltimore 230 persons, whose debts
did not amount to ten dollars each ; and eight, where they did not exceed one dollar.
X E. g. in Massachusetts the parties who inherit are : a. The children in equal
shares, and grandchildren in like manner when there are no children; otherwise
representation per stirpes takes place. 6. The father, c. Brothers and sisters and
their children, together with the mother, d. The mother alone, if there are no sur
viving brothers and sisters, e. Other relatives of the nearest ancestor. /. Illegiti
mate children succeed to the mother.

prisons. 233
the practice is attended with the most important consequences.
The extremes of wealth and poverty are thereby prevented ; popu
lation, comfort, and activity promoted ; and more is gained in a
political point of view, than is ever possible under the opposite
system. The father is not bound by law to give each child a por
tion, nor are children and grandchildren bound by law to support
parents and grandparents : hitherto, however, natural affection
without compulsion has proved a sufficient inducement to what
is reasonable and praiseworthy.
Marriage is regarded as a civil contract ; and clergymen are
not allowed to perform the ceremony, till certain regulations in
this respect are complied with. Grounds for divorce are not the
same in all the states. Those commonly cited are : adultery,
impotence, intentional abandonment, imprisonment for felony,
habitual drunkenness, and long continued cruel treatment.

CHAPTER XXVI.
prisons.
The Philadelphia and Auburn Systems — Reformation of Prisoners— Instruction-
Female Prisoners — Reconciliation of both Systems.
It is well known that in the United States two kinds of prisons,
or two systems for the treatment of prisoners, are in use : viz.
the Auburn, called also the silent system ; and the Philadelphia
system of solitary confinement. Both have found such earnest, I
may say passionate assailants and defenders, that we are reminded
of the exaggerations of various theological controversies, and
cannot but wish that their zeal was tempered with greater mode
ration* It is certain that the prisons on both systems have been
essentially improved by the exertions of judicious and well
intentioned men. All have more reason to rejoice at this, than
# When it is stated, for example, that the Pennsylvania system is attacked only by
"itinerant book-makers or morbid hallucinations of philanthropists." — Report of the
Western Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, 1843, p. 4. Or when itis said that opposition
has arisen " either from a spirit of reckless denunciation, or a prejudice which is
created by a mercenary opposition." — Fifteenth Report on the Eastern Penitentiary
of Philadelphia. Or this assertion : " The Auburn system is an inhuman, a debas
ing, a degenerate institution, conducted without shame or remorse." — Smith's De
fence of the Solitary system, p. 92. When it is asserted that " the Pennsylvania
system has fully satisfied its authors and advocates" the same of course may be said
of the opposite system.

234 prisons,
to indulge in mutual recriminations ; more reason to learn from
one another, than to depreciate and misrepresent essentials on
account of minor details. Thus for example, evils are charged
now upon one system, and now upon the other, or represented
as inseparable from it, which either exist in both systems or can
not exist at all. The cruelty for instance or lenity of the keepers,
good or bad food and clothing, longer or shorter duration of
punishment, larger or smaller cells, and a better or worse mode
of warming or ventilating them, — these and similar things may
or may not be connected with either system. They mostly
depend on the abundance or deficiency of means, and still more
on the character of the prison officers. One who has examined
many prisons knows, that an establishment managed professedly
upon the same principles assumes an entirely different character
according as it is under an able or an incompetent director.
Leaving oul of view accidental circumstances, whether favorable
or unfavorable, that may belong to either system, there remains
one highly important point of difference : namely, that according
to the Philadelphia plan, the prisoners are kept wholly separate
from each other day and night ; while upon the Auburn plan, they
work together during the day, and are confined in separate cells
only at night. Highly as these different practices may be esti
mated, it appears to me contrary to a scientific use of language,
to apply to them the name of system. To a system should belong
the combination of apparently opposite and manifold particu
lars ; the subjection of the whole to general principles ; and
an essential distinction between the leading idea, the mode
of carrying it out, and the final results. Human freedom or
restraint, accountability or non-accountability, corporal pun
ishment, or incarceration, or transportation, — these would be
contrarieties on which to found systems, rather than a simple dif
ference in the mode of incarceration. Be this as it may, the seem
ingly very simple question, Are you in favor of solitary con
finement by night, or by day and night? is not always as easily
affirmed or denied as is often desired. Until a multitude of
other questions have been answered and many secondary par
ticulars made known, until one is enabled to descend from the
abstract to the concrete, it is impossible to give any but a
partial and hasty answer. What classes of offenders are to
be incarcerated, for how long a time, at what occupation, in
cells large or small, healthy or unhealthy ? These and many
other points must be first discussed and determined, before a
decision can properly be given. To me it appears erroneous to
adhere exclusively to one or the other method, without regard to
controlling circumstances. I believe it possible to unite the two,
to acknowledge and adopt the good in each, and to point out

prisons. 235
their defects and extravagances. Especially is it wrong to treat
the most different classes of transgressors in the same manner,
and in unequal circumstances to set up an abstract, untrue equality
in the eye of the law as the ultimate aim ; when, on the contrary,
we should shape and graduate the law, the treatment, and the
punishment, according to these circumstances.*
If we reflect, that in former times criminals of every grade were
shut up in the same space, and allowed to talk and shout without
control, we must allow that in the silent system progress has
been made towards moderation and good order. This com
mendable regulation need not however be carried to an extreme ;
for it is less hurtful to allow a few words to be spoken lhan to
inflict innumerable punishments for them, and thus repress minor
evils at the cost of greater abuses. Still less can I approve the
costly means adopted to prevent the lightest propagation of sound ;
such pedantry belongs neither to science nor to justice. If in
former times a barbarous avarice was usually conspicuous in the
construction of prisons, we now sometimes witness a tendency
to extravagant splendor. Many prisons resemble palaces, one in
New York an Egyptian temple, and in Louisville and other places
they are made to look like ancient castles. If we admit the prin
ciple of solitary confinement, that in Philadelphia is the most
perfect, if not in the world, at least in the United States. This
again shows how little the principle alone can decide; for soli
tary confinement in Philadelphia — where each prisoner is allotted
a roomy cell with an adjoining garden of the same size, or in the
second story two apartments — is a very different thing from what
it is in places where the criminal is locked up in a small, dark,
damp dungeon. For this reason alone, an imitation of this
method under totally different circumstances might not lead to
the same results or deserve the same approbation.
But even in Philadelphia, total solitude appears an aggra
vation of the usual punishment; wherefore there should be a
strict adherence to the sentiment expressed in 1790 at the founda
tion of the prison, that absolute solitude should be inflicted only
during a portion of the imprisonment, and should never exceed
two years. The term of imprisonment ought always to be longer
or shorter in proportion to its severity. Many legislatures (e. g.
that of New Hampshire) have already paid attention to this;
where this is not the case, equity is violated, or occasion is natu
rally given for an excessive use of the pardoning power.
# I have just found in the work of the Caval. Ronchivecchi sulla Prigione dello
Spielberg, p. 91, a passage which I ought to quote. He declares himself (as do
Messrs. Mittermaier, Petitti, Morichini, and Lucas) in favor of a " systema misto, nel
quale debbe applicarsi solo per modo di eccezione, e a breve termine, il systema
Pensilvanico."

236 prisons.
That the Philadelphia method separates the criminals more
entirely from one another than the Auburn, and that in the
former they cannot become acquainted and so corrupt and mis
lead each other, admits of no doubt. But whether this is enti
tled to unqualified praise, and whether it is always and absolutely
necessary, is not yet proved. The Auburn system takes from
the prisoner two faculties, it makes him deaf and dumb; the
Philadelphia plan in addition thereto, deprives him in a great mea
sure of the use of sight. All this may be necessary for certain
purposes ; but there is certainly no reason for boasting of the
extraordinary clemency of these modern systems, and doubtless
many a prisoner would gladly endure bodily chastisement after
the old fashion for the privilege of an hour's conversation*
Though some prisoners would rather live entirely alone lhan in
bad company ; yet in general, solitude is a very severe aggrava
tion of the punishment.
Both parties set up statistical tables against each other, to
show the operation of their methods in regard to health, sickness,
insanity, &c. These accounts, however, have hitherto been so
imperfect and contradictory, show so seldom the connection
between cause and effect, and pay so little attention to influen
tial though secondary circumstances, that I am in doubt as to
whether in general they merit praise or blame. Still it may be
maintained that the method which allows greater variety of em
ployment and more bodily exercise, must operate more favora
bly on the health, and also affords neither time nor opportunity
for those subtle brooding fancies, which rarely increase self-
knowledge, but often superinduce a state of overwrought men
tal excitement or gradual stupidity.! The outward appearance,
the apparent good health of a social being condemned to soli
tude, furnishes no certain proof of the fitness and endurableness
of his condition : so the ox condemned to the fattening process
of the stall, and the goose shut up to be crammed, may look well
enough ; but surely the one would rather be roaming over the
meadow, healthier if somewhat leaner, and the other be paddling
about in the clear water.
That by day-labor in common, prisoners see and know each
other, and that recognition occasionally takes place after their
discharge, is not to be doubted ; but whether for this and other
reasons the Auburn method is to be done away with, is a ques
tion decided by twenty-four or five states in the negative, against
* In Charleston, South Carolina, corporal punishment is used as a supplementary
means, in order to shorten the term of imprisonment.
t If insanity often proceeds from secret practices, solitary incarceration is more
likely to lead to them than labor in the company of others.

prisons. 237
the single example of Pennsylvania.* Although subordinate
considerations and prejudices may have aided in producing this
denial, still the decision must have proceeded mainly from more
genuine and weighty reasons. Among these are the greater
cost, the less varied and productive labor, the undeniable dan
ger to health from narrow cells, and also an instinctive feeling of
humanity. It is true that this last, indefinite as it is, should not be
suffered to decide alone ; but neither should the understanding
be consulted to its utter exclusion. Both belong together, and
mutually correct each other.
The assertion that free intercourse among the prisoners is
injurious and corrupting, is not denied ; but it is maintained that
the silent system affords an adequate security against injurious
communications. There are also many crimes, and those
usually the worst, which a man never repeats in his life, and where
there is not the least danger of his instructing and thus seducing
others. But here it is at once asserted, that the chief end of all impri
sonment is the reformation of the offender, and that this is pos
sible only on the Pennsylvania solitary system. It must be
allowed that by this means all deterioration through fellow-
prisoners is prevented ; but that the silent system affects and can
affect the body only and not the mind, I think has not been proved.
On the contrary, various kinds of instruction can be better im
parted on the plan of quiet labor in common, than on that of
absolute solitude. That the latter of itself elevates the moral
feelings, is a mere supposition. Every criminal can and will
in a few days, and under either mode of treatment, bring
together in thought all that can illustrate his present condition,
and enlighten him as to the future.! The prisoner in solitude
will by no means think more than the one surrounded by com
panions ; and should he think unceasingly of himself, he would
not be the better for it. In the world, it is hurtful to think so
much about oneself; it too often runs into an egotistical self-
flattering habit, which gives no increase of strength or wisdom, but
produces a diseased imagination, barren whims, stupidity, or
even insanity. Formerly prisoners were flogged, in order to
bring them to confession and amendment ; now the same end
is to be attained by confinement in solitary cells. The social
propensities implanted in man render solitude a forced, unnatural
condition. It may be justified as the punishment of crime, so far
# So far as I could learn, there have been out of Pennsylvania but two prisons,
one in Trenton, New Jersey, and one in Jefferson, Missouri, established upon the
solitary system.
t " How can a man learn to know himself? Through contemplation never, but
through action."— Go the's Works, xxii. 215.
16

238 prisons.
as the general good can be secured only in that way, but not as an
approved method of promoting virtue. It can as readily and even
more readily conduce to distort a man's mind, and to render him
stubborn, obdurate, and ferocious. It would be a far better means
of reformation to bring criminals day and night into good company;
and many would certainly reform sooner if not shut up at all, but
let to go at large. There are criminals whom no system would
amend, and vice versd ; and in case of imprisonment for life, there
can be no question of reformation for the good of society. In
fact, the whole system of penal law would fall to the ground, if
we should seek to found it solely on the moral improvement of
criminals. Whilst these are in prison, it is impossible to judge of
their moral state and strength. The most obdurate often display
the greatest, and for the most part hypocritical penitence ; and it
is not till their discharge, that the severe trial begins for the
excommunicated, estranged, and repelled prisoner.
It is a great and abundantly refuted absurdity, to maintain that
crime increases with the extension of knowledge. Most prison
ers are ignorant : in Philadelphia only 85 out of 217 could read
and write ; and in Auburn, only 39 out of 244. The Auburn
Report for 1843 more justly designates the causes of crime as
lack of occupation, and especially the increasing desire of rapid
gains without persevering labor. Idleness and sloth are the
sources of crime ; industry and temperance, the shield of virtue.
In all prisons at the present day, better provision is made
for instruction in elementary knowledge and in religion ; it is
only to be wished, that no sectarianism and doctrinal disputes
may be allowed to mingle with the latter.* The kinds of labor
are judicious and varied, and such a selection is made as to hurt
the market for free mechanics as little as possible. For though
prison-labor is dearer than free labor, taking into account build
ings, superintendence, incapacity, &c, yet without these items it
is cheaper. Many prisons conducted upon the more productive
Auburn plan, yield even a considerable surplus, which is paid
either into the state-treasury or into a fund for the support of
discharged prisoners.
Generally the number of female is vastly less than that of male
prisoners ; partly because they actually commit fewer crimes, and
partly because, as is alleged, juries are reluctant to condemn any
but the most guilty-!
It is asserted that, every thing being taken into account — the
* Thus in Massachusetts a clergyman wished to exclude unitarian and universal-
ist writings, but was compelled by the legislature to a more tolerant course.
t In the West Pennsylvania Prison there were only 17 white and 21 colored
women, to 806 white and 140 colored men. In the East Prison, 1,778 persons had been
sentenced since 1839 ; among whom were 1,145 who drank to intoxication, 328

THE POOR AND THE POOR-LAWS. 239
increase of the population, the number of recommittals, &c, there
is no increase in the number and enormity of offences. Most
•crimes have their origin in intemperance, a vice that of late years
has greatly diminished.
It would not suit my purpose to make further extracts from the
sixty-three new Prison Reports lying before me; but in concluding,
I repeat the assertion, that every prison appears to me imperfect
which does not entirely separate some criminals from the rest,
and which does not allow others to work together in silence. It
is not until we descend from bare, unqualified, opposing methods,
and examine into the vast variety of circumstances; it is not until
the now hostile systems become reconciled, and cease to present
the most opposite results each from its exclusive and ruling theory,
— that the prison system can reach the highest possible degree of
perfection.

CHAPTER XXVII.
THE POOR AND THE POOR-LAWS.
Many causes and circumstances have hitherto concurred in pre
venting pauperism, that scourge of Europe, from becoming preva
lent with all its depressing and frightful consequences in the
United States. Among these causes we enumerate the youth of
the States, the ease of finding remunerative employments, the
more equal division of property, the laws of inheritance (which
are not favorable to the accumulation of wealth), the cheapness
of land, emigration to the West, low taxation generally, and the
absence of all excise laws, which are so peculiarly oppressive to
the mass of a people.
If in spite of all these favorable circumstances there are still
poor people in America and in some sections many poor, this
may be accounted for as follows :
1. Even the most perfect civil institutions cannot protect every
citizen from blameless poverty and want, that cannot be remedied
by the sufferer's unaided efforts.
moderate drinkers, 1,115 white men and 571 black men, 29 white and 63 black women,
1,086 unmarried and 582 married, 104 widows or widowers, 6 divorced, 1,250 punished
for the first time, aad the remainder up to the ninth time.

240 THE POOR AND THE POOR-LAWS.
2. Idleness, sloth, and drunkenness (that great fountain of
poverty) are found even where labor is well paid.
3. In several states the poor-law is defective, reminding us of
that of England, and the number of paupers increases rather than
diminishes. 4. Emancipated negroes and needy immigrants (the latter par
ticularly in the seaports) become a charge on the poor-houses.*
5. False philanthropy increases the evil, and strict measures
are regarded as unrepublican or cruel. In the Southern states,
where every proprietor must provide for his own slaves, and
whither immigrants rarely resort, there are not so many poor as
in some of the North-Eastern states-!
In a Boston Report, complaint is made that many paupers
wander about the country, shun labor, and claim support as a
right ;! these go into the poor-houses only when they like, in order
to get through the winter, and in the spring resume their idle way
of life. The new laws of Massachusetts are directed against these
and similar evils.§ The next of kin are bound to provide for the
poor of their own family, and each town for such as have gained
a settlement in it. The overseers of the poor have many rights
and duties. They are especially to direct their attention to pau
pers not belonging to the town, to bring them into the poor-houses
or remove them according to law.|[ Captains of vessels who
knowingly bring over bad characters or criminals to America, are
liable to punishment. Able-bodied persons must work or go to
prison. In some states there is a fixed poor-rate, and the paupers
are put out to the lowest bidder to be taken care of.1I Their
number is very different in proportion to the population. It is
greatest in the large towns on the sea-board. In Illinois, on the
contrary, there are no poor-laws ; because there are no poor, or
perhaps so few that assistance is readily obtained without legal
provision.** " Mrs. Trollope," says an American, " complains of
meeting dogs in the streets of Cincinnati ; she met at least no
human dogs in the shape of beggars." An industrious laborer can
in one day earn as much as will supply himself, wife, and four
children, with food for three days.!! Undoubtedly the poor in
America are even rich in comparison with the Irish in Europe.
In Virginia there were some time since about 2,500 paupers,
who were provided for as far as possible by relatives and private
individuals ; some however were placed in the poor-houses, where
* Warren i. Ii. t Buckingham's Slave States, i. 114.
t Report on the Pauper System, 1832. § Statutes, p 369.
|| In 1843, 15,655 paupers received assistance in the state of Massachusetts; of
these, however, about one quarter were foreigners, mostly English and Irish.
H Amer. Almanac for 1838. ** Hall's West, ii. 203. ft Warren i. I

THE POOR AND THE POOR-LAWS. 241
by strict attention to industry, regularity, and temperance, their
number was much diminished.
In South Carolina the overseers of the poor are empowered to
purchase land and build houses out of the proceeds of the poor-
rate, in order to provide support and occupation for paupers*
Illegitimate children, who are a charge on the state or who are
liable to become corrupted through the evil example of their mo
thers, are to be bound out to respectable people — girls till they
are 16, and boys till they are 17 years of age.
In the state of New York there were stated to be 37,000 paupers,
in 1836, and 82,000 in 1843 — an uncommonly large number for
America;! but among them were very many foreigners and immi
grants.! A. Pauper costs from 58 to 64 cents a week. In the city
of New York there were in the alms-house, the Lunatic Asylum,
and the prisons, 2,790 persons, of whom two thirds were foreign-
ers,§ at a charge in all of $150,000. Complaints were made, that
paupers and criminals were not properly separated and employed ;
and that able-bodied persons crowded in to be provided for dur
ing winter, who in summer went out and mingled in the elections
as free citizens. Appropriate laws have since been passed to
counteract these abuses. In every town in the state of New York
there are annually elected from three to five overseers of the poor,
to whom is committed all business relating to this class. The
necessary means are raised by a tax on property, and the influx
of foreign paupers is guarded against by strict regulations respect
ing settlement.
In Philadelphia there is an extensive Alms-house with precise
rules with regard to settlement, reception, duration of stay,
employment, superintendence, taxation, &c. &c.
In New Hampshire, the overseers of the poor are directed to
convey idle beggars to the work-house for a period not to exceed
one year, and to compel by legal process the fathers of illegiti
mate children to maintain them. A settlement is gained through
parentage and the place of birth. Otherwise there are required the
age of twenty-one years, the payment of taxes, and real estate of the
value of $150 or personal property amounting to $250.
* Statutes, vi. 410. t American Almanac, 1838, p. 207 ; 1845, p. 227.
| For example, 668 Germans, 285 Scotch, 1,404 English, 196 French, and 7,291
Irish. § In the City Hospital there have been received, since 1792, in all 56,920 persons
Among these were : Citizens of the United States  29,870
Irish  13,791
Germans  1,362
Prussians  283
Norwegians  283
Swedes  883
French  855

242

CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.

In Baltimore, the care of the poor has cost in different years
from $17,000 to $27,000. Among them are usually found num
bers of needy immigrants ; in the year 1843, there were 250 Irish
and 180 Germans. By far the greater number of paupers were
addicted to drinking ; of 892 only 63 were reported as temperate.
They are employed in various sorts of manufacture, and in the
cultivation of land appropriated to this purpose. Although
allowed with undue lenity tobacco and tea, still many went away,
especially in summer, in hopes of spending an idle and easy life
in the country.
The danger of the formation of a pauper population in the
large sea-port towns is not lessened, but increased by extrava
gant, I may say luxurious provision for them. Against this the
temperance societies operate with a truly beneficial effect, and
demonstrate that even whalemen in the highest latitudes need ne>
ardent spirits.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.

Lunatic Asylums — Deaf and Dumb Institutions — Institutions for the Blind —
Houses of Refuge — Hospitals — Widow and Orphan Asylums.
The reproach that " Americans think only of money-making and
of physical enjoyments,," is nowhere so clearly shown to be void
of truth, as in their very numerous benevolent institutions
for the aged, the sick, the blind, the deaf and dumb, and the
lunatic ; which owe their origin solely to voluntary contributions
and self-taxation*. It) is impossible to enumerate them all, and, to
describe their specific advantages i still it seems proper to speak
of a few of them in different parts of the Union, by way of
example. LTJNATlCr ASYLUMS.
In the year 1843,, there were 26 lunatic asylums in the United-
States, and one out of 978 persons became deranged. The
reluctance to send insane persons to public institutions is wear
ing off; since the conviction has gained ground that those institu
tions are admirably conducted, and that cures are mueh oftener
effected in them than by the most careful private nursing. Some
principles are universally adopted in the treatment of the insane,.
and certain conclusions haive been confirmed on all sides.

CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 243
Among them are the separation of the deranged into different
classes ; the entire rejection of all harsh and cruel remedies ; the
benefits of varied occupation, of instruction, and religious teach
ing ; the impropriety of artificial deceptions, &c. When the
deranged are immediately brought into these institutions at the
very commencement of the disorder, very many are easily and
speedily cured ; on the other hand, thej longer the disorder has
continued, the seldomer and more protracted is the restora
tion, and consequently the greater the expense. Before the
reception and the discharge of the insane, a careful investigation
is usually made in the presence of physicians and magistrates.
In Columbia, South Carolina, the managers of the Insane Hos
pital are chosen for six years by the two houses of legislature ; and
these appoint and remove all the subordinate officers. The first
of these receives'a salary of $1000, two physicians $300 and $200,
and each attendant $200. One attendant is allowed to fifteen of

the insane. Among them were found in general more men than
women, and more single than married people. For a pauper.
the poor-officers pay $100 a year ; persons of property give from
$250 to $650, according to what is required and afforded.
In Hartford, Connecticut, the Insane Hospital has an annual
income of about $17,000 ; and in 1843 it took care of 169 patients,
97 men and 72 women. Among 1,327 cases, the following causes
of derangement were assigned : 224 hereditary complaints, 174 ill
health, 113 religious apprehensions, 6 Millerism, 104 intem
perance, 20 secret practices, 10 disappointed ambition, 6 jea
lousy, 94 excessive mental exertion, 69 domestic distress, 45
child-birth, &c. There are almost twice as many single as mar
ried patients. As a relief from employment properly so called,
lighter amusements are provided: as walking, riding, books,
games, music, and the like.
The new splendid Insane Hospital at Philadelphia has been
built and established entirely by voluntary contributions. Since
1751, when an older institution was opened (the oldest in the
United States), 38,400 persons have been received and treated.
Among 439 patients, there are now 166 unmarried men, 84 un
married women, 75 married men, 65 married women, 17 widow
ers, and 32 widows. The causes of derangement assigned
are: ill health 64, intemperance (men) 26, accidents 32, religious
excitement 21 (12 men and 9 women), political excitement 2,
metaphysical speculations 1, tight lacing 1, excessive study 8
(among them 1 woman), opium 2 (both women), tobacco 2
(both men). Out of 258 insane men, 32 were farmers, 21 mer
chants, 23 clerks, 13 physicians, 3 lawyers, 6 clergymen, &c.
Among 181 women, 20 were seamstresses. Severe measures
are hardly ever resorted to : at the worst, a short confinement

244 CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
and the putting on of mittens to prevent the very violent from
injuring themselves or others. All the arrangements at this insti
tution seem excellent, — air, water, warming, food, &c. A great
variety of occupations are followed by amusements equally
varied : such as walking in the beautiful garden, books, news
papers, music, concerts, circular railroads, &c.
In the Insane Hospital at Worcester, Massachusetts, 1,777 per
sons were received in 11 years, and 792 restored to health. Out
of 699 patients, whose illness had not lasted a year, the large num
ber of 622 were eitherwholly or almost wholly restored. Thecost
for each amounted on an average to two dollars and a half a week.
Among others, a Mr. Johannot gave the institution $44,000.
More lost their reason from physical causes (intemperance, sick
ness, &c.) than from moral ones. Nevertheless, the superintend-
ant, Mr. Woodward, remarks in his instructive Reports : The
operation of the causes that produce insanity is an inexplicable
mystery : the same cause and the same character may lead to
different diseases. Insanity arises from political contests, reli
gious fanaticism, debt, sudden misfortune, disappointed hopes,
bankruptcy, bad diet, unsuitable clothing, excessive lacing, &e.
There were among the lunatics the mother of Christ, the wife of
Napoleon, the empress of Russia, the queen of England, the
grandson of the Almighty, a turtle, and a woman with 100,000
hogsheads full of bank-notes. For the treatment of the insane, Mr.
Woodward lays down the following rules : Respect them, and
they will respect themselves ; treat them as reasonable beings, and
they will take the greatest pains to show that they are so ; place
confidence in them, and they will strive to deserve it, and will
rarely abuse it*
In Boston, Massachusetts, 1,191 persons gave voluntarily
$131,000 for the founding of an Insane Asylum and Hospital,
and among them a Mr. William Appleton gave alone $10,000.!
The gradual voluntary contributions amounted to $581,000.
The arrangements at this asylum are not only neat and well
adapted to the purpose, but are in fact splendid, comprising car
pets, hangings, mirrors, mahogany furniture, pianoforte, &c. &c.
More than one half of all the patients received are maintained
wholly free of expense. The paying patients give more or less
according to what they require ; the lowest rate is three dollars a
week. The reports of Mr. Bell, the head superintendent, are highly
instructive. He asserts and proves that it is extremely difficult to
* Woodward expresses himself opposed to an unconditional separation of the
sexes. t In Maine two gentlemen gave toward the establishment of an Insane Hospita-1,,
$10,000 each...

CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 245
determine the commencement and the primary cause of insanity.
What is designated as the cause is often but the effect and conse
quence ; wherefore the usual divisions of statistical tables, into
mania, dementia, &c, as well as the figures designating the num
ber of persons rendered insane by such and such causes, are not
at all to be relied on. The grounds and symptoms are by far
too manifold and too much involved in one another, to justify us
in hastily setting down the result under one of the old accustomed
heads, such as pride, religion, and the like. Where the tendency
to the disorder exists, the occurrence of this or that circumstance
may easily bring it on ; but the primary cause is often to be
sought behind and beyond the last occasion. Mr. Bell is more
over of the opinion, that far more crimes have their origin in
insanity than is commonly supposed; still he grants that the
public should be secured by the confinement of such persons,
although they are not accountable beings.
The Insane Hospital at Columbus, Ohio, I shall notice in
another place. DEAF AND DUMB INSTITUTIONS.
There are in the United States several excellently conducted
institutions for the deaf and dumb.* Yet Mr. Horace Mann,
who has so highly distinguished himself in the cause of educa
tion, remarks that the German institutions deserve the preference,
inasmuch as they teach their pupils to communicate not only by
signs, but also by sounds.j To this it is objected :
1st. " The Germans aim indeed at this ; but they accomplish
nothing by it, and for the sake of it neglect other instruction."
Both objections may be pronounced exaggerated.
2dly. " The dumb can never communicate except with those
who understand their language." Certainly ; but this natural limit
ation applies to all mankind, and the signs of the deaf and dumb
are understood by nobody who has not learned them. Words
however find a much more general acceptance and understanding
than signs, and the alphabet of sounds opens a much wider and
more convenient sphere of communication than the alphabet of
signs and figures.
3dly. " The idea that the mere ability to pronounce a word is a
help to understanding it, is so palpable an absurdity as to need no
serious refutation." A parrot or a starling certainly does not
arrive at the meaning of a word by pronouncing it ; but for man,
speech is the vehicle of thought, and where (as in the case of the
# E. g. one in New York with a yearly income of about $31,000 and numerous pupils,
who are employed as gardeners, shoemakers, tailors, cabinet-makers, book-binders,
&c. In Philadelphia there is a Deaf and Dumb Institution with 121 pupils, and the
state contributes to it $11,000.
t North American Review, No. 125.

246

CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.

deaf and dumb) speech is wanting, its place must be supplied by
signs. If these signs are useful for the interchange of thoughts,
why deny to sounds and words their greater natural advantages ?*
The true reason, which has deterred people in England and
America from teaching this language of sounds and from suc
ceeding in the endeavor, lies undoubtedly in the want of tone in
the English language, its very different pronunciations of the
same letter, and its excessively arbitrary orthography. Certainly
no deaf and dumb person can learn to understand an English
man; because he sees only, and does not hear the language.
Scarcely one Englishman in a thousand speaks distinctly, in the
sense in which the German and Italian languages, for instance,
require and produce distinctness ; scarcely one moves his lips so
that it is possible to translate the motions into sounds, and recog
nise the latter from the former.
INSTITUTIONS FOR THE BLIND.
Among several very excellent institutions for the blind, I men
tion first that in Philadelphia, which numbers about 70 pupils.
They are. well taught in reading, writing, cyphering, and singing,
as also in different sciences ; and at the same time they are
occupied in various ways, such as making wicker-work, carpets,
brushes, and the like. At the printing-press there have been
printed various religious and secular works (some German) and
suitable pieces of music for the use of the blind.
The Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston takes its
name from an individual who gave $50,000 towards its esta
blishment. Another legacy, that of Mr. Tidd, amounted to
$17,000. About 70 blind persons are supported out of the
annual income. A Bible printed here costs $20, and is distribut
ed to the poor and to Bible-Societies gratis. The reports of Mr.
Howe, the superintendent, are highly instructive. His remarka
ble acuteness and untiring patience have been admirably shown
in the case of the blind, deaf, and dumb girl, Laura Bridgman ;
of whom Mr. Dickens, guided by the official reports, has already
given a very circumstantial account. The instruction began
with placing before her objects with their names placed upon
them in raised letters, until by repeatedly and carefully feeling
them, she at length comprehended their connection, and could
herself find out and compose the inscription for each object. By
degrees she learnt the signification and use of adjectives,
verbs, pronouns, &c, and to talk with wonderful rapidity with
the signs of the deaf and dumb. She writes correctly and legi-
* " Men did not select vocal sounds for a colloquial medium from among other
possible media, but it is the natural one." — Howe, Report on the Perkins Institution,
1843, p. 28.

CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 247
bly, and keeps a journal of the events of her life. Especially
touching are her great cheerfulness and the gratitude which she
displays to her instructor and instructress. She certainly pos
sesses great natural talents ; for a blind boy named John Cank-
ford, from Annapolis, Maryland, who has also lost hearing and
speech, makes but very little progress, notwithstanding all the
efforts of his teacher, Miss Colton, and after short intervals of
excitement falls back into a state of stupidity.
Mr. Howe justly remarks, how necessary it is for the blind, even
after their education properly so called is completed, that they
should all be assisted onward in the path of life. He directs
attention also to their talents and aptness for music. This how
ever is necessarily limited, where the reading of notes, along with
others is concerned ; while in giving instruction, the want of
sight must render it difficult for them to guide the fingering and
the position of the hands. HOUSES OF REFUGE.
The houses of refuge are also worthy of particular mention.
In several cities, as New York and Philadelphia,* they are esta
blished upon an excellent footing, for forsaken, orphan, vagrant,
or begging children, and even for youthful criminals. No regu
lar jury decides upon their reception or punishment, but judges
and overseers especially appointed ; since in general the design
and object are not punishment, but to offer — and excellent results
have attended the plan— a place of refuge and reformation.
Good instruction, both secular and religious, is intermixed with
many kinds of labor ; such as book-binding, chair-making and
mending, umbrella-making, cooking, washing, sewing, &c. In
New York, since 1825, there have been trained there 2,367 boys
and 953 girls ; and the yearly expenses of the establishment amount
to near $20,000 for about 320 individuals. In Philadelphia there
were received in the year 1843, 110 boys and 58 girls; and
besides the committee of inspection consisting of men, there was
chosen one of women also. The average cost for a child,
including food, clothing, bedding, fuel, washing, furniture, super
intendence, &c, amounted to about two dollars and thirty cents
per week. They are supplied with rye-bread in summer, and
wheat-bread in winter. For dinner they have soup, meat, and
vegetables; for supper mush or boiled rice.
hospitals; widow and orphan asylums.
These are so numerous and in general so well conducted, that
I can here only bestow upon them a general commendation,
without entering into particulars.
* In New York colored children also are received, but not in Philadelphia.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE POLICE.
Gambling-houses, Lottery-offices, Hotels — Drivers, Cruelty to Animals — Games of
Chance — Vagrants — Firemen.
It is evident, that many kinds of European police and police
supervision cannot be employed in the United States. It would
however be a great mistake to suppose that they take no trouble
about any thing of the sort, and allow every man to act accord
ing to his own will and pleasure. On the contrary, the police-
laws are for the most part excellent ; and in many states (as
Massachusetts) there are even traces of the ancient puritanic
strictness in the punishment of adultery, fornication, selling
obscene books, blasphemy, swearing, and drunkenness. But if
in Europe unnecessary supervision and tyrannical intermeddling
often occur, there is frequently felt in the United States a lack of
useful and essential restraint. Too little is more easily borne
with than too much; and if police-officers in the one country are
sometimes arrogant and rough, in the other they are obliged to
study an excess of politeness. Thus a police-officer is said to
have addressed a rioter in the following terms : " My dear, good
sir, will you not have the kindness to go home ? Your worthy
wife and amiable children must be anxious about you," &c.
I subjoin a few more specimens from the police laws of Massa
chusetts. Gambling debts are not valid ; gaming-houses and lot
teries are prohibited ;* inn-keepers who turn away travellers without
sufficient reason, and fail to provide suitably for their entertain
ment, are fined $50, and lose their license. Such license is to
be given only to persons of good morals and blameless reputation.
They are bound to make up the loss of stolen goods ; ! are not
to sell liquor to the point of drunkenness, are to give none what
ever to minors or servants, or to grant them any credit. If an
inn-keeper allows games with cards, dice, or billiards in his
house, himself and the gamesters are punished. The selectmen
may prohibit a tavern-keeper, under a penalty of twenty dollars,
from furnishing dissolute and profligate fellows with any thing
whatever. On week-days these public houses are closed at ten
* Statutes, p. 376. t Kent, ii. 593.

the police. 249
o'clock, and are not opened at all on Sundays. Only one spirit-
shop is allowed to 2,000 inhabitants. Should a driver leave
his horses unfastened when he has passengers in his carriage, he
is liable to two months' imprisonment, and a fine of fifty dollars.
Cruelty to animals is punished by a fine, not exceeding $100,
and imprisonment not over one year. If people are killed by
officers in the use of legal force, the latter are not liable to
indictment. In South Carolina all games of chance are strictly forbidden.
The gamblers are fined not over $500, and the keeper of the
house not over $1,000 ; they are imprisoned not over a year, and
the money staked is forfeited, one half to the informer, and the
other half to the state. On any probable grounds of suspicion,
a forcible entrance into the gambling-room is allowed. Equally
strict are the laws in Illinois and Kentucky* In the latter state
what is lost in play may be demanded back by the loser, and
heirs and guardians retain this right for five years.
In New Hampshire a justice of the peace, on evidence being
adduced, is allowed (though under reservation of certain rights
of appeal) to send to the work-house for six months, not
only vagrants and other idle and worthless persons, but also
players at forbidden games, all fortune-tellers, or those who offer,
through secret arts, to discover stolen goods. Also all pipers,
fiddlers, vagabonds, stubborn servants and children, night-
revellers, tipplers, obscene talkers, — all who neglect their business,
waste their substance, and provide neither for themselves nor
their families. Similar enactmentsi [exist in New York ; but of
course they must be enforced with great caution, in order not to
lead to abuses.
Iu the fire department of the police, many evils have arisen
from the exemption of young men from militia duty, on condition
of enrolling themselves as firemen. They are seldom inclined
to obey strictly the orders that are issued ; besides which they
fall into bad company, and, in some places, into violent and
even bloody contests. The firemen of Philadelphia are
accused of purposely allowing a church to bum down, because
they did not like the doctrine preached there. In Boston these
companies have already given place to better arrangements ; and
some other cities would do well to follow the example.
* Hall's West, p. ii. 202. Statutes of Kentucky, i. pp. 242, 756, 758.

CHAPTER XXX.
administration, city regulations.
Self- Government — Counties — Communities — Baltimore, Boston, Charleston, New
York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Richmond, Washington — Change of Officers.
No country of the world is so little governed by authority
as the United States ; and nowhere is so much left to
the immediate regulation and decision of the people them
selves. This absence of all pupilage and centralization lessens,
without doubt, the strength of the general government ; as was
seen, for example, at the breaking out of the war of 1812, the
contests on the Canadian frontier, the affairs of the Bank, &c.
Legal means, however, have still been found of sufficient power
to produce obedience on the part of the several states (as in
South Carolina, on the question of nullification), and also to
bring into harmony with the jurisdiction of each state, the
authorities of its cities and towns. Moreover the right of self-
government, thus granted, induces every individual citizen to
understand and take part in public affairs, lessens discontent and
opposition, and leads to maturity and independence in the best
sense of the word.
If the general government has but four ministers (for the
Departments of State, Treasury, War, and the Navy), it is plain,
from this small number, that it does not extend its attention and
co-operation to the great variety of objects, which elsewhere
occupy an immense number of officers, and impose heavy cares
upon them.
The same holds good of the government of the separate states,
Each state is divided into a certain number of counties ; though
these do not so much form peculiar political corporations, as
divisions for certain branches of administration. All the voters
in a county choose, usually every year, three commissioners and
a treasurer. The business of the former is to take care of the
public buildings, the highways, licenses, the division and liquida
tion of the county-taxes, the administration of the prisons, poor-
houses, county property, &c. Sheriffs are usually appointed by
the governor, and confirmed by his council, or the senate, for a
greater or less number of years. ! They watch over the public
* They have neither seat nor vote in Congress. t Mason's Treatise, p. 49.

administration, city regulations. 251
peace, guard against and punish all breaches of it, superintend
the prisons, and execute all commands emanating from the higher
officers. Registers of deeds are often chosen for five years by
the whole body of voters. The duties of officers are minutely
prescribed; and in the justices of the peace, and especially in the
meetings composed of several of them, there is a peculiar means
for compelling the officers to perform their duties. The functions
of coroners and constables are similar to those of the same officers
in England.
In direct opposition to the institutions of many other coun
tries, the community is the source and the life, the punctum saliens,
of every common public undertaking. It is entirely independent
in all matters that relate to itself alone ; for example, buying,
selling, laying taxes, conducting law-suits, &c. The commu
nity of inhabitants or voters elects for every considerable depart
ment of business special officers (usually for a year), and even
furnishes them to the state for certain purposes; while it no
where asks or permits the interference of the state-officers. The
town-officers frequently receive no fixed salary, and have no
prospect of further advancement ; but they are paid according
to the particular services rendered, and return after the expira
tion of their terra of office, unless re-elected, to the body of their
fellow-citizens. The following is taken from the laws of Massachusetts. In
the town-meetings every one is entitled to vote, who is twenty-one
years of age, has resided a year in the town, is not a pauper, and
pays a tax. The selectmen elected by the citizens appoint the
meetings, and make known publicly the precise objects for which
they are held. What ten or more voters propose in writing
must be taken into consideration. If the town-officers do not
perform their duty in this matter, a justice of the peace may at
the request of ten or more qualified persons call a town-meeting.
A moderator is chosen to preside. He gives permission to speak,
and all others must quietly listen ; disorderly and disobedient per
sons are removed and punished. In these town-meetings all the
necessary town-officers are chosen for a year by ballot. No one
is obliged to fill the same office two years in succession. The
presiding officer is often re-elected, and so remains in office for
two, four, or six years. The citizens are obliged to serve in the
city-watch, unless they prefer to pay the cost of a substitute.
The town-clerk keeps a record of births and deaths.
Similar regulations are found in all the states, and the prin
ciples of organization are substantially the same for all the
cities ;* such as the general right of suffrage, a mayor, two coun-
* The selectmen are in the towns nearly what the aldermen and council are in
the cities.

252

ADMINISTRATION,

cils, and several subordinate officers, most of whom are elected
for one year. In order however to a better understanding of the
subject, I will enter more particularly into the institutions and
circumstances of a few of the cities ; from which some further
general conclusions may be drawn.
The city of Baltimore had in 1840, 102,000 inhabitants ; which
number has since increased to 164,000. It is at present divided
into fourteen wards, and governed by a mayor and a council of
two branches. For the first or lowest branch all the citizens of
a ward choose annually by ballot two persons, 21 years of age,
residents of the city for three or more years, and possessing a
property of not less than $300. For the second or highest
branch the citizens of a ward choose every two years one mem
ber 25 years of age, 4 years a resident, and possessing a property
of $500. The mayor, who holds his office for two years, must
be twenty-five years of age, a resident of the state for ten years,
and of Baltimore for five ; he must possess a property of $500
value, and receives a salary of $2,000. He is empowered to lay
before the council proposals for laws and administration, to the
adoption of which a vote of two-thirds is requisite. Exact lists
are made of those entitled to vote, and perjury in this respect
is punished with from two to five years' imprisonment. Newly
made citizens must present in time the necessary proofs of their
claims. Notwithstanding these well contrived regulations, many
abuses still take place at the polls ; accordingly severe penalties
are inflicted in case of illegal or double voting, and one half of the
amount goes to the informer.
The police regulations respecting all matters that occur are
remarkably complete and judicious ; e. g. respecting the harbor,
the streets, lighting, fires, gunpowder, cleanliness, health, inns, mar
kets, theatres, gambling, wells, aqueducts, pumps, railroads, car
riages, measures, weights, chimneys, street-music (prohibited), the
observance of Sunday, stamping of silver, privies, dogs, swine,
&c. Police laws are transgressed in Baltimore, as every where
else. For instance, rewards are offered for taking up and kill
ing dogs and hogs found running in the streets. So soon how
ever as the money is exhausted (in the first months of the year),
those persecuted animals are at liberty ; and I saw as early as in
May several large sows busily engaged in street-cleaning.
The mayor brings forward another complaint in his official
report : viz. that unmannerly boys at all times, and especially on
Sunday, disturb quiet citizens by unseemly noises ; and that the
day and night watch are not sufficient to find out, apprehend,
and punish them. For more serious cases there is organized a
city-guard, which bitter experience shows to be necessary ; and
these have precise directions how to proceed in case of riot. If

CITY REGULATIONS. 253
the authorities have not done every thing in their power to pro
tect the innocent, the latter are indemnified at the public
expense. The city revenue is raised from the market receipts, harbor
and ship dues, licenses, the dog and water-tax ; but chiefly by a
property-tax. The valuations of individuals are here tested by
assessors elected for the purpose, and from them there is an
appeal to higher commissioners. There are taken into the account
farms, houses with theirappurtenances, household furniture, silver,
slaves, and all personal property. The necessaries of life, tools
and farming implements, clothing, and all property under forty
dollars value, are exempt from taxation. Very lately proposals
have been made for more rapidly enforcing the payment of
arrears that have improperly accumulated. The value of taxa
ble property has most rapidly increased. In 1839, it amounted
to $56,000,000; in 1842, to $68,000,000. This increase is
shown also by the great number of houses newly built.
In 1837 there were erected 368 houses.
1838 " " " 366 "
1839 « " " 465 "
1840 « " " 457 "
1841 « " " 596 "
1842 " " " 558 «
The property-tax is not the same in all years; it rose from 60
to 85 cents on the $100, that is, less than one per cent. ; and it
would not exceed If per cent., to accomplish all the undertak
ings now partly laid aside. The city debt has grown to
$5,325,000 ; of which the greater part pays an interest of 6 per
cent, and about a fifth 5 per cent. Of this gross amount
$4,967,000 were expended for great internal improvements, as
harbor, the canals, and rail-roads ; which are already useful, and
will speedily become profitable also. The property-tax amounted
in the year 1844 to 77 cents on the $100. This was raised
under the following heads :
Court-tax,  4 cents.
Poor-rate,  3| "
County-tax,  3| "
School-tax,  5 "
General property-tax,  61 "
77 cents.
The entire yearly expenditure (including the various improve
ments and the interest of the debt) is very great ; the current
expenses of the city however amount to only $229,000. Among
them are : 17

254 ADMINISTRATION,
for harbor improvements,  $19,000
administration and salaries,  38,000
lighting and the city watch,  50,000
cleaning and improving the streets, .... 15,000
institutions belonging to the health department, 4,000, &c.
In Boston the majority of qualified voters annually elect a
mayor, eight aldermen, forty-eight councillors, a city clerk, and
some other officers. Every one is entitled to vote who is twenty-
one years old, has been a resident of the state for at least one
year and of the city for six months, and has paid taxes or is
legally exempt from them. The mayor is president of the council
of aldermen, but has no veto ; one branch of the council however
has this right in respect to the other. Both boards have the power
of projecting laws, levying taxes, laying out the public money,
and regulating all matters of general interest. In these respects
there is no direct appeal to the body of the citizens in the course
of the year. Their right of election suffices; though they may
apply to the mayor and aldermen for an extra meeting, and
procure assent to a desired measure. The mayor grants all
licenses, and appoints many officers or nominates them to the
boards. The city derives its income from the renting of farms, the letting
of houses, stalls, &c. By far the largest amount is procured from
the property-tax of about 60 cents on the $100. The entire
income and outlay amount to about $700,000 ; and the debt of
the city to about $1,423,000, mostly at 5 per cent, interest, and a
little at 4| and 6 per cent. In the year 1843, $94,000 of the
debt were paid.
The police-laws and also the regulations for the assessment of
property are similar to those of Baltimore. Paid firemen are
substituted for volunteer companies; and the consequence has
been greater order and obedience. Still in 1843 there were 232
alarms of fire, and the loss amounted to $128,000.
Much has been already done in- various ways for embellishing
the city ; and it is to be hoped that the immediate neighborhood
of the lofty Bunker Hill Monument will soon be included in the
list. Some years ago the voluntary contributions and gifts which
had up to that time been made in Boston for public and benevo
lent objects of all kinds, amounted to $1,801,000 ; in one period
of eighteen months the amount subscribed for these purposes
was $250,000.
In Charleston, twelve aldermen and a mayor are annually
elected by all the citizens, and re-elections are frequent. There is
no second board. The city debt pays from 5 to 6 per cent.
interest. New York was first colonized by the Dutch in 1609. Jji'167^-

CITY REGULATIONS. 255
it fell into the hands of the English ; in 1686 it received its first
charter, and in 1732 a second charter from George the Second,
which gave the citizens many privileges, but allowed the governor
appointed by the king a veto upon every measure.
In the year 1844 the city (exclusive of Brooklyn) numbered
364,000 inhabitants. For each one of the 17 wards the citizens
elect annually by universal suffrage one member for the board of
aldermen, one for that of assistant aldermen, and a mayor who
receives a salary of $3,000. No alderman receives pay, and none
is allowed to engage in any profitable city business or undertakings.
The meetings of the boards are all public, unless in particular cases
a secret meeting should seem indispensably necessary. They
publish the resolutions and even the several votes. All laws,
resolutions, &c. are passed by both boards and then transmitted
to the mayor. He has the right to return them with his objections.
After a second deliberation a majority of the two boards decides.
For the preparation of particular measures, numerous committees
are appointed, chiefly by the mayor, who is also a member of
each. He provides for the maintenance of order and the laws,
and makes at least once a year a general report on the progress of
city legislation and administration.
The city revenues are derived from ground-rents, booths, mar
ket-stalls, house and water rents, &c. ; but the tax on property is
here also the chief source of income. The taxable real estate
amounts to $164,000,000, the personal to $64,000,000, and the
sum raised (from 70 to 80 cents on the $100) to about $1,750,000.
Among the expenses I particularize the following :
for schools,  $76,000
the poor, the prisons, and hospitals, 251,000
the fire-department,  45,000
the police,  50,000
printing and binding,  27,000
salaries,  51,000
the streets,  23,000
county charges,  51,000, &c.
The usual receipts and expenses amount to about $2,185,000 ;
what with loans, arrears, supplies on hand, and under extraordi
nary circumstances, they have sometimes risen to $5,000,000.
The city has now a debt of $13,322,000, of which $12,000,000
were incurred for the great water-works. The receipts from
these works must speedily increase with the increase in the
number of houses. There were built,
in the year 1841,  971 houses.
" 1842,  912 "
" 1843,  1273 buildings of all kinds.

256 ADMINISTRATION, city regulations.
Particular sources of income are appropriated for the extinction
of this debt.
The elections in New York, the greatest city in America, have
hitherto gone off pretty quietly ; especially since the number of
places for holding the polls has been increased. It is asserted
also that since the enlargement of the elective franchise, and the
removal of qualifications and property restrictions, the elections
and the government have remained about the same as before,
while the population has become more contented.
In Philadelphia the citizens annually choose an alderman for
each ward, and a mayor for the city twenty-five years old, a resi
dent of the state for four years, and of the city for two. He
receives a salary of $3,000. That the adjoining suburbs are not
under the same magistrate was attended during the late riots with
very pernicious consequences. On the other hand all the public
institutions, those for the poor, the blind, the deaf and dumb, the
insane, widows and orphans, the water and gas works, the
schools and academies, the medical college, &c, are deserving of
the highest praise. Their construction is appropriate and even
splendid ; and the great Girard institution, after many evasions
and hindrances, will finally come into existence.
The chief income of the city is derived from a tax on real
estate (about 36 cents on the $100) ; the tax on personal property
is not yet completely arranged. Of late years the expenses have
been diminished by good management to about $430,000. In
the year 1843, they were :
for the water-works, . . . $43,000
" city debt, .... 127,000
«« police and watch, . 76,000
" lighting, .... 39,000
" streets and lanes, . 23,000
" extinction of debt, . 36,000, &c.
In Pittsburg there are annually chosen two councils and a
mayor, the latter having no veto upon the joint action of the
former. In Richmond the citizens choose annually twenty-seven per
sons, who appoint the mayor and eleven aldermen out of their own
number. The remainder form the so-ealled legislative council.
In Washington twelve aldermen and a mayor are chosen for
two years, and a second council of eighteen members for one
year. Nothing is more striking to an observer of the American,
and especially of the city administration, than the remarkably
frequent change of officers ; and we are inclined at the outset to
think that the government must be incompetent and fickle. On
the other hand we must observe :
First, that too infrequent changes bring with them other evils ;

OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT. 257
and that the filling up of vacancies from the limited circle of
magistrates and councillors, is still worse than a free system of
election which by repetition corrects itself.
Secondly, that in other republics archons, ephori, consuls,
tribunes, podesta, mayors, rectors, &c. were changed just as
frequently ; that in general, the idea that every office must be
occupied for life, is here altogether unsuitable and out of date.
A brief tenure of office produces stricter responsibility, and lessens
the possibility of an abuse of power.
Thirdly, that in America there is far less governing than else
where ; and that every citizen partly on that very account is
better acquainted with public affairs, and more capable, of man
aging and judging of them than in Europe, where only a few
after long preparation acquire and use the necessary knowledge.
There is besides more reason to fear the lack of fidelity and
honesty than of capability, because one can support another.
Fourthly, every American magistrate exerts himself during
his brief stay in office to accomplish something valuable and last
ing ; and though his ambition does not lead him like the Roman
consuls to gain battles, yet he takes a pride in founding schools,
useful structures, and public institutions, and even in devoting
his official income to the common weal.*
Fifthly, that it would therefore be most injurious, if in the
choice of magistrates more regard were had to their political views
than to their capacity and fitness for office, and if in the adminis
tration, party purposes were kept more in view than the general
welfare.

CHAPTER XXXI.

OUTBREAKS AND PARTY SPIRIT.

Mrader of the Mormon Prophets— Anti- Rent Excitement in the State of New York
— Philadelphia Riots— Disturbances in Rhode Island— On Outbreaks— Parties-
Federalists, Republicans, Democrats, Whigs — Concluding Remarks.
Although, for reasons already given, more single outrages are
perpetrated in the interior and in the newly settled regions of the
West, we have unfortunately to lament acts of injury and tumults
on a larger scale in the rapidly growing cities on the sea-board.
# The mayor of Boston, Mr. Brimmer, had 3,500 copies of an excellent book, "The
Schoolmaster,1' printed for distribution at his own expense.

258

OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT.

Such were the destruction of a convent in Boston, of a private
dwelling in Baltimore, and in Philadelphia that of a negro-
school and a hall where the abolitionists had met. This is not
the place to recur to these old and half-forgotten evils ; yet I must
dwell somewhat in detail upon a few more recent instances of
violence and commotion, as an introduction to some general obser
vations and conclusions. MURDER OF THE MORMON PROPHETS.
I shall speak in another chapter of the sect of the Mormons
and their adventures : but aside from their doctrines, the murder
of these soi-disant prophets is a crime of the greater atrocity, inas
much as they were already imprisoned on specific charges, and
there was not only reason to expect an impartial sentence, butthe
Governor of Illinois had pledged himself for their safety. The
allegation, that the Mormons had attempted to rescue the prison
ers by force, had fired the first shot, and so brought on a bloody
contest, is not true. The governor in later official statements
charges the crime, which had been previously resolved on,
solely upon persons disguised for the purpose as Indians, and
expresses himself forcibly and impressively with regard to the
offence. It is earnestly to be hoped, that his determination to
apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to trial may experience
no obstacle in the ruling passions of the day.
ANTI-RENT EXCITEMENT IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
As early as the time of the Dutch government, large tracts of
land on both sides of the Hudson were assigned to the Van
Rensselaer family, under conditions which founded a sort of
feudal relation. The family subdivided the land among nume
rous tenants, who engaged to render certain dues (e. g. of grain,
wood, fowls, &c), and in case of a sale, to pay to the patroon a
fourth of the purchase-money, as proprietary fee. Those dues
were not high, even at first ; and by reason of the uncommon
rise in the value of the lands, they can still less be deemed
oppressive in modern times. The wealthy predecessor of the
present proprietor had been far from urgent in demanding these
dues, but had suffered large arrears to accumulate. When his
heirs, in conformity with their rights, demanded payment of the
outstanding and accruing debts, there arose disputes and law
suits, which the plaintiffs gained, according to the plain letter of
the ancient laws and contracts. No sooner, however, did the
sheriff attempt to execute the sentence of the court, and to levy
upon property, than he not only met with resistance, but, for
more effectual intimidation, was tarred and feathered by persons
in disguise. Such an outrage committed upon a public officer

OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT. 259
merits severe punishment, which it. is to be hoped it will soon
experience ; if not, it is evident that the evil and license are likely
to increase, and to involve innocent persons as well as irresolute
magistrates in redoubled anxiety and suffering. In such cases,
half-measures never suceeed. But putting these improper pro
ceedings out of the question, there is also another light in which
such a state of things may be viewed, and which shows how
useful and necessary it is in all countries to change, though
gradually and with cautious foresight, such institutions as are
no longer suited to the times. The longing for a property
wholly free from encumbrance or obligation of any kind is so
excessive in the United States, that even an inconsiderable tax
is esteemed an oppressive burden, and its payment shunned as
almost a degradation and disgrace. For this reason, real estate
so encumbered finds comparatively few who desire and purchase
it. Should however a purchaser appear, the seller regards it as
intolerable, that he should pay, as fee to the proprietor, a quarter
of its value — a value that has been greatly increased by the
application of his own capital and industry. In former times,
when real estate changed hands very rarely, this encumbrance
was not a heavy one ; but in these days of purchase and sale, the
whole value might easily fall into the hands of the proprietor in
the course of a few years, in consequence of an alienation four
times repeated. Such views and circumstances explain, at least,
the disinclination and opposition of those who are liable to such
payments ; and it is to be desired and hoped, that an amicable
adjustment will not much longer be deferred.
RIOTS IN PHILADELPHIA.
Well informed people maintain that the riots in Philadelphia
were not caused by an irregular, licentious passion, breaking out
on the spur of the moment ; but were the effect of causes that had
been long in operation, and of a relaxation of moral principles
and restraints. In this respect, it is said, an evil example was
set by those in authority, and even the government itself — as for
instance, by their predilection for the debauching and dishonest
banking system, by the doubly mean and reprehensible suspen
sion of the payment of interest on the state bonds with sufficient
means on hand for the purpose, and also by their manifold
exhibitions of frivolity and licentiousness. Be that as it may,
the recent riots produced on all sides and in every quarter a
display of error, guilt, and crime. No party can be pronounced
innocent and wholly acquitted of blame, when, in a city boasting
of its quiet, good order, and brotherly love, robbery, murder, and
incendiarism rule for three entire days unchecked. We ask in
astonishment, How was this possible ? and the answer explains

260

OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT.

the fact and proves the guilt, while it produces some palliating
circumstances and announces better prospects for the future.
In Philadelphia a great number of Irish had gradually settled.
Their competition in many branches of industry was looked upon
by some with an evil eye ; and the joy which they manifested at
their newly acquired freedom, amounting sometimes to arro
gance, was censured by many more. But the greatest offence
was given by their zealous Catholic spirit, their confidence in their
priests, and their dependence upon them. Like the Protestants,
they sent their children to the public schools, and here the question,
as to the reading of the Bible, became the pretext and ground for
all the subsequent controversies and deeds of violence. Instead of
learning concord out of the book of love and piety, and of coming
to a real Christian union in spite of minor differences of opinion,
zealots without authority seized upon this doubtful theme,
in order to stir up and control those of their own faith. First of
all, the Catholics demanded that, as they were obliged to contribute
to the school-tax, in proportion to their property, their children
should not be compelled to receive Protestant instruction in
religion, or to be present at the singing of Protestant hymns* The
school-authorities agreed perfectly with this view of the matter,
so entirely in conformity with American religious freedom ; but
a ready compliance with their direetions was by no means
general in the schools.
In connection with this question, another was immediately
raised: What translation shall be used in reading the Bible?
The variations between the Catholic and Protestant translations
are by no means either numerous or, so far as the scholars are
concerned, important; but if the Protestants, right or wrong, insist
positively on using their version, it is not to be wondered at that
the Catholics on their side do the same. These disputes soon
extended beyond the circle of the authorities and school-officers:
intolerant clergymen found fault from the pulpit, and violent
writers in the journals of the day; it was no wonder that the
multitude also was roused to passion, when one party called the
other heretics, superstitious, infidels, who wanted to rob the peo
ple of the Bible, or impose a creed upon them by force.
Many native citizens, relying on their superior numbers, made
a point of stirring up the too easily excited Irish; bitter and
coarse objurgations were succeeded by clubs and fire-arms, by
murder and conflagration. The very declarations and testimony
of the officers demonstrate the universal lack of order, celerity,
harmony, and obedience. The mayor of the city proper was not
allowed to act in the suburbs, and the authorities of the suburbs did
# With regard to similar claims and controversies in New York, see the chapter
entitled Religion and the Church, the Catholics.

OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT. 261
not go beyond their own limits. It was well known, that violence
was about to be committed, and no steps were taken to prevent it.
Deliberations were held about the meaning of existing statutes
and the contents of future ones, while the populace were already
bringing up the cannon, and battering down the churches. Those
summoned to the defence remained away, or disputed whether
they should engage in the strife as citizens or as deputy-sheriffs ;
nay, even after a Captain Hill had been thrown down and tram
pled under foot, after some of the militia had had their ribs broken,
and one his head cut off, — after all this, people were still found
who looked upon this rabble of plunderers and incendiaries as the
sovereign people, whose will must be held inviolate and not
opposed by force.
It is without doubt highly dangerous for an individual to set
himself above the law, or to decide upon his own authority what
the law is or should be ; but there are moments, when safety
wholly depends on such boldness and ready assumption of the
greatest responsibility. Had there been in Philadelphia one man
of such strength of will and character as General Jackson pos
sessed, he would in one quarter of an hour have dispersed the
rioters, caused the laws to be respected, and entitled himself to
the warmest gratitude.
Newspapers boasted, and respectable citizens in Philadelphia
confirmed the statement, that in the midst of the bloody tumult all
was entirely quiet in the most frequented streets ; and gentlemen
and ladies were seen walking about in as good spirits as usual.
Other eye-witnesses affirm, that upon receiving information
that a church was going to be set on fire, gentlemen and ladies
assembled as spectators, and then declared they would go home
unless something was done soon. At length, after seeing street-
boys beat in the windows and put fire on the inside, people
thought it might be as well to retire !
I earnestly hope that these accounts are not true ; for if they
are, they prove that here that disgraceful neutrality existed
which Solon justly reprobated ; or rather that indifference and
want of feeling prevailed, in a moment when the weal and wo
of so many fellow-citizens were at stake. It was not a time for
the young gentlemen to be twisting their cravats, pulling up their
wristbands, twirling their canes, and playing the agreeable to the
ladies ; it was incumbent on them to be thinking of their duties
as men and citizens, and to come forward with a resolute and
determined spirit, even before the call of the tardy and timid
magistrates, and offer themselves for the maintenance of order
and of the laws. For a man afterwards to wash his hands in
innocency, or hug himself on his peaceful demeanor, certainly

262 OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT.
does not manifest the correct tone of thought and feeling, which
leads back to the ways of uprightness and virtue.
To these severe charges let us subjoin what may be said byway
of apology. The regulations and spheres of action of the city of
Philadelphia and of its suburbs did not harmonize at all, but
formed an obstacle both to the formation and execution of proper
plans. The laws were not clearly expressed as to the powers of
the magistrates or the duties of the citizens : and anxious doubts
are, if not commendable, at least natural, where the hitherto
unheard of question was : whether and when one citizen was to
shoot down another.
Other circumstances are still more important and more conso
latory. That perverted sympathy was speedily put an end to,
which in the outset expressed itself in favor of the rioters, and
against the laws which the people themselves had made, and the
magistrates whom they had chosen, and who had done nothing
amiss. The press likewise, with few and unimportant exceptions,
stood up decidedly in favor of law and order ;* and in conse
quence of resolutions of urgent necessity adopted on the spur of
the occasion, the attempt at a second horrible riot was immedi
ately and effectually suppressed. A repetition of similar scenes
is therefore not to be feared ; since the courts of justice have
already brought the guilty to trial, juries have passed verdicts upon
them, and recognized the right of innocent sufferers to indemni
fication.! DISTURBANCES IN RHODE ISLAND.
The first charter of Rhode Island, of the year 1643, gave poli
tical rights to all the inhabitants, with the privilege of altering the
constitution by the resolutions of the majority. After the Resto
ration, a new charter, that of 1663, established that only freeholders
should have political rights, and that they should determine who
were entitled to admission among their number. The qualifica
tions of a freeholder have not always been the same; for the
longest period there was required a freehold of 134 pounds value.
So long as farming was the chief occupation and the number of
the unprivileged party was very small, no complaints were heard.
But at length, with the growth of towns and manufactures, the
number of those excluded from political rights daily increased ;
* As for instance, when it declared : " The people of Philadelphia have been
vindicating their capacity for self-government exactly after the manner of the Pari
sians in 1793. The police of that city is a disgrace to civilization, and the people are
httle better than the savages of Hayti."
t It is to be hoped that the account is untrue, which' states that the Irish only
have been sentenced ; while it has been found impossible (either from want of
power or inclination) to bring satisfactory proof against the natives, who to say the
least were equally guilty.

OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT. 263
and these complained that the small landed proprietors decided
every thing and set themselves above those who were wealthier and
better informed. 108,000 inhabitants were ruled by 3,558 per
sons ; and the county of Providence with three fifths of the popula
tion sent only 21 representatives, while the remaining two fifths
sent 50. To the assertion that every one might easily buy land
and thus acquire the right of voting, the reply was, that such
purchase was almost impossible, and at any rate an extreme
hardship upon all who would not and could not pursue the busi
ness of agriculture. The assembly of freeholders was also charged
with refusing even landowners who were not agreeable to them.
The argument that no practical hardship was experienced — that
property was protected and justice duly administered — it was
said, did not apply to the case. These circumstances might exist
under any form of government ; here, on the contrary, the question
was respecting the exercise of political rights, which twenty-five
North American states granted to all their inhabitants who were of
age ; but which the monopolists of Rhode Island alone, in contra
diction to all modern principles of government and to all experi
ence, absurdly refused to them. In addition to this, the politically
disfranchised were subject to hardship in many matters of private
right : they could not serve on juries, nor could they bring a suit
at law without obtaining the signature of a freeholder.
Formal complaints of all these grievances were made to the
government in the years 1797, 1811, 1820, 1824, 1829, 1832,
1834. The government took no notice of them ; partly because
it was unwilling to relinquish long enjoyed rights, and partly
because it thought the clamor was raised by a few vain and rest
less spirits. Lastly, not a few were fully convinced that the plan
which had thus far prevailed was better than the one proposed,
and that much evil and scarcely any good could come from uni
versal suffrage. It was said that at any rate the limitation of the
elective franchise could not be regarded as sufficient ground for a
violent revolution.
Dorr and his party entertained very different sentiments from
these. They averred, that if the former holders of power consti
tuted the people, the majority of the disfranchised was absolutely
nothing; and that this system led to the conferring of despotic pow
ers on the authorities, against which it would be pretended that even
unanimity on the part of all the inhabitants was of no weight or
efficacy. This principle however contradicts every doctrine of
American political rights, from Washington and Hamilton to John
Quincy Adams and Tyler ; it contradicts the decisions of all law-
professors, and is opposed to all the American constitutions.
The people therefore must now take the matter into their own
hands, and form a new constitution for themselves.

264

OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT.

The malcontents maintained, that a decided majority of the
people had declared themselves in favor of the draft of a consti
tution laid before them in lawful assemblies ; while their oppo
nents denied it, and alleged great abuses in the manner of taking
the vote. If the question were asked of the majority, whether its
object was to take away the monopoly of the minority and transfer
to itself the privileges now held by the latter, their answer would
assuredly not be in the negative. The more important question
was, whether the people, in consequence of the refusal of all
amendments of the charter and the denial of every peaceful peti
tion, had the right to rise against the government, which was
a party and in the minority ; whether irregular attempts and
movements of this kind would not plunge the country into a
series of revolutions without object and without end ; and finally,
whether a mere numerical majority is sufficient to abrogate every
thing old and introduce any thing new. Even Washington said
in reference to his day : " If a constitution is defective, let it be
amended ; but do not suffer it to be trampled under foot as long
as it is in existence."*
Although the government of Rhode Island might have counted
on the assistance of its sister-states for such an extreme case of
irregular rebellion ; yet they felt convinced that it would be better
to follow the prudent example of Connecticut, which under
similar circumstances altered its constitution in the year 1818,
and gave general satisfaction. The first constitution (the Land
holders' Constitution) drawn up on the part of the qualified
voters, was, notwithstanding the freedom of its provisions,
rejected by the zealous partisans of the old or the new order of
things ; and to a second one more favorable and proposed by
the government, it was objected, that it was adopted under the
influence of an intimidating martial law, which produced an
artificial and untrue majority.
Now would have been the time for Dorr to accept the proffered
constitution, which agreed in every important particular with his
own propositions, and led out of the path of violent revolu
tion into that of peaceful amendment. By a course of moderate,
conciliatory measures, he would have made himself acknowledged
as the benefactor of his country, and would probably have been
placed at the head of the administration. Instead of this, he ne
glected the proper moment, from passion, vanity, or delusion ; and
* It has been maintained by American writers, that every revolution withoutthe
assent or even without the direction of the government is to be condemned ; and this is
no doubt true, where the government proceeds from the choice of the majority, as for
example in Massachusetts. In that case all are heard, and the majority decides for
and through the government. An amendment takes the place of a revolution. But
if the highest power proceeds from a small minority, which obstinately resists every
proposed amendment, there is no course left but unconditional submission or resist
ance. The American Revolution was certainly not brought about with the consent
of the English government.

OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT. 265
foolishly believed, that the people would engage in a civil war on
account of small variations in the letter of the constitution or of ab
stract questions of right, and would decline the compromise which
had been tardily but commendably offered by the government.
As soon as Dorr undertook to prosecute his plans with troops and
cannon, his supporters, who before formed the majority, dwin
dled down to a very small minority. He was compelled to fly,
and the new constitution was adopted by the great majority of
voters both under the old and new system. It ordains that each
town shall choose one senator ; each district, divided according to
the population, one representative. The right of voting is given
to all who are twenty-one years of age, provided they have
resided two years in the state, and pay taxes to the amount at least
of one dollar, or serve in the militia. Judges are elected and
removed by a majority of both houses. No change can be made
in the constitution, without the observance of certain forms and
the assent of three fifths of the electors.
When Dorr returned to Rhode Island, he was imprisoned and
tried for treason and levying war. The judges and jury did not
concern themselves with his theoretical demonstration, that he was
right and had a decided majority in his favor; but they regarded
particularly his last steps and measures. The ancient forms and
laws were made the foundation as still applicable to his case, and
from them the guilt of the accused was deduced. We cannot
here examine whether this was strictly logical, after the adoption
of the new constitution, or whether certain legal forms, in the
selection of the jury for example, were violated. If the majority
of the new citizens are really on his side, and if they believe that
he was condemned according to European rather than American
views, and that the sentence pronounced against him was too
severe, they will find no difficulty in procuring his discharge at
the next election.
Allow me to add to these accounts a few general remarks.
American democracy certainly produces many individual cases
of injustice and arrogance. The sovereign people consider
it sometimes their right and duty to govern an I decide, in
place of the officers and judges legally appointed for the pur
pose ; as European sovereigns (no less erroneously) are given
to disturbing the course of government through orders in coun
cil, lettres de cachet, ordinances, and the like. Those who
regard such acts of violence as a natural necessity, an inevitable
consequence of republican institutions, take a one-sided and
erroneous view of the matter, and confound disease and dege
neracy with health. In fact, American disturbances have hardly
any where sprung from democracy, but much oftener from
fanaticism and imperfect regulations ; and are to be charged

266 OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT
to the upper and cultivated portions of the community, rather
than to the masses. Besides, tumults raised by mobs must not
be confounded with natural and proper movements on the part
of the people. The former can only occur when the populace
is feared, or courted, or used for party purposes. Censurable
as such tumults are, and necessary as it is that they should be
suppressed, they are in my view less dangerous, injurious, and
immoral, than the swindling operations of banks and tariffs, as
well as certain bankruptcies ; in which the populace have no share,
but which take root and originate in higher regions. Finally,
such disorders are in themselves a less evil than the power of
committing them with impunity, where a disregard for truth ren
ders it impossible to obtain testimony, and where juries are more
swayed by prejudices and passions than by a regard for law and
justice. At all events, the necessity imposed on each community
of making good the damage done to innocent persons by unlaw
ful disturbances, is highly commendable and well calculated to
discourage such excesses.
The assertions of the English press, which are re-echoed by
others, to the effect that some three or four outbreaks of this sort
are bringing America to utter destruction, may be answered by
the fact that the incendiarism of a single year in England, the
disturbances in Bristol and Manchester, the doings of Rebecca
and her children in Wales, the outrages of the Orangemen in Ire
land so long suffered by the magistracy, and the excesses in the
neighboring colony of Canada almost amounting to a civil war,
weigh much heavier in the scale than all that the Americans have
ever been guilty of. Nor must it be forgotten, how widely extend
ed their country is ; nor that since 1787 in the cities of Europe, nay
in Paris alone, more irregularities have been committed than in
all the United States put together. Let then exertions conduct
ed with earnestness and mildness every where be made, to
remove the causes of civil discontent, and repress the lawless
proceedings of both high and low ; but let there be no cowardly
despairing or folding of arms upon the breast, because the evils
are too great or too inconsiderable to be removed.
A great statesman has remarked : " In free states there can be
no anticipation." Perfectly true : men will pass no law before
it is urgendy needed ; and even after it is passed, they would
like not to put it in force, for the sake of upholding a supposed
greater degree of freedom. But if frequently bitter experience
has first shown the necessity and benefit of a law, it finds its
way readily to the approbation and good will of all ; and there
remains no opposition between the rulers and the ruled, no sus
picion, envy, and contention between those above and those
below. But do more absolute governments possess in fact the

OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT. 267
advantage of a wholesome power of anticipation ? Have they
prevented disobedience and commotions, from Naples to Russia
and Turkey?
Reprehensible as we have already declared these tumults and
acts of violence to be, and greatly as it is to be wished, nay de
manded, of all citizens, and especially of judges and juries, that
they put them down with decision and punish them in the most
exemplary manner ; still are they only local evils,* breaking out
in particular spots, and in my opinion not infecting and endan
gering the entire Union. But whether this greater and more gene
ral danger is not now impending or has not even already made
some progress, through the violent spirit of party which over
spreads the whole Union, is a highly important question, which
we will examine somewhat more closely.
In every country where tyranny does not compel the inhabitants
to have but one opinion, or at least to acknowledge and express
but one, free citizens must and will entertain and defend differ
ent views respecting a vast variety of circumstances. This free
dom, this variety is the living principle of every progressive
development ; and all attempts at prescribing or even at bend
ing, educating, or correcting views and convictions, made by
overbearing kings, popes, princes, ministers, officers, confessors,
censors, pastors, inquisitors and the like, have ever done more
harm than good ; have crippled kings, governments, and peoples ;
have stripped off their blossoms, checked their growth, and nail
ed them fast to the trellis-work of diminutive laws, that they
might afterwards pamper themselves at their ease on the fruits
of these stunted wall-trees.
* Justice requires that I should present a counterpart to the statements made,
which is worthy of commendation. " As I was returning one evening," says Ferral,
Rambles, pp. 246, 295, " to my lodgings in New York, I heard a noise in a grocery, and
entered with some other persons in order to see how fractious citizens here were
apprehended. A constable came entirely alone ; and it seemed to me morally
impossible that he should conduct to prison half a dozen fellows, who just now
were with difficulty kept from giving each other a sound beating. But his hand
seemed like the wand of Armida ; for scarcely had he laid it upon the shoulders of
the brawlers, before they went with him quiet as lambs. The explanation of this
matter is this : these people had all practised the right of suffrage, if not in the
choice of this constable, yet in that of some other, and consequently not only held
it a duty to support the constable's authority, but were strongly prompted to it by
inclination. They knew that the power he was using had been committed to him
by themselves ; and if they opposed him, they opposed their own sovereignty. Thus
the magistrate every where finds the strongest support in the citizens themselves."
All the 'minor defects of the United States, as well as their greater evils and dan
gers, are nothing, and in fact lose all their importance and weight, in comparison
with what Central and South America exhibit in such astounding magnitude (see
for example Stephens' Travels). There we find coarseness, arrogance, ignorance,
superstition, fanaticism, revenge, bloodthirstiness, persecution, murder, robbery, and
civil war — all mixed up in the strangest confusion and frightful violence. Every
vestige of genuine humanity disappears by the way ; and the natural life of the
brutes deserves a higher rank in comparison.

268 OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT.
On the other hand liberty, besides the noblest triumphs, has
also the greatest dangers ; only they are dangers of another and
peculiar kind. In the first place, true liberty rests not on license
but oi\self-control, and this virtue is every where rare.
When Solon required that every citizen should embrace
some party, the condition was tacitly implied, that this should
be done after the most careful examination, to the individual's
best knowledge and conscience. He would have in his common
wealth no cowardly non-entities without a voice in public mat
ters ; but just as little did he wish for fanatical partisans of un
worthy demagogues or of reprehensible measures. To join
sides with a party, may be well or ill, wisely or foolishly done.
Those who boast, merely that they have joined a party or that
they have not joined one, fall under neither of these predicaments.
It is wrong, without a closer investigation, to designate every
clinging to a set of opinions, every persevering effort to promote
certain objects, as unworthy partisanship ; or, on the other hand,
to laud too highly every passionate movement, every want of
patience and moderation.
Scarcely ever is any party wholly right ; this can be found in
God alone : perhaps, too, none is ever wholly devoted to false
hood and injustice ; otherwise Satan himself would be its
unquestioned chief. Hence Jefferson said in his inaugural address:
" Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.
We have called by different names brethren of the same princi
ple. We are all republicans ; we are all federalists." In like
manner Washington, Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and all dis
tinguished Americans, have uttered their warnings against the
excess of passionate party-spirit. It has universally borne the
most pestilent fruits, and has always been especially fatal to re
publican freedom. Boldly as violent party-spirit can behave on
the one hand, on the other hand it lowers itself with equal mean
ness to equivocation, shuffling, and flattery; which produce at
length indifference to law and justice, insolence, and impudence.
" It is," said Clay,* " the misfortune in free countries, that, in
high party times, a disposition too often prevails to seize hold of
every thing which can strengthen the one side or weaken the
other." — With equal justice he objects to a perpetual opposition
that finds fault with every thing, and wrongly styles itself sys
tematic. " The harmony of our system," says he, " can only be
maintained through conciliation, liberality, practical sound sense,
and mutual forbearance. Carry but these dispositions into the
administration of our manifold institutions, and all apprehensions
* Speeches, ii. 402; i. Ill, 171.

OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT. 269
of collision and contests between the government and. corpora
tions will vanish like a dream."*
Listen to American partisans, and you would think the salva
tion of the country depended on their views, no matter how
changeable and transient these are. The excess of American
party-spirit has done much harm already; it has concealed the
truth, and given excessive prominence to certain one-sided
notions. Those times were surely not the worst, when, in the
presidential elections, all, or at least the great majority, forgetful
of party spirit and party objects, united their voices in favor of
one great man. But even where active- and powerful opposition
has been made, perfect quiet has hitherto immediately followed
the decision, and no one has thought of setting the power of party
in motion against the law. Thus in Massachusetts, in 1840, a
democratic governor was elected by a majority of only a single
vote (51,034 out of 102,066), and his claim was acknowledged
without the slightest hesitation. Those who designate the Ame
rican party agitation as of the worst character, should cast an eye
upon that of Central America as described by Stephens.! " Both
parties have a beautiful way of producing unanimity of opinion,
by driving out of the country all who do not agree with them. In
consequence of this, I saw palaces in Leon, where nobles once
dwelt, now dismantled and roofless, and occupied by half-starved
wretches, pictures of misery and want ; and on one side an
immense field of ruins, covering half the city."
After these general remarks, let us look somewhat more closely
into the principles and position of the great American parties.
The loyalists, who remained constant to England, were subdued
or driven away in the course of the revolutionary war by the
friends of the new Union. Much however as the victors (the
federalists) had in view the independence of America, they still
cherished a reverential respect for many English institutions, and
believed that it was desirable and even necessary to conform to
them as the most perfect models. Hence Hamilton and those who
thought with him recommended presidents and senators for
life, the strengthening of the power of the general government,
a veto of the president upon the acts of the states, &c. Many
even cherished a predilection for the right of primogeniture and a
national church. All these and similar views were, as we have
seen, entirely defeated by Jefferson and his friends ; the entire
direction of affairs fell into the hands of the republicans ; and if
Madison, Jefferson's friend and follower, is extolled as the milder
of the two, we ought not to forget that at the time of his presi
dency the contest was victoriously ended. Madison bore the
* Then too will vanish Clay's dread of the veto-power and the sub-treasury.
t Travels in Central America, i, 200 ; ii. 24.
IS

270 OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT.
same relation to Jefferson, that Melancthon did to Luther. It is
easy to find out defects in the American institutions, and to
ascribe them at once to republicanism; but there is no doubt
whatever that still greater evils would have arisen from the pre
valence of federal views, and would have arrested the Union in
its rapid and genuine development. Republicanism is the true
vital principle of the United States- — their characteristic pecu
liarity ; and though its partialities may be corrected and its
excesses restrained, it is impossible to eradicate it, and it would
be madness to attempt to do so.
All parties now call themselves Democrats ; one great party
however, the Locofocos,* retains this name without any addi
tion; while the other prefers that of Whig Democrats. Both
acknowledge Jefferson as their leader and head ; neither any
longer appeals to Hamilton and the federalists, and their views
differ only as to how certain expressions and acts of Jefferson
are to be understood, and what measures he would have sanc
tioned or rejected in given circumstances. In my opinion, he
would certainly disapprove of what both parties at the present
day esteem injurious ; and as to those points which one only
approves and recommends, he would stand (with very slight
reservations) on the side not of the whigs, but of the demo*
crats. So long indeed as both parties limit themselves to gene
ral expressions and modes of speech, there is properly no ground
of strife. Good government, a sound currency, reasonable
duties, and the like, are what all commend and aim at. With
these decoys however it is impossible to continue to catch votes
or to gain any thing in the long run. Significancy and character
can be given to these general abstract propositions only by re
ducing them to the individual concrete particulars that remain
concealed behind them. Let us then designate more precisely
some of these differences. The democrats are opposed to an
enlargement of the powers of Congress, and demand a strict
construction and application of the Constitution. They demand
that the veto-power of the president, and the liberty of re-elec
tion conferred by the Constitution, be maintained unabridged.
They are opposed to restrictions on the right of voting now
possessed by foreigners and immigrants, as well as to the re-esta
blishment of a great, powerful bank; they condemn the division
among the states of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands;
they are in favor of the annexation of Texas, of the utmost free
dom of trade, and against high protective duties, &c. In all
* It is said that in a meeting of Democrats in New York, one of the minority
turned the cock of the gas-pipe in order to break up the discussion, and that another
lighted it again with a locofoco match. Hence the term, which soon led to ironical
allusions.

OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT. 271
these and some other particulars, the views of the whigs, if not
altogether opposed to, are at least very remote from those of their
adversaries. As these points have already been discussed in their proper
places, another examination of them here would be superfluous ;
still I should not omit to mention that many whigs said to me,
" All these things are in truth of slight importance ; but they are
rendered artificially prominent by the excitement of the election."
There is no doubt, that party spirit represents and judges of
every thing in a harsher light ; but I cannot persuade myself that
those circumstances are of no great importance in themselves.
They are the gravest that now remain to be decided ; or if not
important, why is there any dispute about them ? Clay said :
" The whigs now stand where the republicans of 1798 stood,
battling for liberty, for the people, for free institutions ; against
power, against corruption, against executive encroachments,
against monarchy."* But at the moment of making these accu
sations, was he not himself possessed of the same party spirit
which he condemns so bitterly and with so much justice in others?
" In the back-ground, behind those disputed points," observed
the whigs above mentioned, " lie hidden many greater dangers,
which without constant attention and ceaseless effort on our part
would burst forth and involve us all in ruin. The locofocos
might finally subject all laws to popular license, invert the order
of society, and abolish the right of property. We whigs are the
Sonservative class ; our opponents, the destructive."
Here we may repeat : It is possible that there are individuals
in the democratic party, who go beyond all reasonable bounds,
and who would introduce by force or fraud their absurd fancies
as new revelations essential to the well-being of mankind;
— as there may be individual whigs who would fall into simi
lar follies in the opposite direction. Never has a democrat
of note, or a creditable newspaper organ of the party, advocated
or given currency to the doctrines complained of. The rights of
the people in America are as great as they can be : and therefore
it is wholly unnecessary to invert the order of things, neither is
there any sufficient ground for considering the people as the popu
lace, and the pop ulace as the people. When monopolies, excessive
imposts, and unjust banking privileges, are esteemed asjmassaila-
ble species of property, the democrats are certainly opponents of
this kind of property ; but it is for the very reason that they hold
property sacred in a higher and more general sense. The fear
that any great American party would or could at any time abo
lish the rights of property, is wholly groundless. Attacks upon
these rights have been far more violent and dangerous in Europe,
* Speeches, ii. 432.

272 OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT.
and the absurdities of St. Simon, Fourier, and the Communists
did not spring from the American democracy. In general, pro
perty is a relation so entirely natural and necessary, that it will
be able to maintain itself through its own inherent, indestructible
strength ; and even if violated in particular instances, it. can never
be overthrown as a general principle. To attach civil rights and
their exercise to the person and not to a certain amount of pro
perty, does not destroy the latter in any of its other relations ;
indeed, in most countries of the world, private property is wholly
disconnected from political rights. By what right the whigs call
themselves conservative par excellence, it is not easy to perceive ;
because they wish to alter the constitution in some important
particulars, which the democrats wish to preserve : for example,
in reference to the election of president, the veto, the proceeds of
the land-sales, &c. If however it should be asserted, that altera
tion is in a higher sense a conservative measure, it would require
much stronger proofs than any that have hitherto been given.
In May, 1844, about the time of the great convention in Balti
more, the whigs had apparently so much the advantage and dis
played such confidence, that even the leaders of the democratic
party gave up the election for lost. Instead however of despairing
and idly folding their hands upon their breasts, the democrats,
having discovered their weak point, set aside the different candi
dates, and united on Polk. By this means and by the with
drawal of President Tyler, harmony was restored to their ranks ;
and what was represented as the resort of weakness or the result
of unworthy artifice, was the work of genuine sagacity and com
mendable- patriotism. The victory of the democrats was in
reality the result of the most open and searching examination, to
which for six months the principles and views of both parties were
subjected, and of the conviction thus arrived at that they had the
majority. I have already shown how untrue and ridiculous the
assertion is, that the important decision was brought about by
the votes of a handful of immigrants. It certainly ought not to
be made a subject of reproach to the latter, that after examining
the systems of both parties, they chose the best according to their
judgment,* and ranged themselves on the side where most of the
native Americans already stood. If the answer be, " The ques
tion is, not of the immigrants of the last few years, but of the five
millions of American citizens of German descent ;" the declara
tion is too silly and odious to deserve the slightest attention.
Polk's moderate, conciliatory, and sensible declaration, that
while he would maintain in their integrity the great principles of
democracy, he would not remove officers for holding different
* Immigrant Germans very naturally failed to perceive the attractions of paper
money, high duties, and the like.

OUTBREAKS AND PARTY-SPIRIT. 273
opinions ; and that he would not be the president of a party only,
but keep in view the good of the whole,— will and must soften the
bitterness of opposition, and bring parties to a better understanding.
The voluntary or compulsory indifference and apathy of many
inhabitants of European states in respect to public affairs, cannot
be recommended to free American citizens ; they can only smile
at the fears of the timid, and despise the rancor of the disaffected.
But perhaps they should give more heed to the remarks of sin
cere friends, — that people may busy themselves too much and too
zealously with politics, especially when innumerable meetings
and speeches as well as the constant reading of newspapers leave
neither time, strength, nor inclination for other things. There is
a deal of political parade to be gone through, as well as of hard
service to be done ; which contract the mental horizon, and
repress more general culture. There is also a race of political
dillettanti, who indeed stand sufficiently high in their own esti
mation, but are of as little benefit to the state as pretenders of
the same class are to the fine arts. Sometimes such amateurs
are drilled into real artists, by entering Congress and ranging
themselves under more eminent men ; sometimes they think this
too much trouble, and it is well if they grow tired of politics, and
return to other business at home.
The oft repeated assertion that in our day individuality has
lost all its importance, is untrue in America as well as in Europe.
There also, in spite of the power of the people, a few distin
guished men only take the lead ; and it is delightful to observe.
how well this people understand the art of uniting a due respect
for their own position with enthusiastic regard for the highly gifted.
The path lies open to all ; but only a few prejudiced travellers
sigh for distinction of castes, as a means of putting the ablest
at the head. The views of the leaders influence the people,
and public opinion acts upon the leaders ; both deserve more
praise than blame. We can also approve of the endeavor to pre
vent, by means of a friendly understanding, collisions of the
two parties in meetings, processions, caucuses, speeches, &c. ;
that is to say, in so far as such precautions do not widen the
breach between the parties, and render their views more one
sided still. After all, parties in America approach much nearer
to each other, and an understanding between them is much more
practicable, than it is among the directly opposing principles of
European politics.*
May good sense and reverence for pure, simple truth not be
annihilated by party excesses ; nor the laws and magistrates be
disregarded through popular excitement ; nor any bad means be
* What if in Europe all questions on the internal affairs of a country were con
nected with the election of a king ?

274 SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.
resorted to for securing ostensibly good ends ! Such a respect for
truth, justice, moderation, and harmony, is infinitely more to be
prized than the glittering rhetorical flourishes so often inconsi
derately admired, which stir up unholy passions, while they dazzle
the understanding.

CHAPTER XXXII.
SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.
Schools and Universities — Governments and Schools — Principles of Education —
America and Europe — Praise and Blame of Schools — Germans — Public Schools,
Colleges, Universities — Negro Schools — Religious Instruction — Female Teach
ers — Labor in Schools — Alabama — North and South Carolina — District of
Columbia — College of Jesuits — Connecticut, Yale College — New Hampshire —
[ Illinois — Kentucky — Louisiana — Maine — Maryland — Michigan — Missouri — Ohio
— Pennsylvania — Vermont, Burlington — Virginia, Charlotteville — New York —
Massachusetts, Boston, Cambridge School and University — Medical Institutions,
Physicians — Summary, Remarks — District Libraries.
I have several times alluded to the reproach, that the thoughts
and actions of the Americans are directed solely to the material,
the palpable, and the immediately useful ; that in these things
they have certainly made great progress, but have done nothing,
given nothing, and spent no time or exertions, for advancing
the more general cause of mental development. These cen
sures made by Europeans are confirmed, as it appears, by many
Americans : for they complain, in reference to education and
schooling, of the indifference of parents ; the incapacity, too
frequent changes, or extreme youthfulness of the teachers ; the
short period allotted to schooling ; negligent attendance ; defec
tive school-books ; bad methods of instruction ; lax discipline ;
improper efforts to gain popularity; dependence on contribu
tions; squandering of money; useless architectural display in
buildings ; appeals to false ambition ; the erroneous importance
attached to mere outward worldly objects ; the excessive variety of
subjects of instruction, and consequent superficial treatment ; the
injurious influence of political parties, etc. &c*
These bitter complaints undoubtedly prove on the one hand
the existence of considerable defects; but on the other, they
evince great interest in the subject, and serious efforts at improve
ment on all sides. In fact the distinction or opposition between
materialism and spiritualism, between light and shade, is in gene-
* V n's Reports. Potter and Emerson, The School, p. 187.

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. 275
ral wholly erroneous : for as on the material side, of which we
have until now been treating, we have found that wonderful
improvements were accompanied by errors and defects (e. g. in
the case of the banks, repudiation, slavery, the tariff, &c.) ; so too
on turning to the spiritual side, we discover principles, exertions,
and advances, that deserve our highest praise. The interests of
schools and education, for example, have been earnestly promoted,
especially in the northern states, ever since the first settlement of
the country. And since the independence of the Union, Wash
ington and Jefferson's loudly expressed convictions have met
with general acceptance : That in proportion as a free country
grants greater rights to its citizens, it must attend to their educa
tion and mental culture. Washington in his very first message
to Congress said : " You will no doubt agree with me in opinion,
that there is nothing which can better deserve your patronage
than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in
every country the surest basis of public happiness. In one in
which the measures of government receive their impressions so
immediately from the sense of the community as in ours, it is
proportionably essential. The people themselves must be taught
to know and value their own rights ; to distinguish between
oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful authority ;
between burdens proceeding from a disregard to their conve
nience, and those resulting from the inevitable exigencies of
society ; to discriminate the spirit of liberty from that of licen
tiousness, cherishing the first, avoiding the last, and uniting a
speedy but temperate Vigilance against encroachments with an
inviolable respect to the laws."* In like manner De Witt Clin
ton declared : " Knowledge is as much the cause as the effect of
good government."! — And in a School Report for New York
(1840, Doc. 40) it is stated : " The rising generation is destined
to rule the country at a future period ; therefore it must be formed
and educated, that it may be secured against the wiles of dema
gogues, and so exercise its invaluable rights as not to lose them
through abuse."
According to the laws and the prevalent feeling, the general
government cannot directly conduct the system of education:
hence there is no ministry of public instruction, no general plan
for schools, no general school fund ; on the contrary all move
ments attended by great results proceed from the separate states
and from individuals. One-sided interference and compulsory
uniformity are much more dreaded than occasional defects of
judgment and system. The teachers usually have the assistance
of trustees, who are elected' by the community to manage the
* Messages of the Presidents, p. 22. f The Schoolmaster, p. 111.

276 SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.
business transactions. Although one party sometimes complains
of the other and with reason, this arrangement is nevertheless
better than if the whole power and direction were placed in the
hands of one.
The general government, by granting to the schools (as we
have seen) one thirty-sixth of all the public lands,* has bestowed
on them an inestimable gift, which is daily increasing in value.
The state governments, however, are on their guard against a
lavish use of this treasure ; on the contrary, they require as a
condition of any grant, that each district shall first exert itself,
build school-houses, appoint teachers, and raise four times or at
least twice what the authorities give. Almost all the constitu
tions contain very commendable clauses on the value of educa
tion, and provide the means of covering the expenses necessarily
connected therewith. That in the United States, especially in
the South, all the children do not go to school ;! and that in the
Western states, in consequence of the thin and scattered popula
tion, there is still a deficiency of schools, are matters of course : but
then there is no country on earth, where all claims and wishes in
this respect are fully met. Yet M'Gregor testifies, that in America
the country people are not so rude, and certainly not so ignorant
as in England; and Caswall, another Englishman, says: "Edu
cation in America is more general, if not so thorough and exact
as in England. "! This deficiency in thoroughness and accuracy
refers particularly to the study of the ancient languages and of
history; and also to the disposition, more prevalent in the north
ern than in the slave states, to enter early upon the active business
of life.§ This disposition springs quite naturally from the ease
with which a man becomes master of an independent and profit
able calling. The American needs a multitude of practical
acquirements that a European scarce thinks of; and multiplicity
of preparation is of more importance to him than thorough
acquaintance with a single subject. If even in Europe objections
have been made to the method and the benefits of a learned and
philological education, it may much more readily be excused in
the Americans that they do not pursue precisely the same course.
If however it should appear necessary for higher grades of culture,
it would be speedily adopted, — nay it has been already, and with
good results.
With regard to the course and objects of instruction in Yale
College, one of the most celebrated institutions of learning in
* Accordingly there were in the western states about 2,166,000 acres appropriated
to schools, whose value years ago was estimated at $4,332,000. — Long's Rocky
Mountains, i. 53.
t Grand, pp. 21, 122. Abdy, ii. 333. 1 M' Gregor's America, i. 52. Caswall, p. 211.
§ Fidler, pp. 83, 121.

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. 277
America, the faculty thus express themselves : " The object of
the system of instruction to the undergraduates in the college, is
not to give a partial education, consisting of a few branches only ;
nor on the other hand to give a superficial education, containing
a little of almost every thing ; nor to finish the details of either a
professional or practical education : but to commence a thorough
course, and to carry it as far as the time of the student's residence
here will allow. It is intended to maintain such a proportion
between the different branches of literature and science, as to
form a proper symmetry and balance of character. In laying the
foundation of a thorough education, it is necessary that all the
important faculties be brought into exercise. When certain
mental endowments receive a much higher culture than others,
there is a distortion in the intellectual character. The powers of
the mind are not developed in their fairest proportions by study
ing languages alone, or mathematics alone, or natural or political
science alone. The object, in the proper collegiate department,
is not to teach that which is peculiar to any one of the professions,
but to lay the foundation which is common to them all. The
principles of science and literature are the common foundation
of all high intellectual attainments. They give that furniture,
and discipline, and elevation to the mind, which are the best
preparation for the study of each individual profession."
Knowledge in general, like sound limbs, reason, and other
gifts of humanity, is a good in itself. Without knowledge, man
would be a brute ; and if it is not always brightened into and
united with the highest wisdom and virtue, it is certain that igno
rance far seldomer goes with these latter hand in hand.* The
dangers however of a partial, egotistical mental development, are
admirably shown in a school report of Mr. Dwight for Albany-!
Among other things it is there said : " The moral influence of
schools has undoubtedly improved our social relations; but it has
not yet given to virtue that energy and strength so essential to
security and happiness. The common virtues are mostly com
prised in mere prudence; they spring from selfishness and lead to
wealth and reputation, but not in an equal degree to real welfare
and happiness. Many men have lost faith in man ; for successful
villany goes under the cloak of dexterity unblushing through the
streets, and claims the approbation of society."
Eloquent admonitions of this sort, joined to very bitter experi
ence, will lead back into the right way, and also lessen the force
of similar complaints. Thus many say that the Americans have
too little respect for science properly so called, and look upon it
* Proofs that ignorance and crime go hand in hand. Education and Labor, 1842 ;
Hartford, p. 31.
t For 1844, p. 158.

278

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.

with distrust as a sign of aristocracy, always asking, " Of what
use is it ?" They regard the learned as hurtful drones, are gene
rally content with mediocrity in literary composition, and have
no knowledge of the perfection of art and feel no desire for it.
Here certainly a weak side of the American condition is pointed
out; but might not an American acquainted with European
education reply : We admit that scholars in Europe, or at least
in Germany, learn more Latin and Greek than in America ; yet
how many* (teachers and philologists by profession excepted)
after leaving the schools and universities continue to read the
classics? how many really acquire a fondness for them ? Hardly
any attend the universities, except those who are to fill some public
station ; and after quitting them, all further improvement is to be ob
tained upon the management of petty affairs. But the green cloth
table hardly educates him who sits at it and does not look beyond
it, — and still less others, by its countless ordinances and decrees.
Our practical, political life requires from all the citizens of our
country a varied and perpetual mental activity ; and the results of
this whole bringing up in the real business of life, are entirely
different and far greater than those produced by the pedagogism
and eternal pupilage of Europe. How many in Europe are
old and biases even in youth ; critics without spirit, knowing
every thing better, and yet knowing nothing ; ever discontented,
as though contentment were synonymous with dulness and want
of spirit ; without faith or confidence in parents, guides or teach
ers ; arrogantly censuring the whole world and all the social
relations, instead of humbly beginning with the reform of self;
and without hope, consolation, or redemption, but what can be
derived from their own all-sufficiency and supreme contempt for
all that is and all that has been.
If, as is affirmed, the German colonists in some states of Ame
rica show themselves more indifferent towards the establishment
and improvement of schools than the more active Yankees ; still
habit, sloth, and stupidity are not the only causes. They
perceived, or rather felt, the consequence of these one-sided
European proceedings, and that mere reading and writing do but
little to improve the understanding, while they leave the charac
ter unformed. With this view even Pestalozzi observed : " I
esteem those evils as great, which are produced by placing
children too early in school, and by all that is artificially driven
into them away from their homes."! The danger of these " arti
ficial" acquisitions appears far less great in America than in
Europe ; because there the period of school and education is
* In Prussia many go from the lower schools into the gymnasia, and there is no
distinction of caste.
t Raumer's Padagogik, ii. 316. Vigne, ii. 72.

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. 279
followed by a fresh, free, active life ; and discontentedness with
the state, the constitution, the church, and society, is especially,
or rather unfortunately, a disease of old Europe.
We find in America Sunday-schools, common or elementary
schools, grammar-schools going somewhat further, colleges
(which may be compared with our gymnasia), and universities
with from one to four faculties. Very naturally and after a
thoroughly republican fashion, the greatest amount of zeal is
shown for the common schools, and to them the most minute
superintendence is directed ; still it has been rightly observed,
that a neglect of the highest culture would also impede the pro
gress and elevation of the masses.
Between the colleges and universities, the number of which is
sufficiently great, there is an important difference: since some of
them are just beginning, and have but few teachers, scholars, and
books; while others, as Cambridge in Massachusetts, and Yale
College in New Haven, Connecticut, are abundantly and appro
priately provided with professors, students, libraries, and other
collections. According to European ways of thinking, we should
prefer a smaller number of complete institutions to a greater
number of imperfect ones : in consequence however of the great
size of the states and their scattered population, every father of a
family naturally wishes an institution of learning in his neighbor
hood ; it also becomes in a manner a point of honor not to be
behindhand in this respect with any neighboring state.
In the colleges or gymnasia the students usually remain four
years, from fourteen to eighteen ; and in the more advanced
institutions, from sixteen to twenty. There is generally required
for admission more or less knowledge of English grammar,
arithmetic, geography, a beginning in Latin and also in Greek.
These two languages are then further taught, and occasionally
Hebrew or the modern tongues, mathematics, rhetoric, natural
and mental philosophy, as also something of American laws
and the law of nations. Instruction in history is often defec
tive; indeed it is sometimes wanting altogether. On leaving col
lege, most of the students receive the diploma of bachelor of
arts or belles lettres ; and then go commonly for two or three
years more to an institution of theology, law, or medicine.
No distinction of ranks and in the mode of treating them is of
course ever thought of; but on the other hand a most violent
opposition is found between the whites and blacks. While many
friends of the negroes recommend their instruction in common
with the whites ; others would, for reasons already given, either
abolish it altogether, or (on the plea of then unpleasant odor)
provide for black children separately. The latter is in fact the
most frequent practice.

280

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.

Of the evil consequences which have ensued from the unhappy
controversy about reading the Bible in schools, I shall again
speak in another place ; and here only remark in general, that
there is by no means a unanimity of opinion on the subject of
religious instruction in schools. Many sects would found it
altogether on their own creed; others would propound only
those religious principles on which all Christians are agreed;
others again would wholly separate scientific from spiritual
instruction, and hand the latter over to the clergymen of the
different denominations. With this view, the state of Illinois
provides by law, that no literary institution or school shall have
a religious department. Many female teachers have been placed
even in boys' schools with excellent effect. They form in Ohio
about one half, and in Massachusetts as many as two thirds of
the whole number of teachers. For the lower classes in the
schools they are uniformly preferred to men ; since they are more
affectionate, more patient, better bred, and — being without any
interfering plans of life — are more devoted to the calling they
have chosen.
Another peculiarity in several schools, especially in the western
states, is Ihe union of scientific instruction with bodily labor.
The scholars devote to work commonly three hours a day (as
printers, bookbinders, cabinet-makers, farmers, &c.) ; and thereby
strengthen their health, and earn a great part of the expense of
their education* An institution at Palmyra in Missouri owns
land, which the scholars hire and cultivate, and in this way main
tain themselves.
Although it would be very tedious, if not impossible, to
describe in detail the school regulations of twenty-six states, still
it is necessary to adduce something by way of example, in order
t" show that the reproach of disinclination or indifference on the
part of Americans to mental culture and training is wholly
unfounded. In Alabama, the thirty-sixth part of the land of every township
forms a school-fund, and forty-six thousand acres besides are set
apart for a university, which are already worth a million of dol
lars.! In North Carolina, the schools in 1838 owned a million and a
half of acres, which in part at least admit of cultivation. Other
school-funds amounted to about a million of dollars.!
In South Carolina, clergymen and school-teachers are exempt
from taxation.§ There had been at different times appropriated :
for the library capital,  $2,000
" " annually,  610
# Reed, ii. 137. Arend's Missouri, p. 279. t Buckingham's Slave States, i. 279.
X American Almanac, 1838, p. 230. § Statutes, vi. 606, 610.

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. 281
the librarian,  600
each professor in the college, .... 2,500*
several free scholarships,  400
free schools annually,  37,000
a building for collections of natural science
and for experiments,  6,000
a deaf and dumb institution, .... 25,000
The free school system, for reasons which this is not the place
to state, has not yet produced a satisfactory result.!
In the year 1801, a college was founded in Columbia, the
capital of South Carolina. The state gave money for the erec
tion of large buildings, and (as was required by the expensiveness
of the place) for liberal salaries. Trustees, chosen by the legisla
ture and presided over by the governor, manage the business of
the institution ; whilst the instruction is committed chiefly to the
head of the college and the professors. The trustees appoint all
the professors, and have also the power of dismissal. There are
seven professors :
1. For Belles Letties and Logic.
2. For Mathematics and Natural Philosophy.
3. For Biblical Literature and Evidences of Christianity.
4. For Greek and Roman Literature.
5. For Chemistry, Geology and Mineralogy.
6. For History and Political Economy.
7. For Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy.
Every professor, upon his induction to office, must deliver an
address relative to his department. The students, as in all
similar institutions, are divided into four classes, which are named
oddly enough : Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors.
They are received at the age of fourteen. Every half year there
is an examination, and every year an advance to a higher class.
The students as well as the professors live in the public buildings.
Each professor has a certain number of students under his charge,
whose rooms he must visit at least once a day. The professors
have also by turns the superintendence of their meals. The
scholars wear a simple uniform of dark grey. They are forbid
den to chew tobacco, to keep dogs, to drink ardent spirits, to
play musical instruments on Sunday, or to indulge in other com
mon amusements and dissipations. The students' mbney all
passes through the hands of a treasurer. No one is allowed to
spend more than $350 a year ; as experience shows it to be attend
ed with the worst consequences. The term lasts from the first
Monday in October to the first of July. Only three hours a day are
devoted to instruction ; one after morning prayers, one at eleven,
* Only $1000 a piece less than the governor gets.
t American Almanac, 1S45, p. 252.

282 SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.
and one at four o'clock : exact regulations are however prescribed
respecting the further division and improvement of time. I have no
room to discuss this plan of an academy, which departs widely
from those of Germany. I speak of the oratorical exercises in
my Letters.
In Georgetown, District of Columbia, the Jesuits have esta
blished in a charming spot an institution, the object of which
is to unite the instruction of a college with that of a partial
university. The principles adopted are in general those laid
down in the Ratio atque lnstitutio studiorum Societatis Jesu, and
which on that account it seems unnecessary to repeat here. Warn
ing is given against untried novelties and anti-church tendencies ;
the desire of learning and knowing a great many things, as well
as mere trifling, are highly censured : on the other hand, the study of
the classics, as ever-enduring models of just thought and beauti
ful style, is carried to a greater extent than is usual in America.
Still it is found necessary to make many changes in the ancient
course of study and to bestow the requisite time on the natural
sciences, modern languages, and the mother-tongue. Thus the
mathematics are pursued for one hour and a quarter daily ; French
is taught, &c. The course lasts from the 15th September to the
31st July. After four years in the college classes, the student
enters the higher grades, which still bear the ancient names of
Poetry, Rhetoric, and Philosophy.*
* To explain its character more completely, I annex the following extract from
the Prospectus of the school.
The course of the preparatory schools is as follows :
First Class. — Latin Grammar, Viri Romae, or Cicero's Select Letters, Geogra
phy, Enghsh Grammar, History of the Bible, Latin and English Exercises, Arith
metic. Second Class.— Nepos's Lives, Cicero's Letters, Fables of Pheedrus, Greek
Grammar, Latin Grammar, English Grammar, jEsop's Fables in Greek (second
term), Geography of North America, History of the Bible, Latin and English Exer
cises, Arithmetic.
Third Class, First Term. — Curtius, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Greeca Minora,
Ancient History of the Republics of Athens and Sparta, Greek Grammar, Latin
Grammar, English Grammar, Latin, Greek, and Enghsh Exercises, Geography of
South America and Europe.
Thihd Class, Second Term. — Caesar, Ovid's Tristium, &c. &c.
Fourth Class, First Term. — Sallust, Virgil (Eclogues and Georgics), Lucian's
Dialogues, Anthology (Greek), Geography of Asia and Africa, History of Greece,
Mythology, Doctrine of Particles (Tursellini), Alvarez' Prosody, Latin Grammar,
Greek Grammar, Rules for the composition of Letters and formation of Style, Exer
cises in Latin, Greek, and Enghsh.
Fourth iClass, Second Term. — Cicero's Minor Works, Virgil's iEneid, Xenophon's
Gyropaedia, Anthology.
Mi the senior classes the following course is pursued :
In Poetry, First Term. — Livy, Virgil's .fEneid, Horace's Art of Poetry, Xenophon's
Cyropaedia, Theocritus.
Second Term — Cicero's Orations, Horace's Odes, Catullus, Ti bullus, and Propertius
Thucydides, Homer.

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. 283
Every scholar must go through the entire course, and no excep
tions are made for particular cases. No travelling is allowed
or visits made except to parents and guardians. All letters not
from parents are opened by the principal; who decides what
books the scholars may read. The yearly charges for rent, tuition,
superintendence, washing and medical attendance, amount to
$200. All else is paid separately ; but an excessive amount of
pocket-money is not permitted. Protestants are also received
into the insut ation. The chewing of tobacco is forbidden, but
nothing is said of smoking.
Theology, which is designated as the light of philosophy, is
to be studied four years ; profane studies are to be entirely laid
aside, and all are to apply themselves to Thomas Aquinas.
In Connecticut there arose gradually out of ancient landed-pos
sessions a school-fund of about 2,000,000 dollars invested at a
high rate of interest, to which is added a yearly tax of about
12,000 dollars.* The whole income is divided among from
eighty to eighty-four thousand children; notwithstanding this,
every thing has not yet succeeded as might be wished. A school-
house which I visited in New Haven was roomy and well
adapted to the purpose ; and the scholars, who were instructed
on the Lancasterian method, among other things multiplied in
their heads numbers extending to five places of figures.
Yale College in New Haven, founded in 1701, and gradually
much enlarged and enriched,! is jusuy reckoned among the best
literary institutions of America, and unites the characters of a
college and a university. The laws for undergraduates and
other students contain the usual rules, but the following deserve
particular mention. They must contract no debts, and can take
lodgings in the town, with the consent of their college-guardians,
only when all the rooms in the college-buildings are occupied.
Both Terms. — Precepts of Rhetoric and Poetry, Greek Dialects and Prosody, His
tory of Rome, Ancient Geography. English, Latin, and Greek style particularly
attended to, in prose and poetry, and specimens from approved authors committed
to memory.
In Rhetoric, First Term. — Cicero's Orations, Horace's Satires and Epistles, Livy ;
Demosthenes' Orations, Homer's Iliad.
Second Term. — Cicero's Orations, Juvenal and Persius, Tacitus, Demosthenes,
Sophocles. Both Terms. — Precepts of Rhetoric, with criticisms on the most celebrated authors,
Quintilian's Institutions of Rhetoric, Cicero's Rhetorical Works, American and
English History, History of Latin, Greek, and English Literature. A greater, if
possible, attention is paid to style in the three languages, and orations are composed.
In Philosophy. — The students learn Logic, Metaphysics, and Ethics. Lectures
on these branches are delivered in Latin, and a daily examination is held on the
lecture. In Natural Philosophy the lectures are given in English. The Mathema
tics are taught in three classes.
* Duncan's Travels, i. 110. Hinton,ii. 480. Buckingham's Eastern States, i. 352.
t The institution is named after Governor Yals,who. was aigreat benefector to it
He died in 1721.

284 SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.
Whoever remains out or comes late to the recitations is marked
and censured. Particular tutors have the oversight as to dili
gence and good behavior. No one is permitted to put on female '
clothing, to visit the theatre, act plays, or join in any game, or to
purchase cake or fruit within the college walls. Whoever mar
ries can no longer remain a student. On Sunday every one
must go to church and keep the day strictly.* Whoever publicly
denies that the Holy Scripture or a portion of it is of divine
authority, is dismissed. The management of the funds, the
appointment of teachers, and the general interests of the institu
tion, are under the charge of a particular corporation ; the presi
dent, professors, and tutors, compose the faculty for instruction
and discipline.
Professors are appointed for :
Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology,
Latin Literature,
Greek Literature,
Mathematics.
Natural Philosophy and Astronomy,
Rhetoric and English Literature,
Divinity, An assistant for Latin and Greek,
Seven Tutors.
After a student has spent four years in the very peculiarly
arranged college course and has received the Baccalaureate, he
passes on (if designed for a profession) to one of the university
faculties. Four professors are appointed in the theological
faculty, and no fee is paid for the three years' course. The
medical department has five professors and a three years'
course ; that of law three, professors and a two years' course :
both faculties receive fees, since here the funds are not sufficient
to dispense with them. The vacations (summer, winter, and
spring) last about twelve weeks. The library of the college
contains about 12,000, and those of the students' societies about
20,000 volumes. There are at present* 111 freshmen, 88 sopho
mores, 77 juniors, 107 seniors, 60 medical students, 44 law stu
dents, and 66 in the theological department.
I give as specimens the subjects of some orations:! The
Immutability of Principles ; Nature ; The Deceiver ; Washing
ton's Administration ; The Language of Silence ; Moral Courage ;
The Study of American History ; Poetry ; The Heathen My
thology; Vox populi, Vox Dei; Our Politicians no Statesmen;
* The laws ordain : Whoever violates the Sabbath by unnecessary business,
amusement, or visiting ; whoever quits his room on that day, or admits other stu
dents or strangers, &c, shall be punished according to the nature of the offence.
t That is, in the term of 1843-4.— Tr.
} Compare those of Columbia in my Letters.

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. 285
Obstinacy ; The Well Balanced Mind ; The Influence of a Cor
rupt Court ; The Tyranny of Fashion ; The Respect that Phi
losophy owes to Theology ; The Tendency of Mankind to
Free Constitutions ; Woman's Mission.
In New Hampshire there are annually raised for schools about
$90,000, chiefly from a tax on property. Every bank must like
wise pay for this purpose a tax of one half per cent, on its capi
tal.* There is also a separate income for school-houses and
academies. A select committee examine the teachers, and
choose the school-books. None are adopted which favor a par
ticular sect or creed.
In Illinois, the salaries paid to teachers amounted as early as
the year 1839 to $44,000 ; and a part of the proceeds from the sale
of public lands is devoted to school purposes.!
In Lexington, Kentucky, there are a college, a law school, and
a medical institute. The term time lasts from November till
March, and from April till August. The students are under spe
cial supervision, and reside in the public buildings, or in the town
if approved of by their college guardians. The hours of attend
ance are from 9 to 12 A. M. and from 2 to 5 P. M. The tuition
fees for half a year amount to from ten to twenty dollars.
In Louisville an excellent medical institute has been establish
ed. The city gave towards it $115,000. The lecture-rooms in
the large and beautiful building are well arranged and well-
lighted ; and collections are begun for the natural sciences, che
mistry, and anatomy. The library contains already from four to
five thousand volumes ; and in six years, eight professors have
given instruction to 1060 students. The lectures last only from
the first of November to the last of February ; but are given for
six hours daily. The fees for each professor amount to from ten
to fifteen dollars, matriculation and library fees to five or six, and
the doctor's diploma to twenty dollars.
In Louisiana about $40,000 were expended in 1827 for the
instruction of the poor.! In 1841 very judicious acts were passed
for the establishment and extension of schools ; and the teachers,
many of them females, are very well paid.
In Maine every town has its free school, supported for the most
part by a general tax on property. Still the general fund of the
state contributes a considerable sum.§
In Maryland, and especially in Baltimore, schools are also in a
very advanced state. Thus thirteen school commissioners are
* American Almanac, 1841, p. 179.
t American Almanac, 1841, p. 240.
j Encyc. Americana, art. Louisiana. Amer. Almanac, 1844, p. 269.
§ Hinton, ii. 460. Buckingham's Eastern States, i. 166. Provision has already
b«en made for colleges and theological institutions. Am. Almanac, 1845, p. 203.
19

286

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.

annually appointed, and a school-tax of If per cent, is raised on
property. Michigan has about a million of acres set apart for schools*
and levies a school-tax besides. The entire expenditure for
schools amounts to $87,000, which exceeds the cost of the whole
state-government. The number of scholars in the year 1844 rose
to 66,000. In 1837, a law was passed for the establishment of a
University with three departments, of law, medicine, and arts
and sciences. Forty-eight thousand acres of land were appro
priated to it ; and its collections in botany, mineralogy, geology,
and zoology, are already quite extensive.
Missouri has two other funds set apart for common school
purposes, besides that arising from the sale of the public lands -r
these are a fund from the sale of certain salt-springs lying within
the state with the land adjacent to them, and which in 1839
amounted to $480,000 ; and another of $400,000, being the por
tion of the surplus revenue received by the state-!
Of the state of schools in Ohio I give an account elsewhere.
In Pennsylvania complaint is made that factory labor already
keeps many children from the schools ; still the cause of educa
tion has recently made astonishing progress. The indifference,
the prejudices, and even the opposition formerly made to gra
tuitous instruction, have mostly disappeared; and the money
required for schools is ungrudgingly contributed. The cheaper
Lancasterian system is gradually giving way to the common
mode, now that a greater number of teachers prepare themselves
for the work. New school-houses have been erected, libraries
and collections increased, and some attention bestowed on colored
children. In the year 1839, $309,000 were bestowed on schools
out of the public treasury. There were 4,488 male and 2,050
female teachers ;! the former received on an average $19.39| a
month, and the latter $12.03. 5,494 school-houses were in use,
and 887 more were to be built. The county commissioners and
a person for each school district determine the amount of school-
tax to be raised. It must be at least double the amount given
by the state.
In the Philadelphia city district there were in 1843, 214 schools :
among which were one high school, 40 grammar schools, 18
lower schools, 76 primary schools, and 80 in the suburbs ; with
499 teachers — 87 male and 412 female. The salary of a teacher
amounted on an average to $274 ; the entire outlay for schools
to $192,000. The number of scholars was 33,130, and had
received in a year and a half an increase of 5,222. If Philadel-
* Amer. Almanac for 1844, p. 283.
t In New Jersey there is a school fund of about $350,000, and a yearly payment
from the state fund of $30,000. Amer. Almanac, 1845, p. 230.
X Amer. Almanac for 1841, p. 203. North Amer. Review, li. 26.

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. 287
phia goes on in this path of improvement, riots of a rude and
destructive character will not recur.*
Rhode Island expended for instruction in 1843, from public and
private sources, about $48,000.! There were 342 male and 173
female teachers, and the scholars numbered 11,960 boys and
8,132 girls.!
Vermont appropriated 80,000 acres of land and a considerable
sum of money for schools. Besides this, a school-tax is levied
on property. The university or college at Burlington§ is under
the direction of sixteen trustees, who fill vacancies in their own
body. They select the requisite teachers from persons nomi
nated by the professors. The institution has little or no connec
tion with the state. Each student pays for instruction about
twenty-five dollars per annum. They are required to attend
morning and evening prayers, and to go to church on Sundays.
Smoking and music are prohibited during the hours of study.
After the college-course is ended and an examination is passed,
students receive the degrees of bachelor and master of arts.
The vacation lasts thirteen weeks. ||
In Virginia the worthy governor M'Dowell laments that many
children do not go to school at all, or only for a short time, and
that irregularly. " Parents," says he in his message, " should be
induced by the strongest considerations to permit their children to
attend the schools." Still the attention to the subject of schools
and the interest in them are gradually increasing ; and an annual
appropriation to common schools of about $64,000 has already
been made.
The illustrious Jefferson very early perceived how necessary both
popular education and higher culture are in a republican confede
ration. " Educate," says he, " and inform the whole mass of the
people. Enable them to see that it is their interest to preserve
peace and order, and they will preserve them."TT Accordingly he
exerted himself in the cause of schools, and founded the Univer
sity at Charlottesville. While he is acknowledged to have effected
much good, two objections have been made in regard to this :
The first is, that he placed the University in the lonely town of
Charlottesville, instead of in Richmond, the capital of the state.
The reasons for and against this course are the same which are
urged in Germany for and against establishing universities in
# For 1843 I find the following statement: 6,156 schools; 5,264 male, 2,330 female
teachers;1 161,000 male and 127,000 female scholars ; state contributions $272,000,
and school-tax $419,000.
f Am. Almanac for 1844, p. 219.
X For well contrived laws and regulations in Tennessee, see Am Aim. 1845, p. 269.
§ Warden, i. 443. Amer. Almanac, 1845, p. 208.
|| Appendix III. shows the subjects of instruction and the division of the hours.
1 Tucker, i. 255.

288 SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.
large or small towns. Probably Jefferson wished not to expose
science to the danger of being overshadowed by the ascendency
of mere practical tendencies and the predilection for business and
social amusements.
In the second place, Jefferson has been bitterly reproached for
excluding clergymen from all immediate influence upon his insti
tution. Here, it is supposed, were manifested his unbelief and
enmity to Christianity. Religious dogmas have certainly no direct
connection with instruction in Latin and Greek, mathematics and
chemistry ; they have their own peculiar province, which is in no
way infringed upon by that institution. He wished to secure a
free choice and development to each individual ; — for which of the
many sects should he have made the ruling one in his institution,
and to which should he have surrendered its absolute spiritual con
trol ? Orwas it possible to instal a clergyman for each denomina
tion, and then to maintain uninterrupted peace ? In order however
to meet the clamor and to ward off the danger of unpopularity,
there is now chosen, at certain intervals and in a prescribed order of
succession, a university clergyman from certain favored or more
numerous denominations. As was formerly asserted of the
planets, so here certain doctrines rule in particular years, and
make way for others when their time has expired. On the con
trary, and in exact accordance with Jefferson's views, the laws of
New York direct, that no school, in which any religious sect is
preferred, or its tenets taught or inculcated, or its peculiar rites per
formed, shall reeeive any portion of the public money. And in
another commendable work it is said : " Too many of our literary
institutions appear to cherish sectarian views. They ought to be
founded on the broadest principles of Christianity, without any
reference whatever to any one of the different sects into which
Christianity is divided and subdivided."*
The University receives annually from the state the sum of
15,000 dollars. Seven trustees appointed by the governor
manage many of its concerns ; besides whom a rector is annu
ally appointed, and also a treasurer, who keeps a book of all
the receipts and expenses of the students. There are nine
professors : the branches taught are mathematics, moral philoso
phy, natural philosophy, chemistry and materia medica, ana
tomy and surgery, medicine, law, and the ancient and mo
dern languages. History, as is too often the case in America, is
omitted. Every professor has on an average a salary of $1,000,
a dwelling rent free, and the fees from his lectures. The fees
from each student are : * Atwater, Ohio, 286.

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. 289
for hearing one professor only, .... 50 dollars
" two professors, each, ... 30 "
" three or more, each, ... 25 "
" certain lectures,  15 "
There are appropriated for the library and
newspapers,  350 "
for anatomy,  50 "
chemistry,  50 "
the librarian,  250 "
The students (about 160 in number and at least sixteen years
of age) are under the supervision of the professors. They
are subjected by the latter to rigid examinations ; and if they
pass, they receive the degrees of bachelor and master of arts.
They are not suffered to reside without permission out of the
University buildings, and they wear simple summer and winter
uniforms. No student is allowed to receive and spend above a
certain sum, except for books. The laws for the maintenance of
discipline and good order are strict, and abuses have always been
mastered in the end. The whole institution bears an interme
diate character between a college and a university, and would
rea'dily admit of such further improvements as the present time
demands. New York. The sad, yet encouraging experience is often
repeated, that the more an institution advances and approaches
to perfection, the more clearly are its remaining defects observed,
and the more severely censured. Thus it happens with the school
system, especially in New England and New York. Let us then
place praise and blame side by side, as worthy men express both,*
or as they force themselves on the observer.
The first great impulse towards the improvement of the school
system was given in the year 1795 by Governor Clinton, who
exclaimed in his Message, " I regard our school system as the
palladium of our freedom!" Several governors, as Gideon
Hawley and others of the same stamp, exerted themselves inde-
fatigably in the cause. In 1805 there was formed a society for
the improvement of schools, and in the same year the first great
appropriation of land was made for the same object. The unsold
lands still amount to 400,000 acres. In 1812 a general school law
was passed ; which however in the years 1838 and 1844 underwent
essential alterations and improvements. The system for city and
country is now made uniform, and by means of town and country
officers is worked up into 3mall districts with great advantage.
The supervision and management of the whole is in the hands
of a state superintendent of instruction. The system thus stands
* Randal, Digest of the Common School system. American Almanac, 1840,
p. 225; 1841, p. 195. Chevalier, iv. 234. EncycL Americana, art. New York.

290 SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.
complete and united in all its parts; and neither excellences
nor defects, activity nor negligence, can long remain unper-
ceived. Suitable persons are appointed for the usual half-yearly
inspection of the schools, as well as for the examination of teachers
applying for places ; and it is only to be hoped that political
party-spirit may not force its way into these independent orbits
and disturb their equilibrium.
During the last year there were paid out of the public funds
of the state, to teachers,  $565,000
For books for the district libraries,  95,000
Raised by citizens,  509,000
Total, $1,169,000
Large as this sum appears, say the friends of the school system,
it is still small compared with what is granted and expended for
other purposes.
The contributions from the public funds are regularly dis
tributed, according to the number of scholars who really attend
school. Each district must raise as much for schools by a
tax on property, as it receives from the state. It has been
remarked, however, that the poorest and smallest commu
nities, which keep a teacher for a few children, fare the
worst ; and therefore it has been proposed to change this prin
ciple of distribution. Those known to be poor do not pay for
schooling ; it has however been pointed out as a defect, that in
New York even people who are well off pay nothing for the time
their children remain out of school — a plan which encourages
absence, while in Massachusetts the school-money is always paid
for the whole term. The pay of the teachers is often still so
small, that they are glad to get into other employments ; and the
school-houses are some of them in such a wretched condition, as
to form no attraction for the calling. Lastly, the time of attend
ing school is far too short, and the assertion is often heard :
" What is learnt at school neither forms the character nor teaches
how to make money. In this the ignorant get along just as well
as the educated." Yet eloquent figures show that these objections
are not to be taken in all their extent and significancy, without
some grains of allowance. Thus in the year 1816 there were
140,000 scholars, and the state gave $48,000. In the year 1844
there were about 660,000 scholars, and the state gave $565,000.
Upon the whole, the school system is doubtless regularly advanc
ing; and the attempt to split it up among the different sects, has
happily failed altogether, as will be shown in the sequel.
In Massachusetts and in all New England, there have existed,
ever since the settlement of the country, excellent laws for the
founding and support of schools. They were suffered however
to lie in abeyance ; and it was not till of late that attention has

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. 291
been directed anew and with the happiest results to this important
subject The following is taken from the recent laws.* " In
every place where fifty or more families are found, a school shall
be kept at the public expense by one or more teachers of good mo
rals and acquirements, for at least six months in the year ; and the
youth shall be instructed in reading, writing, arithmetic, ortho
graphy, English grammar, geography, and morals." Where there
are one hundred families, the instruction lasts the year round;
where there are five hundred, the subjects of instruction extend to
the history of the United States, geometry, surveying, algebra,
and book-keeping. A place with four thousand inhabitants must
have an academy with teachers for Latin, Greek, history, rhetoric,
and logic. All teachers shall according to their ability inculcate
the principles of piety and justice ; a strict regard for truth, patri
otism, humanity, and benevolence ; temperance, industry, frugality,
chastity, and all other virtues which adorn human society and
lie at the foundation of republicanism. Every one is obliged to
contribute to the school-tax according to his means, whether he
sends children or not Should a town fail to raise the required
sur^i, it is mulcted in certain damages, and receives no assistance
from the considerable state school-fund, which is derived chiefly
from the produce and sale of lands.
Persons yearly appointed in each town conduct the school
business, choose teachers and books, fix the number of free scho
lars, provide for diligent attendance, and are bound to see that no
books are bought or used which are calculated to favor the tenets
of any one Christian sect.
Since 1837, there has existed in Boston a board of instruc
tion for the whole state. The governor and eight persons (of
whom one goes out of office every year) receive all the reports of
the local officers; from which the secretary, at present the active
and sagacious Horace Mann, forms his general yearly reports.
These instructive documents comprise the course of education,
the number of teachers and scholars, the school fees, the time and
eircumstanoes of instruction, &c. They compare the institutions
in Massachusetts with those of other countries,! contrast excel
lences and defects, and show the ways and means of further
improvement Progress is perceptible to every observer, not
withstanding the continuance of some defects. There is an
increase in the contributions ; in school attendance ; in the duration
of instruction ; in the ability, number, and salaries of male and
female teachers; in the convenience of school-houses, &c!
# Statutes, p. 218.
¦f Meetings of teachers and school-periodicals produce similar useful results.
X A very instructive work has appeared in Massachusetts on the building of
school-houses, seats, ventilation, warming, &c

292 SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.
Three schools, endowed with $6,000 per annum, are provided
for the education of male and female teachers. The former are
received at seventeen, and the latter at sixteen years of age ; and
the course of instruction lasts from one to three years. Accord
ing to the latest reports, there were 2,500 male and 4,282 female
teachers, in a population of about 735,000. There were moreover
four colleges with 769 students ;* 251 grammar schools with 16,447
scholars ; and 3,362 common schools with 160,258 scholars,
of whom 158,351 receive instruction at the public expense,
that is, out of the school-fund and tax. In the last year $509,000
were raised by the school-tax. The contribution amounted in
different counties to from $1.10 to $6.27 ; the average was $2.84.
The school-tax was about t^ts of the property. In the course
of five years, $634,000 were paid for building new and repairing
old school-houses ; and the amount contributed by citizens for pri
vate schools was said to be nearly equal to that paid for public ones.
In Boston there are a Latin school, with five classes ; a high
school, where mathematics, the natural sciences, French, and
English are chiefly taught ; further, 13 grammar and 95 common
schools, with 46 male and 148 female teachers. The school
hours are in summer, from 8 to 11, and from 2 till 5 ; and in
winter from 9 to 12, and from 2 to half past 5. Separate schools
are established for colored children. . The school system is man
aged by the mayor, the chairman of the common council, and 24
assistants chosen from the 12 wards. Among other things they
appoint and dismiss teachers,, and fix their salary.
It deserves the most honorable mention, that in Massachusetts
very large donations have been made for educational purposes.
A single individual gave $20,000 to found a professorship of
Greek literature, and another the same sum for one of modern
languages. Mr. Samuel Abbott gave $120,000 to found ar>
academy at Andover.
The highest and most deservedly celebrated literary institution ins
Massachusetts is Harvard College or Harvard University at Cam
bridge, near Boston-! It owed its establishment in 1636 to the
gifts of the most meritorious John Harvard ; during the seven
teenth century, however,, it not only had to struggle with, extreme
poverty,, but unfortunately became entangled in the violent theo
logical controversies of the age. Even in the middle of the
eighteenth century there were people who would compel a lite-
* Mr. Mann animadverts severely and with justice upon the fact, that through
the unskilfulness of the- teachers, and still more through the disobedience and' way
wardness of the scholars (to which the parents are often accessory), schools are-
sometimes completely broken up. Here strict discipline is very necessary; other
wise unruly schoolboys will become in later years rioters and criminals, as has,
anhappily been seen to be the case in the disturbances in Philadelphia.
t See Josiah Quinsy's, excellent history of that institution..

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. 293
rary institution to take the color of a particular sect, and who
declared that the Holy Spirit and knowledge were at enmity with
each other. Deficiency in the latter was declared to be more
than compensated by extraordinary gifts of grace. More just
and liberal views, however, finally prevailed ; and the institution
became so much enlarged by new foundations and donations, that
a university is now joined with the college. As however the pe
cuniary means of the institution are not yet wholly sufficient for its
wants, education at Cambridge is expensive, and the revenues of
the college remain distinct from those of the university or facul
ties. The former amount to about $41,000 per annum. A great
part of the capital was loaned out to banks, insurance companies,
manufactories, canals, railroads, &c. ; and it has not escaped
without loss. The salaries of the professors vary from $1,000 to
$2,000 ; the president of the institution receives $2,235. Teachers
of languages get about $500. The fees are received from the
students in a fixed sum, and go to the treasury of the university.
Besides the teachers of languages, assistants, and tutors, there are
in Cambridge ten professors of the college (the faculty), two of
theology, three of law, and six of medicine. The college students
are divided, as every where in America, into four classes ; and
are under the supervision of the above mentioned tutors and pro
fessors. The college and university laws contain in general the
same regulations as are found elsewhere. Every thing worthy
of praise or censure is strictly noticed, and a scale of merits
formed accordingly. The collegians almost without exception
receive the degree of bachelor of arts upon leaving the institu
tion ; the university students, that of master of arts. These
diplomas are not given on the ground of unusual examinations
or extraordinary attainments, but answer to our university certi
ficates of residence.
In the term of 1842-3 there were in Cambridge :
Seniors,  68
Juniors,  62
Sophomores,  64
Freshmen,  68
Those who claimed no degree, . . 4
 266
Theological students,  22
Medical "  107
Law «  108
Resident graduates,  2
 239
Whole number of collegiate and — —
university students,  505
All are to attend morning and evening prayers, to wear a black

294 SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.
or dark-colored coat with black buttons at church and on public
occasions, not to carry canes to church or recitations, to reside
only where college officers give permission, to smoke no tobacco at
table, &c. The vacations are two in number : one of six weeks,
from the 12th of January ; and another of six weeks, from the
12th of August.
In the new and tasteful library, built with a legacy left by Mr.
Gore, there are about 1,800 theological, 1,000 medical, and 6,100
law books. Besides these, the college library has 40,000 volumes,
and the students' library 9,000. The institution has lately received
a donation of $21,000 for the purchase of books, and $25,000 for
an observatory ; all the scientific collections, however, need to be
enriched. The table in Appendix IV. shows the particular division of
the hours of study. When, in the year 1841, the corporation
resolved, that it should depend on the decision of parents and
guardians, whether the college students should learn mathematics,
Latin, and Greek, during the freshman year, — very serious objec
tions were made. Parents and scholars, it was said, could seldom
judge what and how it was best to study. They are generally
inclined to suppose that a scanty foundation will serve for a life
time ; and that to hurry half prepared into practical business, is
bdtter than to possess all the acquirements that science can afford.
The institution too, by thus yielding to the superficial wishes of
the day, seeking to entice a greater number of students, and
lowering its standard of education, will injure both itself and the
community in an equal degree.
To this it was replied : It is impossible to study all the sciences,
and it is necessary to make a choice among them. This the
parents, after hearing the opinion of the college authorities, are
entitled and the best qualified to do. If many of them even
wrongly consider mathematics, Latin, and Greek as superfluous,
it is absurd to set oneself against public opinion and endeavor to
control it. In this way the institution will become constantly less
popular and less frequented. Better remove the discontented and
dissentient, and thus effect much greater objects with those who
will give their willing co-operation.
Such were the reasons adduced for and against the measure ;
but the result has certainly surprised both parties. What in the
true American spirit was objected to, because it was compulsory,
appeared, after liberty of choice was allowed, in such a favorable
light, that the number of those who learn mathematics, Latin, and
Greek has not diminished, and the interest in those studies has
increased. A choice is also permitted between learning Italian,
Spanish, or German (French is prescribed) ; and the greater
number choose the latter language.

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. 295
There is no printed syllabus of the university lectures ; it would
also have but a meagre appearance, in comparison with those of
the German universities ; for the theological students resort mostly
to institutions of their own creeds, the medical lectures last but
four months in the year, and the law course comprises two years
only. We miss here also the philosophical principles of law,
Roman law, the history of law, and the constitutional law of other
countries. The method pursued by the excellent Judge Story in one of
his instructive law lectures, seemed to me worthy of remark.
With us the increase of examinations is recommended by some ;
while by others it is opposed, chiefly because it would be attended
with a great loss of time, or necessitate an increase in the number
of lectures. Judge Story interwove in his rapid flowing deli
very some questions, which he put to certain of his hearers by
name. These answered the questions on the spot, merely
completing the period as it were, so that the lecture went on with
out suffering any interruption.
The medical schools are not regulated alike in all the states. In
consequence of republican views and of institutions' still partially
incomplete, the supervision is on the whole less extensive and
the requisitions less strict than in many countries of Europe.
In America it is expected that each physician will distinguish
himself to the best of his ability, and that every patient will
make the best choice for himself.
In the year 1837 there were printed at Washington the laws of
a medical society. Praiseworthy regulations respecting the con
duct of physicians were accompanied by a high tariff of fees.
Each visit was set down at one dollar ; a first consultation, five
dollars ; a night visit, from five to seven dollars ; vaccinating,
three dollars ; a medical or surgical operation, from forty to one
hundred dollars. It was forbidden to take less, or make any
agreement to receive in payment a stipulated sum. Perhaps
these rules met with opposition. At all events, Congress granted
a separate charter in the year 1.838 to a medical society of the
District of Columbia. It was empowered to examine young
physicians, and to give them a license to practise ; provided they
had pursued the proper studies and passed with credit. Who
ever practised without such license should have no power to
enforce payment for the same. The society were to have nothing
to do with settling the rates of fees.
Similar arrangements exist in Baltimore. The examiners of
applicants are chosen from a society of all the physicians and
the professors of the Medical University.
In New York there is a Board of Health, consisting of the
Mayor and some other members of the corporation. There is a

296 SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.
medical society of the state, and others of the several counties.
Every physician must become a member of the former, and
exhibit certain qualifications ; otherwise he is forbidden to practise.
The county societies can propose the expulsion of a physician
for ill conduct or gross mistakes ; and the decision rests with the
legal tribunals, unless the accused voluntarily submits. No col
lege can confer the degree of doctor of medicine, and the medical
faculty of the University require three years' study and a scien
tific thesis in English, Latin, or French. As however the annual
lectures begin on the last Monday in October, and close on the last
of February, the three sessions of four months each make in all but
one full year. Should a county society reject a doctor, the mat
ter goes for final decision to the state society. Study at home
and under the eye of a physician is sometimes substituted for a
portion of the university course.
The Medical Department of the University of New York now
receives from the government $3000 annually, but is otherwise
entirely independent. The management of the business and the
delivery of lectures are performed by a council chosen by
election and 'the six professors of the faculty. The latter are
nominated by the council and appointed by the faculty. Pub
lic notices are previously given, inviting applications for the
vacant place. 'The number of students is now 325. The fees
for six courses of lectures (one by each professor) amount to
$105. There are no examinations by the state properly speaking.
The Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia stands in par
ticularly good repute. It numbers seven professors, and requires
three years' study ; here also the lectures last only from Novem
ber to March.
According to a general enumeration, there were in the year
1843 in the United States, 108 colleges, 9 law schools, 28 medi
cal and 37 theological institutions. The number of teachers in
a college varies from four to thirty-one ; in the higher institutions,
for a single science or faculty, from one to eight; the number of
college students to from 10 to 411, that of other students to from 30
to 444. The books in the libraries belonging to these institutions
number from 225 to 45,000. For the year 1840 the number
of those attending the common schools was put down at
1,845,000, that of students so called at 16,233.* According to
another account, the number of pupils was :
in the colleges about  0.8 per cent.
grammar schools (academies) 8.1 "
primary schools  91.1 "
* Poussin, Puissance Americ, ii. 263. The uncertainty of all these numbers
however is shown in the Am«r. Almanac for 1845, p. 136.

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. 297
In the Southern states attendance in the lower bears to that in the
higher schools the proportion of 3 to 1 ; in the Northern states, of
12 to 1. The culture of the higher classes is then more general
in the former, and of the people in the latter ; and advantages
and defects show themselves on both sides.
On taking a re-survey of all that we have stated, some general
remarks are suggested.
First. The American universities, libraries, and scientific
collections (which it is impossible to create at once), are behind
those of Europe, and especially of Germany ; but on the other
hand, as regards the education of the people, many of the United
States are on a level with the most cultivated European coun
tries, and far before several, including even England.
Secondly. No nation has done so much for schools in so short
a time as the Americans. For ancient foundations are almost
wholly wanting, and even though we should not rate very high
the appropriation of wild land, which at first is nearly worthless,
still other nations who have also plenty of wild land have done
nothing similar ; and it has only been with difficulty that here
and there in Europe a poor strip of land has been obtained for
schools and schoolmasters, when some " common " has been
divided. But it deserves especially to be repeated, that the prin
cipal funds for the support of schools are raised, not from school-
money paid by the poor, but by a property-tax, which particularly
affects the rich* whether they send children to school or not. In
New England, for example, people of property (about one fifth
of the inhabitants) pay half the cost; though they do not send one
sixth of the children to the schools. This regulation brings by
its re-action security and advantage to the rich ; it is republican,
and in entire conformity with human rights and feelings.
Thirdly. There is in the United States no danger of an educa
tion too elevated for the condition and relations of the educated.
Such are their political privileges, that nothing is placed wholly
out of the reach of any one ; wherefore the outlay goes to the edu
cation not of subjects merely, but of rulers also.f " Knowledge,"
De Witt Clinton rightly observed, " is as well the cause as the
consequence of good government."
I mentioned that no libraries in America could be compared
with the great European collections ; still there are, especially in
the larger Eastern cities, many libraries founded by individual
exertion for particular purposes (such as for lawyers, clergymen,
physicians, merchants, and others), and these have been diligently
used. They did not operate, however, upon the masses of the
people ; and the city circulating libraries, filled mostly with bad
* Encyclop. Americana, art. Education. Hall, ii. 165.
t The Schoolmaster, p. 111.

298

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.

romances, were destructive to time, to taste, and morals. Hence
arose the just complaint, that the people were taught reading with
a great outlay of time and trouble, and much boasting at the
result; while after all they had nothing to read. The Bible is
not even put into the hands of the Catholics, and has often been
misused by Protestants who were deficient in all other know
ledge for the purpose of kindling a wild fanaticism. It is a
common objection in Europe that the peasant has neither inclina
tion nor time to read. But inclination will not be wanting, as
soon as suitable books are offered to him : and he has more time
to read than chancellors, secretaries, privy councillors, and minis
ters of state. And what does he now in winter ? He sits by the
stove, quarrels with his wife, beats the children, and then goes
into the beer-house or spirit-shop in order to maintain the patri
archal equilibrium of his innocent mind, which has not yet been
sophisticated by the knowledge of books !
By reading the daily papers, the citizens of the United States
are certainly excited and instructed in a greater variety of ways
than those of any other country ; still this source is not always
pure, and is never quite sufficient. It was therefore a new,
valuable, and commendable idea (first broached in New York by
Wadsworth and Marcy, and afterwards adopted by Massachu
setts), to found a library for each school district ; and that not for the
scholars merely, but chiefly for adults. The first choice belongs to
the trustees of the place ; but the school superintendent of a higher
grade has a right to propose the removal of ill-chosen books. If
the board of trustees do not follow this counsel, they forfeit their
claim to a contribution from the general school fund. From these
collections there are very properly excluded all books relating to
political and religious controversies, or bearing any sectarian cha
racter, and also all romances. Notwithstanding these limitations,
the choice remained difficult, and there was still alack of uniformly
printed books at moderate prices ; consequently, by the advice
of benevolent and judicious individuals, entire series of books
for the young and for grown persons were printed in New York
and Boston, and even many works were written expressly for this
purpose. Among them are works on agriculture, technology,
natural philosophy and chemistry, together with travels, histories,
biographies, translations of the classics, &c*
In the year 1843, these new collections in the state of New
York contained already 875,000 volumes ; and the government
contributed towards them $94,000. In the year 1844 the number
* For example, Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, Robertson's Charles the Fifth,
Bancroft's History, Washington's Life, Histories of the several states, Homer, Plu
tarch, Herodotus, Goldsmith's History of Greece and Rome, Jos. Midler's History of
the World, Manuals of Physiology, of Agriculture, of Trade, &c.

LITERATURE AND ART. 299
of volumes amounted to a million. As the districts must contri
bute at least as much, there was a voluntary outlay in one year of
$188,000 for the mental improvement of the people by means of
reading. Similar regulations with equal success have been
adopted in Massachusetts ; and many other states will speedily
follow such noble and salutary examples.
. It is only in this way that mental and moral culture can spread
beyond the limited circle of the schools over the whole life of a
people, and raise them to a higher grade of genuine knowledge.
It is an absurd apprehension, to imagine that religious feelings
are weakened in consequence ; as if religion and ignorance went
always hand in hand ! The attainment however of this higher
intelligence will render it impossible for any one hereafter to smug
gle in a narrow fanaticism as a gift of the Holy Spirit, or to preach
up the principles of Caliph Omar.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

LITERATURE AND ART.

For and against America — Freedom of the Press — Newspapers and Periodicals-
Defence of Newspapers — Congress on Newspapers — German Newspapers — Peri
odicals — Libraries — Fine Arts, Music, Painting, Sculpture, Architecture — History
— Eloquence — Webster, Clay, Calhoun — Poetry — Philosophy.
The Americans, it is said whenever literature and art are men
tioned, have no antiquity and no monuments, no youth and no
poetry, no literature and no art ; and this is regarded as con
veying a perfectly true and at the same time bitter censure, or
rather as the most complete sentence of condemnation. But might
not an impartial spectator reply : England's antiquity and monu
ments belong equally to the Americans ; they may justly reckon
Chaucer and Shakspeare as their own. Should this however
be denied — for what reason I know not, and the first day of
America's independence be regarded as her real birth-day ; why
then she stepped forth like Adam, who came perfect from the hand
of God, without wearing children's shoes; or like Minerva, who
sprang from the head of Jove, and never was tutored by a bonne.
Every body in America, it is said, works to live, but no one to
think. What a one-sided, untrue antithesis ! Labor is not wholly
without thought, nor are the idle — from many an eldest son down
to the lazzaroni-— always thinkers.

300 LITERATURE AND ART.
Others maintain, that the average of culture is indeed higher in
America than elsewhere, but that there is a want of prominent,
lofty intellects. The last at any rate does not follow from the
first ; on the contrary, as the whole broad foundation rises to a
higher point, the summits also mount at length into a purer
atmosphere. Every thing has its time. Girls of eight and grandmothers of
eighty bear no children ; but the Americans — so think their cen
sors — should do every thing at once, every thing at the same
time, — that is to say, at the wrong time ! How many poets has
France produced in a thousand years, and whom can Germany
name between the author of the Nibelungen (who by the by is
either disowned or reviled) and Klopstock ?
America has no monuments, it is true ; but she has a nature
which joins all the venerableness of age to the elastic vigorof youth.
And do pyramids, and colossuses, and robber-castles exhibit more
the value and progress of art, or the misery which tyranny ever
produces ? The poetry of the Americans lies not in the past,
but in the future. We Europeans go back in sentiment through
the twilight of ages, that lose themselves in night ; the Americans
go forward through the morning dawn to day! Their great,
undoubted, historical past lies near them ; their fathers did great
things, not their great-great-grandfathers ! Athens at the time of
Miltiades, and Rome at the time of Scipio, had as yet no ancient
history; and the year 1813 is more glorious for Prussia than
the time when the margraves fought with the Quitzows. It is
better to build, to found, and to act — to live and improve in the
present,— than to have ruins pointed out and explained by'mvalets
de place. Will America become greater, more profound, and
more wonderful, when it shall lie in ruins ; or would one rather
see Athens as she now is, or as she was at the time of Pericles,
Phidias, Plato, and Sophocles ?
The first condition of all progress in art and science is, to know
its value. No European has ever spoken on this subject more
impressively and warmly than De Witt Clinton, when he says :
Pleasure is only a shadow, wealth only vanity, and power only
a semblance; knowledge on the contrary gives the greatest
enjoyment, the most lasting glory, is boundless in space and end
less in time.* Nor is this a solitary and inoperative sentiment of
one distinguished man ; but all the states, as we have seen, are
doing wonders in behalf of schools, and almost as much for
science. New York and Massachusetts, for example, have by
the most liberal appropriations (amounting in New York to
$200,000) provided for surveying those states, preparing maps,
drawing up a complete natural history, and examining into their
* School Report for Cincinnati, 1839, p. 8.

LITERATURE AND ART. 301
early records ; and eighteen other states have already followed
their praiseworthy example. In a like spirit, the general govern
ment ordered the circumnavigation of the globe under Comman
der Wilkes, the results of which are not inferior to those of any
other. But after all, what the government directly undertakes
and supports is of less importance than the fact, that it places no
obstacle in the way of the free development of all minds. The
absolute freedom of the press in America is the great lever of
this development. All are agreed that, with regard to books pro
perly speaking and to genuine literature, this freedom has been
of the greatest utility, and has very rarely been abused. Oppo
site opinions however are expressed respecting the newspaper and
periodical press. Thus, while the majority behold in it the pal
ladium of all truth and liberty, some consider newspapers the
source of almost all the evil there is in America. Before I pro
duce the facts that bear on this matter and give the reasons on
both sides, it is necessary to make some statistical statements.
In the year 1704 the first American newspaper was printed in
Boston.* In the year 1720 there were 3 newspapers.
" 1771 " 25 "
" 1801 " 200 "
" 1810 " 359 «
" 1828 " 851 including journals.
" 1834 " 1250 and 140 journals.
« 1840 " 1400-1600 newspapers.
In the year 1810, there were in the United States 26 periodicals ;
in 1834, their number amounted to 140. Among them there
were: medical journals,  8
legal,!  52
theological (including religious newspapers), 120
agricultural,  12
temperance,  18
Of those newspapers and journals there appeared in New York,
274 ; in Pennsylvania, 253 ; in Ohio, 164 ; in Massachusetts,
124; in Indiana, 69; in Virginia, 52; in Tennessee, 50; in
Wisconsin, 5 ; in Iowa, 3 ; &c. In the Northern and Northwest
ern states there is in this respect more literary enterprise and
activity than in the South ; while Ohio in this as in many other
points distinguishes herself above all.
I now pass to the more particular characteristics of the news
papers, and begin with the reproach to which they are most
* Encyclop. Amer., art. Newspapers. Chevalier, i. 210. Amer. Almanac, 1835,
p. 266 ; 1840, pp. 69, 196. The numbers of course change every year.
t Amer. Aim. 1835, 277. 20

302

LITERATURE AND ART.

obnoxious, and which is most frequently uttered. If even a
newspaper-writer, the editor of a widely circulated New York
paper, finds occasion and materials for numerous extracts from
the papers of all parties, under the title, " The Party- Press of the
United States,' its Licentiousness and Immorality," — the evil'must
certainly have reached a great height. For the furtherance of
party views and party aims, there are employed not only good,
but also bad reasons ; not only truth, but also falsehood and
slander ; not only wit, but also ribaldry in the greatest profusion.
No external position affords protection against such treatment;
thus one of the candidates for the presidency is now designated
as a breaker of all the ten commandments, a gambler, a drunk
ard, a protector of brothels, a duellist, &c. Other paragraphists
attacked the deceased grandfather of another candidate, and
asked if he was not a tory before the Declaration of Independ
ence. Another paper took from an old book of travels an anec
dote (true or false) of some cruelly branded slaves, impudently
substituted the name of Mr. Polk for that of the real offender,
and shifted the whole occurrence to the present time.
Bishop White of Philadelphia has justly remarked : " No one
who lives uprightly can ever be entirely put down in America by
slander. Whatever the momentary effects may be, he will live
down the falsehood." But even the passing, momentary effect is
an injurious one ; and the proverb is but too often confirmed
that, " Something always sticks," Semper aliquid hceret 1 As it
is seldom possible to bring newspaper-writers to justice, and only
in case of gross slanders and falsehoods, they constitute in effect
a completely independent, unassailable power.
But aside from all considerations of morality,* the press too
often sins against good taste, and the writers who should educate
and instruct the people sink even below them. It is impossible
however to lay all the guilt upon the writers, and acquit the
readers ; for if the bad and mischievous papers were not read, they
would not be written and printed. The excuse of many persons
of education, that they do not touch the vile class of papers, does
not remove their vileness or their evil consequences ; and if the
people are to make real progress, the demagogues must improve
themselves too.
Bad means are never to be employed for professedly good
ends ; and moreover, if both parties enter on this objectionable
course, the imaginary advantage is on both sides completely
annulled ! No stranger is able to say or repeat so much that is
unreasonable, unjust, and offensive about America, as the news
paper writers daily heap together. It sometimes seems to one,
* Poussin (Richesses Americaines, ii. 272) maintains that the French daily press
is in many respects still more immoral and corrupt.

LITERATURE AND ART. 303
after a varied, indiscriminate reading of these publications, as if
truth and history had no existence.
Whoever cherishes a sincere reverence for great republican
institutions can never allow that the reprehensible course pursued
by many journalists springs from them, or is their necessary and
natural result. On the contrary, he lives in the hope, that jour
nalism will gradually adopt a better taste and a more worthy
demeanor. The evils here animadverted upon are already of ancient date.
Not only was Jefferson, that bold champion of a hitherto unknown
human development, violently attacked ; but also the noble, vir
tuous, moderate Washington. The day before he resigned his
presidency, a newspaper published in Philadelphia contained
these words : " ' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in
peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.' This was the
exclamation of a man who saw a flood of blessedness breaking
in upon mankind. If there ever was a time that allowed this
exclamation to be repeated,, that time is the present. The man
who is the source of all our country's misery is this day reduced
to the level of his fellow-citizens, and has no longer the power to
multiply the woes of these United States. Now more than ever
is the time to rejoice. Every heart which feels for the liberty and
happiness of the people must now beat with rapture at the
thought, that this day the name of Washington ceases to give
currency to injustice and to legalize corruption. There is open
ed to the people a new era, and one full of promise. Public
measures will henceforth stand on their own merits, and base un
dertakings can no longer be propped up by a great name. When
we look back upon the eight years of Washington's administra
tion, it strikes us with astonishment, to think that one man could
thus poison the principles of republicanism among an enlight
ened people, and carry his designs against the public liberty so
far as to endanger its very existence. Yet such is the fact ; and
if this is apparent to all, this day should form a jubilee in the
United States."
Two brief passages will show, that since that day the form of
virulence at least has not every where improved. In one paper
we are told, " The common hangman never burnt beneath the
gallows more reeking treachery than is embodied in that shame
ful declaration abominably entitled, Whig Principles."*
Of the last Congress another paper says : " Congress adjourned
yesterday, and we are now justified in speaking of it. Our first
remark, for which we have ample grounds, is that in degeneracy
* It is remarkable that the truth of a libel justifies it when directed against public
officers and measures. Many constitutions even allow any charge, so far as it is
true and uttered from good motives. The jury decide both on the law and the fact.

304 LITERATURE AND ART.
and ignorance it exceeds every Congress that has assembled since
the adoption of our Constitution. We are ever inclined to speak
respectfully of legislative bodies ; but we are in doubt whether
this deserves more the hatred or the contempt of the people. It
was niggardly towards useful objects, extravagant towards worth
less ones, small in great matters and contemptible in small ones.
It was at the same time arrogant and selfish. The confusion
which ruled in the lower house, was the only favorable circum
stance ; for it concealed the enormity of some offences, and pre
vented the example of wickedness from coming in its full extent
before the public. The petitions of the people remained unheard,
the public service was neglected and abused, statesmen brought
themselves into contempt, and the morals of the people were cor
rupted by their indecent conduct and perversion of law and jus
tice. The only commendable act performed by that body was— >
to adjourn !"
Loud complaints are also heard of the free press in Canada,
and especially in Montreal. By this, says a printed letter, more
than by all other causes put together, mischief is produced ; pub
lic morals corrupted ; and narrow, perverted, and hurtful views
and projects engendered. " Newspaper writers," said an Ame
rican to me, " have in general the least knowledge and the most
superficial judgment respecting public affairs."
Thus do all noble-minded Americans acknowledge and lament
the faults of their press. It is impossible to remedy them by
compulsion and force; but (and this we are ready to hope and
believe) by greater delicacy of feeling, love of truth, abhorrence
of slander, aversion to idle gossip, refusal to read vicious prints,
and by the increasing refinement of free and independent
citizens. It would however be wrong and unjustifiable, were I not also
to present the bright side in contrast with the dark. This is all
the more necessary, because the friends of a strict and anxious
censorship would otherwise find occasion from this to celebrate a
premature triumph, and confirm themselves in the opinion, that
their erasing and clipping institution is an absolutely necessary
and eminently salutary panacea for all literary crimes and misde
meanors. Without entering at all into the general question of cen
sorship or no censorship, which is already decided in all free states,
I shall confine my remarks simply to what takes place in America.
First of all, the abuse of the freedom of the press does not by any
means extend, as I have already remarked, to the writers of books
— to literature in its proper sense ; on the contrary, every one
must acknowledge that in these regions the most delightful fruits
of liberty are shown. The abuses spoken of appear only in the
newspaper press ; they are however by no means general even

LITERATURE AND ART. 305
there, and it would be in the highest degree unjust, on account of
a few violent and censurable prints, to overlook the greater num
ber of better ones, or to bring them under the same condemna
tion. It is certainly an unreasonable demand, that 1500 writers
for 1500 newspapers (and the number of writers must be doubled
at least), should all be men of great genius and favorites of the
muses and graces ! Are then the few select newspaper writers in
countries subject to the censorship ail such extraordinary people ;
and would the abuses charged upon the Americans fail to make
their appearance in Europe also, if all the old fetters were sud
denly stricken off? Would the writers be more polite and tem
perate, the readers more impartial and discerning ?
It is a highly important consideration, that in America sooner
or later the unrestrained power of truth and justice ever prevails
over the effects of falsehood and slander ; whereas, in many parts
of Europe the chief complaint is, not so much that something —
offensive if you please — is stricken out; but rather that many able
men are deterred, by a guardianship both arrogant and timid, from
writing what is good, true, and useful. How often is there exhi
bited on the one hand a malicious pleasure at having cut up or cut
out powerful, bold, and characteristic thoughts ; and on the other a
childish delight at having concealed and smuggled in, in spite of
the censor's Argus eyes, some solitary, insignificant, ambiguous
passage !
As early as the year 1827, some remarkable debates were held
in Congress, respecting the erroneous reports of speeches and
the scandalous comments of the daily press. The following are
among the sentiments uttered on these occasions :
Mr. Bartlett. " I should be sorry ever to find newspaper para
graphs becoming the grave subject of deliberation here. The
standing which any and all of us must have, if we have any, must
rest upon a better foundation. Our lives and our acts, and not
newspaper puffs or squibs, will be the standard of the estimation
in which we may be held. Upon whom was more newspaper
slander ever heaped than upon Jefferson ? and yet he never con
descended to utter a complaint. Has his character suffered?"
Mr. Hamilton. " Let it be admitted that we all of us may
occasionally suffer from the strong and pungent thrust of this
subtle engine ; we must bear this with what philosophy we can,
in order to insure blessings of incalculable value.. One might
as well quarrel with a poor worm for wallowing in his own slime,
as get into a passion with those who indulge in low and pitiful
scandals." Mr. Weems. " I have been the humble object for twenty-
eight years of editorial abuse ; and hope I may be permitted to
say here, that it was perhaps, under Providence, one of the most

306

LITERATURE AND ART.

powerful means by which I have obtained the confidence of those
high-minded, honorable freemen who sent me to this house."
Mr. Mitchell. " The moment we attempt to draw the line
of demarcation between the liberty and licentiousness of the
press, our liberties are gone, and all we hold most dear is
destroyed. Let our conduct be honest and upright, and their
shafts of malignance will fall harmless at our feet."
Mr. Horsey. " In all the revolutions of parties, I recollect not one
printer who has changed the party character of his press. They
have died the death of political martyrdom rather than deny their
political faith."
Mr. Lumpkin. " Let truth and falsehood appear in print : the
spirit of the people will meet the evil and set it right."
Mr. Vance. " If the reporters do sometimes err as to the
proceedings in Congress, arid give occasion to well-founded
complaints, after all they yet correct more blunders than they
commit."* On these and similar grounds, no measures whatever were
adopted against the daily press. In comparing all these circum
stances with those which exist in many European countries, the
conclusion forces itself upon us : That either the government of
the United States rests on a far firmer foundation ; or the people
are better qualified to pass judgment on public matters, than in
those countries where a censorship protects the government,
restrains the writers, and keeps the readers in a state of pupilage.
An enslaved press neither exhibits the real opinions of a people
nor does it form them ; a free press is more characteristic, though
it is impossible to judge a whole people by it alone. As there are
good and bad books in the same literature, so there are good and
bad newspapers. It is certainly unadvisable, as respects both the
mind and the taste, to read nolhing but newspapers ; and still
worse is it, to read a newspaper of one party only. But the
Americans read books as well as newspapers ; besides which
their newspapers treat of an extraordinary variety of topics.
They do not confine themselves to the politics of the day; but
form a general depository, a storehouse for much that is old and
all that is new : science, art, inventions, humor, poetry, &c.
Nothing remains unnoticed or unexamined ; and the majority
come forth at last purified from the fiery ordeal. In general, the
untrammelled presses of America show far more excitement, and
those subject to the censorship far less, than really exists ; an im
portant circumstance, which is too often forgotten by those who
wish to inquire into the real state of things, to form a judgment
respecting American affairs.
That the usually well conducted German newspapers in the
* Register of Debates, pp, 818, 1104, 151S.

LITERATURE AND ART. 307
United States cannot take for a model the curtailed, fear-stricken
papers of the old continent, and that the Germans of America
would read nothing so excessively tame, is a matter of course.
Still it is to be wished, that while they strongly condemn what is
faulty and evil, they should also acknowledge what is good ;
because it is only by weighing both that it is possible to attain a
true knowledge of Germany and also of the United States.
I conclude these observations with some words of Jefferson,
who was so incredibly abused by the newspaper press. " Error
of opinion," says he in his bold manner, " may be always tole
rated where reason is left free to combat it. The basis of our
government being the opinion of the people, the very first object
should be to keep that right ; and were it left to me to decide,
whether we should have a government without newspapers, or
newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a
moment to prefer the latter."*
The greater American periodicals, or critical reviews, distin
guish themselves by propriety, moderation, and dignity ; they
display an accurate knowledge of all sciences, and often contain
criticisms which are masterly 'both in form and substance.
Authors of really able productions are liberally rewarded in
America ; they also enjoy a copy-right for twenty-eight years,
which is renewed for fourteen years longer, in case a widow or
child survives. Very many good and bad European works are
reprinted in America, and are sold for the most part exceedingly
cheap ; but the importation of foreign printed works is subjected
to various but always very high duties. Thus English books pay
30 per cent, Latin and Greek books, 15 per cent. ; works in other
foreign languages pay five cents a volume.
It is evident that no American library can be as rich and
furnished with as many rarities as the great collections of Eu
rope. But the greatest interest is every where manifesrted in their
establishment and increase, both on the part of the governments
and by numerous societies. If the latter for the most part
purchase only for single objects and with some limited aim,
still a greater and more profitable use is often made of the mate
rials so collected. Certainly the district libraries, already men
tioned with approbation, and amounting in New York alone to
a million of volumes, give the people access to the noblest litera
ture in a way that in Europe is almost wholly unknown.
Nine thousand dollars are annually appropriated for the pur
chase of books and the care of the public library at Washington.
The two librarians, Meehan and Stelle, receive yearly, one $1,500
and the other $1,150.
Several Western states (Illinois among the rest) have appro-
* Tucker, Life, i. 230.

308 LITERATURE AND ART.
priated a part of the proceeds of the land-sales to the purchase of
books. Kentucky granted $500 per annum and one half of the
income accruing to the state from the bank to scientific purposes.*
All public libraries moreover are exempt from taxation. Massa
chusetts has also made appropriations for the increase of its
libraries. Taken together, they contained in all the towns about
300,000 volumes ;! and the number of books in the Sunday
school libraries is estimated at 150,000 more. A Mr. Perkins
gave to the Literary Athenaeum in Boston $20,000. Mississippi
has appropriated $4,000 annually to the foundation of a library.!
Congress devoted $10,000 a piece to Wisconsin and Iowa for
establishing libraries ; the former having then 18,000 inhabitants,
and the latter 21,000. Circulating libraries are found in many
places. One established in Cincinnati in 1814 numbered as early
as 1816, 8,000 volumes.^ Nowhere are there so many associa
tions of every kind for trie promotion of learning and science, in
proportion to the population, as in the United States. So too in
those states which sprang as it were but yesterday into existence^
a great number of essays there composed and delivered have
been printed ; and their value is every where acknowledged.
Not less useful are the numerous lectures, which are delivered
by competent persons in various places, and particularly Boston,
before mixed audiences, and which meet with great and deserved
approbation. ||
If the fine arts have not yet reached their highest perfection
among the Americans, there is less reason to lament over it,.
than to congratulate them upon the circumstance. For so soon
as a people has arrived at that high pitch of civilization, it
usually begins to decline, and rarely survives to witness an after
growth of Alexandrian refinement. The Americans are still
ascending, not descending ; and although this process is labori
ous, the prospect widens at every step. Among the peculiar
difficulties which oppose the development of art in America I
reckon : First, the still frequently predominant views respecting
art in general. The Puritans may have chosen the better part in
other respects ; but the artist's wreath was never theirs.— Secondly,
the strict observance of Sunday herewith connected, stands in
the way of popular improvement in music, and produces in the
higher circles only a one-sided and excessive veneration for mere
virtuosoship. — Thirdly, the lack of great treasures of art in Ame
rica and the difficulty of procuring them in Europe. At least
the actual perception of them through the senses is enjoyed by
* State Laws, pp. 1373, 141 S.
t Amer. Almanac for 1841, p. 188. Duncan's Travels, i. 85.
X Amer. Almanac for 1840, p. 255. § Warden, ii. 367.
S A Mr. Lowell left a large legacy there for these purposes.

LITERATURE AND ART. 309
but few ; and the study of the nude figure being found offensive,
an intimate knowledge and appreciation of the real beauty of
forms are not possessed.
The contemplation of beautiful works of art and the general
diffusion of a knowledge of music, lend a brightness and cheer
fulness to life, such as mere political and religious excitements
can never give. It is a serious error to disregard and despise the
one on account of the other.
Notwithstanding these natural and artificial obstacles, an
encouraging progress is every where manifest. Thus in Boston
a society was formed some years since which attempted to cor
rect the superficial character of musical attainments ; and their
choice of a name— that of Handel and Haydn — bears evidence
of right views and a proper spirit. The performance on Sunday
of genuine productions of art, and the musical instruction which
has been begun to be given in schools, must soon enlarge their
capacity for musical enjoyment, and in time be productive of
good indigenous fruits.
A similar effort is making in painting* and perhaps with
greater success in sculpture, in which Crawford, Greenhow and
Hiram Powers are named with deserved respect. For architec
ture, canals, railroads, bridges, and aqueducts furnish worthy
opportunities for the attainment of excellence. They are more
useful and bolder monuments than the pyramids ; and if the
Americans themselves rightiy find fault with certain prevalent
tastes in architecture, there is by no means a total lack of build
ings constructed in a beautiful and noble style.
As historical composition is certainly an art, it may also be men
tioned in this connection. Men like Bancroft, Prescott, and
Sparks, have effected so much in this respect, that no living Euro
pean historian can take precedence of them, but rather might feel
proud and grateful to be admitted by them as a companion.
With their own history the Americans are well acquainted.! In
this respect they study the past with great care, and are com-
mendably supported by the state governments. New York, for
example, gave $12,000 for the purpose of collecting and tran
scribing materials in Europe for the history of the state.
General history, on the contrary, is less and indeed too little
taught and learned; for as in general Europeans make too
much of their past, so Americans bestow a too exclusive atten
tion on their present and future.
In no art have the Americans more practice, and in none have
they made greater progress, than in eloquence. The more impar-
* A praiseworthy beginning of collections is found in New Haven, Hartford,
and other places.
t It was indeed only a rare exception, that one American thought Jefferson
was a federalist.

310 LITERATURE AND ART.
tially this is acknowledged, the more natural is the friendly wish
that the still existing deficiencies and excrescences may be per
ceived and removed. An acute American says : " A vast num
ber of examples of detestable bad taste might be selected from
the orations of our eminent men."* Let us subjoin a few
remarks on this text. The Americans have exhibited hitherto
more talent and practice, than art and taste ; yet both must be
united, if they would rise to the models of the Greeks and
Romans. Many of their speeches are wanting in a well con
sidered arrangement and regular progress, — a proper beginning,
middle, and end. Occasionally something might be taken from
the latter part and put in the former, and vice versa. A more
careful study of the ancient rhetoricians and orators, of Aristotle
and Quintilian, of Demosthenes and Cicero, would also guard
them against the tendency to excessive diffuseness, and remind
them of Gothe's saying : " Compression shows the master's
power." Their eloquence is not yet rounded off, and many of
their vitia are not even dulcia. The more we are compelled to
acknowledge in general the presence of knowledge and acute-
ness, even in the midst of partiality and party-spirit, the more ear
nestly it is to be desired that no indulgence should be shown to
evil habits. Not every one can be or become a great orator ; but
every one should strive to raise himself to the proper dignity of his
calling, and avoid falling into extravagances and absurdities, nor
strive to pass them off for efforts of genius and inspiration.
Even in Congress some go beyond all bounds : shouting,
screaming, sudden changes of the voice, smiting the table with
the hand, sawing the air with the arms, shaking or nodding the
head, stretching out the knee and bending back the body, — these
and similar indecorums will, it is to be hoped, not long give
occasion for remark.
The argument, that in Congress not the present only but the
absent are addressed, justifies neither a useless prolixity nor the
adoption of bad habits ; and as little worthy of attention is the
reference to a southern, fiery climate. Burke and Fox, those
men of the north, were not cold and frosty ; Demosthenes and
Cicero never spoke as though in a raging fever. The Atheni
ans spoke indeed too much and admired speaking too much;
but they had more taste than the Americans. Hard indeed
would it be for the latter, if for every spoken word they must
render a strict account.
In spite of these, not as I believe unjust remarks, on the mass
of their countless public speakers, there is no doubt but that the
Americans, every thing considered, speak better, more skilfully,
more to the purpose, and more effectively, than most nations. The
* North American Review, July, 1844, p. 47.

LITERATURE AND ART. 311
gift of the highest eloquence is very rare, and like that of the poet,
artist, &c, comes direct from God. On this one of -the greatest
American masters, Webster, discourses in the following admi
rably eloquent strain : " When public bodies are to be addressed
on momentous occasions, when great interests are at stake, and
strong passions excited, nothing is valuable in speech, further than
it is connected with high intellectual and moral endowments.
Clearness, force, and earnestness, are the qualities which produce
conviction. True eloquence indeed does not consist in speech.
It cannot be brought from afar. Labor and learning may toil for
it, but they will toil in vain. Words and phrases may be mar
shalled in every way ; but they cannot compass it. It must exist
in the man, in the subject, and in the occasion. Affected passion,
intense expression, the pomp of declamation, all may aspire after
it — they cannot reach it. It comes, if it come at all, like the
outbreaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting forth of
volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original, native force. The
graces taught in the schools, the costly ornaments and studied
contrivances of speech, shock and disgust men, when their own
lives, and the fate of their wives, their children, and their country,
hang on the decision of the hour. Then words have lost their
power, rhetoric is vain, and all elaborate oratory contemptible.
Even genius itself then feels rebuked and subdued, as in the pre
sence of higher qualities. Then patriotism is eloquent ; then self-
devotion is eloquent. The clear conception, outrunning the deduc
tions of logic, the high purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit,
speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every
feature, and urging the whole man onward, right onward to his
object — this, this is eloquence ; or rather it is something greater
and higher than all eloquence, it is action — noble, sublime, god
like action."*
To the specimens which I have already quoted from the
speeches of Mr. Webster in several parts of my book, I will add
but one other, principally because it exhibits clearly the opposi
tion between American views and those of the European school.
" The Holy Alliance," says Mr. Webster, " professes, by means
of a series of measures, to establish two principles which the allied
powers would enforce, as a part of the law of the civilized world ;
and the establishment of which is menaced by a million and a half
of bayonets. The first of these principles is, that all popular or con
stitutional rights are holden no otherwise than as grants from the
crown. Society upon this principle has no rights of its own ; it
takes good government, when it gets it, as a boon and a concession,
but can demand nothing. It is to live in that favor which emanates
from royal authority ; and if it have the misfortune to lose that
* Speeches, i. 84.

312 LITERATURE AND ART.
favor, there is nothing to protect it against any degree of injustice
and oppression. It can rightly make no endeavor for a change
by itself ; its whole privilege is to receive the favors that may be
dispensed by the sovereign power, and all its duty is described in
the single word, submission. — This is the old doctrine of the
divine right of kings, advanced now by new advocates, and sus
tained by a formidable array of power. That the people hold
their fundamental privileges as matter of concession or indulgence
from the sovereign power, is a sentiment not easy to be diffused
in this age any further than it is enforced by the direct operation
of military means. The civilized world has done with the enor
mous faith, of many made for one. Society asserts its own rights,
and alleges them to be original, sacred, and unalienable. It is not
satisfied with having kind masters ; it demands a participation in
its own government : and in states much advanced in civilization,
it urges this demand with a constancy and an energy, that cannot
well nor long be resisted."
" These doctrines from Laybach are totally hostile to the funda
mental principles of our government. If they be true, we are but
in a state of rebellion or of anarchy, and are only tolerated among
civilized states because it has not yet been convenient to conform
us to the true standard."*
In another place we are told, " Many misfortunes maybe borne,
or their effects overcome. If disastrous war should sweep our
commerce from the ocean, another generation may renew it ; if it
exhaust our treasury, future industry may replenish it ; if it deso
late and lay waste our fields, still under a new cultivation they
will grow green again and ripen to future harvests. It were but a
trifle even if the walls of yonder capitol were to crumble, if its
lofty pillars should fall, and its gorgeous decorations be all
covered with the dust of the valley. All these might be rebuilt.
But who shall reconstruct the fabric of demolished government ?
Who shall rear again the well proportioned columns of consti
tutional liberty ? Who shall frame together the skilful architec
ture which unites national sovereignty with state rights, individual
security, and public prosperity ? No, gentlemen ; if these columns
fall, they will be raised not again. Like the Coliseum and the
Parthenon, they will be destined to a mournful, a melancholy
immortality. Bitterer tears, however, will flow over them, than
were ever shed over the monuments of Roman or Grecian art;
for they will be the remnants of a more glorious edifice than
Greece or Rome ever saw — the edifice of constitutional Ame
rican liberty."!
I have likewise already quoted several passages from the
* Speeches, i. 247, seq. t Speeches, ii. 46.

LITERATURE AND ART. 313
speeches of Henry Clay; and a further choice from much that is
excellent would be difficult, had I not by accident something to
guide me. An English traveller, ignorant of constitutional law
and politics, anathematizes Jefferson and all his principles and
proceedings. This writer hopes " every thing from Clay and the
whigs, as the true gentlemen." Let us hear then how Clay
(without doubt a gentleman) expresses himself on the occasion of
an earlier attack of the same kind. " Neither Mr. Jefferson's retire
ment from public office, his eminent services, nor his advanced
age, can exempt this patriot from the coarse assaults of party
malevolence. No, sir ; in 1801, he snatched from the rude hand
of usurpation the violated constitution of his country, and that
is his crime. He preserved that instrument, in form, and sub
stance, and spirit, a precious inheritance for generations to come ;
and for this he can never be forgiven. How vain and impotent is
party rage, directed against such a man ! He is not more elevat
ed by his lofty residence upon the summit of his own favorite
mountain, than he is lifted, by the serenity of his mind and the
consciousness of a well spent life, above the malignant passions
and bitter feelings of the day. No ! his own beloved Monticello
is not less moved by the storms that beat against its sides, than is
this illustrious man by the howlings of the whole British pack,
set loose from the Essex kennel ! When the gentleman to whom
I have been compelled to allude, shall have mingled his dust with
that of his abused ancestors, when he shall have been consigned
to oblivion, or, if he lives at all, shall live only in the treasonable
annals of a certain junto, the name of Jefferson will be hailed
with gratitude, his memory honored and cherished as the second
founder of the liberties of the people, and the period of his ad
ministration will be looked back to, as one of the happiest and
brightest epochs of American history."*
Webster and Clay in their speeches by no means always
maintain a consistent position, or reject in the handling of party
questions irrelevant, rhetorical expedients and exaggerations ; they
hereby only injure their own cause, and in consequence have
several times, in the view of unprejudiced persons, been driven
from the field of argument — for instance, by the sagacious and
eloquent Buchanan. Calhoun, on the other hand, is always logical
and consistent with himself; a man of solid, well grounded convic
tions, perfected both by theory and practice-! Even those who
do not share them, must allow that he is totus, teres, atque rotun-
dus ; and this no man can ever be in such an elevated station
without possessing a greatness of character that is worthy of all
honor. In the nullification controversy he dared to stake even
* Speeches, i. 38.
t Fragments of his speeches have also been quoted in various places.

314 LITERATURE AND ART.
his popularity, in order, by pushing his self-defence to an extreme,
to restore things to their just medium ; concerning the question
of slavery, he dared to assert unpalatable facts, in opposition to
principles which, though founded in philanthropy, could not so
nastily be carried into effect; neither did he ever forget that prac
tical skill, however great, cannot dispense with scientific know
ledge and principles.
We lament that among so many distinguished American ora
tors we can mention only so few, and quote so little ; but we hope
soon to see more extensive specimens translated and printed in
German compilations devoted to this purpose.
That among every people with any pretensions to cultivation
there are found many writers of verses, certainly proves little or
nothing of the existence of the art of poetry in the highest sense
of the word ; still the power of expressing the feelings in a suit
able form is the sign of a lively sensibility and of a certain degree
of skill. Legends from which an Iliad or a Lied der Nibelungen
could be constructed, are wanting in America ; still the founding of
the states might well afford materials for epic recitals, if the zeal of
puritanism did not too much limit the circle of the poetic art.
The same spirit for a long time restrained the development of
the drama ; so much so, that in many of the states the theatre
was looked upon as so immoral and profane, that dramatic pro
ductions were allowed only to be read or recited. Then the
notices announced, " A moral Recitation, the affecting story of
Jane Shore told in dialogue by the celebrated Rowe."* Or " the
entertaining Story of the Poor Soldier, delivered in prose and
verse by the facetious O'Keefe." In the year 1762, the first public
theatrical representation was given in Providence, and since then
ecclesiastical opposition has gradually ceased. Still there is a
lack of American comedies and tragedies of the first class ;
although indeed those imported from France and England often
labor under as great defects. While scarce any American drama
has found a place in Europe, the novels of the best writers, Irving
and Cooper for example, are in every body's hands ; so that it is
unnecessary to dwell upon them in this place.
The richest or at least the most prolific department of poetry
is the lyric. But as in thousands of years there have been but
one Pindar and one Horace (although every spring puts forth
countless pleasing yet mostly perishable lyric blossoms), it is
performing a valuable service, when a man of taste and infor
mation makes a suitable, well assorted selection, and guides the
friend of poetry in his ramble through those groves, from which
he might otherwise be deterred by their immensity. Such service
* Warden, iii. 467.

LITERATURE AND ART. 315
has been rendered by Mr. Griswold, in his Poets and Poetry of
America* " Besides the great number of poets, of whom he
gives specimens, there must doubtless be many more of those
of whom Mr. Clifton (p. 36) says :
Touched with the mania now, what millions rage
To shine the laureate blockheads of the age !
The dire contagion creeps through every grade ;
Girls, coxcombs, peers, and patriots drive the trade.
That there is in America no lack of a certain kind of political
poems, the following satiric lines are a proof:
Thus swarming wits, of all materials made,
Their Gothic hands on social quiet laid ;
And, as they rave, unmindful of the storm,
Call lust refinement; anarchy, reform.
If American writers of lyrics and novels are behind many
others in boldness of thought, splendor of imagery, and variety
of invention, on the other hand they never violate the laws of
decorum and good morals ; the absence of which, even in the
most distinguished men, they severely censure. Thus Walter
Colton says of Byron :
He might have soared a miracle of mind,
Above the thoughts that dim our mental sphere,
And poured from thence, as music on the wind,
Those prophet tones which men had turned to hear,
As if an angel's harp had sung of bliss
In some bright world beyond the tears of this.
But he betrayed his trust, and lent his gift
Of glorious faculties to blight and mar
The moral universe, and set adrift
The anchored hopes of millions ; — thus the star
Of his eventful destiny became
A wild and wandering of fearful flame.
That orb hath set ; yet still its lurid light
Flashes above the broad horizon's verge ;
As if some comet, plunging from its height,
Should pause upon the ocean's boiling surge,
And, in defiance of its darksome doom,
Light for itself a fierce volcanic tomb.
That the perception and description of the charms of Nature
should predominate and be successful in America seems quite
natural. We should less expect sensibility and elegiac sadness ;
yet we find very interesting and even excellent poems of this
class ; perhaps because a right feeling impels Americans to such
* See also Bryant's Selections from the American Poets.

316 LITERATURE AND ART.
a supplement or contrast to the eminently practical character of
their existence.*
With respect to the philosophy of the Americans there are two
things to be observed : first, what position they themselves
assume, and what they undertake ; and secondly, how they
* We may be allowed to give a few examples from lyric poets less known
among us. What is that, Mother? — Doahe.
What is that, Mother 1— The lark, my child !
The morn has but just looked out and smiled,
When he starts from his humble grassy nest,
And is up and away with the dew on his breast,
And a hymn in his heart, to yon pure, bright sphere,
To warble it out in his Maker's ear.
Ever, my child, be thy morn's first lays
Tuned, like the lark's, to thy Maker's praise.
What is that, Mother 1 — The dove, my son 1 —
And that low sweet voice, like a widow's moan,
Is flowing out from her gentle breast
Constant and pure, by that lonely nest,
As the wave is poured from some crystal urn,
For her distant dear one's quick return.
Ever, my son, be thou hke the dove,
In friendship as faithful, as constant in love.
What is that, Mother ?— The eagle, boy !—
Proudly careering his course of joy ;
Firm, on his own mountain vigor relying,
Breasting the dark storm, the red bolt defying,
His wing on the wind, and his eye on the sun,
He swerves not a hair, but bears onward, right on.
Boy, may the eagle's flight ever be thine ;
Onward, and upward, and true to the line !
What is that, Mother ? — The swan, my love ! —
He is floating down from his native grove.
No loved one now, no nestling nigh,
He is floating down by himself to die ;
Death darkens his eye, and unplumes his wings,
Yet his sweetest song is the last he sings.
Live so, my love, that when death shall come,
Swanlike and sweet, it may waft thee home.
Passing Away ! — Pierpont.
Was it the chime of a tiny bell
That came so sweet to my dreaming ear, —
Like the silvery tones of a fairy's shell,
That he winds on the beach, so mellow and clear,
When the winds and the waves lie together asleep,^
And the moon and the fairy are watching the deep,
She dispensing her silvery light,
And he his notes as silvery quite.
While the boatman listens and ships his oar,
To catch the music that comes from the shore ? —
Hark ! the notes, on my ear that play,
Are set to words : — as they float, they say,
" Passing away ! passing away !"_

LITERATURE AND ART.

317

regard the philosophy of other nations. With reference to the
first point, different views seem to prevail. While, for example,
one American writer says, " We lead too public a life, and our
attention is kept too much upon the stretch, to allow us to pur
sue unpractical speculations to any great extent ;" a second tells
But no ; it was not a fairy's shell,
Blown on the beach so mellow and clear ;
Nor was it the tongue of a silver bell,
Striking the hour, that filled my ear,
As I lay in my dream ; yet was it a chime
That told of the flow of the stream of time.
For a beautiful clock from the ceiling hung,
And a plump little girl for a pendulum swung
(As you've sometimes seen, in a little ring
That hangs in his cage, a canary bird swing) ;
And she held to her bosom a budding bouquet,
And as she enjoyed it, she seem'd to say :
" Passing away ! passing away !"
0 how bright were the wheels, that told
Of the lapse of time, as they moved round slow !
And the hands, as they swept o'er the dial of gold,
Seemed lo point to the girl below.
And lo ! she had changed : — in a few short hours
Her bouquet had become a garland of flowers,
That she held in her outstretched hands, and flung
This way and that, as she, dancing, swung
In the fulness of grace and womanly pride,
That told me she soon was to be a bride ; —
Yet then when expecting her happiest day,
In the same sweet voice 1 heard her say :
" Passing away ! passing away !"
While I gazed at that fair one's cheek, a shade
Of thought, or care, stole softly over,
Like that by a cloud in a summer's day made,
Looking down on a field of blossoming clover.
The rose yet lay on her cheek, but its flush
Had something lost of its brilliant blush ;
And the light in her eye, and the light on the wheels
That marched so calmly round above her,
Was a little dimmed, — as when evening steals
Upon noon's hot face : — Yet one couldn't but love her ;
For she looked like a mother, whose first babe lay
Rocked on her breast, as she swung all day ;
And she seemed, in the same silver tone to say,
" Passing away ! passing away !"
While yet I looked, what a change there came !
Her eye was quenched, and her cheek was wan :
Stooping and staffed was her withered frame,
Yet, just as busily swung she on.
The garland beneath her had fallen to dust;
The wheels above her were eaten with rust ;
The hands that over the dial swept
Grew crooked and tarnished ; but on they kept,
And still there came that silver tone
From the shrivelled lips of the toothless crone
(Let me never forget till my dying day
The tone or the burden of her lay), —
" Passing away ! passing away !"

318 LITERATURE AND ART.
us, " We are eminently a theorizing people, and general princi
ples are soon stated and easily learned." Others still hope and
prophesy, that America will have a school of philosophy of her
own, distinct from those of France, England, and Germany. As
in America so many new and peculiar developments have been
My Child. — Piekpont.
I cannot make him dead !
His fair sunshiny head
Is ever bounding round my study chair ;
Yet when my eyes, now dim
With tears, I turn to him,
The vision vanishes — he is not there !
I walk my parlor floor,
And, through the open door,
I hear a footfall on the chamber stair ;
I'm stepping towards the hall
To give the boy a call ;
And then bethink me that — he is not there !
I thread the crowded street ;
A satchell'd lad I meet,
With the same beaming eyes and colored hair,
And, as he's running by,
Follow him with my eye,
Scarcely believing that — he is not there !
I know his face is hid
Under the coffin lid ;
Closed are his eyes ; cold is his forehead ;
My hand that marble felt ;
O'er it in prayer I knelt ;
Yet my heart whispers that — he is not there;
I cannot make him dead !
When passing by the bed,
So long watched over with parental care,
My spirit and my eye
Seek it inquiringly,
Before the thought comes that — he is not there !
When,'at the cool, grey break
Of day, from sleep I wake,
With my first breathing of the morning air
My soul goes up, with joy,
To him who gave my boy,
Then comes the sad thought that — he is not there!
When at the day's calm close
Before we seek repose,
I'm with his mother, offering up our prayei.
Whate'er I may be saying,
I am, in spirit, praying
For our boy's spirit, though — he is not there t
Not there! — Where, then, is he ?
The form I used to see
Was but the raiment that he used to wear.
The grave that now doth press
Upon that cast-off dress,
Is but his wardrobe locked : — he is not there !

LITERATURE AND ART. 319
made and are continually making, we cordially unite in this hope ;
although the end is not yet reached, nor the way even clearly
pointed out.
In the first place, their active life does not allow any general
He lives ! — In all the past
He lives ; nor to the last
Of seeing him again will I despair ;
In dreams I see him now ;
And on his angel brow,
I see it written, " Thou shalt see me there!"
Yes, we all live to God !
Father, thy chastening rod
So help us, thine afflicted ones, to bear,
That, in the spirit land,
Meeting at thy right hand,
'T will be our heaven to find that — he is there !
The Old Maui's Carousal! — Paulding.
Drink! drink! to whom shall we drink?
To friend or a mistress ? Come let me think!
To those who are absent, or those who are here ?
To the dead that we loved, or the living still dear ?
Alas ! when I look, I find none of the last !
The present is barren, let's drink to the past
Come ! here's to the girl with a voice sweet and low,
The eye all of fire and the bosom of snow,
Who erewhile in the days of my youth that are fled
Once slept on my bosom, and pillow'd my head !
Would you know where to find such a delicate prize ?
Go seek in yon churchyard, for there she lies.
And here's to the friend, the one friend of my youth,
With a head full of genius, a heart full of truth,
Who travell'd with me in the sunshine of life,
And stood by my side in its peace and its strife;
Would you know where to seek a blessing so rare ?
Go drag the lane sea, you may find him there.
And here's to a brace of twin cherubs of mine,
With hearts like their mother's, as pure as this wine :
Who came but to see the first act of the play,
Grew tired of th« scene, and then both went away.
Would you know where this brace of bright cherubs have hied !
Go seek them in heaven, for there they abide.
A bumper, my boys, to a grey-headed pair,
Who watched o'er my childhood with tenderest care ;
God bless them and keep them, and may they look down,
On the head of their son without tear, sigh, or frown !
Would you know whom I drink "to ! go seek 'mid the dead.
You will rind both their names on the stone at their head.
And here's — but alas ! the good wine is no more !
The bottle is emptied of all its bright store ;
Like those we have toasted, its spirit is fled,
And nothing is left of the light that it shed.
Then a bumper of tears, boys ! the banquet here ends,
With a health to our dead, since we've no living friends.

320

LITERATURE AND ART.

want of philosophy to be perceived ; and much may easily be desig
nated by Americans as unpractical speculation, which involves
serious and worthy application of the mental powers. But the
harsh censurers of these so-called unpractical speculations might
be reminded, that on the other hand many practical speculations
of the Americans have never taken root and borne fruit. Gene
ral principles derived from individual experience, are easily esta
blished and learned ; these however do not form a scientific phi
losophy, but often lead to the erroneous belief that it may be
dispensed with. Moreover in America the most widely different
principles of this kind are advocated by different parties.
A considerable number of the clergy in America are averse to
all philosophy, because it leads only to revolts against the theolo
gical systems under which they have arrayed themselves ; and the
philosophy of others of the order (that of the celebrated Edwards
for example) rests entirely on a particular creed* As yet the
independence of philosophy has not been so well battled for and
won as in Europe ; and thus an open separation or voluntary
reconciliation between philosophy and theology has not yet been
brought about. The mutability and multiplicity of the schools of
philosophy are severely censured ; while the simplicity, clearness,
and fixedness of theological doctrines are highly commended.
This is so much the more unexpected, because in the whole his
tory of philosophy there are not so many sects as there are reli
gious denominations in America. If it be maintained, as no
doubt it justly may, that behind all these appearances and meta
morphoses the eternal rock of truth remains unshaken, the same
holds good also of the commotions and aberrations of philosophy.
Exclusive of those who are satisfied with Bentham (that des-
piser of Plato and Aristotle), the American friends of philosophy
either attach themselves to the German development, or they
reverence Locke and undertake his defence against alleged mis
representations. Although a German should especially distin
guish and praise those who are of the German way of thinking,
still there is more to be learnt from their opponents ; it is more,
interesting to notice objections than confirmations. We will
therefore make some extracts from the remarkable and acute
essays of Mr. Bowen,! and add a few brief remarks.
* Edwards's philosophy is rooted in strict Calvinism. He says of the Devil,
" He possesses great abilities and extensive acquaintance with things, great specu
lative knowledge in divinity ; was educated in the best divinity school in the universe,
in the heaven of heavens; possesses clear notions on the doctrine of the Trinity, and
more knowledge than a hundred saints of an ordinary education, and most divines ;
he is no deist, Socinian, Arian, Pelagian,or Antinomian ; the articles of his faith are
all orthodox and sound ; yet in his heart there is no evidence of saving grace." —
Quincy's History of Harvard University, ii. 56.
f Critical Essays on a few subjects connected with the History and present Condi
tion of Speculative Philosophy; by Francis Bowen, A. M.

LITERATURE AND ART. 321
" The passion for German metaphysics," says Mr. Bowen, "is
likely to produce serious evils. The habit of poring over them
must induce an unhealthy state of mind, either from the general
characteristics of such a philosophical manner, or from the posi
tive tendency of the doctrines advanced. We have no taste for
the sublimated atheism of Fichte or the downright pantheism of
Schelling. Yet there are men familiar with the works of such
authors, and loud in their praise, who are not ashamed to charge
the philosophy of Locke with a sensualizing and degrading influ
ence. We judge the tree by its fruits, and assert that the study
of such writings tends to heat the imagination and blind the judg
ment ; that it gives a dictatorial tone to the expression of opinion,
and a harsh, imperious, and sometimes flippant manner to argu
mentative discussion ; that it injures the generous and catholic
spirit of speculative philosophy, by raising up a sect of such a
marked and distinctive character, that it can hold no fellowship
either with former laborers in the cause, or with those who at the
present time are aiming at the same general objects."
" Great obstacles to the comprehension of Kantian metaphysics
arise from defects of style. The rambling and involved sentences,
running on from page to page, and stuffed with repetitions and
parenthetical matter, would frighten away any but the most deter
mined student, at the very threshold of his endeavor. Kant was
an acute logician, a systematic, profound, and original thinker;
but his power of argument and conception wholly outran his com
mand over the resources of language, and he was reduced to the
use of words as symbols, in which his opinions were rather
darkly implied than openly enunciated. The flowers with which
other philosophers have strewed the path of their inquiries, were
either beyond his reach, or he disdained to employ them ; and his
writings accordingly appear an arid waste of abstract discussions,
from which the taste instinctively recoils."
" Under the guise of a new faith, the successors of Kant (Fichte,
Schelling, and Hegel) have created a philosophy of unbelief;
under a dogmatical mask, they proclaimed what was, at least in
reference to revelation, a theory of total skepticism."
" The countrymen and contemporaries of Fichte were all dis
tinguished for the boldness of their philosophical inquiries ; but
he carried away the palm by a Titanlike audacity of speculation,
which seemed to aim at scaling the heavens and prescribing limits
to Omnipotence."
" In exchange for the Kantian jargon of noumena and pheno
mena, Fichte gives us a system of absolute idealism ; Schelling,
one of entire pantheism ; and Hegel, the last great name in
German metaphysics, has published his scheme of utter nihilism.
These systems are not additive to each other, but are mutually

322

LITERATURE AND ART.

destructive. Regarding the lofty pretensions advanced by all of
them, there is something ludicrous in the rapidity with which they
succeed each other."
" It is not enough that the skepticism of Hume and the sensual
ism of Condillac are laid to the charge of Locke ; but he must
be made accountable also, by implication at least, for the extrava
gances of a set of German infidels in our own day ; though it would
be difficult to find a stronger contrast, in point of thought, expres
sion, and doctrine, than that which exists between their specula
tions and the writings of the father of English philosophy."
Thus far my brief extracts, which will serve as hints to the
writer's opinions. It is not my business either to confirm or con
tradict them ; yet I may be allowed to subjoin some incidental
remarks. Jacobi's theistic philosophy of faith, and the Catholic
church philosophy of Frederic Schlegel, appear to be little known
in America ; and of the new position of Schelling and the Hegel
ians, nothing as yet is said.
Mr. Bowen every where contends against a priori elements of
knowledge, or against the originating activity of thought; in
which connection I am sorry to miss a juxta-position of Locke
and Leibnitz. Because Kant refers to Hume, he is not therefore
like him a skeptic ; and still further from being one is the dog
matic Hegel, who regards all systems as the constituents and
gradual developments of a positive philosophy. Mr. Bowen's
opposition to all metaphysical proofs, likewise proceeds from
skepticism ; and the inductive and analytical method which alone
he recognises, finds its tacit and necessary complement in syllo
gism and synthesis. It should not be forgotten that man's per
ceptive powers are intimately blended, and are as it were contained
the one within the other.
When too Mr. Bowen finds a proof of the truth of Christianity
in its conformity to the laws of nature ; and when he says, that a
literal fulfilment of the command, " Do all for the glory of God,"
leads to the wildest outbreaks of fanaticism ; — he may be told that
he will also find these views common in that Germany which he
so freely censures. Equally just is his doctrine (in which he
agrees with Aristotle), that man is essentially and eminently a
social being ; and so too is his opposition to the shallow and nega
tive doctrines of the state of nature. But on the other hand, that
law and compact are salutary and indispensable constituents in
the formation and maintenance of states, the United States fur
nish the most striking proofs on fully authenticated historical
grounds. These American compacts stand in no degree oppos
ed to the natural and eternal principles and laws of all society ;
on the contrary, they exhibit the latter in the clearest light, and
show the wide distinction between them and the one-sided, arbi-

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 323
trary, and tyrannical principle, which in our day is called by some
the "historical" par excellence, and is regarded by them as sacred
and inviolable.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.

Intolerance — Church Establishments — Religious Liberty — Sects — " Catholics,
School Money — Episcopalians — Methodists, Divisions among them — Presbyte
rians — Congregationalists — Baptists — Quakers — Shakers — Rappists — Mormons
— Universalists — Unitarians — Philosophers — Clergymen and Churches — Church
Property — The Voluntary System — Societies — Bible Societies — Missions — Public
Worship — Camp Meetings — Revivals — Dangers and Prospects — Intolerance.
The whole history of the Christian church shows, that the spirit
of intolerance towards those who differ in opinion, has never
entirely disappeared, and very often has not hesitated at the most
abominable and unchristian means of attaining its ends. Thus,
in particular, it has been required of the state, that it should em
ploy all its power for the advancement of church objects ; or it
has been thought both useful and necessary that church and
state should be fused into one inseparable whole; or else the
church has been set up in opposition to the state, and unlimited
power demanded for her. Finally, the theory and practice of
the Catholics, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians, have come to the
same thing: namely, that their party alone possess the whole truth
and the entire right; of which (for the honor of God) they would
not surrender the smallest particle.
Intolerance of this sort drove the Catholics to Maryland, the
Episcopalians to Virginia, the Puritans to New England, and
the Quakers to Pennsylvania. The old principle, or rather the
old prejudice, that each church stood higher and purer, in propor
tion as it kept aloof from and proscribed all others, was trans
planted with most of the colonists to America ; still the recollec
tion of the persecutions mutually endured at different times must
have somewhat softened their rugged points, and indicated the
necessity of mutual toleration. Zealots however were kept in
check less by a sense of the blessings of toleration, than by the
sheer impossibility of working their will. Jefferson and those
who shared his views were the first to entertain the full conviction,

324 RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.
that a dominant church, whichever it might be, was always an
evil, and on no account to be endured. After an earnest and
eloquent exposition of the reasons therefor, Virginia resolved, in
the year 1785 : " That no man shall be compelled to attend or
support any form of worship, church, or priesthood whatever ;
and that none on that account shall suffer disquiet, compulsion,
or molestation in person or estate, or be subject to injury for any
religious opinions and belief. On the contrary, all men are free
to profess and defend their views on religion; and this shall
not in any way alter, improve, or deteriorate their standing as
citizens." On the adoption of this resolution, there arose a violent outcry
about heartless indifference, unchristian dispositions, infidelity,
and atheism ; and each party would gladly have elevated its own
church to the rank of a stale establishment. Fortunately no one
of them was powerful enough to carry through any such plan ;
and since America has universally adopted these principles, and
accustomed itself to the new state of things, nothing is heard
against this important step in human progress except now and
then the querulous complaints of some European traveller.
It is entirely false to maintain that there is no religion, where
none is preferred and privileged by the state. The establishment
of a single creed, having the exclusive power to save, could have
been effected only by the axe and the faggot, by a civil and reli
gious war, and by the entire destruction of the great American
confederation ; or rather the attempt would have totally failed,
in spite of all such criminal proceedings. It is no less erro
neous to maintain that a church cannot render the state any
service, unless it be favored more than others : on the contrary,
all denominations are of service to the state; and it remains an
essentially Christian state, though it does not make its Christianity
consist in violently obstructing the course of natural development.
" Every religious denomination," says Henry Clay, " which is
connected with the government, is more or less inimical to liberty ;
separated from the government, all are compatible with liberty."*
There are certainly schools which resolve all politics into theo
logy, and all theology into politics ; but American politics give
free course to theology, and neither rules it nor is ruled by it ; —
though this docs not exclude mutual improvement and purifi
cation. The genuine democracy of Christianity has been hitherto
repressed and kept back by the priesthood ; and political demo
cracy has also confined itself to the defective systems and expe
riences of antiquity. Hence arose absolutism in church and state,
tyranny in matters of religious belief, police surveillance, and
* Clay's Speeches, i. 90.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 325
military despotism. It is the fixed principle of the United States
to produce no conversions either by fire and sword, or by money
and livings ; and their ecclesiastical is as new, as grand, and as
important as their political law.
" Church establishments," says an American writer, " con
nected as they commonly are, with exclusive creeds, have been
the most effectual engines ever contrived to fetter the human
mind. They shut up religion from the influence of new lights
and increasing knowledge, give an unnatural stability to error,
impose the dogmas and prejudices of rude and ignorant times
upon ages of knowledge and refinement, and check the genuine
influence of religion by associating it with absurd practices and
impudent impostures. By connecting the church with the state,
they degrade religion into an instrument of civil tyranny; by
pampering the pride of a particular sect, and putting the sword
into its hands, they render it indolent, intolerant, cruel, and spread
jealousy and irritation through all the others. By violating the
right of private judgment in their endeavors to enforce unity of
belief, they multiply hypocrites."* " Secular laws in religious
matters," said President Jackson, "may make hypocrites, but not
true Christians."!
It is worthy of remark, that the American clergy, though they
have nothing to do with the state and nothing to expect from it,
are decidedly in favor of the above mentioned free principles,
and are more zealous and active than where secular and ecclesi
astical motives intervene. They assert, that support of the
church by the state produces envy and ambition, that unequal
and apparently equal distributions have a like injurious effect,
that every gift leads to supervision and authoritative interference,
and that in the multiplicity of sects and churches lies security for
the freedom of all.
Errors which are connected with free inquiry or spring from
it, are attended with vastly less injurious effects than the alleged
infallible truths of compulsory systems. The most strenuous
improvement of systems is consistent with kindly indulgence for
the views of others, and an endeavor to gain followers by the
power of truth, and not by the edge of the sword or by the influ
ence of money. Nor can it be too emphatically remarked, that
unanimity respecting all the leading doctrines of Christian ethics,
might and would correct and soften the dogmatic systems whence
the weapons of spiritual warfare are so often drawn. Almost all
the sects of America are found in Europe : — only there men
express their sentiments without regard to consequences ; while
here, for many reasons, they are disinclined to found new sects,
and many of different opinions are embraced under one denomi-
* Encycl. Americana, art. United States, p. 451. t Cox, p. 22.

326 RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.
nation and one church. If Europe has more theological know
ledge and learning, America has more independence and activity.
This is not the place to exhibit the doctrines and regulations
of more than forty-three American sects;* yet the following
notices of some of the more important may be admitted.
CATHOLICS.
According to a recent estimate, the Catholics had in the year
1843 one archbishop, 17 bishoprics, 611 churches and chapels,
634 clergymen, 19 seminaries, numerous establishments of dif
ferent kinds for women, 60 charitable institutions, and 15 peri
odicals devoted to the Catholic cause.! It is asserted that their
number, now about 1,300,000, is increasing in a still greater
ratio than that of the population. This is in part the conse
quence of immigration, especially of Catholic Irishmen ; and
in part of their activity and address. In addition to this, while
the Protestants, in consequence of their freedom, are dividing
themselves in every direction ; the Catholics, in consequence of
then- obedience, join together and remain united. Both parties
in their controversies, spoken as well as written, have unfortu
nately too often deserted moderation and Christian forbearance ;
and if the Catholics sometimes proceed rather on the defensive
than on the offensive, this is owing to their being the weaker
party, and to their unwillingness to give violent offence by
an unreserved annunciation of their principles. If the Pro
testants call America a Protestant country on account of their
numerical majority, they are arithmetically, but not politically
right ; for majority and minority determine nothing in this re
spect, and the smallest church minority has in the United States
as much religious freedom as the largest majority. It is not
however to be denied, that the system of Catholic church govern
ment is far more unrepublican than the institutions of any of
the Protestant sects. At present, American Catholicism pru
dently conforms itself to circumstances, and by no means car
ries things to such extremes as in Rome and Madrid ; but the
* See Rupp's Original History of the Religious Denominations in the United
States ; where each sect is described by a clergyman of the same denomination.
According to a late enumeration (Grund's Handbuch, p. 56), the different sects
number as follows :
Anabaptists,  4,000,000 Reformed,  450,000
Methodists,  3,000,000 Quakers,  220,000
Presbyterians,  2,175,000 Unitarians,  180,000
Congregationalists,  1,400,000 Dunkers,  30,000
Catholics,  1,300.000 Mormons,  18,000
Episcopalians,  1,000,000 Shakers,  6,000
Universalists,  600,000 Swedenborgians,  6,000
Lutherans,  540,000 Moravians,  5,000
f Caswall, p. 316. Amer. Almanac, 1844, p. 196; 1845, p. 193.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 327
apprehension is not unnatural, that upon a change in its relative
power, the claims of the foreign ecclesiastical potentate and its
fundamental intolerance would become more prominent. Till
then the mutual reproaches remain within their accustomed limits.
When the Protestants appeal to the simple truth of their doctrines,
and to the fact that the greater influence of the Catholic priest
hood has kept back the improvement of Canada, and almost
annihilated that of Mexico ;* others reply that the Catholic sys
tem is better adapted to the heart and imagination of man, and
its truth better attested than the doctrines of innumerable small
sects. Prayers for the dead, the invocation of saints, a Latin
liturgy, and an infallible Pope, are but minor evils, if compared
with the fanaticism exhibited in Methodist camp meetings, the
fatalism of the Baptists, the innumerable creeds of the Congrega-
tionalists, and the divisions of all.
Although space does not allow me to narrate circumstantially
the controversies in which Bishop Hughes of New York has been
engaged with various Protestants, still this is the most suitable
place in which to say something of the question, Whether and how
the moneys destined by the state for schools should be divided
among the different religious parties. The Catholics in New
York as well as in other states declared : " If we must contribute
to the raising of the school fund, and if religion is to be taught in
the schools, this institution must be so regulated as not to exclude
Catholic children. In view however of the difficulty of coming
to an agreement in regard to merely reading the Bible, and the
claims of the different translations, it seems best to assign a por
tion of the school money to the Catholics ; who will so order their
schools, that Protestant children can also attend them."
After much investigation of the subject, this proposal was
declined on the following grounds : Since the year 1812, a
system of general instruction for children has been reduced to
practice with the most beneficial effects. Without any hostile
opposition between different sects, or between the rich and the
poor — natives and foreigners, all the children come together in a
genuine republican and natural manner, form friendships for
life, raise the principle of union above that of disunion, become
tolerant towards differences of opinion, and rejoice over their com
mon progress in the pursuit of knowledge. If an attempt were
made to go beyond reading the Bible in the schools, disputes of
every kind would be unavoidable ; and if any sect must and will
go beyond this common practice of Christians, it alone is bound to
make provision therefor out of its own means. According to the
general and recognized principles of the American republic, ho
* Hinton, ii. 363. Caswall, p. 534. Poussin, Puissance Americaine, ii. 252. Miih-
lenpfbrdt, i. 326. __

328

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.

separate state can do any thing for a particular sect, and thus con
vert it more or less into a state religion. If however the school
money should be divided among more than forty different sects
according to any defective rule whatever, the consequence would
be, to dissolve the salutary school system, to split it into fragments,
and to substitute a partial, defective, and costly one in its stead.
All the schools would become the seats of sectarianism, passion,
and hatred; and the thirst for proselyte making would be stimu
lated by the prospect of getting more money. The Catholics are
not taxed as Catholics, but as citizens ; there is no tax for reli
gious purposes, and Protestants subject themselves without hesi
tation to the same limitations and prescriptions. Religion is an
affair of the church and the family, and school instruction has
nothing to do with its dogmas. He who will not participate in
such freedom, but will separate and exclude himself, must remain
apart ; for laws and general regulations cannot be transformed at
will to suit party demands and purposes. Schools which decline
the direction and superintendence of the regularly chosen officers,
and own no responsibility but to their priests or the pope, relin
quish their connection with the state and people, and should make
no claim for support. In conformity with these views, New York
resolved in accordance with the acknowledged principles of
the Constitution, that no school should receive support in which
the religious doctrines of any particular Christian or other sect
were taught, inculcated, and practised ; or where books of such a
tendency were read ; or which refused to submit to the visits and
examinations prescribed by law*
EPISCOPALIANS.
The Episcopalians like the Catholics have been able to turn
the strifes of various sects into a means of increasing their own;!
but they have changed and modified their church regulations in
conformity with American views, and especially have allowed
the laity a share in ecclesiastical legislation and administration,
such as the high church in England never granted. In the
United States there are no archbishops, deans, or archdeacons;
but there are twenty-three bishops, about 1200 clergymen, and
many lay elders. In every parish there is annually chosen a body
of such elders or trustees, who manage the secular affairs of the
church and have power to nominate the clergy.! They receive
* Unfortunately in some European countries many schools are separated accord
ing to creeds ; by this means indeed trifling disputes are obviated, but the way is
opened for more destructive contests and enmities.
t It is true that dissensions have arisen even amongst them ; but they are not
carried to such a pitch respecting trifles, as they are for instance in England about the
white surplice.
1 Caswall, pp. 65, 85, 114, 156, 185. Hinton, ii. 364. Amer. Aim. 1844, p. 195.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 329
the often large gifts of the laity, and rent the pews, for which from
$5 to $200 a year are paid. A bishop's diocese contains from
10 to 200 parishes. Each of these holds a church convention,
consisting of the bishop, all the clergy, and from one to three of
the laity chosen for each parish. General ordinances are passed
by the majority of the clergy and laity ; so that the former can
carry nothing without the assent of the people, and the latter
nothing without the assent of the clergy. In some dioceses,
indeed, a veto is allowed to the bishop ; but this is every where
unpopular, and is little used. On the whole it may be said that
the bishop maintains his authority for the most part only by his
personal character and judicious counsel, and not by compulsion
and force. He is usually elected by the majority of the clergy, and
confirmed by the majority of the laity. He is aided by a council
or chapter, which consists of from two to five elected clergymen
and as many laymen.
In each diocese moreover there are chosen four clergymen
and four laymen as delegates to the general convention of the
Episcopal church ; and here all matters of general interest are
discussed and determined, such as alterations in the forms of
worship, the regulation of the Sunday-schools, the registration
of births, marriages, and deaths, the founding of new bishoprics,
the settlement of all affairs with other denominations, and the
arranging of disputes between the different dioceses.
The general convention, which has met every three years since
1785, forms the bond of union between the dioceses, and bears
nearly the same relation to the diocese conventions, that Con
gress bears to the separate state governments. Each has two
houses or chambers : the bishops sit in the upper house, and the
clerical and lay deputies in the lower. A majority of both
houses is requisite, and each has a veto on the other.
No bishop can be consecrated without the consent of the repre
sentatives of all the dioceses ; no priest, without previous exami
nation of his acquirements and character by the committee of a
diocese. Some changes have been made in the English Prayer-book
and in the Thirty-nine Articles ; 212 hymns have been selected
for the use of the church, and the translation of the Psalms has
been improved. Still in regard to doctrine and worship, the
American Episcopal church keeps very close to the English. It
however essentially differs from the latter in this, that it enjoys
no exclusive privileges, is wholly separated from the state, and
grants the laity, as before said, a very influential voice in church
matters.

330 RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.

METHODISTS.

The Methodists formed their first society in the United States
in the year 1766 ; but since then they have been increased to
such an extent by untiring activity and restless zeal, that they
now constitute several bishoprics, and number 7,730 stationaiy
and 4,800 itinerant preachers. The latter constitute the yearly
district conferences, which are represented by delegates in the
general conference held every four years. The Methodists,
however, allow the laity no share in the choice of preachers
or in ecclesiastical legislation; all of which is placed in the
hands of the clergy. This arrangement produces on the one
hand energy and decision ; but on the other it gives rise to nar
rowness and intolerance. And yet, in the year 1838, there sprang
up even among the clergy so great a division, that about one
half separated from the other, and took to itself the designation
of the Old School, in contradistinction to the New.
Another controversy of special importance arose among the
Methodists in the spring of 1844, on the question, Whether one
of their bishops might hold slaves. I will briefly state the case
and the arguments of the two parties* One party, at the head of
which was Mr. Griffith, made a motion, that as Bishop Andrew
had become a slaveholder, and as this was inconsistent with his
duties and the principles of the Methodists, he should be ear
nestly entreated to resign his office. In support of this motion he
observes, that no bishop, or other church officer is established for
life ; on the contrary, the general conference has a right to alter
the system of church government every year. Who can doubt
that the conference might depose a bishop who had become
deranged or had married a woman of color?! Our doctrine
only, and not the mode of administering it, is unchangeable ; the
bishops moreover do not form a higher order distinct from the
clergy and the elders of the church. The rights of the confer
ence are unlimited ; it is the highest authority in the church ;
and all powers, the legislative, judicial, and executive, are united
in it without any artificial separation.
Further, the conference does not condemn Bishop Andrew, it
only wishes to rid itself of an evil; and he does wrong, if he
harasses the church through his opposition. The clergy of the
North have never supported the rash and one-sided demands of
the abolitionists ; they earnestly desire however through this mo
tion or resolution to show their opposition to slavery, to restrict
and set bounds to its enlargement, and at least to prevent a bishop
* From the original reports in the Western Christian Advocate.
t This in fact alludes to an alleged radical difference of races, which at that
very time they were contending against.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 331
from contaminating his influence in the South and entirely ruin
ing it in the North, by holding slaves.
To this it was replied : This assembly of Methodist clergymen
is entitled to no absolute power over legislation and administra
tion, without reference to law, custom, and inevitable consequen
ces. Every bishop has a right to his office ; and he can by no
means be removed from or compelled to resign it by a mere vote
and resolution of the majority, without a legal process. What is
requested or demanded of Bishop Andrew under outward forms
of civility, is in truth a punishment of the severest kind. He
declares his readiness to resign, if he can thereby promote the
peace of the church ; such however is not the case, since all the
Southern clergy and bishops are opposed to the proceeding, and to
subjecting themselves to the principles and purposes of New Eng
land. Neither the laws of the church, nor custom, nor any express
precept of the scripture, forbid the holding of slaves ; it has never
been made a point in the election of a bishop, nor has any ques
tion been brought up or duty imposed in relation to it. If how
ever it was determined to make demands in this particular, they
must extend to all clergymen ; nay, a condemnation would indi
rectly be pronounced against all slaveholders among the laity.
On the necessary closer investigation of the present case, it
further appears that Mr. Andrew is one of the most useful and
active of men, and one who exerts himself with peculiar ear
nestness for ameliorating the condition of the slave. He also
holds no slaves in his own right ; they are the dowry and property
of his wife. She would willingly emancipate them, if it were
not prohibited by the laws of Georgia ; this however would bring
many old slaves into the greatest distress, and others are so
dependent on their master and mistress, that they earnestly en
treat them not to alter the relation that exists between them.
No church in the United States, it was said, nor any in the
world, has a right to make laws respecting slavery. This motion
interferes (contrary to St. Paul's precept) with the affairs of others,
brings the church into conflict with the laws of the land, and is
in fact a revolutionary measure. When this career is once enter
ed upon, it is impossible to foresee where we shall stop; and the
conference might easily find pretexts for passing resolutions on
the tariff, taxation, and banks. But in truth, the influence and
progress of the Methodists are essentially owing to their having
always very wisely refrained from involving themselves in
secular and political affairs.
The adoption of this motion would bring not the successors of
Mr. Andrew only, but the whole Southern clergy into the most
unpleasant circumstances ; it would put an end to the salutary
and highly acceptable influence which they had hitherto exerted

332

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.

upon the slaves ; would set them at enmity with all the planters ;
and would exhibit a purpose, which it is impossible to effect in
this manner, or rather which such violence and precipitancy
would cause to assume a destructive appearance. All the clergy
of the South must therefore entreat and demand, that this matter
which tends to the sundering of the church, be not precipitated ;
but that all the counter statements be well weighed, facts collect
ed, and reasons calmly examined.
As these propositions met with no acceptance ; the Southern
clergy again presented the matter on the 6th of June, 1844, in a
formal and well reasoned pamphlet, — but without success. A
complete separation of the South from the North was the conse
quence ; about 1,300 clergymen and 450,000 people took the
side of the former. Impartial observers think, that this movement
will do more harm than good, and that throughout the contro
versy passion and abstract theory have been much more promi
nent than prudence and practical wisdom. Perhaps at some
future time milder measures may be agreed to ; perhaps however
it is a real benefit that the growing power of this sect, and the
danger of constantly increasing violence and intolerance, is for
the present circumscribed and broken by this schism.

PRESBYTERIANS.

These have essentially retained in America their doctrine and
church constitution. Elders of the laity take part in the congre
gational assemblies, the presbyteries, and the synods, over which
ultimately a general assembly presides. Each congregation, a
clergyman presiding, chooses its preacher ; still the presbytery
can set aside the choice for reasons assigned, and order a new
election. A presbytery numbers from 60 to 80 clerical members
and a certain number of lay elders ; at least three presbyteries
form a higher tribunal for many purposes, over which a general
assembly presides as a court of last resort, and decides all matters
of doctrine and discipline, but is not at liberty to change the con
stitution of the church. It is estimated that there are 2,800
Presbyterian clergymen, and 3,500 churches. In the year 1837
a great division took place ; a very numerous party declined
from the strict Calvinistic views of original sin, election, satisfac
tion, justification, and other doctrinal points.

CONGREGATIONALISTS.

They are similar to the Presbyterians in doctrine, and to the
old European Independents in their form of church government.
They maintain that every congregation of enlightened Christians
forms an independent church ; so that without subjection it

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 333
merely enters into a friendly connection with others. They
have only elders and deacons ; they however practise a church
discipline, which extends from mere reproof to excommunication.
The church is distinct from the society. The former has the care
of doctrine and preaching; the latter that of property, good order,
and other secular objects. Thus each part has its peculiar sphere
of activity ; yet both are united by common interests, and ope
rate with a mutually beneficial effect They have 1,420 churches,
and 1,275 clergymen, BAPTISTS.
These differ from the Congregationalists chiefly as regards the
doctrine of baptism. In their subdivisions however they exhibit
a multitude of minor differences, which this is not the place to
"enumerate. In their constitution they are Independents, and
number about 6,000 ministers and 9,000 churches,
QUAKERS.
This body, formerly united in their professed principles, have
been divided since 1927 into the old, or, as they call themselves,
the orthodox party, and the Hicksites ;* which latter reject in
whole or in part certain doctrines, — for example, the miraculous
conception of Christ, his divinity, his satisfaction, and the inspira
tion of the Scriptures. SHAKERS,
Their honored mother is Anne Lee, the daughter of a black
smith ; she was born in 1736, in Manchester, and died in Ame
rica in 1784. They live under a community of goods and in a
state of celibacy ; which may be allowed them, as it was to the
monks of old, because both principles are never applied except
among a few and within narrow circles-! They are noted for
cleanliness, industry, honesty, regularity, and benevolence ; but
are especially held up to censure and ridicule, because they
dance to the honor of God \ Many Indian tribes dance before
and after meals to honor the Great &pirk, and say that uttering
thanks with the lips is stupid and unmeaning, for the whole body
should show its gratitude for the blessings received.! If it is
esteemed pleasing to God, the Shakers might say, to raise the
arms, clasp the hands, or (as in the silent mass) to perform count-
# So named after their spiritual teacher, Elias Hicks.
t North Amer. Review, 1823, p. 46. Murray, ii. 350. A treasurer of the Shakers
Tan away from them with $20,000. Buckingham's Eastern States, ii. 427.
f Lewis's Travels, p. 39. Sometimes the Shakers fall upon their knees, and utter
sounds like the rushing of many waters, groaning to God, and crying for the godless
world which .persecutes them. — Rupp, Ecclesia,p. 658.j
22

334 RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.
less unintelligible motions in his honor, why should our mode
be alone thought offensive and irrational ? Certainly it is more
innocent, cheerful, and natural, than scourging, keeping silence,
torturing, trying for heresy, and other inventions and practices
professedly designed for the honor of God. Of more importance
is the censure (provided it is well founded), that the Shakers take
pride in their oddities, and are indifferent to all higher spiritual
culture.* RAPPISTS.
The Rappists, who are strict Lutherans in doctrine, may be
mentioned here, as they too have introduced community of goods ;
strongly recommend celibacy ; and are, it is said, by no means
free from sectarian vanity.! MORMONS.
Joseph Smith, born the 23d of December, 1805, was a man of
lively fancy, and extremely sagacious, cunning, and skilful in man
aging men and winning them over to himself. As from the want
of a liberal education many occupations were closed against him,
he is said to have betaken himself in the first place to digging for
treasure and gold. But he soon found or made occasion for enter
ing on a bolder and more dangerous career. One Solomon Spald
ing had written in the Bible style a sort of ecclesiastical or biblical
romance. It begins with the government of King Zedekiah, 600
years B. C, and ends about 200 years before Christ. This book,
professedly written by Mormon (one of the characters in the
romance), Smith and some of his followers determined in the
year 1827 to set up as a new revelation, which was to put an end
to the unseemly controversies and perplexities that have hitherto
prevailed. It was, said Smith, written by an angel on tablets of
brass in the improved Egyptian character, and handed over to
me. God afterwards took the plates, and hid them in a place
which no man knows. With this story Smith cut short the
demand to produce the tablets, and refused to enter upon the
question, how he or his friends could translate the Egyptian lan
guage, with which no one is acquainted, into English. As little
was he disturbed by the proofs that the whole book was a piece
of modern patchwork ; for he assumed the character of a prophet,
uttered predictions, and gave accounts of his interviews with
angels and other messengers from God. Contrary to all the expec
tations of intelligent and reflecting people, Smith obtained cre
dence- for his story and numerous followers. This American
credulity has been much ridiculed in Europe ; but the Mormons
* Martineau, i. 217. t Buckingham's Eastern States, ii. 214.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 335
might well reply : If God in one place works miracles by means
of ancient relics, may he not in another raise up new prophets ?
Most of the Mormons went to the state of Mississippi, and con
ducted themselves at first with great diligence and sobriety ; but
then- religious opinions soon furnished grounds or at least pretexts
for numerous complaints. Their opponents proposed to purchase
all the real estate of the Mormons at a fair valuation and at a
large advance on the cost, provided the latter would quit the
country. Hereupon the Mormons made them the same proposal,
and declared that according to the predictions of their prophet,
the whole land was assigned and given to them by God. As
quarrels, complaints, and acts of violence ensued, the governor,
Daniel Dunldin, declared in writing : " We can hinder no one
from settling in this state wherever he pleases, provided the pro
perty and rights of others be not injured in consequence. Every
one is entitled to absolute freedom in matters of religion ; and the
Mormons if they choose may reverence Joe Smith as a man, as an
angel, or even as the living God ; and may call their place Zion,
the Holy Land, or Heaven. Nothing is so absurd and ridiculous
that they may not adopt it as a religious belief, so long as they
leave the rights of others undisturbed."*
But unfortunately the religious aversion increased on both
sides, and political motives came in to swell the excitement. In
fact the entire views of the Mormons were in glaring opposition
to the republican democratic institutions of the country. The
prophet guided the whole as a church-potentate, and controlled
all the votes ; so that there was reason to fear, that the govern
ment of the state would fall entirely into his hands. He declared,
that all history taught with a voice of thunder, that man was
not capable of self-government, of making laws for himself, of
protecting himself, and of advancing his own welfare and that of
the world.
The regular authorities could neither prevent nor punish indi
vidual acts of violence ; and when a civil war was thus gradually
brought about, it appeared that no dependence could be placed on
the militia who were called out to restore order. The Mormons
set Smith's prophecies above the laws of the land ; and their
opponents, the will of the sovereign people above the commands
of the magistrates. This will had in view the entire expulsion
of the Mormons; and as the latter were finally compelled to
submit and to emigrate to Illinois, the numerous criminal prose
cutions fell to the ground. Each party was to blame, and had to
make amends to the other ; and when peace was brought about
after this open war, the whole apparatus of plaintiffs, witnesses,
* Hunt's Mormon War, p. 159.

336 RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.
and judges, which seemed designed for ordinary circumstances
only, disappeared.
In Illinois the number and the wealth of the Mormons increas
ed ; but there soon occurred the same petty jealousies, complaints,
and accusations as in Missouri. In addition to this, the Mormons
fell out with one another; and Joe Smith, contrary to the American
laws, interdicted a newspaper that was opposed to him, and had
the press destroyed. As the governor of Illinois pledged himself
for his safety, Smith submitted to imprisonment, and a legal
punishment no doubt awaited him. This seemed to his ene
mies far too slight for an impostor, a false prophet, an instigator
to war, and one suspected of favoring a murderous attack on
the governor of Missouri. Disguised persons forced their way
into the prison, and shot Joe Smith and his brother. The Mor
mons kept themselves quiet, in hopes of strict justice at the hands
of the law, or in the consciousness of their weakness ; but they
have not changed the course of their old enemies, much less won
them over to their side. UNIVERSALISTS.
The Universalists maintain that God, through his grace and
compassion, will finally save and bless all men ; which doctrine
is represented by their opponents as immoral, since it undermines
or entirely removes the necessary dread of future punishment*
UNITARIANS.
The chief doctrines asserted by the Unitarians are : That there
is only one God Almighty ; that Christ is not God, nor is the
Bible given by immediate inspiration. There is no original sin,
no total depravity of human nature, no eternal punishment ; and
Christ appeared not to atone for our sins by his death, but only
to furnish an example for our imitation, and to establish the
purest system of morals, &c!
Scarcely were these doctrines openly preached after the Ame
rican fashion, than the loudest complaints arose against them. It
was declared that they annihilated all Christianity, opened the
door to infidelity and immorality, robbed mankind of every hope,
&c. ; that this was the consequence of defective church forms, of
self-seeking licentiousness, of arrogant disobedience, of superfi
cial understanding, and-of worldly vanity-!
Granting that all this is perfectly well founded, it follows that
all the other sects were unable to prevent this alarming state of
* They number about 500 ministers. t They have about 250 ministers.
t Caswall, p. 127. Orthodox clergymen refused to enter into discussion with
Unitarians or to acknowledge them as Christians.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 337
things. Now this spirit of rationalism pervades all church his
tory, and has been much oftener put down by force than van
quished by argument. In short it is not true that these differences
of doctrine entirely annihilate Christian morality ; on the con
trary, it is upon this rock of unity that the possibility of a recon
ciliation ought to be founded and introduced.
The Unitarians will never be able to root out every where the
longing for the marvellous, for a vicarious redemption and atone
ment, &c. ; very many will cling to the old orthodox doctrines,
in spite of all religious and philosophical or sophistical objec
tions ; in fact mere negative skepticism is scarcely to be found in
the United States*
On the other hand, the Unitarians uphold, more than any other
sect, religious freedom and toleration ; they consistently transfer
the principles of American republicanism to matters of religion ;
keep down the love of power, which in other sects is only con
cealed ; and hold up to those who condemn them on account of
their doctrines, the shield of an all-pervading Christian morality.
The Unitarians form an indispensable counterpoise to fanaticism
of various kinds, a soothing ingredient, which lessens the import
ance of conflicting dogmas, and is fundamentally opposed to the
spirit which brands all others with heresy.
The views of the Unitarians exhibit an affinity to certain phi
losophical schools.! Philosophy however plays as yet no distin
guished part in the United States ; although in truth its develop
ment and that of religion stand ever in a mutual relation, and
each requires the corrective of the other.
Very often in America, and in England too, the theologico-
philosophical development of Germany is found fault with, as
heretical and infidel ; but herein it is forgotten that the Germans
rightly hold fast to a mental freedom and self-government, which
in this respect are superior even to the American, notwithstanding
the liberal spirit of their Constitution and Jefferson's law of tole
ration. Philosophy is the Germans' safety-valve against hierar
chical tyranny. In the dogmatical development of the Americans,
we perceive no essentially new and peculiar element; they confine
themselves mostly to the old paths, and not always without dis
putes and ancient bitterness. Whether successful or not, the
Germans have undertaken a labor at once bold and severe;
and labor is of more value than mere repetition and rumination.
In every century, even in the nineteenth, doctrines must undergo
a new examination, in order to free their eternal elements from
* Poussin, Puissance Americaine, ii. 247.
t The Jews are not numerous in the United States. They enjoy almost every
where the full rights of citizens, but are split among themselves (in Charleston for
example) into violent parties.

338

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.

human ordinances and dross. This fiery ordeal does not bring
the truth into danger (though some may burn their fingers in the
operation), but serves to confirm and explain it.
In a country, where cultivation and population are rapidly
spreading, and the new settlers are often widely scattered, it is
quite impossible to have clergymen in every neighborhood. Still,
in proportion to the whole population, their number is as great
and even greater than in many other countries ;* and the travel
ling preachers supply in a peculiar and suitable manner the defi
ciencies that occur. Though no American preacher receives so
large an income as the Catholic or English archbishops or bishops ;
yet on an average they are as well paid as in England, and even
better.! Most preachers, except among the Catholics and Metho
dists, are chosen by the members of the society, the pewholders,
or the communicants.
On account of the rapid demand for a great number of clergy
men, many formerly entered the ministry without a suitable
learned preparation ; but now the number of institutions has
increased, and the requirements and examinations have become
more strict. American clergymen may study less and possess
fewer books, than in other countries ; but their correct morals
deserve the highest commendation, while in the active discharge
of the duties of their office they perhaps surpass all, because they
are entirely excluded from worldly offices and are so much the
more devoted to the peculiar duties of their calling. The absence
* In 1834 there were in Inhabitants. Ministers. Churches.
Massachusetts • • ¦ 610,000  704  600
New York  1,900,000  1,750  1,800
Pennsylvania ¦ • -1,347,000  1,133  1,829
Tennessee  684,000  458  630
Ohio  937,000  841  802
Indiana  341,000  340  440
Scotland  2,365,000  1,763  1,804
Liverpool  210,000  57  57
New York- • ¦ .  220,000  142  132
Edinburgh  150,000  70  65
Philadelphia  200,000 ¦•.•¦•¦ 137  83
Glasgow  220,000  76  74
Boston  60,000  57  55
Cincinnati  30,000  22  21
Columbus  3,000  5  3
United States • • -13,000,000  11,450  12,580
Hence it appears, that the number of churches and clergymen, even in the new
Western states, is proportionably larger than in Great Britain ; and that they have
about one clergyman and one church for every 1,000 inhabitants. — Reed, i. 125; ii.
101. It is estimated that there are raised by voluntary contributions for schools and
churches about $20,000,000 per annum. One merchant gave in the course of thirty
years, $800,000 for religious, school, and charitable purposes ; and another from
forty to sixty thousand dollars a year.
t Cox, p. 516. Grund, p. 159. Their yearly income amounts to from $300 to
$4,000; but it seldom extends over $1,000.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 339
of an elevated wealthy hierarchy and of a direct worldly influence,
has not diminished but rather increased the respect paid to the
American preachers.
As innumerable sermons are delivered every week, and as it is
a matter of extreme difficulty to make one of high excellence, there
are of course in the United States, as every where else, a great
many bad sermons. It may be mentioned as a characteristic trait,
that many clergymen, especially Episcopalians and Congrega-
tionalists, write down their sermons and read them from the pulpit.
By this they gain in method and clearness, but not in life and
animation. These latter qualities are more common among the
Methodists, but are apt to degenerate into rant and repetition.
Most sermons are of a doctrinal import, and the more extensive
subjects are treated on several successive Sundays. " Nowhere,"
it is observed, " is so much said about the offices and importance
of the Holy Spirit, and nowhere is the Holy Spirit so honored as
in America ; the Catholics alone are backward in this respect."
But that much is claimed as the work of the Holy Spirit, which
has a different origin, will be shown hereafter.
The existence of so many sects renders the building of great
and magnificent churches (with very few exceptions) almost
impossible. The prisons, to which members of all denomina
tions contribute, are proportionably much more splendid than
the churches.* It is said the South and Southwest expend less
on church buildings than other portions of the Union, and prefer
to pay their clergy more liberally.!
Church property is in some states, Kentucky for instance,
exempt from taxation, and in others not. Every church acknow
ledged and confirmed as a corporation by the state, has the right
to acquire property, receive donations, &c. In many states
the limits are fixed, according to the wants of a church, beyond
which its property must not increase. Disputes respecting the
property of churches and institutions, and also as to whether such
property can descend to new sects, are decided according to gene
ral laws, without placing any restraint on opinions.
Sufficient as the voluntary system is found to be for supplying
the wants of the church, still complaints are made of the greater
dependence of the clergy on the people and of the frequent
changes of pastors which it produces. Nevertheless it is generally
observed, that a bold demeanor on the part of the clergyman is
much more likely to secure the permanent respect of his congre
gation than a timid, flattering manner ; and I have myself heard
discourses in which the hearers were accused and reproved with
* Some churches indeed are built on speculation or out of jealousy and bigotry. —
2lemarkson a Tour to Quebec, p. 31.
t CaswalLpp. 273, 274.

340

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.

a severity which a European community would scarcely bear.
There is also a bright as well as a dark side in this frequent change
of preachers ; since their transplanting to new congregations often
leads to new activity and interest in their calling. Should the
newly installed minister suffer himself to be led into precipitate
and extravagant excitements,, the due equilibrium at any rate is
more easily restored, from the fact that the law neither creates any
artificial efforts nor confers any advantages; while unbiased!
public opinion co-operates effectually in producing a return to
reason.* This is not the place to determine what is fit and suita
ble for other countries ; the voluntary system is certainly the only-
one possible for and adapted to the United States. ltThe result,"
says the English clergyman Reed, "is in every thing and every
where most favorable to the voluntary, and against the compul
sory principle. All the ministers in every part of America are
strongly opposed to compulsion, and to any connection with the
state. Pittsburgh^ founded fifty or sixty years ago, is better sup
plied with the means of religious instruction than any town in
England, and sends missionaries to all parts of the world."-!
" We add," say Cox and Hoby, " our express testimony to that
of our predecessors, to the advantages of the so-called voluntary
system. All the observations that we made in our extended
travels confirmed our conviction, that in every respect it is beyond
comparison better than the compulsory plan."! " ^h® voluntary
system," says Buckingham, "¦ exhibits itself every where in the
United States as salutary, without the bitter contentions which
divide the churches in England, arraying the flock against the
shepherd, and the shepherd against the flock, in contentions about
tithes, oblations, first-fruits, churchrrates,. and other claims."§
Besides the religious wants of particular communities, nume
rous societies have been formed, for charitable and moral purposes,,
such as for Sunday schools, prisons, temperance, home missions,,
foreign missions,. &c Their yearly income, as early as the year
1834, amounted to $910,000.y For the distribution of Bibles
there had been collected for the 19 years ending with 1835,
$1,404,000. Clergymen and laymen jointly conduct the busis-
ness, and a number of gifts and legacies are added to the large
regular receipts. Translations are made into various languages,
and agents and considerable sums of money are sent into many
countries. Thus there have heretofore been sent to the north of
India $3,000, to the Sandwich Islands $3,000,, to Ceylon $2,0Q0„
* Combe's Notes on the United States,, i. 99.
t Reed's Visit to the American Churches, ii. 101, 348, 323.
j Cox and Hoby, Religion in America, Preface, p. viL
§ Reed, ii. 113.
J| Buckingham's Slave States,. L 222.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 341
to Bombay, Madras, and Siam $3,000, to Switzerland $500, to
Esthonia and Livonia $1,000, &c. During the last year, 314,582
Bibles and Testaments were sold and given away ; and the num
ber thus disposed of since the foundation of the American Bible
Society, twenty-eight years ago, is 3,584,260 volumes.*
It is doubtful whether we should extend the approbation due
to the Bible societies to the distribution of other books and tracts.
Several sects have founded societies of this kind for their parti
cular objects : thus a leading society has distributed since 1835
only 9,891 Bibles and 13,695 Testaments, while it has sent forth
5,161,141 tracts. It distributed in one year 684,599 tracts, which
contained 3,209,012 pages of " important truths respecting the
redemption through Jesus Christ." — " In our society," say the
managers in a commendable spirit, " persons of different deno
minations take a part. It has nothing to do with peculiarities of
doctrine, but is a Christian society. It forms no separate church,
but identifies itself with all the churches of Christ." — A great and
noble undertaking truly ; but also very difficult, and as matters
now stand, well nigh impossible to accomplish.
Even respecting the very active missionary institutions, different
judgments have been pronounced. The only fruits, said Governor
Houston, which the far-famed exertions of the missionaries have
produced, are hypocrisy and deception ; and demoralization is
the result of bringing doctrinal Christianity among the children of
the forest.! — The introduction of ministers into our tribe, said an
Indian, has created great disturbances among us ; we have be
come in consequence a disunited, quarrelsome people. We have
learned nothing from them, said another, but to drink, quarrel,
and swear. For tobacco and whiskey, an Indian will let himself
be baptized six times over.
These reports, it is true, pay far too little attention to the bright
side of the picture, the conversions ; while its dark side they bring
into the foreground: still the existence of the latter cannot be
denied, and it is much to be lamented that many missionaries of
different sects should at once inoculate the new converts with
their own disputes. Though Christianity may be destined to
become one day the prevailing religion of the world, dogmatic
subtleties are certainly not the business and occupation of every
man. And yet controversy and persecution have often raged the
most violently on those points that are the least understood. If
the ten commandments only had first been implanted among the
Indians, they might long have been spared the doctrines of pre
destination, transubstantiation, and the like.
* A branch society in New York has already distributed 48,000 Bibles and 107,000
Testaments, in prisons, ships, poor-houses, taverns, &c.
.^\ Ferrall, pp. 277, 281. Murray, i. 425, 428.

342 RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.
Public worship and the observance of Sunday cannot be the
same among the different sects ; yet the churches are every where
very diligently attended, and in the North they are usually warm
ed ;* a custom which is favorable to health, and prevents the
attention from being distracted.
In the zealous Protestant states, a very strict observance of the
Sabbath is even required by law ; though by this the principle,
that the civil authorities have nothing to do with ecclesiastical
and religious matters, is certainly violated, and personal liberty
restricted-! Congress however rejected the proposal to forbid travelling on
Sunday. No one disputes that it is useful to interrupt the daily
course of active life in order that the mind may collect itself, and
the thoughts get a different direction ; but it does not follow, that
Christianity, the most cheerful and consoling of all religions, is
improved and elevated by stern and literal Jewish observances-!
In this respect we may do too much as well as loo little; and by
far the greater part of Christendom seeks to find out the middle
path, and to practise the mutual indulgence recommended by
Paul. He says (Romans xiv. 5) ; " One esteemeth one day above
another; and another esteemeth every day alike. He that re
gardeth the day, regardeth it to the Lord, and he that regardeth
not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it."
We must here notice two things that have often been discussed,
and about which very different sentiments are entertained ; viz.
the so-called camp-meetings and revivals. The former are held
for the most part by Methodists, who display in them enterprise,
zeal, and perseverance ; and convey Christian instruction and
worship to the widely scattered inhabitants of the wilderness,
who are almost excluded from Christian communion. § And why
should not those who neither have nor can have churches, and
who need instruction and consolation, not be permitted to assem
ble under God's free sky ? Why should a diminutive house of
man's contrivance be preferred to the ancient, venerable groves,
where giant trees form a lofty vault of foliage, which architects
strive to imitate in their most finished works ? What right have
we to find fault, if the cold indifference and worldly distinctions
of an established church are not observed in these forest gather
ings ? How can we wonder, that the preacher, carried away by
the grandeur of his mission and of surrounding objects, should
be roused to a pitch of excitement which the equable flow of
common life would never produce ? And who can doubt but that
* Reed, ii. 341. t Duden, p. 46. Abdy, i . 319.
X In Baltimore, whoever flies a kite or plays ball on Sunday is fined one dollar.
§ Cox, p. 516. Flint, Mississippi, ii. 217. Clergymen belonging to the Episcopal
ehurch are occasionally sent into the wilderness to preach. Caswall, p. 122.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 343
they contend with all their strength against the irregularities which
creep into those meetings, held by night as well as day ?*
On the other hand, a cause of just censure is found in these
meetings, which affects the preachers almost more than it does
their hearers. If the former protract the meetings for several days
and nights, if they strive especially to produce in their hearers a
bodily and mental excitement ;! then idleness, vanity, hypocrisy
and folly are the almost inevitable consequences. In order to
produce and increase a so-called religious state of feeling, know
ledge and sound reason are hastily rejected as something of
small account. With great propriety therefore a worthy minister!
gives the wise counsel, that travelling preachers should adhere to
the broad foundation of Scripture, and hold up the essential
truths of religion in which pious men of all denominations
agree ; instead of placing controversial points in the fore-ground,
and pushing them to extremes.§
Among the most serious, I may say the most dangerous and
highly reprehensible things that claim our attention, are those
fanatical movements termed revivals. It cannot be doubted that
single individuals may, by some particular event, some over
whelming influence, be aroused from a thoughtless or sinful life,
and be awakened and born again to a new and higher existence.
It is a cause for rejoicing, when such examples are widely imi
tated. But the means which are employed in America to forcibly
produce these phenomena, are often of a wholly one-sided,
ambiguous character ; and what passes for a proof of regenera
tion has such a perverted and fanatical appearance, that numerous
individuals entitled to respect have declared themselves, and with
justice, decidedly against them.
The sermons and prayers are often continued whole hours
together, and are held for ten, twenty, thirty, and even forty even
ings in succession ; they are almost exclusively occupied with
complaints of the utter depravity of man, the power of the devil,
inevitable everlasting damnation, and the like. With weeping
and strained eyes, the preacher utters his woful denunciations,
draws out each syllable and letter to an absurd length (ho-ly,
gld-ry, ever-last-ing, mo-o-o-o-oumer), quavers as long as his
breath holds out, or suddenly falls into such a rapidity of
utterance as to become altogether unintelligible. The hearers
reply with sighing, groaning, howling, quaking, clapping, rubbing,
and wringing their hands, barking like dogs,|| and making a noise
* Long's Rocky Mountains, i. 21.
t It is asserted that not a few resort to the camp-meetings for the sake of com
pany, and in order to relieve the too uniform and tedious observance of Sunday.
J Thomas Scott, in the Memoirs of Rowland Hill, p. 175.
§ In Maryland, no one is allowed to preach in the streets and public places with
out the permission of the magistrates.
|| Buckingham, Eastern States, ii. 427; Slave States, ii. 136.

344 RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.
like the rushing together of several streams. Others, particularly
the women, faint away, or fall into spasms and convulsions;
while the youth, in virtue of their greater bodily vigor, keep
shouting by the hour some formula, such as, " Come down, Lord
Jesus !" and then declare that they too are regenerated. Pheno
mena of this sort, which in former times would certainly have
been ascribed to the influence of the devil, who would have to
be cast out, are now held by many to be the work of the Holy
Spirit, and the manifestation of a new genuine Christian impulse.
Lastly, the anxious seat is regarded as the very summit of grace,
the triumph of regeneration; and to this the ghostly zealots
almost force their excited hearers, there to make a public con
fession of their sins. But a compulsory and almost unthink
ing contrition, without moderation, consistency, or reason, is apt
to sink into feebleness and indifference ; or to break out into
insanity ; or to be accompanied by vanity, arrogance, and a per
secuting spirit. This outward, noisy, theatrical exhibition leads
to no true conversion and sanctification ; it pulls down instead
of building up. A wild clerical zealot cried out to a girl of
fourteen, " Are you for God or for the devil ?" The terrified girl
burst into tears, cast down her eyes, and was silent. " Write her
down in the devil's book !" cried the preacher to his clerk. The
maiden fell to the ground, and from that hour was a lunatic*
" Opponents of revivals," writes a clergyman, " are the openly
wicked, the profane, the Sabbath-breakers, the enemies of pure
religion, avowed or secret infidels ; or Catholics, Unitarians, or
Universalists, whose Christianity is corrupted through errors and
heresies." In contradiction to these partial and exaggerated accusations,
other eye-witnesses declare that all this evil, these extravagances
and outrageous follies, proceed from hot-headed mechanics,
fanatics, and noisy brawlers ; who vainly plume themselves upon
unreal conversions, and consider themselves as gifted and inspired,
because they are able, by means of their wild absurdities, to
make weak women still weaker and more irrational.! Even
some clergymen, in pursuing this dangerous path, have fallen
into the most grievous sins, and been ejected from their
office.! Moreover, the alleged subjects of regeneration distin
guished themselves afterwards, not by stricter rectitude of feeling
or a higher-toned morality, but by an arrogant exhibition of their
alleged superior sanctity.
* Caswall, p. 325. Cox, pp. 520, 130, 148, 160, 168, 473. Murray, ii. 351. Reed,
ii. 23. Buckingham's Eastern States, i. 515; Slave States, i. 547.
t Buckingham (Slave States, ii. 138) relates divers other consequences which
ensued from these excitements, both as respects clergymen and women.
X Buckingham's Eastern States, i. 29 ; ii. 376.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 345
Hence Dr. Miller says, in language equally sensible and tem
perate:' "It appears to me that religion in these meetings is less
an affair of the understanding, conscience, and heart, than of
display and excitement, of weeping and physical sympathy.
These produce the same effects on the spiritual and moral
nature, that strong drink does on the bodily nature ; a brief season
of over-excitement is followed by weakness and disease."*
" Nothing," writes Dr. Beecher, " is so fearful and untameable
as the fire and whirlwind of human passions, when once excit
ed by misguided zeal, they seem to be sanctified by conscience,
and when the vain thought arises that men mistake and persecute
us because we are serving God. This state of things must lead
to division in the- church, although many at first do not venture
to oppose it. Excesses of a similar kind in the time of Crom
well threw back true piety for centuries ; in America they prevent
the different denominations from approximating and becoming
reconciled to each other. Ignorant and fanatical teachers force the
well instructed and judicious into the back-ground ; and a general
confusion and relaxation of church discipline cannot but ensue.
If a victorious army should traverse our native land and lay it
waste, or a fire destroy all around us, it would be a blessing in com
parison with the moral devastation which a pretended, unregu
lated revival of religion would produce ; for physical evil soon
passes away, while moral unsoundness sinks deeper and endures
for a greater length of time."
After this worthy clergyman, let us hear also a layman, whose
official station unhappily enables him to give indisputable testi
mony on this subject. In the course of eleven years, there have
been placed under the care of Mr. Woodward, superintendant
of the Insane Asylum at Worcester, 148 patients who had lost
their reason in consequence of religious excitement! He says in
respect to this :! " The Bible itself will seldom drive a man mad.
Its promises are opposed to its threatenings, and its simple and
clear teachings show plainly the way to forgiveness and peace.
It is the newly hatched doctrines of men, proclaimed by ignorant,
misguided people, that now distract public opinion, break the
bands which hold society together, and set men in motion with
out chart or compass to seek, as is pretended, the heavenly
inheritance. When the firm principles of religious faith and
* Sprague's Letters on Revivals, p. 265.
t Similar results are exhibited in other lunatic asylums, for example in Colum
bus, Ohio. Of one woman it is said, "her insanity occurred during a revival of
religion." A second was deranged " after attending a religious meeting, at which
there was unusual excitement." A man " became violently deranged during his
attendance of a protracted meeting." The insanity of another man was also con
nected with a camp-meeting. Report of 1839, p. 21 ; 1841, p. 43 ; 1843, pp. 66, 71.
1 Report for 1842, p. 41 ; 1841, p. 53.

346 RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.
hope are cast aside, the usual forms of worship forsaken, and
fanaticism is allowed to rule, then weak and excitable minds
become perplexed and even insane. The effort to grasp some
thing ineffable and inconceivable exceeds the power of the
human faculties, and shatters and destroys them. This is not
religion, but her opposite ; it spoils the offering she brings instead
of improving it, and lowers instead of elevating the moral and
religious standard of a country. True religion must exhibit
itself in the life, the whole life, and not in feverish excitements,
the sallies of a sickly fancy, zeal without knowledge, and words
without deeds."
Opinions of such weight and experiences of so bitter a kind
have not remained without effect. After these misguided persons
have rushed heedlessly onward to the utmost verge of error, they
bethink themselves of returning ; and it is to be hoped they will
not again be led to imagine, that religion can be improved and
ennobled by fanaticism.
If we reflect on all that has been said, it is plain that there is
no lack of religion in America, but that there is danger of faffing
into erroneous practices through excessive zeal for religion. The
tolerance exhibited by the laws of the land, and the equal man
ner in which they look upon all denominations, have indeed
weakened and concealed the radical elements of bigotry and
fanaticism, but have by no means rooted them out. Thus, one
is shocked that a merchant should post his books on a Sunday ;
and another, that a clergyman should on that day speak of the
affairs of his congregation* A third takes offence at organs
and church music ; a fourth calls it a remnant of Popish trumpery,
if the words Laus Deo are placed on the organ, or an /. H. S. on
the pulpit. It is remarkable, but by no means uncommon, that
the Americans themselves place side by side the highest com
mendations and the severest censures respecting their religious
condition. For example, while one maintains that so much vir
tue, faith, and morality, never before existed in the world as is
now to be found in New England ; a second is shocked at the
Unitarians and Universalists ; and a third describes the earlier
condition of the country as worse than that of Sodom and Go-
morrha. Thus he says : " Neglect and contempt of the Gospel
and its ministers, a prevailing and abounding spirit of error, dis
order, unpeaceableness, pride, bitterness, uncharitableness, cen-
soriousness, disobedience, calumniating and reviling authority,
divisions, contentions, separations and confusions in churches,
injustice, idleness, evil speaking, ; lasciviousness, and all other
vices and impieties abounded."!
* Duncan, i. 223, 242.
t Quincy's History of Harvard University, ii. 47.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 347
He who proves too much, proves nothing. All really sensible
Americans are as far removed from vain self-admiration as from
cowardly or misanthropic despair. True culture is the best
remedy against fanatical extravagance, narrow sectarianism, and
the dark spirit of persecution. But reading, writing and arith
metic do not constitute the sum of true knowledge, or bear evi
dence of its possession ; any more than the mere reception of
certain dogmas infuses the life-bestowing essence of religion.
To genuine knowledge and genuine faith much more belongs
than is taught and practised in the school-room and in revivals.
Without self-control, disinterestedness, self-denial, reverence for
the laws, and genuine philanthropy, all the wisdom of schools
and churches is only sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.
It has been repeated a thousand times over, that in the human
heart all is good, — or, all is bad; and yet our immediate con
sciousness tells us that each of these dogmas is false. A scien
tific and religious education which is founded on either of them,
will never fully accomplish its task.
When we see in America three or four clergymen, excluded
from their former communion, in connection with half a dozen
laymen, set up a new church of their own, and at the same time
maintain that they alone possess the truth ; and when they put
forth the assertion, that this church of their forming must be uni
versal and include in it all believers ;* it is scarcely possible to
restrain our scorn and contempt for such arrogance and vanity.
And yet this may be viewed in another fight. The multiplicity
of sects which springs from the exercise of free judgment,
shows a due sense of the nature and value of the rational liberty
that belongs to every man ; for the real indestructible Christian
nature undergoes innumerable transformations in the human
soul without injury to the objective truth that lies at its founda
tion. The image which the eye of a man beholds in the kaleido
scope, and whereby his imagination is excited, has subjective
truth springing from the object ; and no one has a right to assert
that it is not there and cannot be there. Equally absurd is it to
declare, that this individual conception is shared by all mankind
alike. Jefferson's Declaration raises men from outward compulsion
to outward freedom ; but for the higher cognition of an inner
natural tendency towards and necessity for an infinitely diversi
fied development, next to nothing has hitherto been effected ; still
less is any thing done or likely to be done for discerning unity in
multiplicity, or for preparing the way to a reconciliation and a
* Six clergymen form " God's church," and " it is the bounden duty of all God's
people to belong to her, and none else." — " Universality is likewise a prominent
attribute in the church of the first born." Rupp, Pasa ecclesia, pp. 175, 178.

348 RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.
more exalted peace. As long as one sect merely tolerates another,
so long of course will it strive after its subjugation. The impos
sibility of accomplishing its desires will alone prevent this, and
not good sense and charity. Although the application of the fire
and the faggot would now, thank God, meet with insuperable
difficulties, still the orthodoxy that politely shrugs its shoulders at
the thought of heretics is not yet wholly extinct. The Catholics
hold fast either secretly or openly to the doctrine, that to them
alone it is given to impart salvation ; while the smallest Protest
ant sect calls itself Catholic, and declares that the whole Catholic
world is out of the pale of Christianity ! All establish some test
of orthodoxy, and condemn every thing that does not fit this
Procrustes' bed. Contrary to the spirit and letter of the Consti
tution, Clay, Polk, Frelinghuysen, and Dallas were arraigned for
their religious convictions, and subjected to a catechetical exami
nation ; while a sort of creed or test-oath was demanded of them,
although every one well knew beforehand that all the zealots
would never be satisfied with it
The hope that the Bible and biblical Christianity would re-unite
those who had prematurely separated is unfortunately not yet
fulfilled, and the book of peace is but too often made a magazine
of war. Thus says an American paper : " The mournful events
which we all lament may be traced with mathematical certainty
to their real source, namely, to the conduct of the clergy, who for
the last fifteen or twenty years have excited and inflamed the
religious bigotry of their followers." — In another report it is
stated :* " The Bible does not yet exert its healing influence even
in the bosom of the church. What violent, bitter, and obstinate
controversies take place even among members of the same de
nomination ! There is a spirit of fault-finding, of censoriousness,
and slander among brethren, which lays more stress upon some
one small and scarcely visible point of difference than upon a
hundred things of importance in which they agree.! There
must be some remedy for this moral disease, and that remedy is
the Bible. Let the Bible, with its triumphant, softening, purify
ing, and elevating power, exert its proper influence upon the
human heart; and these contentions will cease, and Christian
mildness, love, and good will take their place !"
It is fortunate that no church party can prop itself up by the
aid of a political one, and become blended therewith : still I con
sider that the United States have far more to fear from the fanati-
* Report of Young Men's Bible Society, Cincinnati, 1837, p. 28.
t " They will argue as if their soul depended upon the decision of the north or
northwest side of a hair in polemics." Olive Branch, p. 22. It was a dread of such
views and influence that caused Jefferson and Girard to exclude clergymen from their
institutions at Charlottesville and Philadelphia.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH. 349
cism that glows under a flimsy covering, than from the impetuous
spirit of democracy which is constantly unburthening itself; nay,
it is in this very ardor for political liberty that the best remedy
against ecclesiastical tyranny is to be found. All the sects which
at certain periods were predominant, have fallen into disputes
among themselves (for example, the Episcopalians, Presbyterians,
Quakers, and Methodists) ; and this has lessened the danger,
and enlivened the activity of the separate parties. Still a truly
Christian understanding, an exchange and mutual correction of
thoughts and feelings (a most praiseworthy example of which I
met with at Charleston),* would operate more beneficially than
all the never ending still beginning controversies professedly
undertaken for the honor of God.
Unfortunately in several countries of Europe, and even in
Germany, where a commendable interest is taken in religious
and ecclesiastical affairs,! the elements of a manifold tyranny
have been set in motion, and the flames of fanaticism kindled
anew ; — and all this under the pretext of honoring God, advanc
ing the pure and only truth, improving the life of ecclesiastics,
and the like. An arrogant, domineering dogmatism forgets
country and nationality, Christian morals and Christian love,
and puts arms into the hands of hatred and persecution. Thus
we are in the fairest or rather the worst way to fall into the scan
dal, the audacity, the destructiveness, and the brutality of another
thirty years' civil and religious war.
* See my Letters.
| It has been anxiously or perhaps maliciously asked, What is the government to
do in reference to the recent movements of the German Catholic Reformers and
other Protestants? It should undoubtedly give free scope to development, and
neither restrain nor promote it by positive laws, nor suffer it to be done by the
clergy through secular means. Every other mode will fail of the end, and produce
more evil than good.

S3

CHAPTER XXXV.
THE STATE OF OHIO.
Settlement, Origin — Natural Condition — Constitution — Administration of Justice-
Population — Productions — Canals — Taxation and Finances — Banks — Prisons—
the Deaf and Dumb, the Blind, the Insane — Paupers — Churches — Schools —
Cincinnati — Population — Swine-breeding — City Ordinances, Taxes — Churches
— Schools — Lane Seminary — Woodward College — Mechanics' Libraries — Ger
mans — Prospects.
The knowledge necessary to delineate the twenty-six states of
the great American confederacy is possessed by but few Ameri
cans, and certainly by no foreigner. Should I notwithstanding
attempt it in this place, by making use of many aids at my, com
mand, the constant sameness of the general descriptions would
only fatigue the reader, and the enumeration of slight differences
would take up far too much room. But as I have arranged my
previous communications according to their subjects, and have
brought under one head what related to each of them in the several
states, it cannot well be inappropriate, if I sketch, by way of coun
terpart to the foregoing, the figure of one state as an individual
whole. I choose for this purpose none of the better known East
ern states, but the queen and wonder of the West, the republic
of Ohio.
Sixty years ago, the whole country consisted, partly of a pri
meval forest, scarcely accessible even to wild beasts ; and partly
of a level prairie, where bears, panthers, wolves, and foxes bore
sway, rather than the few and scattered Indians. Single travel
lers had ventured down the Ohio, or landed on the shores of Lake
Erie ; but nothing was yet said of permanent settlements. On the
16tb of April, 1781, was born the first white child within the present
limits of the state of Ohio. In April, 1788, about forty persons
settled on the Ohio, and called their settlement Marietta, after the
unfortunate queen, Marie Antoinette. It was not till the year
1794, the period of the worthy General Wayne's victory over
the Indians, that the immigrants enjoyed the requisite repose
and security ; and in the year 1802, with the beginning of the
nineteenth century, they adopted a constitution and formed a
state. And even then how small were theix beginnings, how toE-

THE STATE OF OHIO. 351
some their way of life, how apparently insuperable the obstacles
and difficulties that beset them on all sides ! The judges had still
to travel on horseback, to take with them their own provisions, and
at night to sleep in the woods ; — there was neither shelter, nor
roads, nor bridges !
Nature offered much, it is true ; but men seldom know how to
improve her gifts, and never in so short a time has so much been
accomplished, I may say created, as in the state of Ohio. It
extends from 3° 30' to 7° 40' west longitude from Washington,
and from the 38th to the 42d degree of north latitude. Although
the similarly situated portions of Europe (between Palermo and
Rome) have a warmer climate, Ohio can still be compared in this
respect with Southern Germany. Of 40,000 English square
miles, or 25,600,000 acres, seven eighths are excellent for the
cultivation of wheat, and of course for other purposes. Its trea
sures of wood, turf, salt, and iron are immense ; and it has been
computed that there is a supply of coal in the eastern part suffi
cient for the wants of sixteen millions of people (the number of
the population, of England and Wales) for 10,000 years. The
most convenient water-communication with the whole world is
opened on the south and west by the Ohio, on the north by
Lake Erie, and on the east by the Erie Canal.
As mind moves the mass (mens agitat molem), we must first
speak of the constitution and administration of the state. For
although all has not been effected through the contents of the
former and the conduct of the latter, still without the foundation
of free institutions, the results we are about to communicate
would have been wholly impossible.
The first general ordinance for the establishment of the rela
tions of civil society, drawn up by Nathan Dane of Massachu
setts and Jacob Burnet, and adopted on the 13th of July, 1787, is
distinguished by moderation and good sense. It contained the
important, though seldom recognised principle, that no future
law should interfere with private contracts previously made.
More important and comprehensive is the constitution of the
30th of April, 1802. It founds two legislative chambers, a
house of representatives and a senate. The former contains
not fewer than thirty-six, nor more than seventy-two members ;
the senate not fewer than one third nor more than one half the
number of the representatives. The senators are elected for two
years, and the representatives for one, by ballot. Of the former
one half go out annually. Every citizen who is twenty-one years
of age, who is subject to pay taxes, and has been a resident for
one year, is entitled to vote. A representative must be twenty-
five years old, subject to taxation, and a resident for one year ;
a senator thirty years old, subject to taxation, and a resident for

352 THE STATE OF OHIO.
two years. The governor, who is elected for two years, must be
thirty years old, twelve years an inhabitant of the United States,
and four years of Ohio. No member of either house can fill any
other office during the period for which he is elected. Each one
receives a compensation of two dollars per diem. The judges of
the higher courts are chosen by both houses for seven years, by bal
lot. Many other officers are elected by the citizens of the counties
and towns ; e. g. justices of the peace for three years, sheriffs and
coroners for two years, &e. Militia officers are partly elected by
the.men, and partly appointed by the state authorities. Both houses
nominate by ballot the highest officers in the army, and all the
other important state officers ; the town-officers are elected by the
citizens in common. Bills may be originated in either house,
and must be read and debated three times before their final
passage. The governor is commander-in-chief of the army and militia,
appoints some of the lower officers, proposes measures to the
legislature, and requires and receives reports from the public
officers. He also possesses the pardoning power ; but has no
veto upon the acts of the two houses.
An important Bill of Rights is annexed to the constitution. It
establishes the entire freedom of the press and of religion, pub
licity of judicial proceedings and trial by jury, a mild criminal
code, no imprisonment for debt after a fair surrender of property,
no outlawry, no corporal punishment in military service, no quar
tering of troops, no standing army, no hereditary prerogatives or
distinctions whatever, no slavery, no poll-tax, the equal right of
all citizens to bear arms, the right to attend all schools and col
leges (the poor not excepted), and the right of the people to assem
ble peaceably and petition for the redress of grievances.
With regard to future changes of the constitution, it declares
that every free republican government rests upon the sole author
ity of the people ; and that its grand object is to protect their
rights and liberties, and to secure their independence. On this
account the people have at all times full power to alter, transform,
and abolish their government, whenever they may deem it neces
sary. But to prevent this from being done in an arbitrary and
informal manner, the following provisions are subjoined. When
two thirds of the members of both houses recommend an altera
tion, and not before, the proposal shall go before the whole body
of voters. If a majority of these approve of it at the next election,
the legislature shall call a convention composed of as many per
sons and chosen in the same manner as that body itself. What
this convention determines or adopts shall have the power of law,
without further action on the part of the people.
Persons brought up in the views and doctrines of certain

THE STATE OF OHIO. 353
European schools, and thoroughly persuaded of their truth, will
absolutely condemn these regulations, and censure them as dan
gerous, anarchical, destructive, Jacobinical, revolutionary, &c. It
would be labor in vain, to endeavor to convince them by theo
retical demonstration, or even to show that some things are
natural and wise under certain circumstances that would not
be so under others. I will candidly admit, that even well'
informed Americans have doubted whether the power of the
governor was not too small, that of the young voters too great,
the change of legislators and public officers too frequent ; whether
the meetings of the people will not become dangerous, and the
facility of constitutional changes prove destructive.' — >It is true
that evils have arisen from some of the above named circumstan
ces ; they must however have become still greater, had the directly
opposite course been pursued. Besides, the most serious appre
hensions have not been realized. The people, for example, who
by frequent elections place those persons at the head of affairs
and in public offices in whom they have confidence, have shown
no inclination whatever to call extraordinary meetings and inter
fere with the course of public business. Although they have
also the right to originate such changes of the constitution as they
please, still in forty-two years no amendment has been proposed,
much less adopted. So peaceful, so steady, so conservative has
the young democracy remained; while a thousand changes have
taken place in the circumstances that surround them, from which
the necessity of alterations in the constitution might have been
deduced. With this quiet, this contentment, and this temper
ate use of boundless power, contrast the tumult, the discontent,
the changes, the extravagant demands, and the senseless refusals
with which the history of so many European states has been
filled for more than half a century.
These public rights and the constitution are poised by an admi
nistration which assigns and intrusts to each individual place and
person a right of self-government almost entirely without control.
An adequate defence against caprice and arbitrary power is found
in the principles of private law, criminal law, and the forms of
legal proceedings ; all of which are derived from English prece
dents, but are carried farther by appropriate adaptations. Every
attorney must possess a good moral character, must be a citizen
of the United States, and a resident of Ohio for one year. He
must have studied law for at least two years, and have undergone
an examination before two judges of the supreme court. In every
county there are annually chosen from the body of voters 108
persons to serve as jurymen. The grand jury consists of fifteen
persons (of whom twelve must agree) ; the petty jury, of twelve
persons. In capital cases the accused can challenge twenty-thre^

354

THE STATE OF OHIO.

jurymen. There are cases where the court for sufficient reasons
can order a second trial by jury or a second process at law. The
punishments are, for :
murder in the first degree, . . death.
" second degree, . imprisonment for life.
manslaughter,  1-10 years imprisonment.
bigamy  1-7 '" "
perjury,  3-10 " "
arson  1-20 " "
robbery,  3-15 " "
theft, "  1-7 " "
forgery,  3-20 " "
duelling*  1-10 " «
counterfeiting,  3-15 " "
adultery, imprisonment not over 30 days and $200 fine.
boxing, imprisonment not over 10 days or . .50 "
cruelty fo animals or bull-baiting, .... 100 "
cock-fighting,  20 "
selling ardent spirits to Indians, . . $25-100 "
The following persons are privileged from arrest, except for
treason, felony, and breach of the peace :
Members of both houses and their officers, duringjhe session ;
Voters, during election,
Judges, during the session ;
Militiamen, while on duty.
Divorces are granted for wilful abandonment for three years,
or habitual drunkenness, great cruelty, impotence, fraudulent
dealing (for instance, feigned pregnancy), and gross neglect of
duties. Let us now see how the laws and public institutions thus very
briefly set forth have operated, or at least what has taken place
under them. In the year 1790, Ohio was not yet a state, and its
population was not included in the census. The number of its
inhabitants was :
in the year 1800, .... 45,000

1810, .

. . 230,000

1820, .

. . 581,000

1830, .

. . 937,000

1840, .

. 1,519,000

which number in the year 1844 had risen to 1,784,000, and will
soon reach two millions.! Among the population of 1844 there
were 764,000 Germans. In the year 1840 there were employed
in mining,  704
agriculture,  272,579
* If death ensues, it is punished as murder.
f The climate is healthy ; there is one death only in 35 or even in 39 inhabitants.

THE STATE OF OHIO. 355
in trade,  9,201
manufactures,  66,265
lake and internal navigation, . 3,535
learned professions, .... 5,663
In all the twenty-six states there are but two that rank higher
in agriculture, viz. New York and Virginia ; two in trade, New
York and Pennsylvania; three in manufactures, New York,
Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts ; and two in the learned pro
fessions, New York and Pennsylvania. The militia of Ohio
number over 180,000 men. The admission of free negroes and
mulattoes into the state is not prohibited; but obstacles are
thrown in the way of it, because a mixed white and black popu
lation seems far from being desired. Every immigrant of this
description must bring a certificate of his freedom, from some
American court; because, according to the laws of the general
government, fugitive slaves must be given up. One or more
citizens of the state must become security for the good behavior
of the colored immigrant, and that he will not become a burthen
on the poor-rate of any town for his support. A negro cannot
acquire the right of voting, and can hold no office ; he cannot
serve on a jury, or give testimony against a white person. Hard
as this seems on the one hand, still it cannot be denied that it is
of the utmost importance to maintain a pure white population,
and to oppose the influx of negroes. It is from this cause chiefly
that Ohio has got so far in advance of her neighbors*
In the same proportion with the number of inhabitants, the
amount and value of all sorts of property have increased. Ac
cording to the latest estimates, there are in Ohio :!
500,000 horses and mules,
1,500,000 head of neat, cattle,
3,000,000 sheep,
3,000,000 swine.
There were gathered in one year :
12,000,000 bushels of coal, valued at .... $720,000
iron, «  1,800,000
salt, "  90,000
stone, «  800,000
Produce of agriculture,  95,400,000
Employed in trade,  13,500,000
the fisheries,  100,000
the forest,  900,000
manufactures (as much as in four Southern states), 20,100,000
*Even Henry Clay acknowledges (Speeches, ii. 125) that Kentucky is half a
century behind Ohio.
t Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, ii. 123.

356 THE STATE OF OHIO.
The construction of canals, highways, and railroads, together
with the use of steamboats, has contributed immensely to raise
the value of land, and to facilitate intercourse and the sale of the
productions of the country. Two canals connect the Ohio with
Lake Erie : the eastern runs from Portsmouth to Cleveland ; the
western is named, after two rivers, the Miami and Maumee
Canal. There are already completed 920 English miles of navi
gable canals, 80 miles of railroad, 800 miles of Macadamised
roads, besides innumerable side and cross roads. The construc
tion of these canals and roads has cost an enormous amount of
money, most of which it was necessary to borrow* With each
loan provision was made at the same time for the payment of
interest and the gradual extinction of the principal, to which the
canal and railroad tolls (already amounting to over $400,000)
contribute the most.
By far the most important and productive taxes are raised from
real and personal estate, in which are included landed property,
houses, horses, cattle, coaches, capital at interest, &c. ; personal
property however, as its amount has to be taken from the state
ments presented, oftener escapes than real. A small property to
a certain amount is free, and also the land belonging to schools
and academies. Church-yards are likewise exempt from taxation,
besides two acres for every religious meeting-house. The whole
value of taxable property amounts to about 133 millions of dollars.
It is boasted that the poor and the small land-owners pay the most
punctually ; while the worst payers are the great land-owners,
the litigants, and the speculators. Slight taxes are laid on law
yers and physicians, on auction-sales, insurance companies, &c.
Of the expenditures I will mention in round numbers the fol
lowing only :
Legislature,  $40,000
State Officers,  7,600
Judiciary,  25,000
Lunatic Asylum,  19,000
Deaf and Dumb Asylum, . . 10,000
Institution for the Blind, . . 10,000
Library,  645
Wolf-scalps,  700
State Printer,  18,000
Army,  Nothing!
Some of these items appear to a European reader very high, and
others very low : upon the whole, however, the government and
administration are exceedingly economical ; and it deserves com
mendation, that more is granted and spent for schools, than for all
* The state debt, contracted solely for improvements, amounts to about
$18,000,000 ; the interest of which, at 5 and 7 per cent., is punctually paid.

THE STATE OF OHIO. 357
the above named objects taken together. Complaints are made
in Ohio as well as elsewhere, that many undertakings are rash,
badly conducted, and unduly converted to individual profit ;
although these evils do not prevail to so great an extent as in
many other American states. Moreover, the government and
people have never lost their spirit and the feeling of right ; but,
with equal good policy and noble sentiment, have imposed new
taxes on themselves in order to fulfil all their engagements. The
only repudiation, says an official Report for 1843, that we
acknowledge, is the stern rejection and condemnation of every
public officer who talks of repudiating the just debts of the state.
The strict examination and supervision of the banks is entrust
ed to a special bank commission. No notes can be issued under
five dollars ; and all the debts and liabilities of every sort must
not exceed one and a half times the capital of the bank actually
paid in. If a bank stop payment, it is closed. The stockhold
ers are obliged to pay 12 per cent, interest for the delay, and are
never permitted to open another institution of the kind. No
town or company is allowed to pursue banking business and
issue notes, without the permission of the government.
In my Letters I speak of the prisons and benevolent institutions
of Columbus, the capital of the state, and add only the following
here. The penitentiary is well contrived, and conducted on the
Auburn plan of day-labor in common. The proceeds of this
labor have in one year exceeded the expenses of the institution
by from $16,000 to $21,000. Care is taken to select such occu
pations as may interfere as little as possible with the business of
other mechanics and manufacturers. The term of imprisonment
is from one year to a life-time.
The Deaf and Dumb Asylum, and the Institution for the Blind
deserve great praise. Pupils are received into them from a
shorter period up to five years, and are instructed in a great
variety of subjects. Among other employments they are
taught basket and mat weaving, brush-making, artificial flower-
making, purse-netting, &c. The hours are divided as follows :
Instruction,  5 hours
Music,  1 "
Labor,  3 «
Eating, worship, and recreation, 7^ "
Sleep,  1\ «
24
In the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, after a few slight motions of
the teacher's hand, the pupils wrote correctly, " Frederick von
Raumer, Professor of History, from Berlin." In the Asylum for
the Blind, boys and girls sang very well some pieces of music in

358

THE STATE OF OHIO.

parts and which seemed rather complicated. Even two little
Chinese girls (sent here by Gutzlaff) read English fluently with
their fingers, and wrote quite legibly.
In the admirably conducted Lunatic Asylum under the charge
of Mr. Awl, 473 persons have been received in five years ; among
them were 248 men, 225 women, 226 unmarried, 203 married,
33 widowers, 11 widows. Of these there were :
under 20 years of age  19
between 20 and 30 "  187
" 30 " 40 «  130
" 40 " 50 «  87
" 50 " 60 "  43
" 60 " 70 "  6
" 70 " 80 "  1
Of those persons who had labored under the disease less than a
year, there were cured 70 per cent. ; of those who had had it
between one and two years, 32 per cent. ; and of those who had
been deranged from two to five years, only 12£ per cent. The
expenses of recent cases until a cure was effected, averaged $64 ;
the cost of maintaining those persons whose derangement was of
long standing amounted to $1,414. About three fourths of all
the patients were provided for at the public expense. It is
thought that as many cases of insanity have their origin in moral
as in physical causes. " Domestic troubles" had brought forty
women to the Asylum ; but the number of male patients from
the same cause was only ten. Many suffered from religious hal
lucination ; although it was something doubtful what was the
first cause, and how much might have proceeded from subse
quent influences and tendencies. Epileptics and those whose
insanity grows out of clandestine practices are the most difficult
to cure. A mild and at the same time firm demeanor is uniformly
maintained, and provision is made for the greatest variety of
occupation and amusement. When I reflected on the abomina
tions, the noise, and the scandalous practices which I had formerly
seen and heard in the Parisian mad-houses for example, — the per
fect cleanliness, quiet, regularity, and propriety maintained here
among the patients, who are divided into different classes, seemed
to me little less than miraculous. None but a man of the remarka
ble talents and worth of Mr. Awl could transform the insane, even
during the continuance of their disorder, into apparently sensible,
well-bred men and women. They have parties ; they read, sing,
play, ride, promenade, and dance ; and George III., Washington,
and Queen Victoria live together without falling into disputes.
Paupers and poor-houses give but little concern to this young
state ; since a day's wages are about half as much again as in
the Eastern states. Relief however is given to the unmerited

THE STATE OF OHIO. 359
distress of poor settlers, and it is permitted to impose a property-
tax of one mill on the dollar for this purpose.
The church matters of the different sects in Ohio are regulated
precisely in the American manner already described. It should
be remarked however, and with commendation, that mutual tolera
tion is diligently practised, and opposite sentiments on minor
points are not suffered to lead to unchristian disputes.
The contemplation of the school system is truly gratifying.
The constitution long ago embodied this admirable sentiment :
" Since religion, morality, and knowledge are essential to good
government and to human happiness, schools and means of
instruction should be encouraged in such a way as is consistent
with freedom of conscience." To schools there are appropriated :
1. The lately well managed proceeds of the school-lands ;
2. From one to half a mill on property and the property-tax ;
3. All receipts from salt-springs, banks, bridges, insurance
companies, plays, shows, &c.
This income amounts, including some donations of the counties
and towns, to 300,000 dollars; to which is to be added the income
of some liberally endowed institutions, and the school-money of
those who can afford to pay. Persons in narrow circumstances
pay nothing for schooling. The former amount is divided among
the districts in proportion to the number of youth between four
and twenty years of age ; but no limit is hereby imposed on the
generosity of individuals. In 1840 the number of
Universities and Colleges was ... 18
University students and collegians . . 1,717
Grammar schools  73
Attending members  4,310
Primary schools  5,1 86
Scholars  218,609
Among the higher institutions of learning, Kenyon College,
Woodward College, Lane Seminary, the Medical College,
Miami University, Ohio University, &c. deserve mention. We
also find a considerable number of societies for benevolent and
learned purposes, for agriculture, missions, the distribution of the
Bible, &c. It is also characteristic of the degree of industrial and
mental advancement, that Ohio has 164 newspapers and periodi
cals, while Virginia has only 52 ; that one bookseller in six years
has printed 650,000 copies of six school-books ; and that, in pro
portion to the population, Ohio has as many learned men as
France. The census of 1840 gives the state of Ohio already thirteen
towns, the smallest of which has 2,000 inhabitants. Two num
ber over 6,000 ; and Cincinnati, the first and most remarkable
city of the whole West, has 46,338 inhabitants. The possibility

360 THE STATE OF OHIO.
of such an increase is certainly owing in the first place to its admi
rable site, close by the great, beautifwl, navigable Ohio ; on a spot
where the ground gradually rises, so that the terraces and streets
lie picturesquely one above the other. The ascent and descent
cause no difficulty whatever ; on the contrary, the wide semicir
cle of the beautiful and fertile valley admits a constant enlarge
ment of the city to the lofty, forest-crowned hill that encloses the
whole, and commands a rich and varied prospect over town, river,
and country.
Cincinnati lies 465 miles from Pittsburgh and the same dis
tance from Cairo, being exactly midway in the length of the Ohio.
It is 650 miles from New York, and 1,631 from New Orleans ;
and its commercial relations extend even beyond those extreme
points of the Union. It is also the centre of import and export
for Ohio, Indiana, and the neighboring regions.
On the 28th of December, 1788, the foundation of the first
house was laid in a dense primeval forest; but the builders
even then, in a bold spirit of prophecy, marked out on the trunks
of trees the course of many streets for a large town. A treaty
concluded in 1795 with the neighboring savages, afforded greater
security ; yet the place contained in the year 1800 but 750 inha
bitants, while in 1840 it numbered 813 tailors alone.
Cincinnati had,
in the year 1810, . . . 2,500 inhabitants.
" 1820, . . . 9,600
» 1830, . . . 24,800 "
1840, . . . 46,338 "
In 1844, counting all the adjoining places in the valley which
thirty years ago had no existence, it possessed 80,000 inhabitants,
and among them 17,000 Germans ! The ground on which Cin
cinnati stands was sold to the first occupant for about $35, but is
now worth millions ; a few square feet now cost more than the
whole wide plain did then. In the year 1840 (and so every
year) 406 new houses were built
In the year 1840, its inhabitants numbered :
cabinet-makers,  "84
blacksmiths,  294
workers in metals,  208
saddlers and tanners,  228
shoemakers,  652
pork-butchers,  157
pork-packers,  1,220
tailors,  831
women employed in the making and sale of cloth
ing (for Cincinnati and its environs), about 4,000
Among those too who are engaged in more intellectual pursuits,

THE STATE OF OHIO. 361
we find physicians, surgeons, surgical and mathematical instru
ment-makers, painters, stone-engravers, wood-carvers, Daguerre-
otypers, portrait-painters, piano-forte-makers, printers, booksellers,
&c. Twenty-nine newspapers and periodicals are published in
Cincinnati, six of which are in German.
The capital invested in manufactures was estimated even in
1840 at from 14 to 15 millions of dollars ; but no one occupation
puts so much money in circulation and employs so many men,
as the newly discovered preparation of lard-oil. The breeding of
swine in the open country was exceedingly easy, and the number
of those animals increased with great rapidity. At length how
ever, in spite of the rapid increase of population, the flesh could
no longer be consumed in the neighborhood or disposed of at a
distance. Then, as in numberless other cases, steam offered
its assistance. After the hams are cut off and the entrails taken
out, the fat hog is thrown into the steam-vessel. After twelve
hours every particle of fat is separated from the refuse, and is
employed according to its quality for various purposes, especially
for burning, for candle-making, for the preparation of gas, for the
use of light-houses, &c. &c. Thirteen factories are occupied
in this business in Cincinnati; one of which furnishes annu
ally 750,000 pounds of oil and stearine, of which also two thirds
may be used for candles. Between December and February
250,000 swine are slaughtered, which yield over 11£ million
pounds of fat.
As even travellers have taken offence at these material pursuits,
and have expended upon them a great deal of easy wit, it is
doubly necessary to show that mind in Cincinnati is not, as Lich-
tenberg has it, " smothered in fat."
In the first place, the state constitution is essentially democratic ;
and if there has sometimes been connected with it a want of
ready obedience, the defect has been counterbalanced by far
greater benefits. Every person twenty-one years of age, of good
character, and one year a resident, is a citizen, with full civil and
political rights. The citizens choose every two years a mayor
(who must have been for three years a resident of the city), and
every year three trustees for each ward, who form the town-coun
cil. The entire administration is in their hands ; yet there are
cases where the mayor and council must apply to the citizens,
who then vote in their ward meetings on the questions submitted,
either Aye or No, without discussion, and the collective majority
of votes decides. If the question concerns matters that lie beyond
the letter of the city charter, or if it is one that will affect posterity
(as a purchase, sale, &c), the decision rests not alone with the
body of the citizens, but must be ratified by the legislature of the
state.

362 THE STATE OF OHIO.
The entire administration, taxation, and police are in the hands
of the mayor and city council ; not only are their whole proceed
ings public, but they are obliged to make a full annual statement
to the community. The regulations respecting every branch of
the police, as well as for the health and fire department, are com
plete and well adapted to the ends proposed. No one is allowed
(such at least is the law) to sell ardent spirits to persons under
seventeen, and new licenses to retail them in small quantities are
not granted. Houses of ill fame are forbidden, as also the run
ning of dogs and hogs about the streets, although some of them
are still fond of practising the art of self-government
As every where in America, the property-tax is by far the most
important and productive ; of other minor taxes I will mention
only that every dog is taxed at one dollar, and every bitch at three ;
formerly this tax was as high as three and ten dollars.
The city administration is on the whole very cheap ; the mem
bers of the council receive but a trifling compensation, and the
mayor gets only 1,000 thalers a year.
Among the most expensive, but at the same time the most useful
undertakings, is that for supplying the city with spring water.
This is raised by machinery thirty feet above the higher and one
hundred and fifty above the lower part of the town, conducted
through iron tubes in all directions, and used in immense quan
tities for the greatest variety of purposes.
We find in Cincinnati churches and clergymen in abundance ;
for when an increase of them seems necessary, contributions for
their establishment and support are never lacking. In conse
quence of the correct view which here also prevails, that no
democracy can maintain itself in a healthful state without a gene
ral and careful education of the people, the greatest interest and
activity have been exhibited on behalf of schools. Their chief
income is derived from a tax on property, to which are added the
school-fees paid by those who can afford them. In every ward
there are new and admirably contrived school-houses* where
among other things much better provision is made for ventilation
than in most German school-rooms and university lecture-halls.
The common schools contain four divisions or classes, and teach
far more and advance the learners much further than the so-called
primary schools ; indeed, if we except the ancient languages, al
most the whole college course is given here. All the scholars how
ever do not go through the entire course. The pay of the male
teachers is from 25 to 45 dollars a month ; that of the female teach
ers from 15 to 25 dollars. Each ward chooses annually two trus
tees, and the city council chooses seven examiners for three years.
* The rapid increase of population creates a necessity for constant additions to
the number of schools.

THE STATE OF OHIO. 363
The latter examine and the former appoint teachers. These be
come members of a society for mutual improvement in the art
of teaching, which has spread over the whole state and has com
municated its views and experiences in several instructive volumes.
The hours were :
in summer, from 8 to 12, and from 2 to 5 ;
in winter, from 9 to 12, and from 1 to 4 ;
but they have been lessened, especially for the smaller children,
by recent regulations. Fifteen minutes are allowed between every
two hours for recreation. The principal holidays last about four
weeks in January, and the same in summer. The number of
scholars and the disposition to attend school are steadily increas
ing ; although here too some complaints are made of irregular
attendance. The current yearly expense for each scholar is
reckoned at about seven dollars. Every year there is a regular
procession of all the scholars to church, with banners, music,
badges, &c. After divine service, the School Report is read.
It is asserted that these celebrations have a good effect in increas
ing the interest in the cause of schools, in leading to more liberal
contributions and payments, &c. Besides the regular examina
tions by the usual teachers, others are held after a peculiar and
remarkable fashion. The best scholars from the different schools
are assembled, and are examined by persons chosen for that
especial purpose. This leads to instructive inferences respecting
the comparative excellence of the several institutions. All doc
trinal theology and all religious controversies are excluded from
the schools ; the Bible only is read, but without the commentary
of any denomination. With regard to the school-libraries, the
Catholic bishop made some complaints; but these, instead of
being embittered by obstinate contradiction, were removed by a
moderate and judicious concession. The bishop charged parti
cularly :
First, that many books contained offensive passages. — Answer :
The bishop may examine and point out what shall be rejected
for the Catholics.
Secondly. Catholic children are made to read the Protestant
Bible. — Answer : None are required to do so, whenever pa
rents or guardians object.
Third. There are bad books in the collections. — Answer: No
child shall have a book which its parents or guardians deem
hurtful. Besides these common schools, there are in Cincinnati private
schools, evening schools, Sunday schools, colored schools, col*
leges, law schools, medical and theological institutions, indus
trial schools connected with exhibitions of the products of indus
try, societies for the diffusion of useful knowledge, an academy

364

THE STATE OF OHIO.

of fine arts, and another for music and the promotion of a pure
and elevated musical taste.
As it is impossible to describe all these institutions with exact
ness, I may be permitted to dwell somewhat more particularly on
a few. In the year 1S29, a theological school, called Lane
Seminary, was founded, with three regular professors and a libra
rian. Mr. Lane contributed $4,000 ; Mr. White with some others
$15,000 ; and Mr .Tappan $20,000 at two different times, making
together $40,000! Although Presbyterians are at the head of
the institution, students of all denominations are received into the
beautiful new building, and are there taken care of on the most
reasonable terms. The instruction is wholly gratuitous ; and the
course lasts three years, each year from the middle of Septem
ber to the middle of June. The excellent library, which is
mostly theological, contains 10,000 volumes ; and Prof. Stowe
has been despatched to Europe, as a highly competent person,
to make large purchases. There is adjoining the institution a
large piece of fertile land, which the students themselves culti
vate. They devote to this or some other lucrative employment
three hours daily ; and some earn by this means as much as $150
a year, or their entire support.
The foundation of Woodward College was a large donation of
land from Mr. Woodward. It numbers on an average 160 scho
lars, of whom about 50 are maintained free of charge. Seven
teachers give instruction, during the hours from 9 to 12 and from
1 to 4, in all the usual branches. I attended two lectures on spheri
cal trigonometry and the OEdipus of Sophocles, on a spot where
the wolves were howling fifty years ago. All political or religious
partisanship is strictly prohibited in this institution. An obser
vatory has been established by voluntary contributions, and a Ger
man telescope purchased for $9,000. Two intelligent persons
have been despatched to Germany to examine the school sys
tem, &c. &c.
The mechanics and young merchants have established fine
libraries by voluntary subscription ; and in the first of these insti
tutions appropriate lectures are delivered. From the Mechanics'
and Apprentices' Library, which in the year 1841 numbered over
2,000 well chosen books, there are weekly loaned to these classes
about 400 volumes gratis. The stockholders and contributors
choose a certain number of directors annually, who appoint a
librarian, and the latter receives $100 from the city treasury. The
necessary rules are adopted as to the length of time a book may
be kept, the mode of replacing one that is lost, &c. This insti
tution, like the district libraries mentioned in another place, has
a healthful influence on the diffusion of useful knowledge and
the improvement of morals.

THE STATE OF OHIO. 365
Equally commendable is the practice adopted in many schools,
of the English boys learning German, and the German boys
English ; by which means they become masters of two langua
ges and of the rich literature of each* I am fully of the opinion,
that the mixture of the English and German population (there
are 17,000 Germans in Cincinnati alone) in the United States is
every where productive of the happiest results. Each of these
closely related races communicates to the other what it lacks, or
moderates what it has in excess. Thus the excellent newly
established German society for reading and mutual improvement
is in no degree opposed to English culture, but only prevents
our native home treasures from being lost through indolence or
forgotten through disuse. Each party offers to the other what it
possesses, to double its wealth.
Nature and mind form in the Western states of America a
rare, I may say, a unique combination ; and among them Ohio
takes the lead. Her mission is to examine impartially the great
social problems and controversies of the confederate states, to test
them fairly, and thus to guide and govern the rest. It may be
doubted whether the grand republicanism of the South must not
be disturbed by slavery, and whether in the East there may not
spring up by the side of the cultivated classes a dangerous city
populace (tribus urbana?) ; but in Ohio we see only youth, vigor,
health, progress, and improving prospects in all directions. The
spirit of nil admirari, exhibited in view of such phenomena,
would be only a sign of sheer envy or insensibility !!
* " They have far more than realized the expectations of their warmest friends.'7
Fifteenth Annual Report on the Common Schools in Cincinnati, p. 6.
t I had the following conversation with a lady : " Has no fair American touched
your heart V — " Age is no security against folly ; I have been violently smitten." —
" May I ask who the favored one is V — " Her grandfather was born the 19th of
April, 1781 ; her mother was a German. In all America there are not thirty, nay,
scarcely three women of such beauty, virtue, wisdom, and wealth." — " But you are
already married; what will your wife say?" — "She is used to such freaks, and
won't say a word against it." — " Have you made known your passion to its object ?"
— " Certainly ; and she has distinctly declared that she will not withhold her con
sent, whenever I dare proclaim to the world my love and admiration."—" But who
is this wonderful lady'!"—" She is the Republic of Ohio."

24

CHAPTER XXXVI.
FOREIGN RELATIONS.
Relations with Europe — The Indians — Texas— The Oregon Territory — Canada.
Before we take once more a summary view of the internal,
especially the political relations of the United States, and attempt to
exhibit them in their workingsand final results, we must first cast
a glance at their external relations. They are undoubtedly in a
simpler and consequently in a happier state, than those of nearly
all the kingdoms of Europe. First of all, since the time of
Washington and Jefferson, it has been a well established and
strictly observed principle of the United States, not to become
entangled in the labyrinth of European diplomacy and in the
misery of its wars ; in no way to transgress the principles of pub
lic law and constitutional forms, for the sake of bringing about
or preventing particular results ; and to make no offerings on that
altar of Moloch — vain military glory.* Accordingly, with the
inland powers of Europe the United States cannot come into
serious or dangerous collision ; but this will be unavoidable,
whenever the European maritime powers shall engage in war,
and enforce their old principles which are destructive to all neutral
trade. If on the other hand, neutrals in time of war could carry on all
sorts of trade under their own flags, undisturbed and free from
search, the belligerents would be deprived of a principal means of
injuring their opponents and compelling them to sue for peace.
The stronger naval power would lose by this means almost the en
tire advantage of its superior strength ; while the weaker one would
assert and extol for its own benefit the freedom of the seas. The
controversies respecting this point are of the utmost consequence
during a naval war, but lose all their importance on the recur
rence of peace ; consequently they were left wholly unsettled by
the Treaty of Ghent. In the event of another European naval
war, the belligerents, it is to be hoped, will not again adopt the
tyrannical proceedings which prevailed at the time of the French
Revolution. Should this however occur, the United States,
whose trade has become so immense, could not take refuge in the
suicidal expedient of submitting to an embargo or of breaking off
* Tyler's Message of 1842.

FOREIGN RELATIONS- 367
its trade with both parties; but must oppose that one which
declines to enter into reasonable arrangements. There is how
ever more reason than ever to hope that the weight and influence
-of America will deter other states from injustice, and that the
peace of the United States will be permanent, while the powers
of Europe, destroy one another after the old accustomed fashion,
and fancy that this is the road to real glory.!
Let us now see what danger, if any, threatens the United
States from their neighbors on the American continent. In the
first place, as regards the Indians, who now live beyond the Mis
sissippi in close proximity to one another, and are advancing, it is
to be hoped, in civilization, it may be asserted that onjthat account
they will become more dangerous than before. To this we may
•reply, that progress in civilization will make the Indians more
peaceful, and prevent the folly of taking up arms against the United
States. But should they perchance be seduced to do so by others,
they would be more easily and speedily overcome than before,
when they were scattered about and difficult to find.
If we turn our attention to the new republic of Texas^ we find the
most opposite opinions maintained with regard to it. Its violent
^assailants, both in America and in Europe, assert that it owes its
-origin to a most unrighteous insurrection, is inhabited by a worth
less rabble of every sort, and polluted by the eurse of slavery.
What says history ?* The Spaniards founded their claims on
the discovery of some points of this large unknown territory ; but
¦for centuries they did absolutely nothing of consequence to acquire
a knowledge of it and to settle it, and it was not till quite recent
times that the government treated with people who wished to emi
grate thither from the United States. Plans of this kind were
interrupted by the revolt of Mexico from the mother country, and
Texas declared herself ready to enter as a separate state into the
new great confederation. This condition was at first accepted,
but afterwards declined.; and thus, instead of being governed by
a genuine federal constitution, it was alternately the prey of mili
tary and priestly tyranny or of wild anarchy. Worthless persons
did certainly take advantage of these times of confusion to make
•their way into Texas ; but it would be great injustice thus to desig
nate all the inhabitants of Texas, or to maintain that the revolt of
Mexico from Spain was glorious, but that that of Texas was
execrable. A country said to be three times as large as Great
Britain and Ireland, and in fact without a master, a perfect res
mtllius, had forsooth no right to a separate existence, and was
condemned to be an appurtenance of Mexico, or rather of her
soldiery, for all time to come ! " Independence," says a thoroughly
* Kennedy's Texas, vol. ii.

368

FOREIGN RELATIONS.

well informed man, " produced in Mexico ah intoxication of free
dom, which caused the people to seek their liberty in the most
unbounded licentiousness, their sovereignty in contempt of law
and morality and in impunity for crime ; each one thought he had
a right to do and to leave undone whatever he saw fit, and not
only to utter his opinions, but to carry them out by violence."
Mexico has indeed adopted many of the public institutions of the
United States, and also a similar constitutional law as far as its
letter is concerned ; but through the overpowering influence of the
priests or the army, it rarely comes into play ; besides, there is no
such thing as an immediate free choice of representatives, and
public trials by jury or legal toleration in religious matters are
never thought of.*
Texas very naturally would not allow its fate to be determined
by such a people ; the Saxo-Germanic element of American civi
lization came again into conflict with the Romance stock ; and
it conquered as it had done before in Canada, Louisiana, and
Florida. On the 21st of April, 1S36, the Texans under Houston
defeated the Mexican president Santa Anna at San Jacinto, took
him prisoner, dispersed his entire army, and captured all his
warlike stores. This determined the independence of Texas ;
Jackson acknowledged it on the last day of his presidency, and
the powers of Europe followed the example.
These victors of San Jacinto were far from being a rabble
which by accident once shows a warlike spirit, but men who felt
the value both of civil order and of public right, and who strove
to found a genuine republic. In their Declaration of Independ
ence of the 2d of March, 1836, they complain — and justly — that
the confederate state of Mexico had changed into ,a military
tyranny ; that the power of the soldiery was alone cherished and
provided for ; that the free exercise of religion was prohibited ;
and the people were ordered to be disarmed, for the purpose
of plunging them headlong into Mexican anarchy. On the
17th of March, 1836, the new state adopted a new constitution
fashioned after the American model. The President is elected
for three years, but is ineligible for the next three. The number
of representatives, until the population exceeds 100,000, shall
not be under twenty-four or over forty. They are chosen annu
ally, and every freeman who is twenty-one years old and has
resided in the country six months is entitled to vote. The num
ber of senators, also chosen by election for three years, amounts
to from one third to one half that of the representatives. Clergy
men are excluded from any share in the constitution or adminis
tration. Every free father of a family is entitled to a league of
land, and every single man to one third of a league. Slavehold-
* Miihlenpfordt, i. 372.

FOREIGN RELATIONS. 369
ing is permitted, but not the importation of slaves from Africa.
Congress cannot manumit slaves without the consent of the
owners ; nor can the owners without the consent of Congress,
unless the freedmen emigrate. No free negro or colored person
is tolerated in Texas without the consent of Congress. Slavery
was retained, because most of the colonists held slaves, and the
slaveholding portion of the United States favored the new repub
lic, while the free northern states declared against it ;* another rea
son was the great want of men and capital in the country.
With the exception of this dark feature, there are adopted into
the constitution of the young republic of Texas all the great
principles of American freedom, which in Europe are for the
most part rejected or not reduced to practice: such as that
all power comes from the people; absolute freedom of the
press and of religion ; no search-warrants without the strongest
grounds ; trial by jury ; the right to bear arms ; a general militia ;
no monopolies or prerogatives ; no right of primogeniture, &c.
An ample quantity of land has been appropriated for schools and
universities. Bible societies, temperance societies, and Sunday-
schools are in operation ; and laws have been passed against
gambling and drunkenness.
Notwithstanding the universal though vague and unproved
charges of the immorality of its inhabitants, Texas has made
astonishing progress since its declaration of independence ; and
has kept free from the tyranny and anarchy of Mexico, to which
shallow theorists and tlie envious would gladly chain her. Many
very naturally adopted the conviction, that a union of Texas with
the United States would prove equally advantageous to the peace,
power, wealth, development, and legal condition of the country.
Such a union however was declined, chiefly through the influ
ence of the northern half of the confederacy : partly because (in
contradiction to the peculiar history of America) the right of the
Texans to an independent existence was denied ; and partly be
cause the Northerners were offended at the existence of slavery,
and were opposed to increasing the number of the slaveholding
states of the Union and of the defenders of free trade as opposed
to a protective tariff. This refusal of course was ill received in
Texas, and caused the inhabitants of that country to consider,
whether it was not in fact more advisable for the young republic
(which without doubt was gradually gaining strength) to keep
itself entirely independent. Every alliance, it was said, limited
and confined a state ; while it must be an object to keep their
trade entirely free, to avoid the errors of the United States, and
to found still more perfect civil institutions.
Notwithstanding all the obstacles and grounds of opposition,
* Kennedy, ii. 382.

370;

FOEEIGN RELATIONS-,

in the year 1844 a formal treaty was concluded betweeu the
United States and Texaa for its admission into the great Union,,
and laid by President Tyler before the Senate for its confirma
tion. This gave rise to lively and interesting discussions both in
and out of the Senate. I will therefore lay before the reader
with the greatest possible brevity the views and reasonings of
both parties. The opponents of annexation said, that President
Tyler had undertaken the whole matter in order to form a party
for himself at the next presidential election ; and that he had
conducted it in a manner contrary to the forms of the Constitu
tion. It was said that, instead of coming forward with a treaty
ready made, and taking Congress and the public by surprise, he
should have furnished opportunity by means of a message for con
sidering and debating the question, and should have given the
people time and opportunity for coming to a well grounded opi
nion on this novel and highly important topic. By pursuing this
course, it would at once have appeared, that according to the
Constitution, there existed no power, no authority whatever, that
could decide on the adoption of foreign states into the Union
and give consent to the same. Supposing however that Con
gress actually possessed such a right of decision, it must still
refuse annexation on numberless grounds. It must, do so, in the
first place, because Mexico had not relinquished her right to
Texas ; and consequently its incorporation into the Union must
lead to a war that would be both unjust and dangerous. For
though the land force of Mexico might be beaten off, yet at sea:
privateers would destroy the American trade ; and the interference
of European powers, especially England, could not be avoided.
The United States possess already, say the objectors, too much
land ; every enlargement of the Union must diminish its strength,
embarrass the government, and bring forward new conflicting
interests and objects attended with the most injurious results.
And after all, we do not even know how much land we are to
get ; since the greater part of it (out of which it is proposed to pay
the state debts) is already squandered away, and the western!
boundary is wholly undetermined. At all events, the United
States need no rounding off beyond their present circumference,
either for military or for commercial purposes. It is far more
natural,, more peaceful, and more salutary, that Texas should
remain independent on the South, like Canada on the North.
The assertion that Texas would then sink into an English colo
ny, is without foundation ; and as to any smuggling that may be
carried on there, it is much less extensive and dangerous than that;
on the Canadian border. Just as little weight is due to the senti
mental declaration, that our American brethren and eountrymere
who have emigrated to Texas must be re-admitted, in compliance-

FOREIGN RELATIONS. 371
with their prayer, into the great family of the Union. That prayer
is the result of sheer necessity ; because the Texans are oppress
ed with a load of debt, and a few selfish individuals who have
bought cheap would like an opportunity of selling dear. More
over, people deserve no support and sympathy who voluntarily
forsook their free native land, first subjected themselves to Mexi
can tyranny, and then founded a slave state, — thus acting the part
of renegades both to their country and their religion !*
Were however every other objection and difficulty overcome,
an insuperable one still remains. The free states can never con
sent that a slave state shall enter the Union, and thus extend the
detested " institution ;" that the very existence of the Union shall
again be placed in jeopardy; or that at least the equilibrium of
its parts, which is already endangered, shall be destroyed.
To this the friends of the annexation of Texas reply as follows :
President Tyler has only done what was right according to the best
of his knowledge and belief ; nay, this performance of his duty has
increased the number and zeal of his opponents more than the
number of his friends. Neither can it properly be said, that
the formation of the treaty took Congress and the people by
surprise ; since the principal question has been for years a subject
of discussion, and nothing stands in the way of its further consi
deration. Moreover, if the general government possesses the
power of war and conquest, it must have a still better right to
peaceful acquisition ; or in case the Constitution makes no provi
sion for this, let the requisite power be given by means of new and
absolutely necessary laws. Besides, there is a violent contra
diction in the fact, that the purchase of Louisiana was highly
applauded, while the annexation of Texas is condemned ;
although in the former case the consent of the inhabitants was
not even asked, while in the latter they decide without compul
sion and on well grounded conviction. That Mexico adheres to
her opposition in spite of her weakness, is a folly which has not
prevented other countries from acknowledging the independence
of Texas ; and from this it necessarily ensues that Texas may
decide upon its present and future course without consulting
Mexico. Spain waited seventy years before acknowledging the
republic of the United Netherlands, and the Pope has never yet
assented to the Treaty of Westphalia :— ought such perverse obsti
nacy to check the world's advancement? Every one, whose
views are not distorted by party prejudice, must see that the acqui
sition of Texas is of the greatest advantage for the purposes both
of war and peace ; on the other hand the use of an independent
power, offended by rejection and courted by England/would be
* Cassius M. Clay's Speech. Sedgwick's Pamphlet, &c.

372

FOREIGN RELATIONS.

dangerous to our Union. The chief excellence of this Union is
that, cutting off all occasion for war and strife, it can extend fur
ther and further the domain of legal relations and legal decisions,
without detriment to the progress of individuals and states. The
Texans are by no means disposed, as some foolish people assert,
to make a cowardly and treacherous surrender of their political
existence ; but wish to enter into a more extensive, noble, and
beneficial confederation ; as was formerly the case in a somewhat
similar way with Achaia, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands,
England and Scotland, &e. Louisiana doubled the size of the
Union ; but now only about a seventh would be added. Besides,
by means of highways, canals, and steamboats, the several parts are
brought in our day nearer together than they ever were before ; thus,
although the thirteen states have now become twenty-six, there is no
diminution whatever of order, security, and power. The objection,
that the American Union will become too unwieldy, would have
some weight if the question were of the over-governing and cen
tralizing policy of Europe ; but as long as the individual states
are undisturbed in their free development, and only matters of
general interest and general utility are arranged and settled by
Congress (which the European diplomatists and congresses do
not arrange and do not settle), there is no material danger of
tyrannical combinations or anarchical disputes.
All the assertions — which experience has fully refuted — of the
injurious consequences of the acquisition of Louisiana, are once
more brought forward against the annexation of Texas ; and it is
forgotten that Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Clay, John Q,.
Adams, &c. advocated the former measure. Jefferson declared
that, " the executive and legislature, in seizing the fugitive opportu
nity of procuring Louisiana, have done an act beyond the Consti
tution, in order to advance the good of their country. They cast
behind them metaphysical subtleties, and, in taking upon them
selves every responsibility, acted the part of faithful servants."*
Acknowledging this, John Quincy Adams remarked in his
Eulogy on Madison (p. 69) : " Seizing and profiting by the
favorable moment belongs to the most eminent qualities of the
statesman ; and if it demands less elevated virtue than the firm
ness and prudence that encounter misfortune or the moderation
that adorns and ennobles success, it is not less essential to the
character of a perfect ruler of mankind."
When the acquisition of Florida was objected to, Henry Clay
observed : " If you neglect the present favorable moment, if you
reject the proffered gift, some other nation will profit by your error,
and seize the occasion to plant its foot on your southern boundary."
* Tucker's Jefferson, ii. 147.

FOREIGN RELATIONS. 373
" I presume," says Clay in another place, " the spectacle will not
be presented of questioning, in the House of Representatives, our
title to Texas, which has been constantly maintained by the
executive for more than fifteen years past, under the several admi
nistrations. I am, at the same time, ready and prepared to make
out our title, if any one in the house is fearless enough to contro
vert it. I am not disposed to disparage Florida; but its intrinsic
value is incomparably less than that of Texas. The acquisition
of it is certainly a fair object of our policy, and ought never to be
lost sight of. It is even a laudable ambition in any chief magis
trate, to endeavor to illustrate the epoch of his administration by
such an acquisition."*
Such are the testimonies of a period when there was more
impartiality, and when no party aims were at stake. People
were bold enough then to found a right to the territory on a
dubious cession ; and now they hesitate to take it as a free gift,
because the western boundary is undefined, and a dangerous war
is to be feared. Shall the United States be afraid of Mexico,
whose army was easily conquered and routed by a handful of
Texans ? Shall they stand idly by or blindly lend their aid, while
a friendly state is converted into an enemy, and is rendered
doubly dangerous, as at length it infallibly will be, by power
communicated from abroad ? Brothers, relatives, friends, and
countrymen do not reason thus ; and the Americans are brothers,
relatives, friends, and countrymen of the Texans. The former,
whatever Congress may resolve or prescribe, will be impelled by
reason and feeling alike to rush to the latter's assistance on the
first alarm of danger ; and thus the annexation of a grateful people
will be virtually accomplished, in spite of all opposition. At all
events, Texas is entitled to dispose of itself; and no European
power has any right to interfere in the matter. As the Americans
do not trouble themselves about the acquisitions of other states in
other parts of the world, they require that peaceful arrangements
in their own neighborhood should not be disturbed by warlike
remonstrances. The objections too which are made on the score of slavery are
only apparent. For if Texas be not united, nothing whatever is
gained for the abolition of slavery, which will continue to exist
undisturbed. If, on the contrary, Texas is received into the
American Union, the slaves will for many reasons move gradually
from the North to the South ; and Kentucky, Maryland, and Vir
ginia will shortly be freed from this evil. In fact many oppose
the annexation of Texas, because it is without doubt the most
effectual and indeed infallible means of undermining the very
* Speeches, i. 12; Appendix, i. 12.

374

FOREIGN RELATIONS.

existence of slavery. It is no less clear that the Southern rather
than the Northern states will lose by the opening of a dangerous
competition in cotton and other productions. In case these and
similar considerations fail to quiet the Northern states, they should
reflect that within the bounds of Texas free states may also be
formed, that Wisconsin and Iowa will shortly enter the Union as
non -slaveholding states, that Congress has nothing to do with the
subject of slavery in the separate states, &c. From the fact, that
certain stipulations were entered into at the formation of the
Union respecting slavery and its influence on the representa
tion, it by no means follows, that the same conditions must be
granted on the accession of new states, and that no change or
improvement can be permitted.
Whether Texas be or be not admitted into the Union, certain
it is, that the untiring activity and inherent progressiveness of the
Germanic race — which, setting out from the Atlantic, has climbed
the Alleghanies and pressed forward to the Ohio, the Mississippi,
and the Sabine — will hereafter spread with irresistible force be
yond the Rio Grande. Thus the American settlements in Cali
fornia are multiplying daily, without heeding the sales made by
the impotent Mexican government. " Our confederacy," said
Jefferson* long ago, " must be regarded as the nest from which
all America, north and south, is to be peopled."!
The same holds true of the settlements as far as the Columbia
river and the Pacific ocean. That England claims a portion of
the Oregon Territory, and also demands access to the sea, is
very natural ; and the arrangement of the matter should be made
to depend less on a few accidental occurrences that took place in
times long back, than on the actual condition and wants of the
two countries. To affirm that it can and will be decided by the
sword alone, is a rash, nay an impious assertion. If both parties
could demean themselves in a friendly and considerate manner
respecting the boundaries of Maine and Canada, it will be much
easier to pursue a similar line of conduct with regard to the distant
territory of Oregon, which still lies in a state of wilderness. Cal
houn showed, by the most conclusive course of reasoning, that it
would be folly in America to provoke a contest with England at
the present time;! because she is decidedly stronger in those
* Tucker, i. 210.
t Even in the Senate, and before the new elections have taken place, the question
of the annexation of Texas has been answered in the affirmative. It is to be hoped
that the decision does not come too late, and that the favorable opportunity has not
yet passed away. If the United States impose the same conditions with respect to
debts, imposts, rights of sovereignty, &c. to which all the members of the great con
federacy are subject, there is in this no injustice whatever. The Texans will be
obliged to bear much heavier burdens, e. g. for their army, navy, ambassadors, cus
tom-house officers, &c, if they do not join the United States.
X Speeches, p. 544.

FOREIGN RELATIONS. 375
countries both by sea and by land. The rapid advance of the
population towards the West however will ultimately incline
the balance to the American side : consequently to gain time is
to gain all. Moreover, the eastern half of the United States is
much to be preferred to the western beyond the Mississippi, in
regard to fertility, navigation, and ease of cultivation* The
Rocky mountains present incomparably greater obstacles than
the Alleghanies ; many streams are not navigable or are des
titute of water a great part of the year ; large tracts without
wood, fertile soil, or water, remind one of the deserts of Africa ;
trees are found for the most part only on the banks of rivers, and
on the immense Platte river there are none at all. Lastly, a very
large part of the better quality of land has already been assigned
to the Indians as their new abode.
With the question of the Oregon territory there is closely con
nected another : viz. whether a great war between England and
the United States is not likely, or rather certain, to occur sooner or
later on account of Canada. To this it may be replied :
1st. The entire circumstances and inclinations of the Americans
are averse to military conquest.
2dly. So long as the English do not close the St. Lawrence to
American trade, but greatly favor it, as by the present corn-laws,
the United States have no reason for attempting to get the outlet
of that river into their hands. Besides, this has been rendered of
less importance by the construction of the Erie canal, and the
improved navigation of the Mississippi.
3dly. The idea that England wishes to obtain territory from
the Americans by war, is so wild and absurd as to need no refu
tation. More worthy of notice is the assertion made by many
judicious men, that Canada is a burden to the mother country,
causes her useless expense, limits her trade (especially that in lum
ber), embarrasses the government, &c— But to this it is answered,
that the trade of England with Canada employs far more ships and
sailors than that with the United States. It would be a serious
misfortune to be deprived of this trade, and with it to lose the
excellent school for seamen which it affords, as well as the oppor-
# Mr. Greenhow's History of Oregon and California gives a thorough as well as
clear and calm statement of all the bearings of this question. That President Polk
should distinctly express the American view concerning the Oregon territory, was
as natural under the existing circumstances, as that the English should do the same.
At the beginning of a controversy, each party believes itself in the right ; yet it
can and must be settled by mutual accommodation, to which Mr. Polk's words, un
justly kept out of view, expressly point : viz. that "every obligation imposed on the
United States with regard to Oregon, by treaty or conventional stipulations, should
be sacredly respected." But in consequence of its increasing population, the country
has need of civil institutions : it cannot be regarded as without an owner or as sub
ject both to English and American dominion. New regulations are indispensably
necessary, and consequently will not be long delayed.

376

FOREIGN RELATIONS.

tunities for emigration so beneficial to the mother-country. But
apart from these and similar reasons, and taking into considera
tion the practice of the world and its ideas respecting honor, it is
not to be presumed that England will voluntarily relinquish Ca
nada or surrender it to another.
4thly. Hence there remains only the most important question
of all : viz. whether the Canadians themselves will not demand
a separation from England, assert their independence, and annex
themselves to the United States. If it be true, as some observ
ers assert, that law and order are better maintained in Canada
than in the United States, and that every body there is contented,
why then there is nothing to fear. The more recent history of
Canada however by no means confirms this statement, but goes
no further towards it than this, that there are two parties in the
country — a French and an English one, which are so nearly
balanced as to prevent any harmonious measures.
The French in Canada are a cheerful, amiable, and contented
race ; they exhibit all the commendable and agreeable qualities
ascribed to them in the time of Louis XIV. But they have since
undergone no change in morals, views, or occupations ; they are
wholly disinclined to every change, every bold undertaking, and
all that is called progress : whereas the other inhabitants of Ca
nada of the Anglo-Germanic stock exhibit, together with greater
seriousness (e. g. with respect to keeping Sunday), a restless
striving after new settlements, acquisitions, and pursuits; and
though they enjoy less quiet happiness, they surpass their French
neighbors in every other respect The task of appeasing and
reconciling these two great elements of the population has been
a very difficult one for the government. It has never tyrannized
over Canada, has removed many grievances, and granted many
favors both commercial and pecuniary ; still various complaints
and grievances remained behind, of which we will here mention
a few. First. The separation of Upper from Lower Canada and the
establishment of a twofold government in the year 1791, was
designed to secure to each part all that was desired, and to pre
vent all unpleasant collision ; but the variety of complicated
interests and rights thus produced gave rise to double difficulties
and contradictions.
Secondly. It was objected that the upper house was appointed
by the governor,* and consequently was entirely dependent upon
him ; that he, a military officer unacquainted with the peculiar
duties of administration, alone appointed the executive council;
that the right of suffrage was not distributed in proportion to the
*M'Gregor,ii. 357.

FOREIGN RELATIONS. 377
population ; that the lower house was allowed no control over the
revenues of the crown; and that the established church, compris
ing about the one and twentieth part of the population, claimed
for itself alone one seventh of the unsold land (about 2,588,000
acres). These and other grievances, which led to an open insur
rection, produced in July, 1840, the union of the two Canadas,
and the establishment of a new constitution in common for the
two. The Legislative Council, appointed by the governor with
the Queen's sanction, consists of at least twenty members, who
hold their places for life. For the House of Assembly, Upper
and Lower Canada choose an equal number of representatives.*
A new election takes place every four years. Every member
must possess a clear income of five hundred pounds from real
estate, &c.
Undoubtedly, the constitution (which differs essentially from
those of the United States) and the administration (especially the
war department) are far more expensive than in the neighboring
republic. Whether the Canadians will on that account long for
the American system, may for the present be left undecided ;
certainly the people of the great republic can never regard the
Canadian constitution and administration in the light of a
model for them to imitate.
Finally, the result is here as often elsewhere exhibited, that
two countries whose political condition is very different, may
externally make equal progress. Thus Canada had,
In the year 1676, . . 8,500 inhabitants

1700,1784,1803,
1830,

15,000
113,000
202,000550,000

of whom by far the greater portion were French and Catholics.!
The above condensed view of the relations of the United
States to other powers, demonstrates that from no quarter is there
any considerable danger to be apprehended. Neither Mexico,
nor Canada, nor England can ever take any thing from this
great, populous, and freedom loving country, as long as it avoids
the dangers of disunion, and remains true to itself.
* Raumer's England, iii. 67.
t The population of the British possessions in America, in the year 1843, is said
to have been, in
Lower Canada,  499,000 Prince Edward's Island,- • -34,000
Upper Canada,  506,000 Newfoundland,  81,000
New Brunswick,  130,000 Honduras,  4,000
Nova Scotia,  199,000

CHAPTER XXXVII.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW AND PUBLIC LIFE.
Kurope and America — American Political System — New Constitution — The
President — Presidential Election — Conventions — Presidents and Kings — Europe
and America — Re-election of the President
I have already given in Chapter VIII. a summary view of the
American Constitution ; but it seemed to me that a consideration
of its value and practical working, as well as of public life in
general, could not properly be entered upon, until a number of
other important topics had first been discussed. But even now
that this has been done, the formation of a proper estimate is diffi-
eult, leads to repetitions, and can by no means be expected to
meet with general acquiescence. For besides that I hold it quite
impossible to transplant to Europe much that is excellent in
America, my praise of the latter will not please even those who
are dissatisfied with their own home. European liberalism is
usually no more than a partial principle, directed against the
monarchical heads ; while it retains its own peculiar element,
which it tends, cherishes, and fondles in every possible way.
The military, the officeholders, the clergy, and the learned, regard
the circle of their monopolies as too sacred to be invaded ; and
are loud in their denunciations of the Americans, for having dese
crated all their sanctuaries, declared their gods to be idols, and
their faith superstition. Nevertheless, true Americanism consists
in this very t&tality of their social, ecclesiastical, and political
organization ; and not in this or that particular clause of their
constitutions, or in solitary traits of manners and customs.
Another ground of false judgments already noticed by me is,
that most observers retain the European point of view, and apply
every thing to the European standard ; so that of course every
thing appears distorted and not reducible to rule. Thus, when
the sovereignty of the people is spoken of, they have no idea of a
well organized system, such as exists in the United States, but of
the popular commotions in some European capitals ; they forget
that, if the political forms of America were as defective as they
assert, the wise conduct of the American people under a bad con
stitution would be doubly deserving of admiration. In rebutting

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW AND PUBLIC LIFE. 379
such one-sided imputations, the Americans naturally assert : " It
is only in the United States that a genuine representation exists.
What we see in the most enlightened states of Europe is but a
feeble approximation. The legislative bodies there, though
respectable in point of talent, are, properly speaking, but a kind
of drags or encumbrances, hung on the machine of monarchy
to equalise its motions. A great number of European govern
ments are founded only on force (as in Poland, Italy, and Ire
land) ; and hence the dread or the impossibility of granting
greater freedom. America, on the contrary, seeks no aid from
superstition, supports no gainful impostures, and uses none of
that disgusting cant with which the old governments varnish over
the degradation of the people. When travellers say (and the
Quarterly emphatically repeats and enlarges upon it), that all the
freedom in America which exceeds the English measure goes
only to the profit of the disorderly at the expense of the friends
of order, — we can and must ask in reply, Who are the disorderly
in America ; or are there here more mobs, paupers, beggars, and
grumblers than in England ?"*
Another class of observers and critics measure the worth and
practical utility of republican institutions by the unfortunate
attempts of the French Revolution ; — which is as fair and as
proper, as if the character of monarchy were to be estimated by the
times of the Roman Emperors. Although some resemblances
may be traced between the French and American revolutions,
the differences and contrasts are much greater, and the diversity
of their origin and progress has led to totally different results.
Had the French people before the revolution possessed more
rights and greater political experience, fewer abominations would
have been practised and tolerated. Much that was new was not
true, and vice versa; hence so many contradictions, — such cling
ing to antiquated usages, or excessive commendation of novelties.
If the American revolution, which produced a really new social
existence, is to be designated as a failure, in what respect were
the French more successful? What admirable courage was
possessed by Jefferson, not to despair at the very time when the
frightful experience of France deterred the rest of Europe for
many years even from the most needful improvements! He
recognised the essential difference between the two nations, dis
tinguished the true from the false, use from abuse, and the possi
ble from the impossible.
That timid historians are frightened out of their wits at par
ticular occurrences in modern French history, is quite compre
hensible, and may be overlooked or commiserated; but what
* Encyclopaedia Americana, art. United States, pp. 452, 454. Hinton, ii. 422.

380 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
there is that is so horrible in American history, it is more difficult to
conceive. That human opinions are not to be forced upon man
kind as of divine right, has become a prevalent maxim even in
Europe. Besides, one might also say that the doctrine of divine
right is carried still further and improved upon in America. For
not only does the President of the United States place himself
under the divine protection, while he is as much divini juris as
any European monarch; but every American citizen considers
his rights to have as lofty an origin and as solid a foundation as
those of a king. But since the Americans have enlarged their
rights beyond those of any other people, their duties also rise in pro
portion ; and if servility elsewhere often prevails, here pride has to
be tamed ; nor must it be forgotten that citizens, as well as kings,
nobles, and priests, need a constant spiritual purification of the
heart and passions.
If we now enter into a closer examination of the American
political system, we perceive that this was not an a priori inven
tion of a few, but was the result of a preparation of two centuries,
and proceeded from the whole body of existing circumstances.
In general the deficiencies and advantages, the impediments and
the progress of a people, by no means depend on their political
forms alone. Thus the republics of South America adopted from
their northern neighbors the letter of their constitutions ; but they
lacked the necessary preparation, education, sound principles, reli
gious toleration, industry, and love of peace: and the result has
been civil war, tyranny, and anarchy; to which every one desires to
see an end, though few are as yet bold enough to hope for it. The
republican principle in the United States has branched out and
grown up into something quite different from any constitution in
the old or new world. Hence Hamilton arid his party could not
carry out their plans for the centralization of power,* the abolition
of independent states, the choice of senators and presidents for
life, &c.
Though the old federal constitution of 1778 was (it might be
said, happily) found useless, a great variety of objections were
raised against the new draft, the refutation of which was un
dertaken with success by the authors of the Federalist. The
motive? of fear, hope, selfishness, and jealousy, were all brought
more or less into play; and contradictory objections were heaped
one upon another. Congress, or the states, would have too many
or too few rights ; the president would soon be converted into a
tyrant, and the Senate into a wretched oligarchy; while the
House of Representatives would produce an unbridled demo
cracy.! Even Patrick Henry, one of the most zealous of patriots,
* Madison Papers, ii. 905. t Caipenter's Speeches, 1. 137.

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 381
exclaimed : " My fear and anxiety are very great, lest America by
the adoption of this system, should be plunged into a bottomless
abyss !"
Experience has already removed all these apprehensions* It
is therefore unnecessary to discuss them more fully here ; but it
deserves to be recorded with commendation, that with the adop
tion of the new Constitution all objections ceased.
The common and oft-repeated saying, that a newly made and
written Constitution is worth nothing, rests upon one-sided ab
stractions and inductions. It was an incalculable gain to the
United States that with all due reverence for former improvements
in the art of government, plans never before seen or heard of were
elevated into laws ; and by committing them to writing and
adopting them, a boundary was prescribed to the despotic om
nipotence of deliberative and legislative assemblies. For even
before the experience acquired by the French Revolution, men
knew in America that such assemblies needed control and re
straint no less than the people.
Of course the definite form thus given to the political system
did not preclude numerous ingenious and useful examinations,
explanations, and illustrations ; and of these the most important
still remain to be communicated. The idea that republican bo
dies, without an individual leader, could adequately represent or
exercise the executive power, was sufficiently refuted by the first
constitution of 1778. Yet many stood in such dread of the pre
ponderating influence of every monocracy, that they wished to
have three presidents instead of one. But it was evident enough
even then, and long before similar experiments among the
French, that more evils would be thereby introduced than obvi
ated.! With equally good reason the propositions were rejected,
to have the president elected for three or seven years by the Senate
and House of Representatives.
In progress of time many objections were made to the mode
(already described) of electing the president. The diversity in
the modes of proceeding in the several states should, it was said,
be done away with ; the choice should be placed directly in the
hands of the people, without an intervening body of elected elec
tors; arrchhe people should decide, and not the Congress, in the
case of doubtful elections. For now, in voting by states, it is
possible that 31 representatives of the smaller states may carry
* Niebuhr says (iii. 163) : " The Constitution of the Union is Washington's great
est work ; although in contradistinction to the Roman reform, its very development
must end in destruction. He wanted Roman elements," &c. To this I reply, that
even the Roman development must have led to destruction ; but in America there
exist elements of further improvement, which are beyond comparison more varied,
grand, and comprehensive, than the Roman. If, notwithstanding, the Americans
should still rush to destruction, the fault will be their own and doubly great.
t Madison Papers, ii. 763, 766, 790.
25

382 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
out their views in opposition to 182 representatives of the other
states. _ Though many announced themselves in favor of these propo
sitions, they have never yet been adopted, for very important
reasons ; and particularly because an aversion is felt to any
change in the Constitution, and because the prescribed forms
place great difficulties in the way.* Many, particularly European
critics, have not merely objected to details in the manner of choos
ing the president, but have rejected it altogether, and in so doing
have referred among others to the elections of the Polish kings.
The comparison however is wholly unsuitable ; for while these
elections were usually in the highest degree objectionable and pro
ductive of evil, those of the American presidents have been equal
ly moderate and productive of good. It is true, that in a country
where unlimited freedom of the press exists, there is never any
lack of extravagant party excitement, of newspaper clamor, and
newspaper calumny. But these little spots and shades have
never obscured the prevailing light. On the contrary, every pre
sidential election awakens a universal national feeling throughout
America, and an effort to advance to the head of the government
him who in truth combines with the greatest personal fitness the
most correct views and convictions. On this subject of course all
the voters cannot be of the same opinion ; but there is a greater
advantage than disadvantage in the fact that the same party has
not always been victorious.
At no time however has the decision been made by a small
minority as in the oligarchical elections of the Polish and Vene
tian nobles, the electoral princes of Germany, the cardinals, &c. ;
but by the really convinced majority of the entire people. And
when the decision has once been made, even the strongest and
boldest minority have hitherto submitted quietly and without oppo
sition to the laws, in such an admirable manner as is seldom or
never found in other elective governments. Intrigues and bribery,
which appear so dangerous with a small number of voters and
within narrow bounds, are of no importance, and indeed are im
possible on a comprehensive scale, among three millions of voters
spread over a surface as large as Europe in extent. At any rate,
there has been no wealthy man among the American presidents
down to the present time ; and the money of their friends would
have proved equally ineffectual, supposing they had been willing
to employ it for such a purpose.
In consideration of the great importance of the presidential
election, the question arose, whether it was not advisable, and
indeed necessary, to in some way advise and direct the numerous
# Annual Register for 1826 ;:Appendix, pp. 120, 130. Do. for 1828, and Jackson's
Message, p. 130.

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 383
less instructed voters respecting the qualifications of the several
candidates. For this purpose the members of Congress formerly
met several times and recommended candidates of one or both
parties. This practice however was soon denounced as an abuse,
which was productive of intrigues and improper influence, and fet
tered the independence of the voters. On this account great con
ventions have in recent times taken the place of the former caucuses.
Each of the existing great parties chooses a number of delegates
in every state, and these, several months before the election, assem
ble in one or two convenient places, and unite upon the can
didates for the presidency and vice-presidency. This nomi
nation is immediately afterwards made known to , the people
present, and is ratified by them. This proceeding has been insti
tuted on the ground, that the twenty-six states of the Union are
widely separated, and their inhabitants little known to each other ;
so that without a mutual understanding and agreement, the
choice would fall on many different candidates, and from this
injurious dispersion of their forces only strife and dissatisfaction
would ensue. If, on the other hand, the public and well-
grounded recommendation of but one candidate for each office be
made known throughout all the states and tested for half a year,
the united choice must infallibly secure the victory to the best
candidate. The first objection that arises to this method is, that the
excellent Constitution neither recognises nor prescribes it; conse
quently, if not detrimental, it may be regarded as unnecessary.
The convention exercises the power of a club, and awakens so
many hopes, fears, selfish anxieties, claims for office, &c, that it
restricts the freedom of the election proper in November, and
indeed makes it appear little more than an after-piece. Those
who undertake the nomination have no legitimate right to do so ;
and the ratification amounts to nothing more than the applause
of an officious multitude. Besides, there is always only one
party present. This indeed takes away opportunity and cause for
unseemly contentions ; but on the other hand it is destructive of
impartiality, promotes the extension of prejudice, and impels to
a superficial enthusiasm and blind confidence. Only the rich can
travel to and crowd these conventions ; and thus the aristocratic
inclinations of the higher classes or demagogues prevail over the
natural wishes and resolves of the people.
The whigs seem to attach more importance to the conven
tions, and to expect more from them, than the democrats. At
least they had so many in the course of last summer, accompanied
by so much pageantry, and received with so much enthusiasm,
that the greater number looked upon their victory as absolutely
certain. And yet when the real election came on, they were

384

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

defeated, from causes already pointed out or still.to be developed ;
— a proof that the conventions have not so decisive an influence
as many hope or fear.
Whatever may be thought of the legal form of the presidential
election, or of the preparations in reference to it, — there is no unin
terrupted series of hereditary or elective sovereigns or popes, who
can be compared with the eleven American presidents. Those
European advocates of absolute sovereignty, who take such great
offence at the agitations attending an American presidential elec
tion, should remember that during the time in which those excel
lent presidents were peaceably elected, fulfilled worthily the duties
of their station, and quietly went out of office, — more than twice
as many kings were dethroned and enthroned again, driven out,
beheaded, and murdered in Europe : witness Gustavus III. and
Gustavus IV., Paul I., Stanislaus Poniatowski, the kings of Portu
gal and Naples, Charles, Ferdinand, and Christina of Spain, Louis
XVI. and Charles X., Murat, Napoleon and the other Buonapartes ;
and so on, down to the Duke of Brunswick, with the wicked sup
plements of the murderous attempts on the lives of Louis Philippe,
Victoria, and Frederic William IV. What quiet, stability, order,
and security prevailed, on the contrary, in republican America!
And if disturbances such as took place in Boston, Baltimore, and
Philadelphia, are justly to be condemned, we must not forget
Manchester, Bristol, Stockholm, St. Petersburg!], Madrid, Rome,
Bologna, Naples, Brunswick, Dresden, Munich, Lucerne, — nay,
Paris alone can contribute more than is furnished by all America!
I now proceed to state and examine the propositions that have
been made respecting the future determination of the powers and
relations of the president. In the first place, the whigs require
that no president shall remain in office longer than four years,*
and that the re-election permitted by the Constitution shall be pro
hibited in future. In support of this demand, they allege that the
possibility of a second election places the president in a false posi
tion. Instead, say they, of exerting himself earnestly and solely to
promote truth and justice, his views are continually directed to his
own personal interests ; he seeks to |gain votes, in all ways, and
despises no means, however unworthy, to secure this to him all-
important object. Above all, he appoints persons to office or
removes them, not according to their deserts, but according to their
views and promises relative to the impending second election.
These reasons, in my opinion, are far outweighed by those on the
other side. In the first place, it is remarkable that the party calling
itself conservative, should be disposed to alter an important and
maturely considered point in the Constitution ; while the demo-
* All the whigs, however, do not vote for diminishing the powers of the president.

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 385
crats, accused of being precipitate innovators, are for retaining
it. By this alteration, it is certain that the already great mobility
of the American government would be immensely increased in
a very important particular ; it would be almost impossible to
carry out, undisturbed, measures requiring much time and perse
verance. There is also no such superabundance of distinguish
ed statesmen in America, that for a mere supposition they should
be thrust aside and condemned to inactivity. It would be a real
loss, and an unseemly restraint upon the freedom of elections, to
exclude perhaps the ablest, best informed, and most popular man
from the presidential chair. If the voters but do their duty, all
the base means the president can possibly resort to, will be
without effect or injury. Besides, there is no doubt that the
employment of such means would raise up a hundred adversa
ries for one partisan ; hence the supposition is far more probable,
that the president would not resort to a course so obviously stupid
and contemptible, but would by nobler means and a creditable
administration, endeavor to gain the votes of his fellow citizens
in a second election. Thus acted Washington, Jefferson, Madi
son, and Monroe ; whereas no president whom the people did not
desire has been able to retain possession of his office beyond
four years. Finally, the plan proposed of choosing the president
for six years, and making him incapable of a re-election, would
still more displease the party in the minority, since they could no
longer hope for a victory in four years. In one respect a true
republican feeling has been shown both by the voters and the
chief magistrates, to wit, that advantage has never been taken
of the legal permission to elect the same person for a third or
fourth term.
Another important object of the whigs, is to restrict the presi
dent's veto, or rather abolish it altogether. Here again we unex
pectedly find that the conservatives are in favor of altering the
Constitution, while the democrats take it and its monarchical
element under their protection. It may be asserted indeed, that
the change would be conservative in a higher sense, and that the
maintenance of the power has ultimately a destructive tendency ;
but these assertions want proof. The vexation of the whigs at
seeing their plans with regard to the banks and the division of
the land-proceeds checked by the veto of President Tyler, moved
even the heads of the party (as Clay and John Quincy Adams)
to declarations which they would certainly not have approved of
after impartial consideration, or if the veto had turned out in
favor of their doctrines. " The veto power," says Adams for
example, " is at variance with our democratic Constitution, and
makes the will of one man equal to the will of two thirds of the
people." These words agree with the now happily exploded

386 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
doctrines of the French Jacobins ; who without deeper know
ledge, and without guiding principles, paid idolatrous worship to
mere unknown quantities. To them the King was but a worth
less unit, opposed to the incalculable importance of 24,999,999
other Frenchmen. The American Constitution is no dull and
level democracy without distinctiveness or character of its own ;
indeed its greatest excellence consists in the fact that it has
attained a high and hitherto unprecedented individuality. If that
doctrine is sufficient to cast down the President of the United
States from his high place, and reduce him to a simple unit, it
follows that the Senate cannot be saved, but must likewise be
condemned lo death ; nay, the Constitution itself, deprived of its
symmetry and equilibrium, must fall to utter ruin.
The veto is one of the strongest supports of freedom and order
against the partiality, passion, and precipitancy of legislative
assemblies. It was adopted unanimously, after serious debate,
in 1787 ; and has never been abused. This is evident from the
mere fact that ten presidents in fifty-seven years have made
use of it only twenty times.* Eight of the cases were so unim
portant, that they attracted no attention ; one was on the reduc
tion of the army under Washington, one on land distribution,
four on banks, and six on internal plans and improvements. This
prerogative is naturally exercised with reluctance by the chief
magistrate ; since, instead of going along with the majority of
the senators and representatives, he is obliged to oppose them.
But not to allow a veto against a majority, is to give it up alto>-
gether, and to degrade the president from being a co-ordinate
branch of the legislature into a mere executive and subservient
officer. Finally, the veto power is not dangerous ; since it
restrains for a short time only, involves an appeal to the people,
and is ratified or rejected at the next election. It has never yet
happened that two thirds of the Congress have united to over
throw a veto ;! and it has almost always been sustained by the
majority of the public.
If we compare the power of a president of the United States
with that of a king of England, the former falls far short of the
latter ; and we find that the monarchical ingredient, the. weight of
an individual, is in America much less. The president occupies
the position to which he is raised by election but for a few years,
and is never wholly independent of party wishes and objects.
He has no absolute veto, no influence in the formation and
appointment of the two houses, no right to dissolve them, no
* Calhoun's Speeches, p. 484. Buchanan's Speech on the Veto. According to
Mason (p. 109), it has been exercised only nineteen times : twice by Washington,
our times by Madison, once by Monroe, ten times by Jackson, and twice by Tyler.
t Encyclop . Americana, art. Congress.

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 387
exclusive right of appointing to office, and, notwithstanding
courtly language, has no power over the army and finances. His
ministers have neither seats nor votes in Congress ; he remains
subject to the ordinary laws; and is so badly paid, that his
income is scarcely sufficient for the commonest expenses. And
if a solemn impeachment could not have much success, Con
gress can pass resolutions — and has done so — conveying official
censures and admonitions to the president ; nay, he is daily criti
cised in Congress by every member, according to his will and
pleasure. When we consider all this, and how whole series of propo
sitions from the president are rejected by Congress, and that he
can never accomplish a re-election by his own influence ; may
we not doubt whether the letter of the Constitution does not
grant him too little power? Certainly the history of the United
States shows that the real power of the president depends as
much on his strength of character, on his popularity or unpopu
larity, and on the moderation or ultraism of parties, as on the
rights conceded to him by the letter of the Constitution. Hence,
although . the whigs boast that, " resistance to the executive
power is their fixed and highest principle ;" it is impossible that
such an abstract rule, which does not regard the circumstances
in question, can always conduct to the right end, — it cannot be
equally suitable under Jackson and under Tyler. Clay exclaim
ed under the latter's administration, " There is but one power,
but one will in the state ; all is concentrated in the president :"*
but this rhetorical exaggeration has been refuted by every day's
experience. If Jackson really claimed the executive power to the English
extent, and regarded himself as the especial and immediate repre
sentative of the American people, Webster had good cause to
oppose him. But the latter went too far, when he maintained
that in a true republican government, principles should be every
thing, and men nothing-! Such an anatomical dissection and
dismemberment dispenses with all vitality, and only belongs to
what is dead and extinct. Nothing in the whole history of the
world has been represented as more unchangeable and defended
with greater pertinacity, than the principles of the Catholic hierar
chy ; yet how much in the application of them depended on the
personal character of the popes ! Principles and personal quali
ties, law and liberty, preservation and modification, rules and
exceptions, all belong to one another ; and he who honors and
sanctions only one half of them, and rejects the rest, has set up
a very imperfect object of veneration. Principles, without their
* Speeches, ii. 427. f Speeches, ii. 401.

388 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
living control and application by persons, and persons acting
according to arbitrary will without regard to principles, are both
mischievous ; and it is greatly to their honor, that the Americans
have not consented to tear asunder this body and soul of their
Constitution and their history. They have always associated
worthy men with their noble form of government; and thus have
never lighted on the same barren soil as other nations, who have
hoped for every thing by turns from persons or from principles,
and thus very naturally have always been deceived in their
expectations. It is nowhere more plainly seen how principles and persons
act upon one another, than in the administration, or still better, in
the appointments to and removals from office. Where the Con
stitution is concerned, public officers are every where elected
(thus senators, representatives," governors, presidents, and gene
rals) ; but as regards the administration, they are usually appoint
ed, namely by the president, the president and Senate, or the
ministers. If we cast aside general questions concerning appoint
ment] and election, still the attention will very naturally be direct
ed to two important points. First, on various grounds the num
ber of office-holders has been gradually increased, and in an equal
degree the influence of the president by whom they are appoint
ed.* Secondly, serious doubts have arisen as to how far the
right of the. executive should extend in removing or dismissing
the appointed officers. In the United States nothing is more
carefully shunned than the over-government which characterizes
Europe ; yet there also loud complaints have been made respect
ing this perversity, and the excessive increase in the number
of officials.! Nayj many propositions (for example the Sub-
Teasury Bill and undertakings proposed to be conducted by the
government) were opposed chiefly because they involved the
appointment of a number of office-holders by the executive. The
small salaries usually allowed do not prevent office-hunting; as
there are every where needy persons to whom the smallest cer
tain income is welcome, and ambitious individuals hope by means
of office to enhance their political importance.
It is certainly a subject of grave censure, that in making ap
pointments to office, less attention should be paid to the fitness or
ability of candidates, than to their political party standing ; and that
— after innumerable appointments' of one color have been made
— as soon as another party gains the day, innumerable removals
should take place. Thus the election of a president is to many
but a means of keeping their places ; and to those who are eager
for office, a means of driving others out. Jackson was certainly
* Some think that this is a beneficial increase of the presidential power, just as
in England strength has been added to the crown by similar means.
t Morton (governor of Massachusetts), message of 18^0.

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 389
right in saying that a numerous class of office-holders appointed
for life was unrepublican ;* and that more is lost by a very long
term of office, than is gained by greater experience and practice.
But as a term may be injuriously long, it may also be injuriously
short; and it is perfectly clear that the United States have more
dangers to fear from too frequent than from too unfrequent
changes of officers and judges.
To these legitimate abridgments of the duration of office are
added arbitrary removals. At least it is asserted that before
Jackson's presidency, only seventy-three officials were removed
in the course of forty years, and those mostly on account of in
competency or of faults committed; whereas he removed a count
less number, and exercised a reprehensible influence over the rest.
It is assuredly no sign of a sound and safe administration, when
officials are appointed or removed in crowds without any reason
assigned ; and it was natural for many well-intentioned persons
to require that the causes of removal should be fixed by law, and
that greater influence should be allowed (as in making the ap
pointments) to the Senate.
To this it has been objected, that officers entirely irremoveable,
or who could be dismissed only by a regular judicial decision,
might offer resistance to a shifting president, such a one being in
general exceedingly intent upon some new and definite line of
policy. From this would spring opposition, insubordination, and
even an entire stoppage of the administration. At any rate, the
discussions on this subject have suggested to the president a mo
derate exercise of his powers, and to Congress that they should
allow him considerable latitude in this respect. President Tyler,
in his message of 1841, unfolded the evil consequences that arise,
when party objects and political views co-operate in the removal
of office-holders. He candidly offered his concurrence in regu
lating and restraining by law his power of removal.
The preceding discussions have reference to defects that origi
nate in the highest quarters ; but Clay's severe remarks point to
still greater dangers which exhibit themselves elsewhere.! He
says : " It is an equally undeniable and lamentable fact, that the
highest and lowest offices, which according to theory are the gift
of the people, are often the prize of skilful political gamesters,
* American Quarterly Review, xvi. 255.
t There is an erroneous opinion still prevalent in|fmany countries, that the
office-holders are the sole possessors of administrative wisdom, and the only sup
porters of a government. Their knowledge is in general greater, their exertions
more efficient and successful, than those of persons not in office ; but all these ad
vantages are capable of being converted into evil. A state verges on dissolution
as soon as the common sense and intelligence of the nation at large separate them
selves from the system adopted by the administration, and it is thus deprived of its
most important support, the general enthusiasm, or at least the general satisfaction
of the people.

390 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
whose want of principle, and cleverness in intrigue, serve as in
struments of their selfish ambition."
However just these complaints may be, and however worthy
of consideration, the unprejudiced observer must come to the
conclusion, that the appointments and elections in the United
States, taken all in all, have hitherto promoted in an admirable
manner the good of the Union, of the states, and of the commu
nity ; and that if the one or the other party by turns display the
dark side or manifest discontent, it must be remembered that the
elections and appointments of unlimited sovereigns often give
satisfaction to nobody.
The messages of the presidents and the reports of the minis
ters appointed by them, contain exceedingly instructive exhibitions
both of the leading principles and the details of the government.
Nowhere are there fewer state secrets ; every thing, with the excep
tion only of some pending negotiations with foreign powers, is
laid without the slightest reservation before the people.
Neither the president nor his ministers appear personally in
Congress. It is said in favor of this regulation, as respects the
latter, that in America the personal influence of the ministers in
the Senate and House of Representatives, would alter their position
with regard to the president, and place him yet further in the
background. The president is responsible for the general ten
dency and for every great measure of his government, but not for
every single act of the ministers. These are not mere secretaries
of the president, nor entirely independent of him ; a distinction
is made as to whether they act as officers of state, or perform a
duty in which individuals are lawfully interested.* The propo
sition of some of the whigs, to make the treasury quite indepen
dent of the president, and subject it to the exclusive control of the
Senate,! grew out of party excitement merely, and is at variance
with the whole sense and spirit of the administration.
So long as he was vice-president who received the next great
est number of votes, the defeated party had some consolation ;
but the two conflicting elements were thereby brought into close
contact. The new arrangement (by which the election of vice-
president is entirely independent of that of the president) brings
to the helm of government men of the same opinions ; so that in
case of the death of the chief magistrate during his term of office,
his place is filled by a successor of similar views.
The question as to whether the legislative power should be com
mitted to one or two Houses, was easily decided by the Americans
according to the experience already acquired: they declared in
favor of two, while the French afterwards, from abstract reasons,
* Marshall's Writings, p. 14. t Clay's Speeches, ii. 204, 437.

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 391
made a threefold and each time unfortunate experiment with one.
Since moreover there existed neither a dominant church nor a pri
vileged nobility, one of the houses could not be formed from those
elements. It never occurred to the practical men of that time, to
regard these elements as indispensably necessary ; nor did they
think of creating artificially what had grown up naturally else
where. Hence it has been objected, that there is needed a steady, per
manent body retaining their seats for life, — an able upper house to
form a dignified counterpoise to the more democratic lower house.
But in fact, as we shall see hereafter, all that was possible was done
to create such a counterpoise, so far as it was useful and requi
site. One point too has almost always been overlooked ; and
that is, Who constitute the true, noble, and never dying peerage ?
Doubtless the individual states themselves, who always through
their senators exert a more or less active influence.
A question far more difficult and more strongly contested than
the above, was, whether in the Senate each state, the larger as well
as the smaller, should be equally represented ? Such an equality
seemed to many equally unnatural and unjust ; nevertheless it
was at length by a wise foresight decided in the affirmative ;* and
thus right and might were admirably reconciled and harmonized.
If one or the other had prevailed in both houses, a powerful
and destructive opposition could hardly have been ^averted.
The unequal power of the states decides in the House of Repre
sentatives ; the equal right of the members of the confederacy, in
the Senate : and the joint working of these two principles results
in a better ordered action, than if the same principle governed all.
The mode of electing the senators gives to the state governments
a direct and useful influence, which, on the other hand, is suffi
ciently controlled and regulated by the mode of choosing the
representatives. No law therefore can now be passed for which a
majority of the states have not declared, as well as a majority of the
people. The danger lest a minority of the people should prevail
in the Senate, has hitherto been obviated by the force of public
opinion. If, on the contrary, the number of senators had also been
arranged according to power and population, three or four of the
larger states would soon have become masters of all the rest.
Proposals to place the election of senators, like that of the repre
sentatives, directly in the hands of the people, or to allow the state
governments only a choice out of several nominees,! have never
yet (and justly as it seems) been carried into effect. The Senate
likewise has no prerogatives of rank, no exemption from taxes,
or other privileges, to defend, — things which in many countries
weaken the authority of the upper house, or render it unpopular.
* This motion was first made_by Mr. Ellsworth. t Madison's Papers, ii. 756.

392

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

The political principles followed in the formation of the House of
Representatives in America, differ so materially from those gene
rally held to be unquestionable in Europe, that it seems necessary
to adduce and examine some of them in detail. In the first
place, it is made a subject of complaint, that the clergy are
excluded from both houses (as they are from most civil offices),
and that the character of the representation is not sufficiently
religious* In reply to this it may be observed in general, that
the clergy fulfil their vocation in a purer, more undisturbed, and
more effectual manner, when they keep aloof from worldly busi
ness and political movements. But in the United States, where
so many creeds subsist together, every preference, every test-oath,
every mingling in party politics to promote certain dogmatic
principles and objects, would be altogether productive of evil ;
it would be opening a Pandora's box, out of which no genuine
Christianity, but deviltries of all sorts would arise.
Other questions which pertain here were more difficult of solu
tion : as, whether the number of representatives allowed to each
state should be fixed according to the population, or directly
according to the taxation. The latter course appears impractica
ble ; because there is in the United States no universal direct
mode of taxation, no uniform measure for the taxes of the gene
ral government or the very different internal duties levied in the
twenty-six states.
A still more important question was, .whether for the exercise
of political rights, particularly those of voting and holding office,
a certain amount of property or income should not be required.
In almost all other countries and constitutions, this question had
long been decided in the affirmative, and had been adhered to in
practice with more or less strictness. It is only in the United
States that (with very few exceptions) all requisitions for pro
perty qualification have been gradually given up, or so much
reduced, that in reality there exists a universal right of suffrage.
All Europeans and some Americans deem this a great misfor
tune; though most Americans regard it as a highly important
step in the progress of human development. Even the excel
lent Chancellor Kent, who is of the former opinion, remarks :
" If all history be not a lie, there is an inclination in the poor to
plunder the rich ; in debtors, to avoid the fulfilment of their con
tracts ; in the majority, to tyrannize over the minority and trample
their rights under foot ; in the idle and dissolute, to cast upon the
industrious the whole burden of the civil community ; and in the
ambitious, to kindle these combustible materials into a flame."
These remarks can with equal truth be reversed : If all history be
not a lie, there is an inclination in the rich to oppress the poor ;
* Reed, i. 23.

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 393
in creditors, to be selfish in swelling their demands; in the
minority, to trample the rights of the masses under foot ; in
idle and dissolute spendthrifts, to throw the burdens of the civil
community on the lower laboring class ; and in listless egotists, not
to concern themselves about the weal or woe of their fellow-citizens.
Further arguments might be adduced in favor of the general
right of suffrage, without property qualifications. In the United
States, where so many sources of gain are at hand, there is no
rabble, or (so far as it is found in single maritime towns) it can be
controlled and managed by the great number of honest citizens.
In any case it would be wrong to alter the whole political
system on account of any single local evils whatever, and to
treat the great majority of the upright and honest as if they were
all dishonest and not fit to be trusted.
It is a very common yet untrue supposition, that property (com
mon paupers who are a burthen on the public have no vote even
in America) offers a certain guaranty for honesty, ability, and
patriotism. On the contrary, there is a rabble in all conditions ;
and that of the higher class is still more dangerous than that of the
lower. And what has been gained by those states who have
always paid more regard to what a man has than to what he is ;
and have trusted in material mammon, rather than in minds and
persons ? According to European notions, he who has nothing
is nothing. But where all who possess nothing or but a little
are stamped as the rabble, a rabble is created. The Ameri
can doctrine, quisquis prcesumitur bonus, and that those who
have little may still be something, — educates and elevates men,
and gives a spur to exertion and honorable ambition ; whereas
the European theory degrades them, and almost entitles them to
be wanting in self-respect and to suffer themselves to sink deeper
still. Moreover, public life and political education in America by
no means limit enthusiasm (as they frequently do in Europe)
to the time when an enemy has invaded the country and threat
ens it with destruction. It is there preferred that the fire of true
patriotism should never go out, but reveal itself daily and hourly
in a thousand lesser and greater flames, all ministering to the
happiness and comfort of the community.
Almost all the eminent and rich assert that their morality is
greater than that of the mean and poor ; whereas in truth they
are only addicted to, and obliged to struggle with, vices of
another sort Nor is superior knowledge of any great conse
quence as regards the mere giving of a vote for a well known
candidate. The. granting of political rights frees men from exces
sive dependence, and gives them both the strength and the
disposition to act according to their own convictions. The result
has not been more favorable to the true welfare of the ivhole peo-

394 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
pie, where the clergy," the nobility, and the highly taxed alone
have been the lawgivers. These monopolists have not shown
themselves wiser, less selfish, or of more extended views than the
American democracy.
When France, with a population of thirty-two millions, num
bered, as is said, about 250,000 voters ; and Great Britain, with
one of twenty-four millions, numbered 700,000 ; the United States
had already two and now probably three millions of voters, in a
population of thirteen millions.* These must elevate their regards
above merely selfish occupations, to a public life for public objects.
American democracy knows and endures no cyphers. Its repre
sentatives do not appear on behalf of a small minority, or exert
themselves to promote mere private interests (such as sugar-manu
factories, forges, and the like), but really express the wishes and
views of the majority; so that, even if these should be erroneous,
no hostile schism can ever grow up between the people and their
legislators. It might be deemed hasty and superficial, to weigh every sort
of property in the same balance, and without regard to whether
it was inherited, or acquired by skill, industry, accident, or fraud.
But since it is as impossible to make a more accurate valuation of
property as it is to take the true gauge of the people's mental and
moral gifts, and since the peculiar relative importance of the
various qualities possessed by men cannot be determined, we find
ourselves brought at once to the simple expedient of regarding
men in their personal capacity alone. The people are then con
servative, and must be so ; because there is nothing to be gained
by any political change.
With this truth in view, it is said by Morton, the governor of
Massachusetts : " To make civil freedom and the right of voting
dependent upon the accidents of property and taxation, seems to
me incompatible with the natural, essential, and unalienable rights
of man. It exalts the secondary above the primary consideration,
and shows more regard to the uncertain possessions of this life,
than to intellectual and moral responsibility."!
Power too is not always a consequence of property : the num
ber of persons is often more decisive ; and 100,000 dollars in the
hands of one, are not of so much consequence to the state as the
same sum in the hands of 100,000 individuals. Those who attribute
determining value to property must, to be consistent, increase its
political influence with its quantity ; which it must be owned
would lead to a moneyed oligarchy of the worst kind. It would
be equally difficult to divide the rights of voting, and grant them
to all, for instance, only for the election of local magistrates, but
* Encycl. Americana, art. United States, p. 452. t Message for 1840, p. 311.

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 395
not for that of the president. Democracy places every thing in
an equilibrium; while every kind of aristocracy necessarily leads
to a preponderance of some sort or other. The universal right of
suffrage offers the best security against corruption : inasmuch as
the means by which individuals may be seduced, cannot be
applied to millions ; and the secret voting by ballot is a protec
tion to the weak, although it does not always answer the purpose
of concealment* Besides, there are a plenty of other reasons
why no rich or eminent persons in America can venture to try
the system of intimidation so often practised in Europe.
There is in this place another point to be discussed, which in
our consideration of the subject of slavery we could only allude
to. The Constitution gives to five slaves as many votes as to
three freemen ; that is, in determining the number of represen
tatives for each state, according to its population, as many are
allotted for 50,000 slaves as for 30,000 freemen. This regulation
has in later times been vehemently opposed, particularly by many
of the New Englanders, who say : If the slaves are men like
the whites, they should be allowed their freedom and equal
privileges ; if they are merely goods and chattels, no political
rights should be granted on their account, — since in the United
States it is the person alone that decides, and no regard whatever
is had to property. Besides, this privilege was granted only
under the supposition that the state taxes would be imposed
according to the number of persons, including the slaves ; which,
however, has never been done. And thus an improper right
continues, while the obligation is no longer thought of. In the
slave states 5,935 free voters, and in the free states 10,278
appoint a representative. If only the free voters elected mem
bers of Congress according to their number, the slave states
would have but sixty-six representatives, instead of eighty-eight.
Important as these considerations are, the fundamental condi
tions and points of compromise on which the whole Union rests,
can hardly be removed without laying the edifice in ruins. But
whether the existence of slavery is to be recognised by law
in the admission of new states, whether political rights are there
to be granted to slaveholders in any numerical proportion on
account of their slaves, — is quite another question, and one
which the Constitution by no means decidedly answers in the
affirmative. The conditions of the admission of new states —
that of Texas for example — may be the same as the former ones,
or may vary from them. It is certainly a departure from the
principles maintained in other respects, to give, to slaves alone
rather than to any other species of property an important weight
in the political scale. • In Virginia alone there is no balloting.

396

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

The question as to whether the majority of voters may or
ought to give instructions to their representatives, has often been
raised, but has never been legally decided in the affirmative ;
because a strict restraint and obligation laid on delegates destroys
the idea of representation, and because the voters are in general
sufficiently well acquainted with the views and principles of the
persons they elect
That the senators and representatives, considering the great
diversity of situation and interests among the several states,
should be chosen out of these states, appears very natural ; yet
they are by no means instructed or obliged, as in some Euro
pean confederacies, to represent their own state exclusively, and
to set its local interests above the general welfare.
As the number of the members of Congress is always regu
lated according to the number of souls, it should not be permit
ted to increase excessively with the increasing population.
Accordingly there were chosen,
In 1789, one representative to every 30,000 inhabitants.

1793, "
1813, «
1823, "
1833, "
1843, "

« ti
(1U
(!

«a a

33,000 35,000
40,00047,700 70,680*

Thus there were,

in 1789,
1793,

. 65
. 106
representati
1803,
. 142
u
1813,
. 183
11
1823,
. 213
tt
1833,
. 242
(1
1843,
. 223
i.
Democratic as the American institutions are in comparison with
the English, the British House of Commons is two and a ha
times as numerous as the American House of Representatives.
The number of senators for twenty-six states now amounts to
fifty-two. The political weight of each state in this upper house
always remains unchanged ; whereas it is unequally increased
in the lower house, in proportion to the greater or less increase of
population.! * If there remain an .overplus of population of more than one half this sum, a
representative is chosen for it.
t The following are the number of representatives sent by each state :
in 1789. at present. in 1789. at present.
Alabama,.  —  7 South Carolina,. . . 5  7
Arkansas,  —  1 Connecticut,  5  4
North Carolina,- •¦ 5.  9 Delaware,  1  1
AND PUBLIC LIFE. 397
Although both the House of Representatives and the Senate
were necessarily founded on the principle of election, yet (as we
have seen) the form and substance of these elections were not
only very different, but every possible means was employed to
make of the Senate a more limited, exclusive, aristocratic body.
Hence its fewer members and the unvarying number for each
state, their greater age, longer residence, and less frequent
changes. More recently doubts have arisen, as to whether the delegates
to Congress should be appointed by the whole body of voters in
a state, or according to certain districts ; and whether Congress
had the right to make regulations oil this head. In the Constitu
tion (Art. I. Sect. 4) it is said : " The times, places, and manner
of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be pre
scribed 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." In virtue of the right
thus given, Congress decided that the election in each state should
take place by as many districts as it sends representatives. Only
four states — New Hampshire, Georgia, Missouri, and Missis
sippi — have still adhered to the old method.
The gross violations of decorum and order that occasionally
take place in Congress, admit of no justification ; but this fault
of the passions of individuals directed against individuals, is to
be charged to them alone* The great contending parties never
suffer themselves to be betrayed into such general improprieties
as occur but too frequently in Paris. In Washington by far the
greater number have always been distinguished for propriety of
demeanor, moderation, and patience. This last virtue in parti
cular has been much in requisition ; and ihe complaints that are
made of the lengthy and multitudinous speeches in Congress
in 1789. at present. in 1789. at present.
Georgia,  3  8 Michigan,  —  3
New Hampshire,  3  4 Mississippi,  —  4
New Jersey,  4  5 Missouri,  —  5
Illinois,  —  7 Ohio,.*:  —  21
Indiana,  —  10 Pennsylvania,  8  24
Kentucky,  —  10 Rhode Island,  1  2
Louisiana,  —  4 Tennessee,  —  11
Maine,.  —  7 Vermont,  —  4
Maryland,  6  6 Virginia,  10  15
Massachusetts,  8  10 New York,  6  34
Total, 65 to about 30,000 in 1789; and 223 to 70,6S0 persons at the present time.
Florida, Wisconsin, and Iowa each send a delegate, making 3.
* Ira procul absit ; cum qua nihil recte fieri, nihil considerate potest. Rectum
est autem, etiam in illis contentionibus quae cum inimicissimis hunt, etiam si
nobis indigna audiamus, tamen gravitatem retinere, iracundiamj repellere. — Cicero
de Officiis, I. 38.
26

398 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
appear but too well founded, when we compare the shorter time
occupied on an average by the English and French speakers,
and the smaller number of individuals who in London or Paris
undertake to speak at all. But here again it must not be forgot
ten, that in Congress not only are two great parties under able
leaders opposed to one another ; but the very different and com
plicated interests of twenty-six states are to be represented and
adjusted. In the House of Representatives interminable speakers
are now limited to an hour's duration. Before the aid of law was
invoked, a happy thought was now and then employed with
good effect1: as for instance, when a tedious orator said to one
who impatiently interrupted him, that he was speaking not to
him, but to posterity; the other replied, " The gentleman seems
in a fair way, before he ends, to have his audience before him."*
Tediousness and loss of time ought certainly to be avoided ;
but too strict a limitation of the speaker is obnoxious to the stifl
greater disadvantage, that the majority may force a decisive vote
before a topic has been thoroughly discussed.-f-
In any case a speaking, active congress, whose proceedings
are fairly before the public, is to be preferred to a silent and
inactive one ; moreover, the praise or censure of hearers and
readers is a far better restraint upon the speakers, than any
attempt to enforce moderation by not naming them (as among
the Prussian deputies) ; a mode of proceeding which in fact
places the able man and the bungler upon a level", and deprives
the voters of all grounds of judgment as to whether they should
re-elect or discard them.
As regards the relations of the single states to the general
government, there is not yet an entire unanimity of views and
wishes; but the difference is not as great as formerly, when
some would have no federal government at all, and others no
states. Jefferson, with great sagacity, foresaw that the political
institutions of the country would receive their full development
only in case the latter were granted as much independence and
power of self-government as possible. How many improve
ments, what great public works have been achieved by these
latter ; while the undertakings planned by the general government
have made comparatively little or no progress-! A just com
placency in this spirit of local and provincial enterprise, and this
astonishing advancement, has sometimes caused the necessity
and utility of the federal government to be too much over
looked ; or else an excessive and groundless fear has been
# NorthJAmerican Review, li. 111.
t Much time is lost by frequent voting; it was calculated that the last Congress
consumed 146 hours in this manner.
X Long's Expedition to St. Peter's River, i. 26.

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 399
entertained that the chosen presidents, senators, and representa
tives might easily become the absolute masters of all.
Although a strict interpretation of the Constitution has for a
long time controlled the extent of congressional powers, and the
danger of a one-sided preponderancy lies more on the side of
the states than of Congress ; still the latter has far more authority
and power (e. g. over the army, the navy, taxation, and legisla
tion), — has produced, without over-governing, far more whole
some uniform measures for the good of all, — and has preserved
more unanimity both internally and externally, than all the assem
blies and diets of European confederacies. Thus it guarantees
to each state its free constitution; and any arbitrary attempt to
undermine or subvert it, would be frustrated by the joint efforts
of all. It is equally true that the twenty-six states are really
twenty-six states, as that all the Americans form one great people.
Even atthe adoption of the Constitution, there came forward
neither a formless democracy of all the inhabitants, nor a
mere aristocracy of the thirteen states. The people decided in
thirteen assemblies, through representatives for thirteen states.
These must render obedience as long as Congress keeps within
the limits of its rights. At the time of nullification, its course
was imprudent, and that of South Carolina dangerous ; and
moderation and compromise were found to be the best remedies
by far. As Congress has no right to deliberate on the concerns
of the individual states, so these are debarred from interfering
in the sphere of the general government. A reconciliation
of the duties and positions of both, was and continues to be pos
sible. Thus John Quincy Adams observes : " Even the most
perfect constitution is no security against different interpretations
and doubts as to what is the right. But the indissoluble link of
union between the people of the several states of this confederated
nation is, after all, not in the right, but in the heart."*
That the power of the several states must change, and that
that of the Western states in particular must increase, cannot
admit of doubt. But in this there lies no new or more imminent
danger, than when in former times Virginia and Pennsylvania
had a preponderating weight. On the contrary, the creation of
new states, through the judicious and generous cessions of land
already mentioned, is substantial gain. This is evident from
their extraordinary advancement, and from the fact that their laws
and civil institutions exhibit by no means, as many suppose, mere
crude beginnings ; but in judgment, perspicuity, purity of design,
and zeal for liberty, surpass or at least equal any others.
But (and this question has been answered in the affirmative
* Speech on the Jubilee of the Constitution, p. 69.

400 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
by many, with mournful sympathy or malicious joy) will not
this increase of the population and of independence, this oppo
sition of interests in the several states, together with a thousand
other reasons, lead ere long to a complete dissolution of the Union?
Quos Deus vult perdere, dementat ! Madness knows no rule,
and is blind to the light of truth. There is however no trace of
this madness in the United States ; but, with all the diversity
of views on subordinate points, one and the same conviction
is entertained by all respecting the naturalness, necessity, and
usefulness of the federal Union. How enthusiastically Wash
ington expressed himself on this subject, in his admirable Fare
well Address, I have already shown.* John Adams repeated :
" The Union is the rock of our safety and the pledge of our
greatness." John Quincy Adams says in his Inaugural Address:
" That the policy of our country is peace, and the ark of our sal
vation, union, are articles of faith upon which we are all
agreed."! Webster exclaims: " The Union has been hitherto the
source of our greatness and our renown ; it is the foundation
of our highest hopes !"! In such great prophets and in such a
long and happy experience, every one willingly puts confidence.
It is also very evident, that with the dissolution of the Union,
innumerable and grievous evils would rush in and destroy the
brightly blooming and still increasing prosperity of the country.
Who in such a case could avert all the infirmities and woes that
sap as it were the life-springs of Europe : — envy, jealousy,
discord, standing armies, custom-house restrictions, augmenting
taxes, excises, military debts, foreign interference, civil wars, and
constitutions which are despotisms in all but the name.
Let us lay aside the obviously foolish supposition that mere
madness can demolish the noble structure of the Union ; and let
us rather consider the dangers that threaten it in a natural way,
or which are designated as most probable, in order that they may
be guarded against and avoided.
In the first place, the decided preponderance of too large a
capital (as Rome and Paris) or an excessive number of poor, has
often proved detrimental to the establishment and preservation
of true freedom. Such a danger does not exist in America.
The larger cities, in which a rabble might gradually be produced,
are not even the seats of government in the several states ; and
still less likely is it that Washington will ever play a formidable
* P. 82 et seqq.
t Presidents' Messages, p. 397.
X Speech on the Bunker Hill Monument, p. 12. " No man deprecates more than
I do, the idea of consolidation ; yet between separation and consolidation, painful
as would be the alternative, I would greatly prefer the latter." — Clay, Speeches, i. 61.

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 401
part in this respect* The danger of large capital cities grows
generally out of centralization and over-governing, from which
no country in the world is further removed than America.
Secondly. Danger arises from the entire separation and opposi
tion of different forces or powers in the government. But the
constitutions of the states of America are not grounded at all on
such pretended philosophical, but in reality empty and useless
abstractions. On the contrary, the different forces of the govern
mental machine properly act upon, work into, and restrict one
another. Thirdly. No overthrow of the Constitution is to be feared from
the president. The mode of his election, the brief duration of his
term of office, the absence of a standing army, the impossibility of
his expending large sums of money as he pleases, his wholly insig
nificant personal property, the example of his great predecessors,
the admiration felt for them, the general character of the people,
&c. &c, make it plainly impossible for a president, until he has
effected an entire overthrow of the existing state of things, to
erect himself into a king or a tyrant. What a clamor was raised
in this respect against Jefferson and Jackson ; and how insignifi
cant it was found to be ! So that, as we have seen, there is much
more reason for asking if the president does not possess too little
power, than there is for complaining of his inordinate influence.
It is true, however, that if the democrats had not combated and
overthrown the doctrine of the beneficial effects of gaining large
surpluses by means of high duties, and then expending them in
alleged improvements, or assigning them to this or that bank,
the influence of the executive would have become too great, and
that too in a very injurious manner.
Fourthly. That the Senate may be able to found an oligarchy,
has not occurred to any one ; and such others as may desire
to form a dominant power of the wealthier and more distinguish
ed, members of the community, will certainly get no further at
present than to complaints of the preponderance of the opposite
tendency. Where there is no acknowledgment of hereditary
prerogatives, and where a constantly recurring division of property
takes place, it is hardly possible for a lasting and dangerous aris
tocracy to be established.
Fifthly. The stronger tendency alluded to is particularly exhi
bited in the House of Representatives. But their strength rests
not on their own power; on the contrary, it would instantly be
changed into weakness, should they venture to come forward in-
# It is remarked as a fault, that the representatives at Washington do not enter
into society with many cultivated men, but each goes away as he came. Yet too
much influence possessed by vthe residents of the place, is more to be feared tfran too
Little.

402 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
dependently, and step, without regard to the people, beyond
their legitimate sphere. The Constitution must be adminis
tered according to its spirit ; and the literal claims of each part of
the government must not be pushed to extremes. Should the
president interpose his veto or remove functionaries without the
most weighty reasons, should the Senate inconsiderately or
through party spirit refuse its sanction, or the House of Repre
sentatives withhold absolutely necessary supplies, — they all,
under the shield of the letter of the Constitution, would destroy
its spirit, life, and action.
Sixthly. It is certain that the Union is threatened by no sub
stantial danger from without ; neither the Indians, nor Mexico,
nor Canada, nor Europe, could overcome it. There remains
then only one, and the most serious cause of apprehension ;
that —
Seventhly. The superior power and self-will of the individual
states may lead to a dissolution of the Union. However, the dis
putes respecting the tariff and nullification have so plainly shown
what errors the federal and state governments have to shun, that in
case of similar dangers tbey will certainly hasten to bring matters
to a proper accommodation.
The conflicting aims and interests of the several states, are
most frequently adduced as the daily increasing cause of an im
pending dissolution of the Union. But here too a closer exami
nation would dissipate many apprehensions. Thus, as I have
observed, the population, might, and right of the Western states
in the valleys of the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi, are increas
ing at a rate that is recognised as natural by all. Besides, the
East has need of the West — and vice versa (e. g. for importation
and exportation) ; and it would be very foolish for those who are
becoming the stronger to deprive themselves of the aid of the
Weaker, — or for the latter, out of pure envy and vexation, to con
vert the former into enemies. Neither does the contrast between
producing and manufacturing states afford any reason for a sepa
ration ; on the contrary, if rightly considered, it will be seen to
constitute a ground of union. Their mutual wauts impel them to-
each other ; they cannot dispense with one another ; and it would
be a sin and a shame attended with the bitterest punishment, if
they should continue to- quarrel on subordinate matters, such as
import duties, and refuse after the plainest experience to come to
an agreement
The most important and dangerous difference is that between
the North and the South, — not so much in respect to climate and
products, as in reference to slavery. But should the North, in ai
false enthusiasm for general views, destroy the great Union ; the
severance would not only lead to all the evils enumerated, but

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 403
would deprive them of all power to interfere for the abolition of
slavery. If this interference continues mild and moderate, if the
existing difficulties are acknowledged, — the South, on the other
hand, will have no reason to rise up in arms against well meant
philanthropic theories. They must not forget, too, that times of
necessity and peril may come, when their only help may be found
in their white brethren of the North.
In opposition to the circumstances enumerated, and which
seem to have a greater or less tendency to produce a separation,
there are others to be adduced which facilitate the maintenance of
the Union in all its integrity. Canals, railroads, and steamboats
are not merely material, but also spiritual means of connection ;
and the constant locomotion of the Americans, and the numerous
intermarriages between natives of different sections of the country,
work to the same end. Moreover, the entire population of this
great Union, in language, sentiments, manners, opinions, and
dispositions, are much more homogeneous and accordant than in
many European countries, for instance in Russia, Austria, and
England. The constitutions do not hold states and individuals
aloof from each other, but encircle them with a powerful and salu
tary political bond ; and even dogmatic differences, in conse
quence of the perfect freedom of religious opinion, have almost
lost their decomposing power, and become subordinate to the pre
cepts of peace and love.
Nothing upon earth remains unchanged during the lapse of
centuries. But is the temporal therefore nothing on earth,
because it can never be designated as eternal? If time has
speedily destroyed the fairest blossoms and the noblest fruits of so
many nations, this should afford us less cause for malicious cen
sure than for melancholy sympathy and salutary self-knowledge.
A contemplation of the American forms and of the changes that
have taken place in so many particulars, must lead to the suppo
sition that they have been continually tinkering at their Constitu
tion also, and have adopted into it one alteration after another. Yet
history shows directly the reverse. Almost all the changes pro
posed since 1787, have been rejected ; and America is, in com
parison with the European states (its movements and progress not
withstanding), the most quiet, most steadfast, and most conserva
tive of all. And even should important changes become necessary
in future, it would be wrong to behold in them nothing but mis
chief; such things are mischievous only when men are obstinately
bent on retaining what is useless, or heedlessly introduce what is
new and untried. The country is fortified against the latter dan
ger, by the provisions of the constitution and the character of the
people ; and with the weight which democracy possesses, the for
mer is little to be feared.

404 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
But here again break forth the loudest remonstrances, the
bitterest censures, the most contemptuous scorn. This very
democracy is in Europe inconceivable to the learned, a terror to
the timorous, unseemly to people of quality, and to the rulers
(from kings to secretaries) an abomination. One after another,
they join in a rambling fugue to swell the chorus of complaint.
" There," say they, " the will of the majority decides ; and the
majority are always ignorant, stupid, and passionate, compared
with the cultivated minority. Instead of the multitude's looking
up to the latter, and submitting to them with reverence ; those of
the higher class are compelled to look down, and subject them
selves to peasants and tradesmen. These ignorant persons make
all sorts of foolish laws, and fancy that they and the like of them
are fit to rule and govern. Truly distinguished men are odious
to these presumptuous and scarcely middle-rate people ; and
above such mediocrity no one can oris permitted to raise himself.
He who knows his own value and perceives the wretchedness of
this state of things becomes wearied of such doings, withdraws from
the contest in disgust, and leaves the decision of affairs to those who
should have been excluded even from the debates upon them.
Hence weakness of the authorities, insolence, inde.corum, and im
punity for crime. Universal suffrage affords no guarantee for good
elections ; because flatterers, brawlers, and charlatans are ever
most in favor with the multitude. For the highest and noblest
pursuits of life — for art, science, refined manners, and intellectual
intercourse, democracy has neither sense nor feeling* The diver
sity of physical and intellectual power and development is not
acknowledged ; and with this murder of individuals, the state
also is robbed of its highest strength and vitality. Every one
who acknowledges the principles of the Holy Alliance and of the
congresses of Laybach and Troppau, will grant that the United
States have always been in a state of tumult and anarchy, and
are so still."!
To these and similar charges and complaints it may be an
swered : If universal contentment, untiring activity, and unin
terrupted progress, are tokens of sound health, — where do these
appear in more vigor and fullness of life than in the United
States ? Among so many millions there are scarcely a few
peevish individuals who (if it came to the point) would exchange
their beloved Constitution for any other whatever. In Europe on
the contrary, where do we find this contentment, this love for
what is possessed, this enthusiasm for the existing state of things ?
Not only is censure expressed secretly or openly, but efforts are
directed to its subversion ; and hardly one of the European gov-
* This charge has been sufficiently refuted in other places.
t "Webster, i. 248.

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 40>J
ernments is free from a fever of anxiety produced by malcontents
who, rightly or otherwise, are seeking to introduce new constitu
tions and administrations, or to abolish those that exist From
Maine to Louisiana, order and obedience to the laws prevail in
America, and that too without military force or compulsion;
while solitary exceptions receive their just punishment, without
the employment of any disproportionate and over-costly appa
ratus. The most momentous elections, the most numerous
assemblies go off quietly, without the use of other weapons
than words and arguments ; while on the continent of Europe
(through the fault both of the rulers and the ruled) nothing even
distantly resembling these acts of the people is possible, without the
intervention of policemen and soldiers for the preservation of order.
If freer England rejoices in undisturbed movements, the military
force which she opposes in Ireland to a single man, in order to
keep up the ancient oppression of a whole people, exhibits such
a crying wrong and a condition so morbid and unhappy, that her
writers should be the last to storm and rail against the republics ot
America. How many Irish find here the aid and safety which
the mother country has always unwisely and cruelly denied!*
Of course there are many things that the people do not under
stand, and others which they cannot directly carry into effect ;
but the Americans have made no claim, as is done for instance
by the mob of Paris, to be able to understand and accomplish
every thing. On the other hand, there are also many things in
comprehensible and unintelligible to the so-called cultivated class ;
hence there is no reason for deifying a few individuals, and con
demning the masses in a lump. Only in the United States are
all suitably represented, and not a single part, as for instance
the clergy, the nobility, the rich, the landholders, &c. Politi
cal equality in America diminishes all dissatisfaction in regard
to other existing inequalities ; whereas in most countries there is
no other equality than that of the non-possession of rights, which
cannot possibly produce equal satisfaction. In the United States,
the majority that always decides in elections is a true one : not
so in Germany, France, England, &c. Accordingly, when the
governments of these countries are obliged to submit to certain
untrue, factious majorities, they often act contrary to the interests
of the whole people.
It is not true that the Americans never look upwards, refuse to
trust in genuine wisdom, and pay less regard to real statesmen
than to mere brawlers and charlatans. They know that a demo
cracy can only be secured by a general cultivation and enlighten
ment of the mind. Nor is there any where so general, efficient,
and influential a political education and activity, as in the United
* It should be mentioned, and with praise, that a different course has lately been
adopted.

406 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
States. Every citizen there lives and breathes from his youth
in an atmosphere of political relations, of which we in Europe
have scarcely any idea. Democratic institutions by no means
keep all in a state of wretched mediocrity ; on the contrary, as
history proves, they permit every one, without positive and legal
hindrances, to aspire to the highest position ; and more are ena
bled to reach it, than where the way is stopped by distinctions of
caste and rank together with hereditary or official privileges.
Mistakes and errors certainly do occur in the choice of men
by and from the body of the people; though it is difficult to per
ceive why more able public officers should proceed from legally
closed and restricted circles, and why — above all — the class-inte
rests of nobles, priests, soldiers, courtiers, and the learned should
rule in the best' and most impartial manner. It is false, that in
America the rich only are chosen, or that those who were not
rich (as Washington, Jefferson, &c.) turned out the worst. There
is in the United States neither a mobocracy of the poor, nor an
oligarchy of the rich. The people are contented and anti-revo
lutionary; for, as I observed, they have nothing to gain by vio
lent changes, but every thing to lose. Our political struggles,
says in this respect an American writer, are indeed not regulated
by the most minute and elaborate etiquette ; nevertheless they
are in general harmless, and even profitable*
Parties in America are not rudely and unaccommodatingly
opposed to one another ; there is no immoveable, irreconcilable
minority; but every where we find mobility, transition, and
mutual intervention. Nor have the minority ever been deprived
of the right to express and propagate their opinions by speaking,
by writing, or through the press. The free institutions which there
exist have not sprung up from the rank soil of despotism and im
morality ; they are not the result of empty declamation, or the fruit
of public paroxysms ; they are the slowly ripening, wide spread,
rich harvest of sound principles and penetrating sagacity in the
people at large. Hence the powerful masses have heretofore
often brought back even a wandering Congress to the right path ;
have accomplished more in other ways than the boldest ventured
to expect; and have given themselves the ablest, noblest, and
wisest presidents and magistrates ; — sure tokens of that penetra
tion, self-knowledge, and thoughtfulness, which eventually rise
superior to all agitation and passion.
The questions that disturb Europe in so dangerous a manner,
and spread so much discontent (e. g. respecting freedom of the
press, public judicial proceedings, the quality and quantity of
political rights, the equalization and liberation of all creeds, &c),
# American Review, xi. 528.

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 407
have long been arranged and settled in the United States.* All
this morbid matter is here taken away ; and the state is so strong,
its freedom so well grounded, that the setting up and advocacy of
every dissentient opinion can be permitted without risk.
There has never yet been upon earth a people, in the political
sense, that there is in America; and all the evils of democracy
taken together have not produced as many woes there, as the
single question (which they never hear of) respecting the legiti
macy or illegitimacy of sovereigns in England, France, Sweden,
Portugal, and Spain. But our perceiving and deploring this, does
not make us republicans ; and consequently the materials do not
yet exist out of which to form a republic. On the contrary, most
of the so-called republicans of Europe forget that a constitution
of the kind they contemplate requires every one, whatever may
be his pretensions, to practise submission.^
Where all are subjected and kept in leading-strings by the
powers that be, no one learns to govern himself. While in
America things go forward by a spontaneous energy, and both
ability and a free and noble sentiment grow with the possession
of individual rights, — in many European countries, fit men can
rarely be found for the higher offices of government ; because
the youth are changed by passive dependence into dull machines,
and their strength is already exhausted, when the time is come
for them, not indeed to soar aloft, but to go without crutches.
The number of enactments from the higher authorities, of reports
from their subordinates, of superfluous officials (from ministers
and councillors down to copying-clerks), grows like an avalanche.
The practice of interfering in every thing, of prescribing in the
most insignificant matters, the want of independence and habits
of self-government, produce either discontented or thoughtless
and spiritless bondsmen, and introduce in the place of energetic
enthusiasm, at best a fruitless carping criticism.
Democracy in America is no secondary matter or party mat
ter; it is the very being of the nation, as monarchy and aris
tocracy have been in other states. In spite of all resistance and
of all uneasy feelings, those otherwise disposed are obliged to
conform, and, willingly or unwillingly, to praise the system of
Jefferson and his friends,, of trusting in the American people and
recognising their authority.! Once more, all the conclusions
* How many more questions are there respecting servitudes, hunting privileges,
&c, which are constantly declared to be sacred and unalterable, by those who
promote political revolutions by opposing every reform, and have no idea of how
private rights must of necessity be reconciled with political rights, and the welfare
of the community 1
t Hence many ambitious liberals are displeased with the comprehensive demo
cracy of America, when they become acquainted with it on the spot.
X With many other nations his experiment would hardly have succeeded.

408

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

formed respecting America from other democracies and confede
rated republics mentioned in history, are insufficient and inap
plicable. The United States are something essentially new and
peculiar ; and which, on a comparison with former phenomena
of the kind, exhibits more differences than similarities. In par
ticular, the American system goes far beyond what the ancient
world offered or even consented to in constitutional forms.
Thus all the so-called democracies of those times were mere oli
garchies ; all the so-called state constitutions were nothing more
than city constitutions. Thus Hellas prepared its own downfall
by incompatible principles, and unceasing internal wars. Thus
Rome suffered no freedom beyond her own walls ;* was wholly
inclined to war, and never to peace ; and her consuls were as
uniformly impelled in this prevailing direction, as the Ame
rican president is to render himself conspicuous for his love of
peace. Neither Athens, nor Rome, nor Venice, nor Florence,
nor Switzerland, nor the Netherlands, granted equal civil rights
to the provinces they acquired either by conquest or in any other
way ; the United States of North America have been the first
to grant in this respect what justice and wisdom demand.
Of course in America the democratic elections determine
every thing in the end ; but democracy prevails chiefly in the
smaller sphere of individual towns. In the next highest degree,
the representative system rules, with a president in the place of a
monarch ; and in the third place, One federal system, with its inde
pendent states united at the same time into one grand whole.
It is altogether untrue that in the United States a mere numerical
majority every where decides : the position of the President, the
institution of the Senate, the provisions with respect to alterations
in the Constitution of the Union and of the several states, &c.
sufficiently refute this assertion. It is only by associations of
various kinds, and through the existence of cities, counties, and
states, that democracy and the sovereignty of the people, which
were formerly impossible, are now made possible and real. As
soon as the people by their elections have provided themselves
with a magistracy, they no longer exercise any disturbing influ
ence, either by law or by force ; they interfere not in the legislation
or in the course of administration, but obey well pleased, or wait
quietly till the next election. When this gradation, and the
reciprocal effect of democracy, representation, the monarchical
element, and the federal system, are properly considered, — nearly
all the objections raised against the American constitutions must
fall at once to the ground.
From that quarter in which the greatest power of a state resides
* The later grant of the rights of citizens occurred in times when republican
freedom was already at an end.

AND PUBLIC LIFE. 409
the greatest danger is also threatened ; and this in America with
out doubt is democracy! This can lead from a noble self-
respect to vain presumption, and from presumption to an insolent
disregard of all law. The greater the privileges and the greater
the advancement of a people, the more they have at stake, and
the more important do their duties become.
The most healthy government can suddenly perish, the most
rational may fall into madness, and the most sickly (like that of
the Byzantines) may drag on for centuries a miserable existence.
May judgment, moderation, self-control, and patriotism exercise in
time to come, as in times past, a powerful influence on the politi
cal course of America; may every one extend his views beyond
the indispensable requirements of private morality, to discern what
public morality and public wisdom are, and what they demand;
may no rabble, seduced by flatterers into pernicious ways, ever
lift up its head ; and may zeal for dogmatic opinions never banish
Christian toleration and love! Then the work which has now
prospered for sixty years — and whose cause is the cause of
honor, virtue, and humanity — will not degenerate or be brought
to an untimely end ; but the United States of America will press
forward unceasingly, with redoubled spirit and exalted vigor, in
the same glorious path which they have hitherto trod !

EXTRACTS

LETTERS WRITTEN DURING MY TOUR.

Boston, 22d April, 1844.
On the first of April we came from London to Manchester ;
on the second to Liverpool. Commercial and manufacturing
towns of this kind make a strong, and not altogether pleasing,
but rather one-sided impression. The noise of the machines in the
factories sounded in my ears more unmusical than ever ; and the
steam and smoke that obscured the sun, seemed to me, in com
parison with, I will not say the Neapolitan, but the Berlin sky,
quite intolerable.
For eighty-two pounds sterling—which rose on the way to
eighty-six — we two obtained permission, on the fourth of April,
to go on board the Royal Mail Steam-Packet Acadia. The wea
ther was fine, and the number of passengers, all in good spirits,
was over a hundred. On the deck there was more stir and bustle
than was agreeable; so that some gentlemen and ladies who
were promenading up and down could hardly thread their way
through. A cheerful dinner enlivened our spirits, while the mon
ster of a steam-engine impelled the large and heavily laden ship
with ease out into the world of waters. Many of the passen
gers doubtless, like myself, cherished aesthetic and sentimental
purposes, of watching and admiring the rising and setting of the
sun and moon, the brilliancy of the stars, the glories of the
heaving sea, &c. &c. But inexorable fate had otherwise deter
mined. The wind was strong and against us, and unhappily
continued so for the greater part of our voyage. In the night
between Maundy Thursday and Good Friday (the 4th and 5th
of April) the well known consequences overtook me also ; and
I was ashamed to feel no desire nor want but to — ¦ — . Again
and again I strove, by dint of thought and will, to raise myself
to the dignity of man ; — but in vain ! I remained in " the pene
trating sense of my own nothingness," and envied the portman-

412

LETTERS.

teaus that stood before me, quiet, unmoved, unmolested, and
unrummaged. To make a sea-sick man believe that he is created
in the image of God, would be a difficult undertaking. That
in this depth of humiliation I by no means repented my plan
of an American tour, must be regarded as a sign of firmness of
character — or of great obstinacy.
My sea-sickness however lasted only about four and twenty
hours ; after which I had no relapse, although the sea often ran
very high, and I was tossed to and fro in my berth like a bundle
of old clothes. But this rendered me all the more conscious of
other discomforts. Our little closet, or " cabin," contained two
beds about the width of a coffin, placed after the well known
fashion one above the other. In front of these beds was our
" state-room" according to the elegant plan of the vessel. It
might better have bv^ii called our standing-room ; for after one
portmanteau had been thrown outside, and the other set on end,
there was a narrow space left beside the little wash-table just large
enough for one person to stand in. The other must either lie in
bed or stay in the door-way. Nay, it was quite impossible to put
on pantaloons or boots, without opening the door and thrusting
one's leg out into the narrow passage. All these things were far
from being " comfortable;" inasmuch as each motion in the pitch
ing vessel was ominous of a return of the sea-sickness, and it
required a stern resolve, and was indeed a very great exertion,
even to draw on a stocking.
At last the moaning and groaning, even with those who were
longest sea-sick, came to an end ; and I determined to pass away
the time as well as I could, in eating and drinking. There was
a first and second breakfast, a dinner, a tea, and supper for those
who wished it, — enough in all conscience. The quality of the
provisions, however, did not by any means compare with the
quantity. Notwithstanding all allowances for being at sea,
where no great variety at least of fresh provisions can be expect
ed, the poverty of the English kitchen, so found fault with by K.,
was made doubly perceptible ; it was far too heavy for an en
feebled stomach, and I was in no condition to enjoy the roast
beef and mutton to which I have elsewhere given due honor and
praise. The eatables were good in themselves ; but the culinary
art had done nothing to produce a variety by preparation, sauces,
&c. The pies and tarts labored under the usual defects — under
done crust and bad butter. Besides, the food was brought up in
two great courses all at once ; so that, excepting the over-pep
pered soup, one was obliged to eat almost every thing cold. In
drinking too I had no satisfaction: the sweetish ale I cannot

LETTERS. 413
relish ; brandy I detest ; and all the wines, even the champagne,
were strongly adulterated with spirit.
To beguile the period of my compulsory indolence (no dolce
far niente, I assure you), I lay in bed as long as possible. You
will ask, Why did I not seek more society, and make that my
amusement? I reply, The company was too numerous to
become closely acquainted with ; and consisted mostly of mer
chants and merchants' clerks, whose peculiar tendencies I will
not blame, though not of a very interesting character. Be
sides, I was not "amusable," but disposed to taciturnity; and felt
more inelined to brood over my own. thoughts, than to collect
statistic trifles by questioning. I observed that a young German
merchant who ventured on a scientific discussion, confounded
the " superlative " and the " imperative ;" though he might have
been able to show that both often coincide.
From thinking in bed, I would fall into dreams, in which
the voyage and the motion of the vessel would take a part. In
Berlin, for instance, I often fly in my dreams ; but on board the
Acadia I dreamt that my feet were turned uppermost, and that I
ran about beneath the deck like a fly. Another time, when we
were near the coast of America, I found myself in Charon's
wherry ; and he asked me, alive as I was, whether I wanted to
cross over to the dead, or go back to the living. As I thought of
departed parents, brothers, sisters, and friends, I hesitated between
conflicting desires ; till at length I awoke, and came to the com
mon-place recollection, that I had to sail to America.
 From morning till night, nay, the whole night through,
there was play, play! One man lost all his money, and got into
debt besides. One pair began with mutual abuse, threw the cards
in each other's faces, gave each other a hearty pommelling, and
then — made it all up again ! !
An American captain wished, I know not exactly why, that
O'Connell was hanged ; while an Irishman lauded him to the
skies. This Irishman, who was about thirty years of age, had
already thirteen children ; his mother had twenty-two.
People at sea are as eager for novelty as on land. If a few
fish poked their heads above water, every one rushed to see the
sight ; and still more so, if a ship was perceived in the distance.
How was our curiosity excited on the 15th of April, when we saw
a ship bring to in order to communicate with us, and send a boat
off to our steamer ! Among many conjectures, that one seemed
most natural which attributed their conduct to necessity of some
kind, and most probably hunger. But when we saw that the sail
ors were in excellent condition, and that they had a large seal in
the boat, every one was certain they came to sefl the seal. On this
business, as some would have if, the strange captain immediately
entered into negotiation with ours. How astonished were we all,
27

414 LETTERS.
as soon as he was gone, to see the latter put our steamer about,
and set off in an easterly direction on the road back to Europe!
He had been told, it appeared, that by keeping on our present
course, we should infallibly find ourselves surrounded by ice
bergs and fields of ice. And sure enough, as we were thus
creeping about to avoid the danger, large masses of ice appeared
in sight, floating slowly and majestically along, some like vast
plains of snow, some in all sorts of fantastic shapes, such, as
gigantic animals, stately swans, ships, churches, towns, some
times illuminated with the most gorgeous colors, like the ice in
the glaciers of Switzerland. I watched them with great delight
till it grew dark, and then went to bed, and enjoyed profound
repose; though many others, who had lost all courage, would not
venture to undress, but kept wandering anxiously about the deck.
Two days after, we entered the Newfoundland fog, which gave
the timid cause for new alarm. This fog was certainly far less
pleasant and poetical than the varicolored icebergs. Our discom
forts were manifold : It was too narrow and confined in the stand
ing-room, too hot and offensive by the chimney, too crowded and
damp in the eating-room, too cold, wet, and stormy upon the
deck. We thus tried one place after the other, from morning
till evening ; and so the day passed away. On the whole I found
it impossible to remain lost in astonishment and admiration at the
sea; on the contrary, I became something of an enthusiast in my
dislike to it. Of its infinity, nothing need be said ; in view of the
smallest magnitudes of astronomy, it is only the negative infinity
of monotony and tedium. The most barren tract of land offers
beyond comparison more variety and change ; and Thales was
quite right in his idea that water may be the origin of all things,
since in itself it is nothing. But even granting it to have an
existence, the most acute teleologian would be puzzled to tell why
to so small 'a portion of land there has been created such an
immense quantity of brine. How active and poetical, on the
contrary, is the air, or the ether ! From the former, and from
light, the water sometimes borrows a few colors ; but the Atlantic
itself mostly resembles dirty ink. The air has completely the
upper hand of the water : it sets the latter in commotion ; draws
it up to itself ; shapes it, by way of pastime, into manifold, parti
colored, fantastic clouds ; and then, when wearied with the sport,
flings it back in the form of rain, hail, or snow, into the great seeth
ing caldron. I may be reminded of Neptune, Amphitrite, the
Nereids, and their palaces and feasts. But who can imagine
them sitting down there all in the water, while the nasty liquid
runs into their poor mouths, noses, and ears, and makes them
keep coughing and snorting like whales ? No ; they float lightly
above the billows, or have below them their crystal water-proof

LETTERS. 415
palaces, which let in air and light, but keep out sea-water and
sea-vermin of every sort.
On the 19th of April, after an unusually long passage, we came
in sight of Nova Scotia. The coast, enclosing the large and
secure harbor of Halifax consists of high projecting headlands
covered with pines of middling growth, the soil being for the
most part stony and barren. The city is built round a hill, on
whose summit is a strongly fortified citadel. We walked, some
what giddy and staggering from the sea, through the rapidly
growing, though not handsome city ; witnessed the ceremony of
dissolving the local parliament'; saw the parties of military in
every direction, and moreover — what was to me almost a still
greater curiosity — two Indian women. Both smoked tobacco;
one was frightfully ugly, the other might pass for a human being.
To a young yellow-haired Englishman who addressed to her
a coarse and silly remark, she very pertinently replied : " Sir,
you disgrace yourself, not me."
In the warm glow and haze of evening, Halifax and the sur
rounding country looked very beautiful ; and thus we first greeted
America, under a favorable light. The night of the 19th we
sailed for Boston with a fair wind, but on the 20th had very
unpleasant weather ; and on the 21st were obliged to lie to half a
day, on account of the fog. At length, at noon, we sailed through
a number of variously shaped islands into the harbor of Boston;
admired the very peculiar situation of the city ; went to the Tre-
mont Hotel, where we partook of an excellent meal ; and then,
in spite of the bad weather, sallied forth to view the town. I had,
I must confess, but little inclination, after so long a sea-voyage, to
listen to Rossini's Stabat Mater; still I could not goto bed, at six
o'clock. But as I was cogitating on the matter, Professor B., who
had already heard of my arrival, made his appearance ; and the
evening passed away very agreeably, in most instructive conver
sation. So did this morning with Prof. T. I feel, thank heaven,
quite well and in good spirits ; and at length, after my long com
pulsory idleness, can begin again to be usefully active.

Washington, 25th April, 1841.
The necessity of speedily reaching the seat of government
caused us to fly, as it were, through the four largest cities of
North America. This haste does no harm, as we shall return to
remain longer; on the contrary, it gives rise to peculiar observa
tions and impressions. Scarcely could four such cities be else
where passed through in so short a time. Boston, surrounded like
Venice with water, and proud of its character and refinement;

416 LETTERS.
New York, outstripping all in size and business activity ; Phila
delphia, cleanly, beautiful, and cheerful ; and Baltimore, emulat
ing New York. In Halifax we saw ice and snow ; in Boston,
the first indications of green on the trees; between New York
and Philadelphia, still further encroachments of spring upon
winter ; between Philadelphia and Baltimore, the rich orchards,
particularly the apple-trees, in luxuriant bloom; and here in
Washington, at six in the morning, the thermometer at 70°, and
no longer a trace of what we saw three days ago. On the whole,
the country improves in appearance as one goes further south,
without having a character exactly picturesque. In Nova Scotia
and Massachusetts, the ground is "stony and by no means remark
ably fertile ; further south, it appears generally as at. home in Ger
many, or to speak more accurately, in Dessau. But we felt a
great difference, when passing over so many deep and navigable
streams, and looking down the mighty bays. The view was very
fine down the Susquehanna, and still finer up the stream, remind
ing one of the Rhine. The scenery was equally varied and
charming at Ellicot's Mill, between Baltimore and Washington.
Of this last city, and the country around it, too much has been
said in dispraise. It gives the impression of a very cheerful,
convenient, agreeable watering-place. More of it, when I know
more. The custom-house officers gave us not the least trouble on our
arrival. We have met with kindness every where.

Charleston, 7th May.
On the 24th of April we came from Baltimore to Washington,
and remained there till the 30th. The plan of that city is cer
tainly designed on an immense scale, of which but a small part
is executed. It may also be doubted, for many reasons, if it ever
will be completed. In proportion however to the extent and
prospects of the United States, the size of Berlin, as boldly sketch
ed by Frederick William I., was still greater than that of Wash
ington ; and yet Berlin is growing in many directions beyond
those limits. The most important difference may be, that in the
United States the increase of all towns depends on a free com
mercial intercourse, and the so-called capital of the country is not
the constant residence of a court and a powerful government.
The surrounding states are of higher importance than their centre;
even as in Germany, Regensburg, Wetzlar, and Frankfort on the
Maine were not brought to a rapid growth by the Imperial diet and
the meetings of the confederacy. The situation of Washington is
favorable ; and the view, particularly from the president's house

LETTERS. 417
andTthe capitol, over the Potomac and the extensive wood-girt
country around, is very beautiful. It is true, the world of former
deeds and recollections which lends such interest to the Roman
capitol is wanting : but here we have instead the living present ;
and the thoroughly peaceful tendencies of the people will cer
tainly never permit the old Roman triumphs to be enacted over
conquered nations.
The halls for the Senate and House of Representatives are
conveniently situated on the two sides of the capitol, and the spa
cious circular hall that rises in the middle is adorned with pictures
from the early history of the United States. I was particularly
attracted by the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, and
the countenances of several of the sharers in that act. As yet
I have been present but once during the sitting of the Represen
tatives, and heard a member make an unimportant speech in favor
of high protective duties. The late decision, that no member
should be allowed to speak longer than one hour, has certainly
put an end to the multitude of interminable speeches ; but the
remedy is only an external one, and is not adapted to all subjects
or to all persons. Demosthenes, Pitt, and Burke often spoke
longer than an hour; and that which is a wholesome and neces
sary restraint for inferior natures, is to great spirits an injurious
clog. Self-government should be exercised also in this respect.
 My high esteem for Mr. C. has been fully confirmed by
personal acquaintance ; and his Speeches which he has given me
with his own marginal notes, will be a treasured token of remem
brance. I had already made myself acquainted with them in
Berlin. Every one speaks in the highest terms of C.'s morality
and excellent character; though some, half in reproach, call him
a metaphysician. I am well aware that by this is understood
nothing of what has been called so from Aristotle to Schelling.
In a like manner the minister Struensee used the word poetry.
If he said, " That is poetry," he meant, that is unpractical, impossi
ble, empty dreaming. Assuredly C. cherishes none of the whims
of unpractical philosophers — least of all that of an exclusive com
mercial state, like Fichte. His metaphysics consist essentially
in this, that he will not attribute absolute truth and omnipotence
to the opinions and crotchets of this or that day ; nay, as the
defender of the slave states, he has practically opposed a kind of
metaphysics of the north. It is true that scientific cognition, the
philosophico-systematic thinking of which the Germans have
made such a hobby, are not yet predominant in America to a
dangerous extent ; and men of the logical sagacity of Mr. C. are
a necessary counterpoise to mere rhetorical talent.
Mr. Clay, the whig candidate for the presidency, I also saw in
Washington. He is a large man, of cheerful manners, and very

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418 LETTERS.
highly esteemed. He was surrounded with admirers — or rather
worshippers, of the, as they imagined, rising sun. He neither
could nor would expound his politics in a few minutes ; but I
was well pleased to hear the observation, that he had kept his
health, by never eating too much or sleeping too liltle.
 On the 30th April we went by the railroad back to Balti
more, to be present at the nomination and ratification of Clay as
the presidential candidate in the whig convention. Of the value or
worthlessness, the use or abuse of these great assemblies, I speak
in connexion in another place ; here a brief sketch of what I
myself saw and experienced must suffice. All the hotels, and
many of the private houses were filled to overflowing with stran
gers ; and it was only through the good offices of Mr. G., our
fellow-passenger in the1 Acadia from Bremen, that we 'obtained
a night's lodging in the Exchange Hotel. By means of another
rich countryman, Mr. L., we obtained on the first of May (a very
great and singular favor) admission into the Universalist church,
where the delegates of the twenty-six states, chosen by districts,
were assembled to consult and unite upon the candidate of the
whig party. The business was conducted, as is always the case,
with the strict observance of certain forms, whereby order and
moderation are secured. Thus a committee of arrangements
had been previously appointed for the purpose of distributing
the places, erecting a stage, &c. Then there was an election
and confirmation of a president, vice-president, and secretaries ; a
short and appropriate religious service ; and the reading of a suit
able chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians. When, after this,
one of the members proposed that Henry Clay should be nomi
nated as the whig candidate for the presidential chair, there was
a burst of unanimous and unbounded applause. But before
they could proceed to the nomination of the vice-president, there
came from the gallery of the church — we sat beloio among the
delegates — the most frightful noise and shrieks, as if murder
were going on. It was ascertained after some minutes, that a
broken window had frightened people into the belief that the
gallery was tumbling down. After three ballotings, the majority
of votes was found to be in favor of Frelinghuysen for vice-pre
sident. It was certainly impossible to behold without interest and
admiration, the orderly and at the same time spirited manner in
which the delegates of twenty-six free states united in deciding
on the man who, according to the best of their knowledge and
belief, should be chosen as the head of their common country.
In the evening we went to several places where distinguished
whigs were addressing the assembled sovereign people in the Ian-

LETTERS. 419
guage of their party, and receiving boundless applause — because
their adversaries stayed away.
On the second of May a vast procession, consisting not of the
delegates alone, but also of all others who had come to Baltimore
from the twenty-six states, and many citizens besides, moved to
an open space near the city. Each division had its own devices,
inscriptions, mottoes, allusions, <fcc, to enumerate and explain
which would require several sheets. There were indeed no
uniforms, no military array ; but every one dressed, walked, and
talked as he pleased. There was however a cordial unanimity
in the vociferous huzzaing, the waving of hats and handkerchiefs,
and every possible motion of the arms and legs. It was in
truth, notwithstanding some little matters that smacked of the
ridiculous, the grandest, noblest, and most impressive national
festival not only that I have ever seen, but that can now be wit
nessed upon earth. Without any police or gens-d'armes there
was not the slightest disorder, confusion, or struggle ; the way was
left open without quarrelling or ordering. There was shown too
a pleasing piece of gallantry, in the fact that all the windows
of all the houses, with a very few exceptions, were given up
exclusively to the ladies. The whigs look upon their victory as
most propitious, and as absolutely decided ; and on seeing all
these thousands animated by one mind and in the highest pitch
of enthusiasm, one feels inclined to agree with them. Certainly
they have hitherto acted more discreetly than their opponents.
1st. They have attributed, as usual, all existing evils to the pre
sent government, and have promised to remove them. 2dly.
They have worked upon certain views and prejudices that were
becoming prevalent, and have used them to promote their own
cause. 3dly. They have united on one man, whereas the other
party is divided between several candidates. 4lhly. They have
held their convention earlier, and thus have probably gained the
advantage in many respects.

Charleston, 8th May.
 In fact we had in Baltimore no rest by day or night. The
speechifying and hurraing lasted till two in the morning, and the
music of the wearied performers was often out of time and tune.
¦  And first to-day of some non-political matters. If one
takes into account the size of the principal hotels here, and the
number of their guests, it Will seem very natural that no calcula
tion should be made for individuals as individuals. Every one
pays the same per day, whether he eats or not : whereby of course
some gain and others lose. At dinner, long bills of fare are laid
upon the table. But the black waiters are often ignorant of the

420

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French words, fricandeau, cotelettes, &c, pronounce them as one
will ; nor is it of any use to point the finger to the written or printed
word, since they can seldom read. Accordingly, one who wants
those dishes generally fails to get them at all ; or he is helped so
late, that all the others have hurried through before him, and he
does not get enough to eat. Thus the long list of eatables
shrinks into a wondrously small compass, and the most advisa
ble course is to adhere to the universally understood routine of
beef, mutton, lamb, and chickens.
 The 3d of May, in the afternoon, we went on board
the steamboat Herald for Portsmouth, opposite Norfolk. The
view of Baltimore, as we receded, was very fine, and the sail
down the Chesapeake Bay extremely pleasant. We had magni
ficent clouds, and a sunset of the most gorgeous hues ; then the
moon, and opposite to it gleams of lightning breaking forth from
masses of black clouds. To the lovely evening succeeded a disa
greeable night. By some mischievous contrivance, the beds
engaged by us were taken possession of by others ; and we, for the
sake of peace and quietness, contented ourselves with worse. That
mine in particular was near the bow of the boat, so that I heard
the sound of the rushing waves, was not unpleasant to me ; but
that three horses should stand over my head, and keep conti
nually stamping and kicking about them, I considered the worst
that could befal me. I was mistaken. A sable Bacchus opened
his " bar" close by the head of my bed. The spitting customers
were the least troublesome, as I lay quite out of the line of
their fire. But three cigar-smokers seated themselves on the edge
of the empty berth below mine, and puffed away at such a rate
that I could scarcely see through the cloud over their heads that
the noise I heard a few feet off proceeded from people who
were playing all manner of games of chance — prohibited, as I
knew, on land, but probably allowed, according to a literal inter
pretation, on the water. The losers grumbled ; the winners
shouted; and it was not till daybreak that these refined enjoy
ments had an end. Among the king or president makers return
ing from Baltimore, were several very plain and sensible people ;
and by way of variety, a few tall and slender youths, with spin
dle shanks, that reached all the way across the rail-car and were
usually elevated higher than their heads These positions
offered a singular contrast to the vanity displayed in the manner
in which their cravats were tied or not tied, and to the ribbons,
medals, badges, and other distinctive tokens of the Clay party,
which they wore about them. That however was their own affair.
The worst of all was, that they screamed, not sang, with little inter
ruption, songs set to the most villainous tunes. A grave Ameri
can remarked to me, that this behavior of the young people.caused

LETTERS. 421
him pain, and was very unbecoming. I was quite of his opinion ;
but observed, that young people often did what their elders did
not approve of, and stilt were to be excused.
On Saturday, the 4th of May, we went from Portsmouth in
Virginia to Weldon in North Carolina; where we viewed the
small but pretty falls of the Roanoke, the water of which is as
yellow as that of the Elbe or the Tiber. We slept a few hours, and
at midnight took our places in another rail-car ; we breakfasted in
Goldsborough, and on the fifth at noon reached Wilmington.
The country has not much of the picturesque about it ; the
ground is flat, barren, and often swampy, with very few fields,
and here and there some new clearings (doubtless in conse
quence of the railroad) made in the manner already so often
described. The woods were truly striking and attractive ;
they were mostly very dense, with trees of an immense growth,
and in a grand, wild, and luxuriant disorder, that is no longer
seen in thickly peopled countries. Even here, like the wild
beasts and the Indians, they are receding before the white man.
But these forests, which are now regarded as worthless and their
treasure squandered without remorse, will one day be sorely
missed ; andean hardly be replaced. The woods form the head
dress, the waving locks of Nature. Let people praise as they
will the arid mountains of Sicily, or the Roman Campagna;
they are like the bald forehead of a venerable old man, which
bears the traces of many time-honored recollections, but is shorn
for ever of its early beauty. Then comes the landscape gardener
with his wigs, and scalps, and false hair ; useful substitutes for
what is lost, but without its youthful strength and freshness. It
is true that neither fruit-trees, corn, rice, cotton, nor man himself
can thrive in the shade of these mighty forests ; but all progress
involves change, and every change a loss. When the storm
surges through the woods of the Alleghanies — those crowning
locks of nature, it seems to me as if the wondrous mistress of this
leafy world were a giant maiden, to whom one might become
more readily attached than to the metal maiden in Tieck's Runen-
berg who allures with gold and seduces to avarice.
— • — Charleston lies between the Ashley and Cooper rivers,
which discharge themselves into bays, protected from storms by
the islands in front The yellow fever breaks out here much less
frequently than in New Orleans. No particular cause is known
for it. It appears with all sorts of winds, in dry, in damp, in
hot, and in cold weather. By the middle of May, the citizens
return from their plantations ; for the city remains healthy, while
the whites die in the country. The negroes, however, breathe the
same air and encounter the same danger, without being liable to
the destroying fever. Even now we are not permitted to visit the

422

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rice plantations, as a single night would involve great risk. On
the other hand, the large cotton plantations near Columbia are
quite healthy. The neat looking houses with verandas, scattered
around, look uncommonly charming and poetical ; yet the vege
tation has no peculiarly southern character. This is more the
case even in Naples. The vine does not succeed in Charleston;
and no orange and citron trees are seen, as in Sorrento. Some
few scattered ones are found in the gardens ; but hard winters
usually kill them.

Charleston, May 9th. .
 In the Literary Club at Charleston, consisting chiefly of
clergymen, Mr. C. gave an excellent lecture on the English
translation of the Bible, to which each person added his remarks.
The matter was considered and examined from every point of
view. I was much pleased : first, to hear at length conversation
in which- nothing was said of politics ; secondly, to see clergy
men of almost all the Protestant denominations, and even
Catholics, take part in the discussion, and treat the subject in a
most able manner, without dogmatic controversy, but with mild
ness and moderation ; and thirdly, because all manifested an inte
rest in, and several a thorough knowledge of the subject. They
discussed the value of the different versions; the importance
or unimportance of readings and variations; the necessity or
non-necessity of new translations, the philological value of the
old ones, the danger of hierarchical and binding prescriptions
and decisions, &c. When my turn came to speak, I let myself
be tempted to say a few words about Luther and the German
translations. Afterwards it seemed to me, as is so joften the
case, that I should have done better to hold my tongue!
 On Friday, the 10th of May, at nine in the morning,
we set off on the railroad from Charleston to Columbia. It
costs each, for a distance of 120 English miles, $6.50. The
land here is cheap, and the construction of the road as easy as
possible ; but all labor is extremely dear, and the number of pas
sengers is small, — hence the high prices. The way lay con
tinually through the woods, which consist chiefly of pine ; but
the effects of the railroad were seen in several new cotton plan
tations carefully laid out The destruction of the fine old trees
on the ground preparing for cultivation, so that not a single one
is left, may be beneficial to the cotton, but is fatal to beauty; and
when the light dry soil has been loosened still more by the
extreme heat and converted into sandbanks, it will no longer
produce trees that yield a grateful and protecting shade.

LETTERS. 423
— — With some gentlemen to whom we had letters of intro
duction, we went at half past seven in the evening to the college,
where the annual exhibition of the students was held. The
exercises were conducted in a sort of chapel ; the galleries being
occupied chiefly by women and young girls, and the space below
by men and students. The speakers stood on an open stage ;
on the sides of it sat spectators of rank and distinction, and
among these we were placed, in spite of our politest remon
strances. The speakers had committed their written speeches
well to memory, and but seldom needed a hint from the prompter.
The subjects were well chosen,. and, unexpectedly to me, for the
most part related to history ; a department of study which seems
but little cultivated in this country, many regarding it as super
fluous for a practical life. Here is a list of the speeches :
First Evening.
1. Napoleon on the Island of St. Helena.
2. Reciprocal relations between public opinion and legislation.
3. Influence of the present diffusion of cheap literature.
4. Influence of the works of Johnson and Gibbon on English
style. 5. Criticism on Moore's Epicurean.
6. Comparison between Pagan and Christian toleration.
7. Cultivation of a national spirit.
8. Literary character of Macauley.
Second Evening (at which we were present).
1. What circumstances in the history of nations have led to
distant settlements ?
2. Repeal of the Edict of Nantes.
3. Advantages of travel in foreign countries.
4. Aztec Civilization.
5. Civil and Religious Institutions in Thibet.
6. Causes that led to the decline of the power of the United
Netherlands. The speeches were in general good, and equal to those one
would hear from our best gymnasiasts. The first speaker
declaimed in the Asiatic, or American style — with extravagant
action and changes of the voice. The others were more mode
rate. H. Porcher, the fourth, spoke in a remarkably clever and
natural manner. The performance of the sixth, Mr. Carlisle,
was very judicious, and admitted of useful application to the
United States of America. Every speaker was greeted with
more or less clapping, or rather stamping of canes and feet.
Between the speeches a band of black musicians played con
tinually the. same piece, as they do with us in the circuses.
Once it occurred to the head performer to start off in the middle
of a piece with a new key and measure, which felt to me like a

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shot through the body. I did not by any means understand all
the speakers said ; but that was not altogether my fault, for
of what was spoken distinctly and naturally I did not lose a
word. — — Yesterday I heard some bitter railing against O'Con-
nell; which, as coming from Americans, I did not exactly
comprehend, till I remembered with what violence and prejudice
he had spoken on the subject of slavery. When one gentle
man remarked that the Irish ought to have patience, and expect
the best from a wise people like the English, I replied that simi
lar counsel had been given to the Americans at the time of their
Declaration of Independence, which goes far beyond O'Con-
nell's doings in the cause of Repeal.
A remark that " youth is democratic, but age is generally anti
democratic," has to a certain extent a good and natural meaning.
Youth belongs to the movement party, and would rather rule than
be ruled ; and the old would keep themselves and every thing
around them in the same condition. But years do not alone
determine ; there are young absolutists and old democrats ; and
the right medium is not to be calculated from the baptismal regis
ter. I was much more of a tory in my youth (when French
follies and abominations were held up as the only true and
wholesome republicanism) than now, when judgment is freer,
and my experience more enlarged.

Columbia, 13th May.
.1 have been interrupted, and only resumed to-day. Yesterday
there came up a storm. However, it neither brought rain nor
cooled the air ; but was burning hot as a sirocco ; so that, in
3pite of all precautionary measures, the thermometer in the room
stood all day at 90° F. Every one was depressed and suffered
from the heat.
The preacher I heard to-day appeared to have as accurate and
certain a knowledge concerning the government of the universe,
as if he had been all his life assistant-ruler in heaven. I learned,
for instance, that the angels are diligent students of church his
tory ; # * * * and was told that God instituted representa
tive government, which is the only one good for any thing in the
world. It was further decided (for dogmas are the main point)
that every man is charged with, and must bear, Adam's original
sin ; that some are predestined to eternal damnation ; and that
every human being hates God, and is as passive in his own con
version and sanctification as a stone. This will suffice to dis
tinguish the school and tendency.

LETTERS. 425
Yesterday we went through the great but endurable heat (it
blew no sirocco) with "Mr. T., to visit his and Col. H.'s large
cotton plantations. There are two kinds of cotton; the finer,
longer, and more valuable, is grown on sandy islands on the sea-
coast ; the shorter and coarser kind is cultivated in great quanti
ties in the interior. The soil is divided, according to its quality,
into beds from four to six feet in width, and is ploughed twice
lengthwise, — the second time so that a high ridge is formed
tfirough the middle of the bed. Then a channel is ploughed
into the ridges, with only one horse and a small ploughshare
shaped like a lady's shoe ; and in this, in the month of
March, the seed is sown tolerably thick with the hand. When
the plants have from four to six leaves, the ground is ploughed
again between the rows, and is worked with the hoe, so that it
presents somewhat the appearance of asparagus beds. The
seed is sown, as I observed, pretty thick; because the cold,
drought, insects, and worms often destroy some of the plants.
If this does not happen, the least thriving are taken out by hand,
and the weeds carefully rooted up. In September the harvest
begins ; the crop is gathered, and the stalks and leaves laid in
the lower part of the beds, and ploughed under, — the next year's
seed being sown over this imperfect manure. Other manure, or
a change of crops is never thought of. The seed is separated
from the cotton by a simple machine ; and is used, when not
wanted for sowing, as food for cattle, or to make oil. The price
of cotton is very much reduced, chiefly no doubt by reason of
the excessive increase of cultivation. With the exception of the
overseer, all the laborers are negroes and negresses, of American
birth. It will hardly do, according to European notions, to speak
of the beauty of the colored women's faces ; however, some of
them had finely formed shoulders and arms. The houses occu
pied by the slaves are built nearly all alike : they afford room to
live in, with a fireplace and a sleeping apartment. Sometimes
they may be very much confined, from the great number of
children ; but in this climate they live almost constantly in the
open air. All the negroes appear well fed ; the children particu
larly are healthy, sleek, and fat. The field-hands have commonly
each an appointed task assigned to them. The industrious often
finish it by two o'clock, and employ the rest of the day in culti
vating the piece of land allotted to them. They also raise a
great deal of poultry. In every thing the personal character of
the master is of great importance.
— — We dined with an agreeable party at the house of Colo
nel P. After dinner we had a very interesting conversation upon
Shakspeare and the Greek tragedians. Our host showed through
out a great deal of knowledge and acute judgment; others were

4*" LETTERS,

not behindhand, and the ladies also took a lively part in the
discussion. Seldom do we hear among us such sensible and
coherent remarks.

Richmond, Virginia, May 20th.
On the 17th of May, we proceeded in the steam-packet to
Wilmington ; on the 18th, the weather continuing very warm,
per railway to Weldon ; whence we came the following night,
by railway and stage-coach, to Richmond. The night was of
course cooler than the day; but still very oppressive. I shared
my seat, which was not more than sufficient for one, with a very
tall gentleman, who had no place at all. At first I kept about
half the space ; but when my companion fell asleep, he stretched
out his gigantic limbs, which had hitherto been folded up, after
the fashion of a pair of tongs, and laid himself upon me in such
wise that, as Dabelow says, I felt as if annihilated. Presently we
had a new arrangement. I stretched my legs straight out from
the seat ; and he formed with his a bridge across me, resting the
monstrous arch against the frame of a closed cross-window. To
provide against the danger of breaking down, it was proposed to
pass a sling beneath these immense pedestals, and hoist them
higher up ; but as his head was already considerably lower than
his feet, a further elevation of them seemed too great a violation
of the order of nature. These and similar things the Americans
take very coolly, and never lose their composure ; being intent
only on the great object, viz. to go ahead ! I can more readily
enter into this, than into their dull, dry, severe Sundays, on which
the negroes alone display any cheerfulness or enjoyment of life.
These indeed strut about proudly among their belles, with ruffled
shirts, white gloves, walking-canes, &c.; in which European dan
dies would find it hard to outshine them. The negresses, in their
white dresses and pink ribbons, render the contrast of their skin
as conspicuous as our ladies. — Among the whites, the men are
in proportion much larger and stronger than the women ; partly,
no doubt, in consequence of their manner of life.

Washington, May 26th, 1844.
— •— The capitol of Richmond (which resembles the Maison
Quarree at Nismes) is admirably situated, and, like the Acropolis
of Athens, presents itself in bold relief to all parts of the country
round. There stands Houdon's statue of Washington, very
interesting as a faithful likeness, but destitute of true artistic con-

LETTERS. 427
ception and elevation. It has tight breeches and boots, thin legs
attached to an inelegant belly, and is provided with a queue behind
and a walking-stick. But the benevolent, noble countenance of
Washington is the main point.
 Thursday the 23d, early in the morning, we rambled
from Charlottesville (Virginia) through woods and clover-fields,
up towards Monticello, the residence of Jefferson. A place en
closed with a half-decayed wall attracted our attention. A half
sunken tomb, neglected and in disorder, was there ; and a dam
aged granite pyramid, already inclined to one side, with a partly
defaced inscription containing the date of a birth and a death.*
Here, where the pressure of outward circumstances, the perish
able nature of man's works, and the indifference of posterity
and of nations, made themselves most bitterly felt, faith in true
virtue and immortality rose with renewed vigor in my breast.
" Put off thy shoes ; for this is holy ground!" So said I within
myself; until there intervened the disturbing thought of the
many clergymen who affect to acknowledge the merits of Jeffer
son — Brutus is an honorable man! — and then add with a sigh,
" But alas, he was an unbeliever !" In the infallibility of which
of the numberless sects ought he then to have believed? What
is belief, what unbelief? Intolerance, and the opinion that they
possess the truth entirely and exclusively, are interwoven into the
being and nature of theologians much more deeply and intimately
than they themselves are aware of. Even those who sincerely
strive after liberal views, and even pass for liberal men, are at
length fettered within equally narrow bounds. When one of
these expels the whole Catholic, and another the whole Protestant
world, together with all philosophizing minds, from the temple,
— how should Jefferson find grace ? His memorable declaration
of 1785, on behalf of Virginia, respecting religious liberty, is even
grander and more comprehensive than the Declaration of Inde
pendence. With these two banners of victory, he will pass
through the fiery ordeal of succeeding ages. If a church or a
school rejects all toleration, and seeks to prove the necessity of
maintaining even by force one and the same faith throughout the
earth, and of establishing and supporting a universal church
independent of the state and of the community, the plan at least
is consistent and all of a piece. But what shall we say, when an
American divine receives and adopts the so-called free-will sys
tem of Jefferson ; and then condemns him, because he asks tole
ration for Jews, Mohammedans, and Pagans ? Where are his
Christian equity and charity, when, without proof, he slanderously
* Jefferson's family and relatives directed money to be appropriated for the resto
ration of the monument ; but either it was not sufficient, or has not been properly
employed ; or else time has again shown his power to destroy.

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adds: that Jefferson declared and maintained all his great truths
and principles, only to degrade Christianity ? Consequently this
"arch infidel" did not rejoice, but complacently laughed in his
sleeve, because the great principles of his Declaration were true.
When they want to level one of the gigantic forest trees in this
country, but do not venture a direct attack upon it so as to fell
if at once, they very gently peel off the bark round the trunk to
the width of an inch; then the tree must die and fall to the
ground, though its branches reached to heaven. Even so the
stigma of infidelity is traced with airs of pretended sanctity around
the name of Jefferson, in the hope that his glory will in like man
ner wither away. But he was a man who would have torn the
sword and firebrand from the hands of Albas and Torquemadus,
and their iron-bound textbooks from the war and damnation lov
ing combatants of certain theological schools. He would also
have put down the modern fashionable shrugging of the shoulders
and hanging of the head, the feigned regrets, and the sweet honey-
droppings with which many besmear the lips of their gaping
auditors, that they may goodnaturedly or stupidly swallow the
tough and indigestible things prepared for them.

Washington, 28th May.
 On one side of the steps of the capitol is placed a group in
marble by Persico, brought from Naples. There is Columbus,
stepping far forward, with his left hand placed very awkwardly
on his hip, and his right stretched upwards, and holding a globe —
or a ninepin ball. Beside him is an Indian woman in a strangely
contorted attitude, expressive either of hope or fear. Both knees are
awfully twisted ; her hands are too sharply turned ; and to look
at her from behind, she seems  . The whole group is
exactly in the style and spirit of an extravagant actor. On a
bridge in Paris such specimens of art may be in vogue ; but
I cannot approve, much less admire the work. Another new
statue, by Greenough the American, represents Washington sit
ting, larger than life, in Roman costume, or rather like a Jupiter
Tonans, with the upper part of his body quite naked. Notwith
standing many meritorious points in the work, this mode of con
ception and treatment does not exactly suit me ;* and I heard an
American remark, that poor Washington must be cold and sadly
want to put on a shirt ! Rauch has been far happier in attempts
* The strict philologist would also find not a little to criticise in the inscription
on the fourth side : Simulacrum istud, ad magnum libertatis exemplum, nee sine
ipsa duraturum, Horatius Greenough faciebat.

LETTERS. 429
of this nature especially as regards the management and embel
lishment of drapery.
 It is certainly very instructive to hear judgments passed on
our native works in distant countries, whether they depart from
or coincide with the ordinary opinion. I subjoin an extract from
an article on Gothe's Egmont in the North American Review.
After enumerating and acknowledging many great merits on the
part of Gothe, the reviewer proceeds : " But what shall we say
of the moral sense or intellectual perceptions of the poet, or of his
regard for historic truth, who represents Egmont, the husband of
an illustrious wife, and (like John Rogers) the father of nine
children ; the patriot, the hero, and statesman, the admired and
beloved of a whole nation, — as the licentious lover of a low-born
girl, whom he himself has seduced ; and who thinks to heighten
the tragic effect of a great and bloody historical catastrophe, by
adding to it the self-poisoning of a fictitious paramour ? It was
bad enough for poor Egmont to have his head cut off by Alva ;
but it is far worse to have his character murdered by Gothe.
What a conception of the romantic poetry must Gothe have
formed, if he thought it necessary to intermingle lust and suicide
with the shedding of patriotic blood, to give his dreams the
romantic stamp. The true romantic spirit, made up of honor,
courtesy, chastity, and the Christian virtues, appears to have been
lightly esteemed by Gothe, either as a source of poetical effect, or
as a controlling principle of life. A romantic hero, in his estima
tion, was a man who showed his lofty spirit by seduction and
licentiousness. A rake, and his mistress, and his mistress's
mother, were to him a highly ' aesthetic' group, and the very incar
nation of romantic poetry."
This criticism, in its direct reference to individual facts, and to
a certain work of art, has a distinct meaning and also a portion
of truth. But Mr. Putnam goes into generalities with his accu
sations, when he says: " We can look upon Gothe as the embo
diment of moral 'indifference. His want of moral sympathies
was remarkable ; and a moral duty he seems never to have recog
nised. He was cold, selfish, and deceitful. In Germany his
name is synonymous with dissoluteness." If, as Mr. Putnam
asserts, Germans said such things to him, he should not have
repeated them, thus nude et crude, to the exclusion of other tes
timony. Here is another very interesting specimen from the above-
mentioned American periodical : " If the novel be intended as
a mirror of actual life, either past or present, it should contain not
only events, but men and women. Character should be exhibited,
not didactically, but dramatically. We demand human beings,
— not embodied antitheses, or personified qualities, thoughts, or
28

430 LETTERS.
passions. The author has no right to project himself into his
characters, and give different proper names to one personality.
We want a forcible conception and consistent development of
individual minds, with traits and peculiarities which constitute
their distinction from other minds. They should be drawn with
sufficient distinctness to enable the reader to give them a place in
his memory, and to detect all departures, either in language or
action, from ihe original types. We desire beings, not ideas;
something concrete, not abstract
" To fulfil this condition seems easy ; but the scarcity of men
and women in current romances and plays proves at once, that it
is difficult and indispensable. A wide range of what is some
times called ' characterization' is very rarely found, even in the
works of men of genius, or rather men with geuius. Byron's
power in this respect only extended to one character, and that
was his own, placed in different circumstances and modified by
varying impulses. When he aimed at a larger range, and
attempted to give freshness and life to individual creations, the
result was feebleness and failure, which the energy and splendor
of his diction could not wholly conceal. Manfred, Childe Har
old, and Don Juan are the different names of one mind. Shak-
speare's Timon comprehends them all, and is also more naturally
drawn. Innumerable instances might be given, of strenuous
attempts made in this difficult department, which have ended in
ignominious failure. Dr. Young's Zanga and Shiel's Pescara are
ideas and passions embodied. Iago is a man, possessing ideas
and passions.
" In truth, to be successful in the exact delineation of character,
requires a rare combination of powers,— a large heart and a com
prehensive mind. It is the attribute of universality, not of versa
tility, or subtilty. It can be obtained only by outward, as well as
inward observation. That habit of intense brooding over indivi
dual consciousness, of making the individual mind the centre and
circumference of every thing, which is common to many eminent
poets of the present age, has turned most of them into egotists, and
limited the reach of their minds. They are great in a narrow
sphere. They have little of that clear Catholicism of spirit, which
is even ' tolerant to opposite bigotries,' which seeks to display
men as they are, not as they may be, or ought to be ; which is not
fanatical for one idea, and seeks not to be considered as the one
inhabitant of the whole earth. Most of our great poets of the
present century have taken the world into their hands, and made
it over again, agreeably to a type of excellence in their own ima
ginations. The current subjective metaphysics of the day pursues
the same method. Egotism in poetry and philosophy meets us
every where. The splendid mental qualities often exercised in

LETTERS. 431
both redeem them from the censure we apply to meaner and
smaller attempts in the same one-sided, subjective method.
" Not in this manner did Shakspeare work. It was not from a
lack of imagination, that he did not turn every thing he touched
into 'something rich and strange.' His excursions into the
land of dream and. fancy throw all others into the shade. But he
knew when and where outward men and events should modify
inward aspirations and feelings. He would not do injustice even
to crime or folly, but represent both as they are. In what may
be called the creation of character, in distinction from its deli
neation, a» in Hamlet, Macbeth, and Lear, his excellence is unap
proachable. In no other department in which the human intel
lect can be exercised, does it so nearly approach the divine, as in
this. It is creation in the highest human sense of the term. It
takes the elements of humanity, and combines them in such a
manner as to produce a new individual, essentially different from
other beings, yet containing nothing which clashes with the prin
ciples of human nature. Who believes that a character exactly
like Macbeth or Mirandaever existed ; yet who ever thought they
were unnatural ? In fact, these ideal beings are as true existences
to the soul, as any friends or enemies whom we see bodily.
They are more real than most of the names of persons which we
read in history. We quote their sayings, and refer to their actions,
as if they were living beings. They are objects to us of love or
hate. We take sides for or against them, in all theisr principles
and actions. We forget the author in his creations."

Washington, -2d June.
In the afternoon I went with Mr. G. and Mr. H. to the presi
dent's gardens, where there is music every Saturday. The musi
cians, in their red clothes, stood on a high and very narrow plat
form, and played chiefly pieces from Italian operas. The most
interesting part of the entertainment was the great number of
gentlemen and ladies wandering about the garden. The latter
were very much dressed, mostly in striped stuffs of bright colors
on a white ground; and were much prettier than any I had yet
seen in America. It was proposed to go up to the president ;
which I thought inadmissible, as I had on a great coat But
when I saw several who preceded me in the like circumstances,
shaking their temporary chief cordially by the hand, I followed
their example, and was not in the least displeased at the absence
of all etiquette. On the contrary, this friendly contact of freemen
appears much more patriarchal, than the wholly unequal relations
to which that term is applied by us. I feel constantly how neces-

432

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eary it is, not (like most travellers) to attach too great importance
to small matters in America, and thus overlook the greater.
Dickens above all is severely censured for this.
I have had the reading of a package of the Allgemeine Zeitung
for the month of April. Much of the contentions, gossipings,
censorship disputes, university matters, bestowing of orders and
titles, and the like, seems, when looked at from this distance,
very petty and ridiculous; while many things which are there
magnified to the size of elephants, have here long ago been burnt
in the candle ! Whether Clay or Van Buren shall be president
of this great republic, is another sort of question from the nume
rous ones to which in Europe an overweenii g importance is
attached.  In the evening we enjoyed the magnificent prospect
from the capitol, over city, country, and forest, and the retreating
circle of hills in the background. Nothing, indeed, of the mighty
remembrances presented by the old war capitol, filled the mind ;
but neither were there any degrading recollections, nor any vast
Campagna di Roma, — that Golgotha of many nations, and of the
Romans themselves, — over which only artists and philanthropists
wander in their solitary enthusiasm. — — —

Washington, 6th June.
I have been visiting the Patent Office. The collection of
machines is rich and remarkable ; there is also a good foundation
for a collection of natural history, and a large number of interest
ing objects collected in the South Seas during a voyage round
the world under Captain Wilkes. Good old Washington's coat,
waistcoat, and pantaloons, worn by him on the day when he
resigned the chief command, hung in peaceful vicinity to the
feathers and Coral ornaments of Indian chiefs. These latter have,
for European eyes, and in an aesthetic point of view, more pecu
liarity and poetry of a certain kind, than that civil or military
uniform. If we only had some historical account of all the savage
tribes !
As a reward for useful inventions, patents are granted here,
mostly for 14 years. Their number since the existence of the
United States as a nation amounts to 13,323. In the year 1843,
531 new patents were granted, and 446 of the old ones expired.
The patent office is also a central point for the improvement of
agriculture and trades. In 1843 they distributed 12,000 packages
of seeds. »
Yesterday we went with Dr. L. to Georgetown. The views
on the Potomac, the line of hills that follow the river, and some

LETTERS. 433
of the valleys that branch off from it, are very charming ; but the
most remarkable feature is the new Chesapeake canal. The
stony, irregular channel of the Potomac could not be used ft, T
ship navigation. The greater part of the water has therefore been
intercepted and led into a canal, which runs by the side of the
river. The bottom of the canal is from twenty to thirty feet
higher than the bed of the Potomac, and the bank next the
river is well dammed and walled up. Near Georgetown the
canal, fed from the waters of the drained Potomac, is led across
the river to the other side. The vessels seem to be sailing over
a bridge, or through the air ; and one looks down with astonish
ment on the broken rocks and the stream that wildly struggles
through them below. Such enterprises and works show the
greatness of the Americans ; so that, as I said before, trifles that
differ from our own customs and usages may well be overlooked.
Near Georgetown is situated the Jesuits' College. The pros
pect extends on one side over the Potomac and its islands as far
as Washington and the capitol; on the other, to the neighboring
hills, slopes, and luxuriant valleys : the one grand and extensive,
—the other limited, but varied and beautiful. The site is certainly
chosen with taste, and it would be difficult to find a better in the
whole neighborhood. The college buildings are large and well
adapted to the purpose for which they are intended, and the sleep
ing rooms of the numerous students are light and airy. Order
and cleanliness every where prevail. The grounds of the institu
tion are carefully cultivated ; and there are a library, collections in
natural history, &c, and an observatory in progress. The per
fectly pure and unmixed wine grown on the southern declivity of
a hill, is an American product of such success, that much may be
anticipated from a more extensive cultivation of the vine. Every
where the ancient cleverness and activity of the Jesuits are con
spicuous ; and it is easier (where they have not the power of
persecution) to get along with these clever, experienced persons,
than with the gloomy, narrow-minded fanatics of many small
and for that reason doubly arrogant sects.
Yesterday, the seventh, which was a very hot day, we drove
with Dr. L and his wife to Mount Vernon. The road as far as
Alexandria was tolerably good ; but then it went up hill and down
dale, and over stocks and stones. Washington's house appears
spacious enough for the simple, venerable man ; but, being built
of wood, it cannot long resist the action of the elements. It de
serves rather, like the House of Loretto, to be enclosed in a more
lasting one, and preserved for the sympathy of after-ages. On one
side is seen a green lawn enclosed with tall trees ; and on the
other are lovely glimpses of the Potomac flowing below. Wash
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434 LETTERS.
second ; where it is enclosed in a marble sarcophagus, and is now
at least protected by a stone superstructure from the snow and

rain.

Balttmobe, June 10th.
Yesterday, the ninth, which was Sunday, Mr. B. M. sought
me out in the morning. He was ambassador to Mexico, and has
written a good book on that country. He took me to the Catholic
church. It is one of the largest and handsomest in America.
The ground-plan and the dome remind one of St. Peter's,
though on a very small scale. The chief object of my visit was
to hear the music, which is much talked of. It would hardly
bear a comparison with any European church music ; but the
organ has a fine register, and one of the soprano voices was de
serving of praise. Mr. M. then accompanied me, at my request,
to a negro church, frequented both by free blacks and slaves. All
the men were well dressed, and not a single one of them showed
any traces of want. The women and girls all wore straw hats,
and were dressed pretty much like our spruce servant-maids and
sempstresses. They showed as little appearance of want of any
kind as the men. The black preacher wore no robes, but was
dressed very respectably, and spoke just as well (or ill) as the
¦ generality of white preachers. The temperate exordium was
quietly listened to by the congregation ; but when the voice of
the minister rose, and he applied to his auditors descriptions of
sin, death, the wrath of God, hell, the devil, and such like spirit
ual Spanish flies, a different effect was produced. Some began
to join in ; one woman repeated over and over, " Oh yes, my
God!" another "Holy, holy!" a third, "Bless me!" &c. &c.
This powerful accompaniment urged the speaker to the most
violent exertions of voice, and the most energetic action ; while
the tumult among the' greater part of the audience gradually
rose to shrieks and yells, as if every one of them was being mur
dered. One man clapped on his hat, held fast with both hands
to the desk, and jumped up and down as fast and as high as he
could. His exploit was emulated by a black dame, who sprang
equally high, till at length she fell back exhausted. In tha mean
time the chorus of shrieking, squalling, and howling was conti
nued, as if for the purpose of keeping time. In the evening—
when I went again with H., who had not been present in the
morning — the tumult was much less. Some individuals only,
uttered shouts and cries, and repeated certain forms of words ;
but ^compensate for this, the Holy Ghost, as they said, had been
pleased to descend upan-a negro lad about eighteen years of age.

LETTERS. 435
In proof of this, he shouted, and threw about his arms and legs
in such a way, that several persons could not hold him. The
scene presented by this negro church was such as I had never
before witnessed in my life ; but many eye-witnesses, and among
them H, assured me that this was but a slight beginning, com
pared with the preachings and doings of the white Methodists
and their congregations.
In the afternoon I went to a well situated public house just
out of the city, which is frequented by Germans. A violent
storm crowded us into a bowling alley ; where during the peals
of thunder — as in all sorts of weather — politics were talked, and
the affairs of Europe and America adjusted. Some of our
countrymen pointed out European defects accurately enough,
but wanted to introduce reforms at once and hy force. While I
was fearlessly protesting against these modes and means, others
called to mind imperfections in this country ; so that it was not
difficult to recognise the truth, that to err is human, and that the
same bark cannot grow on every tree. As our absolutists see and
seek for the origin of every evil in the people, so here a disposi
tion prevails to impute all European defects to princes and kings.
The former have for the people too little regard and sympathy ;
the latter are apt to confound the caprice of a mob with the
genuine will of the people.
— — • From a building that includes a kind of medical uni
versity, I had an excellent prospect. There are in the city two
such institutions, which would certainly accomplish more by a
union of their forces, than they can now do by division and
imperfect rivalry. I went with Mr. B. M. to see Mr. G., who has
an excellent collection of autographs, and gave me several Ame
rican for European ones. Mr. G. quite agrees with my opinion
of Persico's Columbus ; he thinks that Columbus looks like a
French dancing-master, that the attitude and drapery of the
maiden are preposterous, &c. Mr. G.'s house was very tastefully
furnished, and adorned with pictures and sculptures. A reclin
ing female figure by Greenough, in the style of Rauch's queen,
merits great praise.
In speaking here of American taste and feeling for art, I will
take occasion to mention two things which do violence to this
feeling. And first of the fences so frequently found fault with.
Straight fences, which are beginning to be used, perform the
same service, and last very long, if care be taken to char the
posts. But these zigzags, with their long spider-like legs, make
the most disagreeable impression on every one accustomed to
proportion, harmony, and beauty of lines. Still worse are the
enclosed bridges. Though this style of building may be useful
and necessary on account of the weather, and though it may not

43" LETTERS

be a great waste of timber, still it is a sign of indifference to the
beauties of nature, that one should almost always be forced to
cross the streams 1hat offer the finest views between two wooden
walls, that remind one of the canvass lane that Krusenstern had
to march through in Japan. They are not even pierced with
windows or openings in every instance ; and Broad river, which
1 was to see on my birthday as a reward for my fiery trials, was
more effectually hidden from me than the promised land was
from Moses.

' Pittsburg, 13th June.
We have now gone over, in good spirits and in excellent
health, a large part of our north-western tour. If you wish to
follow us understandingly, you must not neglect to take the map
in hand. I have often cautioned myself against judging pre
cipitately of the whole from a part, and drawing general conclu
sions from single facts ; and yet am continually falling again into
the same track. One can no more form an idea of the United
States, and the fertility and beauty of the country, by the line of
coast from Baltimore to Florida; than of Germany by the coast
of the Baltic, or by the roads from Hamburg to Berlin, Potsdam,
Frankfort, &c.
We started from Baltimore on Tuesday, the 11th, at seven in
the morning, with the thermometer standing at 54^° ; and about
six miles from the city, we left the Washington road, to follow
the Patapsco up the stream. The long, straight tracts of our rail
ways have been often found fault with, as tedious and unpoetical ;
but the like censure cannot be applied to this American road.
It followed first the Patapsco, and afterwards the Potomac, in the
boldest manner ; pursuing their windings, and bringing all the
views before one's eyes. A person accustomed to the straight
German railways is astonished at the quick turnings and abrupt
angles, like a serpent's path, in which the car rushes along. The
valley of the Patapsco reminds one of the Plauensche Grand,
and offers, particularly in the neighborhood of Ellicot's Mill, a
series of the most enchanting pictures. Small waterfalls, mills
and milldams, gardens, cultivated hills, scattered houses, bridges,
and orchards, thick and wild woods, — all pass rapidly before the
sight, in gay and checkered vicissitude. I scarcely had time,
amid my observation of nature, to direct my attention to men ;
but at length was surprised to notice at the end of the long car a
pair of legs against the wall. The body pertaining to them was
reclining on the seat and altogether invisible ; while the legs were
stuck up perpendicularly in the corner, doubtless to the indi-

LETTERS. 437
vidual's great enjoyment. If apoplexy is to be avoided by a
habit of lying with the head not too high, the Americans — at
least many of the men — must be safe from that sort of death.
The valley of the Potomac (we were now approaching the
AUeghanies) began to assume a somewhat grander character;
though it is extravagance to assert, that it is worth a voyage
across the Atlantic merely to see Harper's Ferry. When Jeffer
son said this, he had not yet seen Europe. As to Alpine scenery,
avalanches, glaciers, &c, there is here nothing of the kind. But
gradually vast masses of rock rose proudly before us, their sum
mits crowned with lofty trees, which were shrouded in such a
luxuriant growth of climbing and creeping plants, covering
trunks, limbs, and even leaves, that the grave parent could not be
distinguished from its frolicsome children. The woods kept
growing more and more beautiful ; for though with us the trees
are equally large in diameter near the ground, what particularly
delights one here, is their immense number and dense growth,
the richness of their foliage, and usually their taller and slenderer
forms. The expression, "primeval forests," has here a good but an
indefinite meaning. Trees have their term of existence like men
and animals ; so that the idea is inadmissible, that they could
stand sound and fresh on the same spot ever since the days of
creation. On the contrary, innumerable young trees keep crowd
ing up between the old ones ; and a primeval forest is merely
one on which the hand and axe of man have not yet encroached.
In Cumberland the railroad ends ; it is a good one, and we went
rapidly. Only the horrid whistle sounds in America oftener than
elsewhere. Cattle, sheep, and hogs roam here in herdless multi
tudes, and — an unlooked for consequence of " self-government "
and superior breeding — always find their way home again.
Sometimes however an ox, with a boldness surpassing that of
Alcibiades, lays himself right across the track where the train has
to pass. If he listens unmoved to the hideous screeching of the
whistle, the train is obliged to hold up ; and then the proverb is
made good, " He that wont hear, must feel."
From Cumberland we went in one of the often described
stage-coaches to Brownsville by night, during which unfortu
nately one can see as little in America as in Europe !
From Brownsville we intended to go down the Monongahela
in a steamboat to Pittsburg; but the water was too low, and we
were again packed into the coach. We sat, however, only two
on each of the three seats. Presently I saw a large, stout old
woman, armed with a heavy basket, approaching to take her
place amongst us ; which obliged H. to come and make the third
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438 LETTERS.
towards our new fellow-passenger ; and the impression was by
no means rendered more agreeable, when on getting in she trod
upon my foot, and afterwards made frequent use of my knees as
a resting-place for her basket. This, thought I, is a judgment for
ridiculing the small size of the American women ! But lo ! it
happened to me as it did to Mrs. Trollope with her broad shoul
dered American, who turned out to be an Englishman. This
woman of stout body and great modesty was a German, though
somewhat confused in her dialect. My heart was so softened at
the discovery, and so turned from a traveller's petulance to philan
thropy, that I willingly held her basket on my lap, while she ate
my cherries ! Both these days of travel, in spite of a few una
voidable inconveniences, were among the pleasantest one could
desire. The parallel ridges of the Alleghanies running from north
east to southwest, rise and fall so frequently, and present so great
a variety of mountain and valley, that the attention is continu
ally excited, and yet never wearied. As we went on, the trees
towered more proudly towards the sky, which only here and
there can pierce with its bright eyes through the leafy canopy.
This region of lofty woods is every where interrupted and inter
sected by the finest fields of wheat and oats, which this year
promise a very large crop. There is much more cultivation than
I expected ; and the country is richer and more beautiful than on
the sea-coast. No wonder people emigrate from that level, sandy
region, to the fertile and charming West. The first settlements
are every where rude, and the houses are small ; but they are
tenanted by sturdy, free, independent, and industrious citizens.
Amidst all this glory of nature, and these fields of abundance,
every factory looked like a prison, — that is, before the invention of
the silent system. It seemed to me madness, to wish to force
on, by protective duties, a state of things that will take place fast
enough in the natural progress of civilization.
We reached Pittsburg on the evening of the 12th, early enough
to observe its magnificent situation at the junction of the Alle
ghany and Monongahela rivers, and the beginning of the Ohio.
Pittsburg has in its vicinity countless treasures of iron and
coal, and is on that account the natural seat of large factories of
iron, glass, engines, &c. But even here they clamor for high
protective duties ; and one of the political parties promotes and
avails itself of this disposition in every possible way, for the fur
therance of its own ends. The smoke and steam of these factories
have not yet blackened the town as much as many Enghsh ones ;
still it has a much older, duskier, and more uncleanly appearance,
than most of the young cities in America, and is much found
fault with for that reason. The woods on the mountains enclos
ing the river banks are not yet destroyed ;' but they will soon be

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439

overtaken by this fate, which must greatly injure the beauty of
the surrounding scenery.
— — I took a long walk ; saw the covered market, place (which
is wanting in Berlin), the great reservoir, where the water is
drawn up by powerful steam machinery, for distribution through
the town (this too we need in Berlin) ; and admired the Phila
delphia canal, which is led over the Alleghany like a great bridge.
Three other bridges cross this river, and one the Monongahela.
The town stands on the tolerably level triangle formed by these
streams ; further up both are separated by high hills, and their
opposite sides also exhibit lovely wood-crowned heights. But,
as I observed, the iron foundries and glass manufactories will
soon change these green environs into bald Sicilian rocks, and
found the exclusive dominion of the unwashed cyclops. These
were forging a large steamboat entirely of iron, with horizontal
wheels placed underneath the body of the vessel.
 A Dr. S. has just sent me a copy of his work printed here,
called a " Description of the promised Holy City of the New Jeru
salem," &c. I can give you no idea of the artificial arrangement,
the architecture, or the constitution of this city ; however, the fol
lowing extract from the minute directions on the subject of cloth
ing will serve as a specimen :
" The dress, which must perfectly correspond with the inward
and outward purity of the holy man, shall be as follows : The
pantaloons must not be too wide, nor too narrow ; and the drawers
must be attached to them in such a manner, that they shall hang
loose inside, and both be drawn on together.
" Each man may choose the color of his clothes, to suit the nature
of his labor ; but when he is not occupied in work that soils the
dress, he shall wear pantaloons of bright shining yellow, a snow-
white coat, and a brilliant yellow or golden girdle. A hat of
bright clear yellow or gold color is the best. Where it encircles
the head, it shall have small air-holes for the sake of evaporation,
which shall be covered by a loose band of precious stones and
pearls, the most precious he can afford to buy. The females who
are gifted by nature with long hair, shall employ it for its only
proper purpose, to keep the neck warm, and shall wind it about
the same, fastened in a suitable manner. The males, to whom
beards are given to compensate for their short hair, shall not shave
them off: for the beard, according to the will of God, is an essen
tial part of a man's body ; and repeated shavings cause the roots
to grow in such a manner that they disfigure the countenance.
The clipping of the beard has likewise a wholly unnatural
effect " The official teachers and elders of the people shall ride on
white horses ; for the duties of their office oblige them to have a

440

LETTERS.

most direct and clear acquaintance with all knowledge ; where
fore this charge should also be signified by external brightness.
" The judges shall ride on horses of a bright bay color : because
the exercise of their office should manifest a zeal of fiery energy ;
each one fulfilling, in holiness, the duties of his department.
The treasurers shall ride on black horses; as the exercise of their
office is directly concerned with those necessary wants, which
change and disappear like the shady side of life.
" The inhabitants of our holy city may not marry : for what
true Christian can doubt, that God is able of the stones to raise
up children unto Abraham ?"

Cincinnati, June 18th.
On Saturday the 15th, we started at 11 A. M. in the steamboat
Majestic ; and arrived here on Monday the 17th, after having
travelled between four and five hundred miles on the Ohio, at an
expense (in consequence of opposition) of only four dollars each,
including meals and lodging. The boat was admirably arranged.
The lower space was occupied by the engine, wood, coals, and
articles of freight. Over that, a large saloon and dining room
extended nearly the whole length of the vessel. On each side
of this were the state-rooms; with one door opening into the
saloon, and another out on the open, but sufficiently sheltered
passage-way, running round the boat. These little apartments
had a warm floor, but were far more comfortable than those in
the Acadia. The breakfast, dinner, and tea were also respecta
ble ; but as I have an aversion to heavy and highly seasoned
food, I contented myself morning and evening with bread and
milk. As to the main thing, the journey, it was pleasant and satisfac
tory in every respect : the Ohio in truth deserves to be called " the
beautiful river." In a distance of 400 and odd miles, the forms
of the hills, the character of the woods, &c. must of course offer
repetitions ; but I saw no flat, sterile, tiresome spots. The out
lines of the mountains, the magnificent forests, the shady valleys
and ravines, and the bright green or golden fields, filled me with
admiration and delight From its many windings, the river often
seemed to be shut in like a lake ; or islands divided it, and added
to its diversified appearance ; while the hills that rose one above
another formed an enchanting background, that alternately
approached and receded from the view. There was always
something to be seen ; the constant motion produced a succes
sion of changes, behind, before, and on either side. Wherever
the river and the hills left a level spot, or a ravine opened on the

LETTERS. 441
sight, there might be seen a cottage peeping from the curtain of
leaves, with its slope of cultivated ground ; while cows, calves,
poultry, and dogs, added in their way to the aspect of cultivation.
The enjoyment of this scenery, however, did not wholly withdraw
our attention from the human beings who formed our companions.
Three chiefs of Ihe Seminoles, with their travelling marshal, a
negro who spoke English, were on their way from Washington, to
their home west of the Mississippi. The most aged of them
had once led an attack, in which many Americans were killed ;
this brought about a war and their final expulsion to the other
side of the Mississippi. These chiefs were oddly dressed, or rather
ornamented, but only in articles of English or American manu
facture. Their stockings were red and drawn above the knee ;
and they wore colored girdles, but no pantaloons. They had on
greatcoats made of stuff with different colored stripes ; their necks
and bodies were hung round with all sorts of trinkets ; and their
heads were wrapped up in colored handkerchiefs. Notwithstand
ing all the care bestowed on their toilette, they usually lay stretched
out in the dirtiest place on the upper deck ; and their black
attendant once borrowed my umbrella to fetch down one of them,
who was lying fast asleep in a pouring rain. Another made
a long speech to the bystanders. He spoke fluently ; and his
gesticulation was so appropriate and temperate, that many a mem
ber of Congress might have taken lessons from him. He was
not in the least disturbed by the fact that his audience did not
know a word of what he was saying. By the way, it is difficult
to understand in the reverberating halls of Congress ; and many
do not even make the attempt.

Cincinnati, June 19th.
I shall elsewhere give a connected and circumstantial account
of the state of Ohio, and the city of Cincinnati; here I will
make but a few passing observations. Yesterday cannot cer
tainly be called a lost day ; indeed it must be reckoned among
the most profitable of our journey. We drove in the morning
with Dr. P. and the Rev. Mr. N., and in the afternoon with law
yer W., through the city and the most considerable part of the
environs. The lofty wood-crowned or cultivated hills usually
slope down to the banks of the Ohio. But at Cincinnati they
recede for a space on both sides, forming a wide circle, within
which are situated Cincinnati and the opposite towns of New
port and Coventry in Kentucky. From the rising streets you
look forth upon a world of verdure. Most of them are laid out
with unexpected elegance, and are full of shops ; some are

442 LETTERS.
planted with trees, and are now so clean, that Mrs. Trollope's
accusations have lost all their truth. In the more remote quar
ters, to be sure, one perceives here and there a hog, busy with
his deep investigations. I saw the same in Baltimore and
Washington ; and perhaps it would be as well (so long as Major
Baler's plan for washing the streets is not carried into execution)
if such scavengers were instituted in Berlin. From the projec
tions of the hills the finest views are obtained of the city, with
the navigable stream intersecting it, and the circle of mountains
that shut the landscape in.
We dined wi'h Dr. P. The evening was spent at Mr. W.'s, in
an agreeable company of gentlemen and ladies. Two of the
latter sang very well indeed, and tempted me to put my now
stiffened fingers once more in motion. Besides the enjoyment of
scenery, we had instructive conversation during the day and
evening; but neither prevented me from observing that many
fine looking women passed through the streets, and that the
young girls were remarkable for their height, shape, and carriage.
 To-day we went first to visit a court-room; and after
that to Woodward College, where I was present at a lecture on
spherical trigonometry and one on the (Edipus of Sophocles.
Both instructors and students merited praise ; and I had to read a
passage to show how Greek is pronounced in Germany. What
ever faults our pronunciation may have, it is certainly more
correct than the English, which gives two or three quite different
sounds to the same Greek letters : for example, ae, ii, ii, ei.
From the college we walked to one of the common schools,
which was divided into a number of departments, where
female as well as male teachers were employed. We dined
at Mr. C.'s, and after dinner went- with him across the Ohio
to Covington and Newport; places belonging to another state
(Kentucky), but which may be considered as included in the
Cincinnati valley. The varied prospects, the farm-houses and
villas, the woods and fields, all presented the same charming
appearance.

Columbus, Capital of Ohio,
June 21st, the longest day.
We left Cincinnati at nine in the morning of Thursday, June
20th, in an American stage-coach, and arrived here to-day at 8
o'clock, A. M. We dined in Lebanon, supped in Dayton,
came by night through Springfield, and reached this, the fifth
town, in the morning. The nil admirari system (that dry foun
tain from which so many dunces endeavor to draw at least a

LETTERS. 443
show of wisdom) has never been my Hippoerene; and to resort
to it here, would be more perverse than ever. Since I have been
in the state of Ohio, my admiration, already expressed in Berlin,
has been unceasing. So too with regard to the mighty city Cin
cinnati ; though the growing up of a city in a well chosen spot,
is not so remarkable, as the conversion of a wilderness into a set
tled and cultivated country, in the space of fifty or sixty years.
Yesterday we travelled over hill and dale, along a good road,
the whole day through ; passing by the most carefully cultivated
and luxuriant fields, particularly of wheat, Indian corn, and oats.
There is little barley, and no rye. The bright colors of the fields
are set off by the rich dark verdure of the forest in the back
ground. The weather was favorable, and by way of variety we
had a shower; after which the dusky woods were brilliantly
lighted up, and a rainbow made its appearance, here a veritable
sign of peace and reconciliation.
To-day, the 22d, we drove round the environs with Mr. S.,
who had kindly received us into his charming family circle. The
town stands in a fruitful plain ; and, notwithstanding its recent
origin, is already of a respectable size and well built. The hotel,
called the Neil House, is, after the American fashion, larger than
any in Berlin. We visited the lunatic asylum, the institution
for the deaf and dumb, the prison, &c, of which I shall give an
account in another place.

Lexington, Kentucky, 26th June.
We started in the steamboat Franklin, on Monday the 24th, at
10 o'clock, and arrived at nine in the evening at Louisville. The
boat was comfortable and still, without noise or crowding ; the
fare creditable ; and the company quiet. In fact, I needed no
conversation to beguile the time; there was so much of the
beautiful to be seen, from morning till night. All that I have
said in praise of the Ohio and its banks to Cincinnati, should
here be repeated. As the beautiful shifting scenery in a certain
ballet (I have forgotten its name) presents to the eye in the course
of a few minutes a series of charming landscapes, lighted up in
various ways, — so here we had before us for twelve hours in suc
cession an endless variety of pictures delineated by the fertile
and vigorous hand of youthful Nature herself. The evening
was, if possible, still lovelier than the day. Soft breezes moved
the light clouds, which, invested with gorgeous colors by the
beams of the setting sun, had their glories mirrored in the smooth
stream. On the opposite side, the woods showed their sombre
green, and gave the waters a deeper hue. Fireflies in great num-

444

LETTERS.

bers sparkled among the foliage ; and the rising moon formed on
the left a new path of light oyer the dark waves. Venus, greet
ing Diana, floated on the right over the tops of the trees, now
concealing, now showing herself, and contemplating her image
in the water. At a bend in the river, the moon came between
the two great black chimneys of our boat, and at the same instant
there issued from them two sheaves of fire, showering sparks all
over the deck, and sending the liveliest of them further on, till
their glow expired in the moist kisses of the stream below. This
was a happy day !
On Tuesday morning, the 25th, at half past five, we again took
seats in the coach, and proceeded to Frankfort ; and thence on
the railroad to Lexington, where we arrived at six in the evening.
At first the coach was not filled ; so that two gentlemen sitting
opposite me formed a dos-a-dos, and were able to stretch their
legs out of the windows. Instead of " sursum corda" (lift up
your hearts !), the word here seems to be " sursum pedes" (lift up
your feet!). No people raise these latter so high as the Ameri
cans ; the condition of the soles of the feet, and the quality of
several other parts of the body elsewhere kept out of view, are
here frankly submitted to public observation and opinion. At
last the occupants of our coach mustered as follows : two grand
mothers, two unmarried and two married daughters, two suckling
infants, a stout old negress, and two gentlemen. We did very
well, however ; as the coach had seats for twelve.
The country from Louisville to Lexington is quite level in the
neighborhood of both towns : in the intermediate parts, it is hilly
and undulating ; and, though not quite as beautiful, fertile, and
carefully cultivated, as the country between Cincinnati and
Dayton, it is likewise distinguished in those respects. Hemp is
generally grown instead of wheat ; the woods consist chiefly of
tall beeches ; on the road flourish camomile plants, mullein, and
white clover ; and in the gardens are cabbages and turnips, roses
and mallows.
In the evening after our arrival in Lexington, we paid a visit
to General C, and enjoyed an agreeable and instructive conver
sation. I alluded to General Harrison's order to the Kentucky
militia, riot to show too much daring and valor in battle against
the English ; and it turned out that General C. and his men had
themselves received this rebuke.
A chief cause of our journey lo Lexington, was the wish to
see again and speak more particularly with the probable next
president of the United States, Henry Clay. For this purpose
we went early to-day to his country-seat, which is pleasantly
situated among meadows, fields, and trees. But unfortunately
he had left an hour before for Frankfort, the place whence we

LETTERS. 445
had come. We drove about therefore, and viewed the town from
every side. It lies in a fertile region richly adorned with trees,
and gives one the idea of being a delightful place to live in.
In some parts it reminded me of Gotha. Even the lunatic asy
lum, standing among large and beautiful gardens, has a pleasant
aspect, that almost causes one to forget its melancholy associa
tions. The building having been originally intended for another
purpose, it is not quite as well arranged as in Columbus ; but the
patients are treated on similar principles, and with the like good
success. Many soi-disant kings and almost all the great men of
America, including several Washingtons, may be found here.
— — ¦ Besides what is great and worthy of admiration, we
meet also, it must be confessed, with sundry little drawbacks, that
obtrude themselves daily and constantly upon our unwilling
attention. Above all, I must mention spitting ! No well bred
American, certainly, spits in good company ; but aristocratic dis
tinctions are reprobated here, and one is perpetually stumbling
against the spittoon. Even in the capitol a negro sweeps away
the beaux restes. So that the vice is at least as universal in this
country, as smoking in Germany. Nor is it in consequence of
the use of tobacco ; for persons keep in constant practice who
neither smoke nor chew, and even schoolboys spit right and
left with great self-complacency. With watch in hand I ascer
tained that on an average, in the space of one minute, one man
spit five times, and another (a clergyman too) eight. Is this
caused by disease, or merely a bad habit ? Must it not enfeeble
the digestion, and, together with the indigestible, hastily swal
lowed food, produce the dyspepsia of which so many here com
plain ? At any rate, the practice is nauseous and disgusting to
the sight, and perhaps still more so to the hearing! Heaven
grant that with the progress of refinement, spitting about may
come to be as much out of fashion, as cleansing the nose in like
manner. In great matters the Americans are as civilized as any
nation in the world ; but many are deficient in the smoothness,
tact, and polish of most Europeans* There are old pieces of
music, those of Couperin for instance, in which a simple, intelli
gible, touching melody predominates ; and then we have the same
piece decorated or embroidered with so-called agremens. We
are fond of agremens, and in the superabundance of them often
fail to observe, that no sensible or beautiful melody lies at the
bottom. On the other hand, many Americans, like a man on
* To-day in the hotel, I was looking for a newspaper ; it chanced that a very ele
gantly dressed young man had found it convenient to lay both his legs upon. the table,
over the pile of papers. At my request he raised them a little, so as to allow me to
take the one I had hold of, and then quietly resumed his former position.
29

446

LETTERS.

board our steamboat, beat the wrong time to the simple melody,
and then fall into a tempo rubato.
 Here the eye must enjoy the lovely Verdure of
woods and fields ; and I have ample opportunity to indulge this
inclination. Hence I cannot look without regret at any of those
giant trees, whose death has been artfully compassed by the girdle
or by fire. In vain these Titans stretch heavenward their hundred
arms, stripped of all ornament ; they find from the new gods no
compassionate hearing for their prayers, and fettered to the ground
are incapable of rebellion.

Louisville, June 28th.
On Thursday, the 27th, we set off at five, by the railroad, on
our return to Frankfort. This city, the seat of government of
Kentucky, stands in a plain by a river of the same name as the
state, and is surrounded with woody or cultivated hills. After
waiting some time, the steamboat arrived, which was to take us
down the Kentucky to Louisville. We started at half past ten
in the forenoon ; we reached here during thenight, but remained
on board till morning. The Kentucky flows quietly on in num
berless windings; yet in three, or four places we had to be let
down to a lower level by means of water-gates. It seems asto
nishing that a stream no wider than this can float such large boats
without being deepened ; but perhaps the dams and water-gates
keep the water higher than its natural level. The banks are hilly
and thickly covered with trees. Yet we find no loftier growth
in these primitive forests, than in our well stocked woods. The
weather was changeable, and thus exhibited the country round
under multiform aspects. A violent thunder-shower was suc
ceeded by a beautiful moonlight evening.

Louisville, 29th June.
—.  The calls we made took us through every part of
Louisville ; a city which is astonishingly advanced, considering
that as yet it has numbered only the years of a man. It is true
that the queen of the west, Cincinnati, has much the advantage
as regards situation, beauty, population, business, and wealth ;
but Louisville may still be likened to the respectable towns of
our own country. Its regular plan, straight, broad streets, many
of which are planted with trees, roofs as flat as possible, with
some other characteristics, are shared by Louisville in common
with other new American cities. Bishop C, with whom I had

LETTERS.

447

a conversation last evening, told me that when he came here,
many years ago, Louisville had but a few houses, and Cincinnati
still fewer. He could not even find a night's lodging in the latter
place, and was accordingly obliged to return to the boat. What
indescribably great and rapid progress ! And not alone for the
breeding of hogs, and the manufacture of coarse canvass. The
city of Louisville has raised $115,000 for building a medical
university ; or has borrowed that amount and paid the interest on
it. The iecture-rooms are well arranged, and generally in an
amphitheatrical form; the anatomical collection has made good
progress, and the medical library numbers already from four to
five thousand volumes. Some of the numerous churches are
larger and built more in the proper church style, than in many of
the American towns ; the court-house deserves the like commen
dation ; and the prison resembles on the outside an old feudal
castle with towers and battlements.

Louisville, June 30th.
The whigs of Louisville had yesterday evening a grand pro
cession. They bore a great number of lanterns, the paper sides
of which were covered with designs and mottoes, in honor of
themselves and in ridicule of their opponents. One would rather
expect the democrats to take pleasure in such things ; but they
are either disinclined to the expense, not having such large re
sources, or else they are unwilling here to make a display of
their small numbers, while the whigs gladly seize an opportunity
of showing their strength.

St. Louis, on the Mississippi, 6th July.
 I was interrupted while writing by the pleasant intelli
gence, that the Manhattan was to leave for St. Louis on the first
of July, at 10 o'clock. The departure, however, was put off till
three ; a delay which was doubly disagreeable, as the temperature
in the motionless boat was as high as 90^° F. For the preser
vation of the nice proprieties, a notice was put up, forbidding the
gentlemen to pull off their coats, and requiring them to appear in
"full dress." But this compulsory regulation in democratic
America concerns only the aristocrats, to wit, the travellers ; for
the waiters went about in their shirt-sleeves, without vests or cra
vats. Besides the heat of the sun, we had three other fires : first,
that of the engine, the glow of which, in consequence of the way
in which the American steamboats are built, was diffused through-

448

LETTERS.

out the vessel ; secondly, a washing establishment with its coal fires,
which had been set up just in the most shady place; and lastly, a
stove lighted by some good ladies in their cabin, for the purpose of
drying before it the envelopes of their hopeful little ones — a burnt
offering and a sweet smelling savor. The boat was crowded with
passengers ; by far the greater number consisted of respectable
country people, who however entered into discussions on politics
and the presidential election in a style quite unheard of among our
selves. For about seventy men, there were but two basins and two
towels on hand ; the latter were hung on rollers, and must have
made their circuit many hundred times during the day. The
water for washing and drinking, drawn from the muddy Missis
sippi, looked yellower and dirtier, than the dirtiest dish-water in
a*Berlin kitchen. Witli^rudent foresight I had purchased lemons,
and drank lemonade for the want of milk. The natural look
of the water, however, without addition or mixing, closely
resembled the color of this brewing. The immense force of the
stream, and the weakness of our engine, lengthened the journey
from three to five days ; the fare was wretched, and we only
reached here on the fifth, yesterday, at three o'clock. In order to
overcome the force of the stream, the safety-valve had been loaded;
as Mr. S. the traveller, who was conversant with such things, re
marked. The trunks of trees presented their hostile points against
us ; and we certainly ran much greater danger than on the Atlan
tic ocean.
I might thus have pointed out with all brevity the dark side of
travelling on the utmost western boundary of human civilization ;
and there would still be materials enough left for a more circum
stantial description. But I will stop here ; and will merely add,
for the comfort of sympathizing minds, that nothing of all this
affected or annoyed me, except the excessive heat and the spit
ting. As decency and good manners forbid my saying as much
on this subject as might be said, I will let what I have already
remarked suffice ; though, forced to confess, to the satirical delight
of S., that smoking without spitting is better than spitting with
out smoking. But to this merely qualified acknowledgment I
must for truth's sake add something further. Mr. Stephens, in
his travels through Central America (ii. 303), says ; " Blessed be
the man who invented smoking, the soother and comforter of a
troubled spirit, allayer of angry passions, a comfort under the
loss of breakfast, and to the roamer in desolate places, the solitary
wayfarer through life, serving for wife, children, and friends."
Now for the sunnier side of our river-voyage. On this one
might enlarge for ever ; for in rapid succession we saw, at least
at a distance and on the map, Rome, Hamburg, Troy, Belgrade,
Cairo, Herculaneum, Vienna, Brandenburg, Unity, and Trinity ;

LETTERS.

449

to say nothing of the less important towns, villages, and hamlets.
Streams, like men, have their peculiar character and their peculiar
fate. How often does youth fleet away in insignificance ; how
often is manhood crowded more with toils and wants, than with
joy and success: while later age again returns to the feeble
ness of youth ! To many there is scarcely granted a year, a day,
or briefest space, of fair and noble life : thus the Danube is com
pelled to die alone in the Black sea ; and the Rhine, to fail among
sands. But there are gifted individuals among men and rivers,
happy from birth to death, who are continually imparting to
others joy and fortune, beauty and nobility. Such a blessed
and blessing stream is the Ohio, from the beginning to the end of
its course ; and if its youth is more romantic, its advanced life
exhibits calm serenity and dignity. Not so the Mississippi. Stir
red up to violent rage by the Missouri, its appearance, as we turned
into it from the Ohio at Cairo, wore less of sublimity than of
savage strength. For many, many years, it had not reached such
a height : all its banks were overflowed, and the nearest houses and
villages were under water. If its flood had long spread abroad
blessing and plenty, it now appeared to execute judgment on the
guilty and the innocent, In furious eddies the vast body of water
(which makes European rivers seem small in comparison) rushed
on, hardly vouchsafing the Ohio, which in breadth and depth far
exceeds the Rhine, a friendly reception, and terrifying all the
dwellers on its banks, to the distant New Orleans.
These natural phenomena did not prevent a part of the com
pany from engaging in all manner of disputes about the presiden
tial election, the tariff, the banks, and the like. Along with good
and ingeniously developed arguments, there was no lack of shal
low talking and echoing of bad newspapers. What I thought
more worthy of notice than these for months past toujour s perdrix,
was the circumstance that, notwithstanding the zeal and vivacity
of the disputants, uninterrupted good humor prevailed, and not a
single bitter or discourteous word was uttered. This is the conse
quence of daily, all-composing habit Here is displayed a self-
control to which the constrained and irritable literati and non-
literati of our fatherland have not yet attained.
 On the fourth of July I expected an outbreak of patriot
ism, speechifying, and drinking of healths ; but we had nothing
of all that, only universal quiet. Whigs and democrats lay about
every where, like languid flies, in consequence of the intolerable
heat ; and I was fain to follow their example. The boat was
so crowded, that the floor and passages were filled with sleepers
at night, and so-called beds or camping-places were made upon
and underneath the tables.

450 LETTERS. Buffalo, on Lake Erie, July 18th.
For twelve days, since my arrival at St. Louis, I have found
no time to take up the pen ; so that divers matters of my expe
rience remain to be recorded. The situation of St. Louis is
extremely favorable ; which has caused its recent growth from an
insignificant place, to a large city. The unprecedented height of
the Mississippi and its tributary waters, has prevented for the
last year the erection of new houses (among other things there
is a want of wood and sand) ; but this misfortune affords a salu
tary lesson with regard to the farther enlargement of the city.
It is, like all new American towns, laid out regularly with wide
streets, and has a number of churches and (which here are never
wanting) large market-places. The court-house, however, sets all
architectural rules at defiance, particularly in the form and position
of the windows ; thus, the upper are not placed in a line with the
lower ones, but are tastelessly shoved sideways.
Monday, the 8th of July, we set off at four in the afternoon in
the steamboat Raritan, passed in the night the place of junction
with the Missouri, and in the morning turned into the Illinois.
This river also has fresh green woody banks, which the water had
overflowed. It is far clearer and purer than the Mississippi or mote
properly the Missouri. Travelling in so remote a region has a
quite peculiar interest. But a temperature of 88°, together with
innumerable mosquitoes, disturbed my enjoyment not a little. I
counted 113 bites on my right hand, arid my face was in like man
ner covered with red spots— a sorry sight ; but the evil is soon for
gotten, as no mirror is at hand, and the bites caused neither itching
nor pain. I must observe that the little animals showed greater
attachment to me than to any one else. The 10th we came to
Peoria, and on the 11th reached Ottawa above Peru. The heat
had abated, and in the morning was hardly 30^ .F. ; but it soon
increased till it was as warm as before. From Ottawa we pro
ceeded in a crowded stage to Chicago, on Lake Michigan, through
the prairies or level meadows, so often spoken of and described.
They are peculiar, remarkable, boundless on every side, an ocean
of grass and plants. In spring and autumn, it is said, they are
covered with innumerable flowers ; but now they are wholly green,
and ornamented with but few other colors. They convey the idea
of vastness, without variety ; and are consequently wearisome.
Why no trees are found here, it is hard to say ; for all the new
settlements demonstrate that they will grow, if planted.
In St. Louis we heard so much of the danger of a journey to
Chicago, with the water at such a height and at the present time
ci the year, that several gave up their plan of journey, to pre
serve their lives. I do not readily suffer myself to be intimidated ;
and we have come through sound in life and limb. But I cer-

LETTERS. 451
tainly never before saw such a road. We were tossed about
like tennis-balls in the coach ; and obliged to get out I know not
how often, to avoid the danger of being overturned. We then
went literally through thick and thin, in the road and out of the
road, through standing or trodden-down grass ; till sprinkled and
spattered with all kinds of soil, exhausted and dripping with per
spiration, we took our places again in the thumping, jolting,
ricketty vehicle. No one would risk travelling at night under
such circumstances ; we lodged therefore in Juliet, and on the
evening of the 12th reached Chicago. This town is situated on
Lake Michigan, in a country even more level than that around
Berlin. Like all the towns in the West, it has grown out of
nothing in a short space of time.
— — — We had no lack on board the Raritan of political
discussions and disputes among the Americans, the contents of
which were constantly the same. The manner was more remark
able than the matter — by this time known to me beforehand ; for
here also the disputants never passed the bounds of moderation, or
lost their good humor, or became severe or bitter. One zealous
individual took the votes of the passengers for Clay or Polk; in
order, to form from the result a conclusion as to the comparative
strength of the two parties. When the question was put to me,
I replied that I went for both or neither : one set of papers hav-r
ing declared both to be the first and best of men, and the other set
having denounced both as unfit for office and unworthy in every
respect On Saturday, the 13th, we took passage from Chicago, in the
steamboat Great Western ; and on Wednesday, the 17th, reached
Buffalo on Lake Erie. The passage through Lakes Michigan,
Huron, arid Erie, is reckoned at over a thousand miles ; for which
we paid, including board for four days and a half, fourteen dollars
apiece. How much can be seen in Europe by travelling such a
distance ; but then how much time it consumes, and how much
money one has to pay! We saw little; but made rapid progress,
and advanced so much nearer home. These fresh-water lakes,
the largest in the world, are beautifully clear, of a greenish hue,
and abounding in fish. For the purposes of business and trade
they are of incalculable value and importance ; but their shores
have no picturesque beauty whatever, and appear flat and in
general sandy. From the land some fine points of view may be
obtained, but they are hidden to the passenger in a steamboat;
and even the famous Mackinaw, between Lakes Michigan and
Huron, though it affords a prospect of immense bodies of water
from some low hills, has no form, outline, or physiognomy in the
highest sense of the term. Milwaukee on Lake Michigan, De
troit near Lake St Clair, and Buffalo on Lake Erie, display

452 LETTERS.
however such astonishing activity and such wondrous progress,
that complaints of the want of scenic beauty sound ill in the
mouth of a traveller, who is not roving the world as a mere land
scape painter. Since my report of the country turns out so
unsatisfactory, I will add a few words respecting our life on
board the boat. The Great Western has a high reputation as a
steamer, and can accommodate several hundred passengers. The
cabins are elegantly decorated, the floors carpeted, the berths
hung with silk curtains ; and all is, as they say here, "splendid !"
But there are things to counterbalance this sumptuous exte
rior. To begin with the table: there is no want of excellent
materials, but a decided ignorance of the art of cooking. I
therefore had to study moderation most immoderately, and, far
from living to eat, I only ate to live. This indeed seems com
monly the case on board steamboats, particularly when the pas
sengers are fed at two tables. The second table being usually
worse than the first, those who are eager to fare well seat them
selves around the walls half an hour or an hour before the meal
is ready, in order to push forward to the table at the given sig
nal. This gives the whole affair an appearance of repulsive
greediness or suffering from hunger.
 My sleeping-place was unfortunately close to the
piano ; and on the other side a squalling child performed a solo,
to which the mother beat time. The next evening they played
dance-music in the principal cabin ; but that did not disturb the
singers and squallers. What harmony! But at length I too
fell asleep. Then a bug (there were plenty of them) fell from the
berth above right into my ear, and kept up a buzzing that
drowned every other sound, till I succeeded in dislodging the
creature. This boat had not ^merely two, but three berths one
above the other ; which brought them so close together, that but a
narrow space remained between, and one had to roll in and out, —
to sit upright was out of the question. After the musical joys
and sorrows were at an end, the third occupant of our bedcham
ber appeared, scrambled into the. uppermost berth, and began to
cough. I thought of Gothe and Radziwill ; and words and tune
seemed to sound in my ears, Will he spit; will he spit?
Heaven be praised, he did not spit! All these disagreeable-
nesses may appear so great to stayers at home, as to make them
feel no desire lo follow our example ; but the traveller gets inured
to them by degrees, till at last they seem a necessary seasoning.
I passed the many leisure hours in reading the speeches of the
proposed president, Mr. Clay; they are in the highest degree
interesting and instructive. The traveller in the eastern part of
Europe does not find the means of travelling, the swiftness of
progress, and the hotels, which are met with in young western

LETTERS. 453
America; and still less frequently the masterly speeches of a
native statesman. Let this serve as a set-off to the over harsh
judgment into which 1 may have been led by the remembrance
of the bugs and mosquitoes. But these latter are also not want
ing in Europe; and the Venetian zanzare have plagued me
much more than these American insects.
 Buffalo rises, like Venice, out of the water, in a situa
tion unusually favorable for trade ; and by the aid of this magic
lamp of our time, has grown within a few years to be a large
city. There are shops on shops in the broad principal street, a
busy traffic never found in our inland towns, and more large
steamboats on Lake Erie (which was scarcely known fifty years
ago) than little boats on the Spree. We enjoyed here, as every
where, the most prompt and courteous attention. Mr. M., a
member of Congress, drove with us about the city and environs ;
and Mr. T. took us to visit the last Indian village to be found in
this part of the country. The Indians have sold their land to pri
vate individuals, and are going west of the Mississippi. It is
sufficient to see these men, women, and children, to be convinced
of the superiority of the white race. God has ordained it thus ;
and it would avail nothing1 to deny or refine away the distinction.
When we see that the most intellectual and bravest of nations,
the Greeks and the Romans, have perished, and that the Arabs
have sunk again to their ancient level, we are forced to acknow
ledge the truth, that the onward rushing tide of human events
has so ordered and produced it. How insignificant in compari
son seem all these Indian tribes !
On the 18th we visited Mr.  's country seat, which, stand
ing on an elevated spot, commands a charming prospect of land
and water. It showed that there were many picturesque spots
on terra firma, which are neither seen nor dreamed of by the
traveller on board the steamboats below and at a distance from
the shore. Yet with these just admissions, neither Lake Michi
gan nor Huron isT a Lake of Como or Geneva. Suum cuique !

Niagara, July 20th.
When the excellent Jefferson, before visiting Europe, said it
was worth coming to America merely to see Harper's Ferry, he
might have been told that there are many places as beautiful or
more so in our Germany alone. Is it perhaps the same with
Niagara ? Do all the representations of it show any thing else but
a monotonous mass of water lumbling between tiresome cliffs ?
Was I not told by many Americans — who are apt not to underrate
what belongs to their country — that I should be much disappoint-

454

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ed, and that I must stay at least a week (which was impossible)
in order to discover and comprehend its varied beauties. " You
will feel," said another, "quite depressed and annihilated,"
"The oppressed heart," sighed a lady, "must be relieved by
tears." Of this, as the saying is, I could make neither head nor
tail. I therefore established beforehand, in true German fashion,
the following fundamental propositions : Among all categories,
that of quantity prevails universally in America (witness the size
of the country, its Jakes, and its rivers, the universal right of suf
frage, the majorities of the whole, &c). So it is with the cataract
of Niagara. Its fame rests on quantity, while its quality is very
imperfect. By virtue of this last category, a much less quantity
may produce a greater impression ; and if this want of quality
be obscurely felt, or clearly perceived, one feels disappointed;
and prefers much smaller waterfalls — such as those of Tivoli,
Terni, Reichenbach, or Handek — lo the great, broad, tasteless,
and characterless Niagara.
So much for American remarks, and German philosophic
speculations. Both amount to nothing ; they are all fudge ! On'
casting the first look at only one of the falls, all this wisdom fell
like a thick fog to the ground. When after a hot day I walked
out into the open air of a cold night in Chamouni, and saw before
me the glaciers of Mount Blanc and its neighbors stiffened in
eternal snow, the thought seized me, What would become of
this benumbed nature, if God should but for a moment withdraw
his hand from it and from feeble man ! When, standing on
Etna, I beheld around me nothing but destruction and death, I
collected myself, and compared this lawless, savage strength with
the Heaven-imparted gift of the human soul, whose noble
thoughts, in spite of all apparent weakness, have more of life
and a longer duration, than grey lava and shapeless ashes ! It
was quite otherwise with Niagara. I could have shouted with
exultation ; and my excited spirit soared aloft, like the tones of an
Eolian harp harmoniously blending with the munders of this
miracle of nature. Immersion in this sea of beauty seemed to
renew the vigor and vivacity of early years ; it was a fountain of
rejuvenescence—such as the pressure of dry categories could
never set flowing. There was nothing frightful, horrible, oppres
sive, annihilating, or repulsive, — but the beauty of nature in her
noblest manifestation and the most amazing variety. No painter
could represent this world of moving wonders in full truth and
beauty ; nor can any description be successful. For if I dwell
on the wondrous unity and harmony of all these phenomena,
their multiplicity is lost sight of; if this last is made prominent,
the former disappears in the fragile mosaic of a dry enumera
tion.

LETTERS. 455
From the top of Niagara one sees in the distance the broad,
smooth, mirror-like expanse of Lake Erie. By degrees its sur
face begins to be ruffled ;' projecting fragments of rock and trunks
of trees lodged against them increase the agitation; until the
entire mass of water is transformed into rapids of great extent and
singular beauty. Through several islands the impetuous torrent
forces an easy path; it then dashes against a rocky islet (Iris
island) adorned with the most magnificent trees, and separates
into two great arms ; — but not for ever ; for the same fate awaits
them both, and below the falls they are again united into one
stream, which flows majestically onward, decked in every shade
of green, fantastically intermingled with streaks of silver. The
rapids and this river — without any cataract — »would form a scene
justly entitled to the praise of rarest beauty. And then what
accessories ! — stupendous wall3 of perpendicular or projecting
rocks, or receding cliffs covered and garlanded with trees, shrubs,
and flowers ! From this region of verdure and rocks the floods
rush onwards, now of the brightest emerald hue, now crimson as
the sunset sky, and again dissolved in snowy foam, and whirling
upwards from the abyss in volumes of mist borne far over stream
and land. It is not one, nor two water-falls ; it is a whole series
of wonders, renewing and changing at every step, and presenting
a world of incomparable beauties. To him who is not caught
up and enraptured in the first moment, time will prove of little
avail. Nevertheless, three hours (how many, governed by the
railroad, try it!) are not enough to satisfy one ; and one day — in
spite of our very limited time — is being lengthened into three ;
for I know of no place in the wide world, so fitted for the soul's
initiation into all the mysteries and revelations of nature.

Niagara, July 21st.
We have seen the falls from every side — from above and below,
from the level of the ground, and from hills and towers ; and to
day, the third of our stay, we are going to enjoy the sight once
more. From my window, in the Cataract Hotel on the American
side, I see the rapids, and many mills and other establishments
scattered up arid down, which make use of the water-power.
Near the hotel two bridges lead over several small islands, and
cross the rapids to Iris island. Turning to the right, you come
upon the American falls, the very smallest of which has more
than twice as much water as Tivoli. To the left, the path leads
to the still greater falls, that divide the Canadian from the Ameri
can shore. A flight of steps and a rough path brings you down
to the bed of the river, and affords a near view of the raging

456

LETTERS.

abyss and the descending floods. Again, from a tower standing
on a projecting rock, the whole extent of the upper falls can be
seen ; and from a second tower, lately erected in the so-called
Pleasure Garden, you have a panoramic view of the lake, the
rapids, the cataracts, the river, and the country round, such as
the world besides cannot afford. We were taken in a light skiff
over the foaming river to the Canadian shore ; whence all the
falls are seen, not sideways or foreshortened, but in their full
breadth, — and that too in an incredible variety of views, both
near and remote, from below and from a first and second range
of hills. A museum of objects of natural history merits all praise,
but could not long engage our attention beside these miracles of
nature ; and I found still less satisfaction in peeping into a camera
obscura. I had more pleasure in a drive to the Whirlpool, where
the river makes a rapid turn, and then flows on to Lake Ontario.
The falls, however, and their environs, are of such exuberant
richness and splendor, that additional attractions like these,
though of themselves deserving of all admiration, are not requir
ed. Though the scenery which I beheld throughout a large
extent of the United States was very much inferior to that of
Europe, it must be admitted that the old world can offer nothing
to equal Niagara. Such an accumulation of splendors would
certainly well repay a voyage across the ocean. Although, as I
remarked, the painter's art cannot fully depict the motion of the
waters, there are yet a multitude of points and views, which
might be represented with success, and would be well worthy of
his labor.
 In the hotel six long tables were set, full of guests, and
served by thirty-six black waiters, among whom the division of
labor was carried so far, that each had his department — of bread,
knives and forks, spoons, &c. — assigned to him. These solo per
formers marched with regular steps to villanous table-music, and
did all their work in measured time. Thus they came, thus they
went ; and thus each brought in his hand two dishes, which he
deposited on the table as directed by two grand musical fermate.

Montreal, on the St. Lawrence, )

Canada, July 28th.
We prolonged our stay at Niagara one day more, and again
viewed the wonders of earth, water, and sky on all side3 and from
all points. Although a visit to the United States can have
attractions but for few, and least of all for women, who with rea
son prefer Paris, Italy, Switzerland, and our own Germany so
rich in natural beauty ; yet I wish I could charm hither the true

LETTERS. 457
votaries of nature, in order, after their many blanks, to show them
this magnificent prize. I do not find fault with those whose love
of nature enables them to be delighted with a simple meadow, a
bed of flowers, a running brook, or a cloud ; on the contrary, the
true wisdom of life and its purest enjoyments are found in the
use of this daily proffered food ; and poor indeed is he who knows
or values it not. But there are festal days for this kind of enjoy
ment too ; and those spent at Niagara belong to the brightest and
most memorable among them.
On Monday, the 22d, we made another circuit around Iris
island ; and then went on the railroad to Lockport Some back
ward glimpses which we had of the falls were wondrously beauti
ful ; we then passed into a pleasant, well cultivated country. From
Lockport, noted for its great locks on the Erie canal, we proceed
ed in a stage-coach to Rochester. This town, like so many in
America, has grown up very rapidly : it has new broad streets,
handsome shops and houses, and beyond this central portion,
numerous scattered buildings, all disposed according to a grand
and bold plan laid down beforehand. The word with these towns
seems to be, " Forward, march !" while that of many European
cities is, " Stand at ease ! " Rochester is remarkable for the pleas
ing variety and the taste displayed in its churches, public buildings,
bridges, and aqueducts ; which, in spite of differences in other
respects, give it somewhat of an Italian air. Within the town,
the Genesee, which is of considerable width, forms a beautiful
waterfall, besides two other remarkable ones further down. Even
to one coming from Niagara, these falls are extremely pleasing,
and present several enchanting views, particularly from the lofty
cliffs of red sandstone, overlooking the deep, narrow ravine
through which the river flows. The drawing off of part of the
water from the first fall, for manufacturing purposes, has been
censured as detrimental to its beauty ; but I cannot coincide in
this judgment. Without regarding its great utility, there is a
romantic look in the situation of the buildings perched on the
ledge of rocks, while from between and beneath them larger or
smaller streams are seen plunging into the deep valley below.
These structures, to be sure, are no palaces of Maecenas ; but they
answer the purpose, and may yet be found to admit of divers
ornaments. On the 23d, we went from Rochester to Auburn, through a
lovely and well tilled country; and enjoyed a sight of lakes Ca-
nandaigua, Seneca, and Cayuga, lying on our right. I shall
speak in another place of the great prison at Auburn ; besides,
you would have more pleasure in seeing the fine new country
nouses, with their charming gardens, than in surveying those
silent tombs of living men.

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On the afternoon of the 24th, we arrived by the railroad at
Syracuse. Its useful salt-works have no pretension to beauty, and
some hills near it have been too soon stripped of their timber ; on
the other side however it is adorned here and there with pretty
country seats. We proceeded on the 25th by canal from Syra
cuse to Oswego on Lake Ontario. . The boat was drawn fast
enough, by horses ; and the absence of the noise of a steam-
engine gave a novel and pleasing character of quietness to this
passage betwixt green banks. A hill near Oswego commands an
extensive prospect over Lake Ontario, whose shores are somewhat
richer in scenery than those of the other great American lakes.
On the 26th, we took passage, on board the Lady of the Lake for
Ogdensburgh ; and thence, on the 27th, on board the Pioneer for
Montreal. The St. Lawrence river does not perhaps afford more beautiful
views than the Ohio, but it certainly far surpasses the monotonous
and turbid Mississippi. Its water is of a clear green ; the Thousatid
Islands present in rapid succession a variety of foregrounds and
backgrounds, interrupted with streaks or sheets of water. Here
the river expands into the large lakes St. Louis and St. Francis ;
there it contracts itself so that the boat is tossed about among pow
erful rapids. These rapids are thought so dangerous, that travel
lers in general go round them in a carriage ; to me they appeared
the most delightful and attractive part of the whole route.

Montreal, July 29th.
 There is no steamboat on Sunday to Quebec ; so' we
are obliged to stay till evening. They never go by day ; and thus
we shall be able to see only a part of the country. Could I not,
however, without seeing, and from, the relations of others, who
perhaps saw no more than myself, assisted by former studies or
readings, make up an account of Canada, of its government and
administration, its relations to the United States, &c. ? It required
scarce twenty-four hours to observe various peculiarities and
differences. Thus there were many soldiers, some too without
pantaloons, to wit, the Scotch Highlanders ; no spit-boxes in the
hotels ; water-closets on every floor ; no crowd or hurry in going
to table, and a longer sitting at meals ; but the attendance was less
prompt, and the request was made — which I declined — for one
of the company to officiate as carver. We found also police
officers in the streets ; good public buildings ; waterworks at the
harbor ; a large catholic church (the sects require and have only
chapels), whose exterior is well enough, though the interior is not
without sins against good taste ; evil speaking and railing under

LETTERS. 459
the royal as under the republican government ; a ministerial party
and an opposition, &c. &c. A walk through the city and its sub
urbs shows the different character and tendencies of the two
principal races, the French and English. 1 could easily sketch a
description, in poetical prose, of the elevated, cheerful country life
of the seigneurs, and the happy contentedness of the bourgeois ;
with a contrasted picture of the restless, dissatisfied, ill humored
disposition of the Germanic race. But then here we have the
very reason why the old, mean, French-built houses show scarcely
a trace of alteration or improvement, and very little of the rapid,
useful, and elegant advancement of American cities. English
activity is every where fettered and broken by the easy far niente
of the French, whose aims and enjoyments in life differ here as
elsewhere completely from those of the English. The one or the
other may be praised or preferred ; but the simplest and most
obvious phenomena show that it was the destined mission of the
Germanic, and not of the Romance nations, to colonize North
America and call her into being. Thus, as has been observed,
the battle on the plains of Abraham decided for centuries the fate
of an entire continent.
The prospect from the hills behind Montreal, over the city and
river, is admirable ; it affords too a birds-eye perspective of higher
mountains in the distance.

Quebec, July 31st.
 All the persons I have spoken with agree in this, that
no book or pamphlet affords a thorough exposition of the state of
Canada, and that the papers contain only a tissue of errors and
misrepresentations. In this condition of the free press, where shall
the truth be sought and found ? One man promised me a brief
account of what he would not dare to print. The substance of
his relation is as follows : After the conquest of Canada, in 1763,
the French population were satisfied with the conduct of their
masters, who suffered them to retain their old civil coutumes, but
introduced the English forms of proceeding in criminal cases.
The French noblesse and the gentlemen in the English army
agreed well enough. The American Revolution produced great
excitement; and the government enlarged the privileges of the
citizens, in order to quiet them. Yet these new concessions
did not amount to full political rights; and the French Revo
lution changed their views once more, and increased their
demands to such an extent, that England, in 1791, granted a
constitution, which divided the country into two parts — the
English, and the French. On the one hand, this satisfied many of

460

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the inhabitants ; on the other, it led to resistance and opposing
resolutions, and divided what was still looked upon as one.
The French party in particular became bolder, assailed the gov
ernment, and endeavored from English history and English
principles to derive greater power for the lower house ; since the
upper one was altogether dependent on the government and the
governor. In the war with the United States, in 1812-1814,
the French on the whole behaved in a praiseworthy manner ; and
now was the time when it would have been advisable to show
full confidence in them, and to grant many of their requests. But
the influence of English zealots prevented this ; whereupon the
French habitans organized a new opposition, refused contribu
tions of money, &c. ; which at length grew into open rebellion.
After this was suppressed, one constitution was given to both
Canadas ; and it was hoped that the moderate French party and
the English who held together would always have the majority
in the parliament Unexpectedly, however, many of the English
radicals united themselves with the French ; and the forced efforts
of the governor could not be successful in the long run. The
government was also opposed by the operation of the naturaliza
tion laws, which granted the rights of citizens to all Protestants
after a seven years' residence ; and thus attracted a great many
republicans in feeling from the United States. The greater favor
shown to the French offended the English ; and the governor
found himself obliged to dismiss his French ministers, who aimed
at reducing him to a mere cypher. This measure, however, has
not again attached, the English to him ; and many hope that an
open rupture between the quiet and the seditious French parties,
will come to the assistance of the government.
It may be seen from all this, what endless difficulty there is in
harmoniously uniting such different nations as the French and
English into one constitutional whole. How then can it be ima
gined that such a union is possible between the Americans and
the negroes ?
At six o'clock in the evening of the 29th, we left in the steamer
Montreal for Quebec, where we arrived at seven in the morning
of the 30th. The country round Quebec is the most beautiful
and varied we have seen in America. The city lies on a point
between the St. Lawrence and the St. Charles rivers. One part
of it is built on the level banks ; the streets then rise very abruptly,
between walls of rock, to Cape Diamond, which overlooks and
commands the whole country, and reminded me of Ehrenbreit-
stein, although the fortifications have a less picturesque appear
ance. The St. Lawrence and St. Charles form two bodies of
water; but the former" is divided by the beautiful island of
Orleans. This gives four different water-courses; and the fifth,

LETTERS. 461
that of Montmorenci, is indicated by the high and dark walls of
earth, behind which it is precipitated into the abyss below. This
region of waters is girt about with hills, slopes, and plains, in
great variety ; with gardens, meadows, woods, and fields, all
fruitful and well cultivated ; while houses are scattered wherever
the eye can reach. We drove through this picturesque country
to the beautiful yet wild Falls of Montmorenci, ascended the
citadel, crossed through the city, sailed over to Point Levi oppo
site, and had (next to Niagara) a feast of nature such as is rarely
found, in the highest sense of the word, in North America.
It affords little pleasuie to visit the fields of unimportant
battles; but that of St. Abraham near Quebec deserves a
much larger share of attention, and excited in me the liveliest
interest. As Marathon decided for the Greeks against the Per
sians ; Zama for the Romans against the Carthaginians ; Tours
for the Christians against the Mohammedans ; so the heights of
Abraham have decided that in America, aye and throughout the
world, Germanic civilization and development shall for a long
time lead the van. Both generals, Wolfe and Montcalm, fell,
each bravely fighting for his country ; and with noble feeling,
Earl Dalhousie has caused to be erected in Quebec a monument
to the memory of both, with this inscription —
Mortem virtus communem,
Famam Historia,
Monumentum posteritas dedit.
Both of them, the victor and the vanquished, were happier in
this heroic death, than Hannibal and the elder Scipio in their
longer life.

Burlington, Vermont. )
On Lake Champlain, 2d August. (
On the 31st of July we paid several visits ; took a long walk
on the right bank of the mighty river ; surveyed the city of Que
bec, which lay in front of us, from many beautiful points of view
at different elevations ; and admired the rising, falling, and vari
ously indented line of mountains, and the richly cultivated fore
ground. At 5 P. M. we embarked in the steamboat Lord
Sydenham, and proceeded, partly in the day time and partly by
night, to Montreal. On the first of August, at nine in the morn
ing, we crossed the river in another steamboat to La Prairie, on
the right bank. From here we went by railway through a level,
monotonous region, to St. John's. Instead of wasting our time
on a too early dinner, we walked about the growing town and
over the long bridge that crosses the Sorel. At one we again
30

462 LETTERS. i
went on board a steamboat, and reached Burlington at seven in
the evening ; where, after long fasting, we sat down to a good
dinner in the American Hotel. In twenly-six hours we must
have passed over 240 miles. The flat, characterless country of
La Prairie, and the level banks of the Sorel, afforded no enjoy
ment, and excited but slight hopes. These rose however when
we entered Lake Champlain : and as we approached Burlington,
the scenery improved so much, that I set it down among the
most beautiful I had ever seen.

Albany, on the Hudson, )
State of New York, August 6th. J
My first favorable impression of the country round Burling
ton was confirmed the next day, the 2d of August. A morning
walk — partly indeed through wet meadows — gave us charming
glimpses of scenery; and from the top of the University, or
rather College, we saw a rich and beautiful panorama. In Ihe
afternoon, Mr. W., the president of the College, very kindly
accompanied us round the neighborhood, and showed us some
delightful views. On one side we had the large lake, indented
with green tongues of land, and dotted with islands of various
size ; while far off were seen the wavy line of the mountains of
New York. In the distance rose, like a gently swelling bosom,
the town itself, with its straight streets ornamented with trees ;
behind it, on the Vermont side, appeared hills of many forms
and cultivated valleys, among which a winding stream found its
way while still further off, the horizon was bounded by the
magnificent and rightly named Green Mountains of Vermont
In addition to this enjoyment of nature, we had in Burlington
a literary surprise. A Mr. M., a member of Congress, to whom
Mr W. introduced us, had an excellent Spanish and Portuguese
library His Swedish and Danish collection was still more
richly furnished ; and as to Icelandic lore, there was perhaps not
a book relating to it that was wanting. He had completed an
Icelandic grammar, the printing of which had only been pre
vented by minor considerations. _
On the 2d of August, in the evening (there is unfortunately
no dav boat), we proceeded, in the neat and elegant steamboat
Burlington, through Lake Champlain to Ticonderoga. As in
St John's all the beds were engaged by travellers, so that I was
obliged to stretch myself out on a hard bench, I had hoped that
I should be able to indemnify myself on reaching this place
But here too the only hotel was so uncommonly crowded, that 1
wa forced to pass the latter half of the night in wretched guise

LETTERS. 463
on some chairs, between open doors and broken windows.
Accordingly the morning of the third of August found me very
weary and broken down ; and the view of the ruined fort of
Ticonderoga (which is far behind that of Burlington) failed to raise
my spirits to a very brilliant pitch, — since loud and low the news
was repeated, that there would hardly come carriages enough at
noon to convey us to Caldwell on Lake George ! When at last
they arrived, we took in great haste the worst but undisputed
places on the top of the coach, while the people were quarrelling
for inside seats. One stout lady told the driver she would pay
for two, so that a gendeman who had placed himself next her
should not touch the seat. In the evening we reached Caldwell
in a steamboat. It is pleasantly situated on Lake George. This
lake is much smaller than Champlain, and presents better defined
prospects on both sides. Its shores are much richer in vege
tation than those of the lakes of Scotland ; but, owing to their
steep declivities, they are less cultivated than many German and
Italian lakes. On the whole, the scenery is finer than on any of
the great lakes of the West. An unpromising morning was suc
ceeded by a beautiful afternoon and evening ; and I thought at
intervals of the Berlin University celebration, without envying
our friend L., who is probably entertaining his unlearned audi
tors with Latin, which they do not understand. This they call
keeping up the ancient elevation and dignity of learning!
On the morning of the fourth, we first drove with two Ameri
cans and an Englishman to the falls of the Hudson. These preci
pitate themselves over picturesque rocks of dark granite ; and their
power, as at Rochester, is partly appropriated to useful purposes.
We then left for Saratoga, the principal watering-place in the
United States. In the new world as in the old, people go mad
after these sour, salt, bitter, sulphurous waters, — when the stomach
is too full, and the head is empty. It is looked upon as the
triumph and highest enjoyment of the fashionable world, to spend
their time here from morning to night, in play, gossip, and danc
ing, dressing and undressing, eating and drinking, &c! Twice
I held a special review of the ladies, — by daylight, as they were
pouring out of the much frequented church ; and by candlelight,
when, after tea, they commenced in narrow file their endless
elliptical procession. Were I a modist, what lengthy descriptions
I would and could furnish on the subject of dress ! But in this
respect, it is just the same with America as with Europe. There
is no " self-government " here, but a slavish subjection to the arbi
trary sway of Parisian fashions.
 From Saratoga, the rail-car conveyed us to Troy. We
had a noble view from Mount Ida, but found neither a Helen nor
an Andromache in this region. One thing, however, is certain';

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that King Priam and his numerous family had no such " comfortg,
conveniences, and accommodations," as are at the command of
every inhabitant of this modern, unpoetical Ilium.
Yesterday afternoon we arrived here, after an agreeable pas
sage on the upper Hudson. Albany, the seat of government of
the state of New York, is a considerable town, with handsome
public buildings. From the Capitol and the City Hall, very fine
views are obtained of the city, the river, and the adjacent country.

(New York, 8th August.
 — The day before yesterday we spent very delightfully
in Albany. The hotel, Congress Hall, is an excellent one ; and
Mr. O'R., Mr. H, a natural philosopher, and Mr. S., a reverend
gentleman, accompanied us around, and gave us information
concerning many things. Yesterday, we came down the Hudson,
in the large and beautiful steamboat Troy, from Albany to New
York. The scenery on the river is very celebrated, and has
often been compared to that of the Rhine. Hills, perpendicular
rocks, curved inlets, thriving towns, elegant country seats on the
heights, — all form such a delightful variety, that not a moment
of weariness or exhaustion is experienced. There is much simi
larity and much dissimilarity between the Rhine and the Hudson
The latter sometimes expands to the width of a lake ; the former,
with its more beautiful color, keeps within the bounds of a river.
Woods here take the place of vineyards ; and there is seen the
elegant mansion of the gentleman of fortune, instead of the
feudal castle. The Rhine is the more poetical, from its ruins
and manifold associations ; and it is perhaps too readily forgotten,
that the poorer sort there once suffered from noble freebooters,
ill treatment such as can never fall to the lot of free American
citizens. Even now the habitations of the poor vine-dressers are
far meaner than those of the dwellers on the Hudson. Individual
spots, such as West Point, can compare with the most beautiful
on the Rhine ; though on the Whole, the rocks and mountains of
the latter are bolder and more fantastic. To the enjoyment of
this magnificent scenery there were not wanting, alas ! the usual
American dampers upon enthusiasm in travelling, — to wit, a
hoarse hawking and cawing as if from a flock of crows, and a
brown spring of odoriferous tobacco-juice whose supply knew
neither failure nor diminution. The sea-sickness, against which
no human will can aught avail, is natural and bearable in com
parison with this voluntary, self-indulgent filthiness.

LETTERS. 465
New York, 14th August, 1S44.
Among the youthful, luxuriantly thriving states of North Ame
rica, there is scarcely a single city, that has retrograded, oppressed
by the preponderating force of circumstances, like Venice and
some other places in Europe. On the contrary, there is naught
but progress, wherever the powers of the industrious men and
wise institutions can be brought into play. But some few cities,
among many that are making equal advances, are so favored by
nature, that they already, or must very soon surpass all others. I
reckon among these St. Louis, New Orleans, and New York.
Boston, Cincinnati, Pittsburg, Rochester, Philadelphia, Baltimore,
Buffalo, Charleston, Savannah, and others, have a definite, and
as it were prescribed and limited sphere of operation ; beyond
which they cannot pass, without interfering with others, and en
croaching or being encroached upon. But the three above nam
ed cities are, as I may say, the hearts, or pulses, which diffuse life
and motion in all directions, and receive it from every side. Their
destiny, their mission, is a natural one ; and the more other states
and cities advance, the more their greatness and importance must
increase. Boston, though now connected with the Hudson by a
railroad, has no large, navigable river, and lies too far north and
out of the way, to be able ever to rival New York in business
and consequence. Cincinnati, notwithstanding its wonderful
development, has more or less formidable rivals in Louisville,
Pittsburg, and Buffalo. Cairo, at the junction of the Ohio and
Mississippi, seems, on the map, designed to be one of the first of
cities ; but its low situation, exposed to inundations, renders futile
all these plans and hopes.
St. Louis, on the contrary, is a natural, indispensable central
point of trade and intercourse, from the source of the Mississippi
to its mouth. Every day the immense country around the
Missouri extends in importance and increases in population.
Finally, by means of the Illinois and the canals and railroads
shortly to be constructed, its connexion with Chicago and the
great lakes will be rendered as easy as it will be comprehensive.
New Orleans is the starting-point or terminus of all the com
merce of the immeasurable valley of the Mississippi. Although
this river can present but slight claims to varied beauty of scenery,
it is, or will be, together with its branches, the most important in
the world. The restless activity of the people whose territory it
drains must lead to unexampled prosperity ; it will even remove
more or less the insalubrity of certain spots, such as New Orleans,
by means of dams, aqueducts, cultivation of the soil, &c. ; and will
produce, export, and import to a greater extent than the boldest
can now venture to anticipate. The St. Lawrence has more
beauty than the Mississippi ; but it keeps within the same degrees

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of latitude, and flows in a far too northerly direction, ever to equal
the Mississippi in respect to trade and intercourse. The greatest
advantage of the last mentioned river is, that it flows through so
many degrees of latitude, and that its course is from north to
south. Were its course reversed — did it empty for instance into
Lake Superior, or still further north, it would be, in spite of its
supply of water, as unimportant and useless as the rivers of
Siberia. As St. Louis is a connecting central point, and New Orleans
the outlet for exportation, so New York is the chief place of im
portation in the United States. Since the time when the wisdom
and perseverance of Morris and De Witt Clinton connected the
Hudson with the great lakes by means of the Erie canal, there
has been an uninterrupted chain of navigation, to which the world
can show nothing equal, from the Atlantic ocean to Lake Superior,
the Rocky mountains of the west, and the Gulf of Mexico. How
natural then do we see the past and future growth of New York
to be, of which I have already spoken in another place. The
situation of the city and its environs, is beautiful, and has even
been compared with that of Naples. The comparison, however,
is not altogether appropriate. There is very little of the activity of
business in Naples ; the number of the ships, that sign of really
industrious life, is insignificant; its houses are less convenient;
the streets are many of them crooked and gloomy, &c. On the
other hand, New York has no Vesuvius, and no islands of such
note as Capri, Ischia, Nisida, and Procida ; its heights are insig
nificant in comparison with those of Sorrento and Castel a Mare ;
and it lacks the fanciful picturesqueness which even Neapolitan
beggary exhibits, and a climate producing the myrtle and the
orange. But why meddle with comparisons; why not rather
acknowledge without criticism the beauty and excellence of what
we have before us 1
New York covers a sharp triangular piece of ground ; whose
shortest side is towards the country in the interior, and whose two
longer sides are washed by the Hudson and the East river. At
the point where they may be said to meet, the eye wanders over
large bodies of water, and distant shores and islands ; and sees
ships and steamboats lying at anchor, or coming and going in
rapid succession. On this beautiful spot is a piece of ground or
garden planted with large trees, called the Battery ; which with
justice is diligently frequented and highly esteemed by the New
Yorkers. It is unique in the world (as everything individual is
unique) ; but, to allow myself once more to be tempted into a
comparison by excessive praise, the Piazzetta in tragic, expiring
Venice, — with its St Mark's, its Campanile, its palace of the
Doges, its Procuratie, and the islands, churches, and fantastic build-

LETTERS. 467
ings opposite— appears to me more beautiful and poetic than any
thing which the Battery exhibits or can call to mind by the aid of
association. From the Battery the principal street, Broadway, runs
through the whole length of the city. It is by far the liveliest and
most frequented of all ; and in this respect reminds one of Oxford
street and the Strand in London. Many other streets run parallel
to it ; and many cross Broadway at right angles. The latter
however are much shorter than the former ; since the city, on
account of the rivers that enclose it, can extend only in length,
and not in breadth. Nevertheless, Hoboken on the Jersey side,
and Brooklyn and Williamsburgh on the other side of the East
river, considering their short distance, and the easy connection by
steamboats, may be regarded as portions of New York. Brook
lyn, in particular, has grown astonishingly of late years. It stands
on the slopes and tops of hills ; and thus may be said to afford
finer views and prospects than the whole city of New York,
which is level throughout. Hoboken, on the other side of the
Hudson, is likewise situated on heights, which towards the inte
rior spread out into plains ; while on the river side the descent is
abrupt, and a beautiful walk leads down to the water's edge.
When we visited Hoboken, many persons had gone over to wit
ness the herculean feats of two Ellsler brothers. The show cost
nothing; as the proprietors looked for a recompense to the
increased number of passengers in the ferry-boats. The specta
tors of both sexes differed in no respects from our Berlin people,
while the ladies of the American beau monde seem now and then
to pitch their taste a note higher. At least dposteriori, certain parts
exhibit an extent and circumference corresponding to the mag
nitude of America as compared with that of Europe ; while the
lower classes are fain to content themselves with Heaven's natu
ral gifts.
 Mr. W. had the kindness to invite us to the country
seat of his mother-in-law on Staten Island. We made in his com
pany the circuit of the whole island ; in which the simplicity of
nature is charmingly diversified and blended with the cultivation
of fields and gardens, with small dwelling-houses and elegant
villas. The surrounding prospect from the top of the house,
extending over the island, the rivers, the city, and the sea, was
exceedingly rich and beautiful. New York, like all American
towns, has a great many churches, some of which are elegant ;
but there is only one, now building in the Gothic style, that can
be named beside the great churches of Europe. On the other
hand, the aqueducts, reservoirs, water-pipes, and fountains, for
the use and embellishment of the city, form a work that can be
placed by the side of the greatest undertakings of the kind ; nay,
in boldness, solidity, adaptedness, utility, and extent, it is perhaps

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without an equal. Compared with these, the Egyptian pyra
mids seemed to me mere monuments of thoughtless despotism.
The water-works of New York have cost immense labor, and a
very great amount of money, which in part has been borrowed
on interest, and has not yet been repaid. Unjust as I deem it,
that the present generation should supply its wants, its enjoyments,
or its fancies at the expense of posterity; I cannot but think it
proper that in the execution of schemes involving vast efforts, but
extending real blessings to after ages, the expenditure should be
borne in part by those who in coming years will derive their share of
the advantage. The opposite principle, strictly carried out, would
deter from great enterprises that promise to benefit the future.
 You must not expect me to record every visit paid,
every courtesy rendered, or every piece of information furnished ;
but I cannot help mentioning Mr. Gallatin. Born in Geneva, and
once engaged in the most important offices in the United States,
he still retains, in his eighty-fourth year, his youthful energy of
mind and interest in every thing that is worth knowing. I was
the more pleased with his views of banks and paper money
(which I already knew in part from his writings), from the fact
that they agreed with the results of my own inquiries and obser
vations. Gallatin was present in Geneva at the first histori
cal lectures of Johannes Muller. A French officer expressing him
self displeased at what Muller said concerning the vanity and
other defects of the government of Louis XIV., little Muller
replied with emphasis, while a sense of dignity seemed to lend
him an increase of stature, " Sir, what bravery is to an officer
(namely, indispensable), that is love of truth and impartiality to an
historian." The latter, it is true, is often condemned and calum
niated for this ; but he must not lose that very courage that
belongs to his profession.

New York, August 18th.
Next to London, New York is the first commercial city in the
civilized world ; for even Liverpool is less varied in its commer
cial business, and has altogether less to attract and instruct. The
number of omnibuses in Broadway, the great thoroughfare, is
greater in proportion than in London ; and the noise is louder, as
they have not yet introduced wooden pavements, as in Oxford
street. The houses for ihe most part are three windows in width,
and built of red bricks, neatly pencilled with white lines. They
are of very different heights, from one story to three, and less
frequently four or even five. The shops, some of which are very
rich and tasteful, offer almost every thing the earth produces or

LETTERS. 469
men manufacture for sale. The disposition to go straight to the
point as simply and briefly as possible, evinces itself in many
things ; for instance, in the above mentioned omnibuses. In Lon
don a driver sits in front, and another man stands at the door
behind, to let the passengers in and out, and take the money.
The Americans dispense with this second functionary. The
driver receives the fare through a little hole behind his seat ;
a strap fastened to the door and around his foot gives him the
control over those who get in and out ; One pull at the strap
signifies that he is to stop on the right side of the street, two pulls
direct him to the left. New York has fewer squares than the
West end, but more than the old city of London, and some very
fine fountains, — a proof that even democracy knows how to
unite the beautiful with the useful. It is true that European
sovereigns have often done more in this respect than so-called
constitutional assemblies ; but the searcher of history should not
on that account forget the achievements of this sort in republican
Athens, Florence, Venice, and young aspiring America.

New York, August 20th.
 On the evening of the 16th, we embarked again on
board a steamboat, arrived at midnight at West Point, and
scrambled in the darkness up to the hotel upon the heights. The
attendant whom we knocked up, carried us to a still greater
height; and I submitted in the hope of a fine prospect. But
when he showed us into a cell without a window, and immedi
ately under the roof, which was horribly hot and full of impure
air, I demanded another apartment. He answered, there was no
other empty. H. submitted in silence, but I gave free course to
my tongue, and ordered him to take the beds and follow me. He
obeyed; and I marched down stairs, entered the best room I
could find, and told him to make up the beds there. He replied
in astonishment that this was the " ladies' parlor," and I could
not by any means be allowed to desecrate it. I brought him to
the door in the midst of his remonstrances, and, as he endeavored
to possess himself of the key, pushed him fairly out, and lock
ed the door; I did not concern myself about the talking which
he kept up on the outside, but slept extremely well, undisturbed
by any apparition of American ladies.
The 19th we rambled about the magnificent country in the
vicinity, and clambered up to Fort Putnam. The Hudson flows
between mountains of varied forms. Its course is turned aside
by the jutting promontory of West Point ; and after a bend in
the form of a semicircle, it flows on towards New York. The

470 LETTERS.
heights are mostly covered with trees ; but the more level portions
are cultivated and embellished with buildings. The large Mili
tary Academy established here is admirably conducted, and is a
most useful institution for the United States. The young people
show excellent training, and more propriety of demeanor, polite
ness, and dexterity, than many other undrilled republicans.

New York, 21st August.
— — — Yesterday was a day of honor for me. Several
Germans, headed by Messrs. R., P., and B., had arranged a
party of pleasure at a hotel in New Brighton, on Staten Island.
The situation of the hotel, ils architectural beauty, and internal
arrangements, were all worthy of admiration. H. and I were
called for by those gentlemen in their carriage, and conducted on
board a steamboat chartered for the occasion, where we were
welcomed by German music, with German flags flying. How
richly our physical wants were provided for, is shown by the bill
of fare which lies beside me ; but the intellectual feast gave me
much greater pleasure still. So warm an attachment was evinced
for our old Fatherland, so just an appreciation of its excellences,
so much sense and spirit in the speeches and toasts, that (even if
they had contained no personal reference to myself) I must
reckon this among the most delightful and most memorable
entertainments at which I have ever been present. With great
justice and delicacy the president, Mr. B., spoke at first not of
me, but of Germany. The second toast he proposed to my
health ; and others afterwards, with great friendliness, followed
his example. These excessive praises constrained me to
modesty. I have perhaps never in my life felt how little I am,
as sensibly as in this moment of flattering distinction, thousands
of miles from home. Remembrances of our noble country, de
sires for its prosperity and that of youthful America, joy at still
being able to live and learn, thoughts of individual insignifi
cance, a glance towards the dose of my already long life, &c,
passed in rapid succession through heart and brain, in a man
ner that nothing short of the most powerful excitement could
produce. Hence I scarcely knew what I meant to say, or what
I did say. I believe it was somewhat as follows : Gentlemen,
this festival and this reception give me the greatest delight, and
awaken my most heartfelt gratitude. But though your worthy
speaker has designated me as a man who possesses much and
can liberally expend, I must disclaim his praise, and say of my;
self in the words of the poet, " It is but little that I have anoj
am ; and what I have, that owe I unto others." As in France^

LETTERS. 471
England, and Italy, so too in America, I have incurred great
debts . That I have come hither notwithstanding my advanced
age, and that the desire to learn still animates and aids me on,
is the sole praise to which I may perhaps aspire. The thought
of Germany, the love of Germany, has assembled you here
together ; and this is perfectly compatible with attachment to
your newly adopted country and a just estimate of the advan
tages it affords. Germanic civilization is now penetrating into
all parts of the world : it reveals itself in countless physical
and mental efforts and achievements, from Transylvania to Liver
pool, New York, Oregon, China,— from Tornea to the Cape of
Good Hope,— from Baffin's Bay to Texas. Would he be a true
gardener, who should wish to lop off and cast away some of the
branches of a stately tree, not perceiving that they all at last
united into one stem ? Or shall the fable of the Sybilline leaves
be repeated : shall some parts of the great Germanic family be
devoted to destruction, to enhance the value of the rest? Heaven
forbid ! The glorious mission entrusted by Providence to the
nations of the Germanic stock, of promoting the advancement
of the whole human race, can be accomplished only by the
manifold exertions of each in its proper sphere, and by unity
among themselves. Here's to the prosperity of the old and the
new countries ! May the physical impediments to their free in
tercourse keep constantly diminishing, and may they become
more and more united in mind and heart ! Germany and the
United States of America !
 We had seen but a part of the wonderful water-works
of New York. Accordingly Mr. W. accompanied us to the more
distant portions of the structure. The water is conveyed in a
closed aqueduct to the declivity of a broad and deep valley with
a river in its midst ; it passes in monstrous pipes underneath the
river ; forms at the lowest point a magnificent fountain ; ascends,
according to hydrostatic laws, the other side of the hill ; and then
runs in a narrow conduit to the reservoir already mentioned. But
in order that those pipes may not hereafter impede the navigation
of the river, fourteen monstrous granite pillars are grounded in
the bed of the river, and raised to the elevation of the heights on
either side. These are to be connected by arches into a bridge,
over which the water will then be carried.
The Romans never executed any thing bolder or grander.
The utility of these water-conduits to the city — for the purposes
of drinking, washing, cleansing the streets, factories of all kinds,
baths, and fountains — is incomparably greater than one at first
imagines. Here art and beauty go with usefulness hand in
hand. The democracy of a city has here accomplished more than

472 LETTERS.
many a great monarch. — In the afternoon we went with the
amiable young S. over to Brooklyn, to the justly celebrated ceme
tery ; which attracts the living by the beautiful manner in which
it is laid out, and promises to each a place of calm repose.

Philadelphia, 23d August.
Yesterday at nine o'clock we crossed in a steamboat from New
York to New Jersey, and proceeded on the railroad to the Dela
ware, and thence in another steamboat to Philadelphia. This
distance of one hundred miles was performed in six hours, at a
cost of four dollars each person. The country is green, and in
part well cultivated, but not picturesque. We stopped at the
Franklin House ; where one may breakfast and dine by the carte,
when and how he pleases.
 After finishing my work, I took a long walk to-day
through the city, to the other side of the bridge over the Schuyl
kill. I had an opportunity of seeing great numbers of women
coming out of church. They were all more simply, naturally,
and tastefully dressed, and accordingly looked far better, than those
fashionable ladies, whose ideal of female beauty seems to be a
pipe-stem stuck upon a beer-barrel. As to the city itself, I will
not enter into details that are to be found in every traveller's
guide : concerning, for instance, its long, straight, wide streets,
some set out with trees ; its cleanliness, so great that even the
side- walks are scoured, and the lower parts of the houses washed ;
the spacious "squares" planted with uncommonly beautiful trees;
the neat and tasteful churches ; the numerous porches and door
steps of white marble ; the balustrades of elegant iron-work, &c.
Of Quakerdom, so far as it may be externally visible, I have as
yet observed nothing.

Philadelphia, 24th August.
This has been equally a day of enjoyment and instruction.
Mr. R. came for us in a carriage, and we visited with him first
the engine manufactory of Mr. Norris. He employs about three
hundred persons, who are paid from five to eight dollars per week.
Yet he is able to furnish steam-engines to Austria, and wants no
high duties. Of the great and much talked of Prison and House
of Refuge I have given an account elsewhere. The water-works
here deserve the most honorable mention beside those of New
York. A mighty dam restrains the waters of the Schuylkill,
which are raised by means of immense wheels to the reservoirs

LETTERS. 473

above; whence it is then distributed throughout the city in a
highly appropriate manner. A cemetery near the Schuylkill,
formed by the exertions of Mr. R., extending over hills and slopes,
and abounding in beautiful trees, monuments, and views, iyievt
to Pere la Chaise and Greenwood, the most beautiful I havHFeen.

Philadelphia, 28th August "
Yesterday, through the uncommon kindness and attention of
several gentlemen, and of Dr. D. in particular, proved a highly
entertaining and instructive day. First Dr. D. took us to the
Athenaeum, a scientific institution possessing a good library and
a reading-room. The Philosophical Society has existed already
one hundred years, and has performed meritorious services of
various kinds. We saw there a number of curiosities : immense
mammoth-bones ; rude works of art from Central America ; the
original of the Declaration of Independence ; and a picture of
Jefferson, which represents him older, but much handsomer and
more intellectual looking, than other portraits. In the State
House we saw the hall, as it was when the Declaration of Inde
pendence was signed in it; and obtained from the cupola an
extensive and delightful prospect over the great city and its envi
rons. Dr. D. then took us in his carriage successively to the
Insane Asylum, the Poor House, the Institution for the Blind,
and the gas-works. These establishments are not only large and
well adapted to their objects, but the two first are so magnificently
appointed, that they look like palaces.
—  On the 29th we went by railroad in a northwesterly
direction through Reading to Pottsville ; and sawwhat inexhaus
tible treasures of coal are found there. This portion of country
will gradually become as black as Newcastle upon Tyne and
Wolverhampton. On the 30th we returned to Reading ; took,
under the guidance of a German preacher and his sexton, a look
at the lovely country from the top of a steeple ; and in the even
ing reached Harrisburg. In the German Hotel, a bootjack and
slippers were offered us for the first time ; and a pair of snuffers
lay on the candlestick. But the German was of a very mixed
description, as : Morgen ist ein offentliches Vendu ! Wo werden
Sie hinaus travellen ? Wo stoppen Sie ? and the like. From the
State House in Harrisburg the view of the surrounding landscape
is very fine, especially over the Susquehanna, its islands, the
nearer hills, and more distant mountains. From Harrisburg we
proceeded through a pleasant and well cultivated country to
Lancaster. The population of these tracts is chiefly German ;

474 LETTERS.
and the women, girls, and children had a healthy, hearty, pretty,
and cheerful appearance, such as I have hardly met with before
in America. The general paleness therefore cannot be altogether
the^Epct of climate.
-^-  Last evening I had a long and instructive conversa
tion with Mr. B., one of the most esteemed leaders of the demo
cratic party. So far this lateral excursion turned out as well as
could be desired; though here too a few drawbacks were not
wanting. The stage-coach from Reading to Harrisburg was
small and crowded ; and the road such, that we were tossed about
for twelve hours like foxes in a blanket. A babe in arms, which
with its tender mother occupied a seat at my side, loudly mani
fested from the first its reasonable displeasure ; and even gave
warning to a lady who was stepping in, by bespewing her from
top to bottom. On the lady's showing her horror at this recep
tion, the mother quietly observed : " Oh, that's nothing ; the child
is only a tittle unwell," &c.
 — Several Germans residing in Philadelphia invited me
with the utmost kindness to an evening entertainment, given on
my behalf. We sat at three long tables and one cross one. Be
fore me on elegant tables stood my immortal works, and two
emperors of the Hohenstauffens, the whole made of perishable
sugar,— a present from a friendly pastrycook. My health was
drunk; and afterwards that of Clio the muse of history, the
President of the United States and the King of Prussia, fi., my
brother Charles (proposed by Mr. Linden, one of his Nuremberg
pupils), besides many more. The warmest attachment to Ger
many was displayed by all, and in the most pleasing manner.
Full of emotion and gratitude, I returned to my lodgings at mid
night ; and was retiring to bed, when a band of music sounded
under my windows, and gave me a hearty serenade.
Of the excellent speech of the president of the company, Dr.
Hering, in reference to Germany, I will give some passages (not
relating to myself) from an extract in the papers. It is there
said : Dr. Hering passed in brief review the many different occa
sions on which the Germans of Philadelphia had united together.
How they had maintained German churches and schools ; had
founded benevolent societies, libraries, and settlements ; had
formed military companies, singing clubs, and so forth. He
called to mind particularly their celebration of the jubilee in
honor of the discovery of printing, " when the trees before the
Court House, which have seen and heard so much, rustled to
their German choral songs." And then it was remarked : " This
is the first time that a German scholar has been welcomed by the
citizens of German origin." Princes, it was said, have indeed
come over, " to see a country without princes ;" but " they had

LETTERS. 475
forgotten that many an old king and emperor could only sign
their names with a cross, and yet knew well enough how to
govern." " Natural philosophers," continued the speaker, " have been
here ; physicians have also come over, who have visited our pri
sons and our hospitals. But this time it is an historical inquirer,
who comes to see, not the prisoners, but the free ; not the sick,
but the healthy. Let us then, as such, bid him welcome."
¦  " The Germans have no colonies beyond the sea, like
the English and Spaniards, or even the French and Russians.
But are there not also intellectual colonies ? And have not we
Germans established such colonies over the whole circuit of the
earth ? colonies where German science and arts, German indus
try, and German perseverance, have formed settlements among
other nations?
" Yes, gentlemen, and we, we are such an intellectual colony !
And to intellectual Germany we all still belong ! . . .
" The colonies of England and Spain have separated from the
parent states ; but these German colonies will never rend asunder
the tie that binds them to their early home."
My reply, which I also extract from the newspapers, was as
follows : " Gentlemen, I beg to tender you my most sincere and
heartfelt thanks, for all the kindness and distinction you have
shown me. Should it be asserted, that I do not merit this flattering
consideration, I would at once decidedly answer, that with this
opinion I fully coincide ! But then who can say that he is deserv
ing of all the love and kindness shown him by parents, kindred,
friends, and countrymen ? Or who could have the intolerable
presumption and self-esteem, to institute a debit and credit
account of the countless blessings he receives from above ? If
then in this sense I accept your kindness, I offend against no
law of modesty ; on the contrary, an obstinate rejection would
savor of insensibility and ingratitude.
" Here I might close my address, if it only concerned myself.
But as custom permits the addition of other remarks of various
kinds, I trust you will not be displeased, if I claim your atten
tion a few moments longer. If an American citizen of German
origin, in view of the extraordinary advantages and the gigantic
progress of his new country, should deplore with tender sorrow
the approaching dotage of Germany, or call upon her in noble
indignation to know her own strength, and press forward with
rapid course to higher aims,' — it could scarcely be wondered at
or blamed. And yet such a view of things would be too exclu
sively American. The Germans are perfectly well aware of
many domestic wants and imperfections ; but do not wish a sin
gle ruler, with forcible, iron hand, to suddenly sweep them away,

476 LETTERS.
even were he a Peter or a Frederick the Great. Nor do they
imagine that these evils are to be removed by imitating the revo
lutions of neighboring nations ; but they look forward to a Ger
man development, from German principles and elements. I may
refer to the matter of slavery in these United States, as a proof that
there are admitted evils and maladies, which even the greatest
statesmen are unable to heal at once. Did Germany contain the
greatest, most important, most salutary of remedies in such
abundance as America, — did she possess fertile districts of land
without a master, — she would free herself with ease from the
various wants and cares with which she has so often been
reproached. But has nothing been done in Germany, because
all is not yet done! Many) young men forget, in their noble
longings after further improvements, the important occurrences
of the last forty years. I will not endeavor to excite your admi
ration by relating how the flame of victorious enthusiasm burst
forth from the depths of abasement, and how Germany arose
like a phoenix from her ashes ; I will only allude to the internal
reforms which were introduced into Prussia under the govern
ment of one of the worthiest of kings. The burden of main
taining the cavalry and providing relays, was taken off the
people ; the duty and honor of defending the country were
assigned to all, the barriers between city and county removed,
the exemption from taxation abolished, the freedom of trades
introduced, and the citizens placed on an equality with the
nobles, and one church with another. Excellent municipal ordi
nances took the place of very defective institutions ; millions of
dependent peasantry were boldly raised to the rank of free pro
prietors ; and for schools, art, and science more was done than
perhaps in any other country. Lastly, the German Zollverein
has embraced all the states, increased their internal prosperity,
and strengthened 1heir power abroad. If the outstretched hand of
Germany was not immediately accepted by the United States,
causes may be assigned for it whose discussion would here be
out of place; but we should all live in the hope and expectation,
that by earnest and well directed efforts, all difficulties and hin
drances may be removed. When two noble nations, when fifty
millions of people desire to tread a new path, which for ages to
come must ensure peaceful blessings to both, the event must not
be allowed to depend on petty calculations or cunning attempts
to overreach one another; but must be based on great principles
and conclusions, and on the firm determination never blindly or
cowardly to submit to the dictation of any opposing power.
" There certainly remains much to wish for and to do, in
Germany, in America, and in all the countries of the world.
Let each then, according to his best knowledge and ability, co-ope-

LETTERS. 477
rate with word and deed ; and let none forget, that he who de
spairs of his country is never in the right !
" Having thrown out these remarks as an old man of business,
permit me to add another as an author. It is with pleasure that I
behold the great interest displayed by the Germans in America on
behalf of their ancient fatherland. But many of those who immi
grated hither would in their former circumstances devote little
or no time to the German language and literature ; and there is
danger that the language as spoken here will gradually become
impure, or be forgotten altogether. This danger can by no
means be obviated by neglecting to study the English ; on the
contrary, it is my opinion, that the acquisition of the latteris both
a duty and an advantage. But the former should not therefore
be given up. He who makes himself master of two languages,
and two literatures of such richness and extent, doubles his
powers, his knowledge, and his enjoyment. With these views,
some of the states (as Ohio for instance) have founded schools for
instruction in both tongues ; and if I mistake not, there is another
means at hand, whereby an extraordinary progress may be
insured in this respect. 1 consider the establishment of school and
district libraries as one of the happiest, most successful, and most
valuable institutions in America. Education, which almost
every where closes very imperfectly with the years of boyhood, is
thus in an easy and salutary manner extended throughout life.
If in these collections, German as well as English works are
introduced, the happiest results cannot fail to ensue, both for the
increase of knowledge, and for the preservation of the language
in its purity.
" But it is high time to break off observations that might be
indefinitely spun out. Instead, .therefore, of a longer speech,
I will merely give you — since custom permits it — a text to
many speeches by way of a toast. ' May true freedom, which
ever goes hand in hand with law and order, and true science,
which is never opposed to genuine religion and morality, grow,
flourish, blossom, and bear fruit in Germany and in these United
States !' "
Thus you see I was able sincerely and cordially to praise many
things in our fatherland. Other things there are so totally opposed
to the views and convictions which prevail here, that it is best to
say nothing about them ; and others again, which I really cannot
understand myself, e. g. the form of our legislation with eight
quasi-parliaments, twenty-five governments, thirteen ministers,
and a many-headed state council ! At least in the whole history
of the world there is nothing like it to be met with.

31

478

LETTERS.

Hartford, Connecticut.
On the 5th of September we went in a steamboat from New
York to New Haven. The weather was fine, though cool. The
sun has still great power here during the day ; but in the
mornings and evenings, the thermometer ranges from 48° to 54 1°.
Our friend T  's place of residence is situated in one of the
most delightful towns in America; so elegant and tasteful are
many of the houses, the streets so well shaded with trees, the
churches and public edifices so handsomely built, and the views
so fine from some neighboring hills.
 On Friday, the 6th, Mr. O. showed us some brilliant
experiments with prismatic tights ; afterwards we visited, under C.
B.'s guidance, a school conducted on the Lancasterian plan. The
rooms were large and well lighted, and the mode of instruction
has been found successful. Several boys, for instance, multiplied
in their heads the number 35,724 by 58,132. In Philadelphia
a girl solved an algebraic problem which was by no means a
very easy one.
On Saturday, the 7th, we proceeded to Hartford through a not
very fertile, but cultivated country ; and visited the college, the
prison, and the asylum for the insane. To-day we went to an
Episcopal church. The service lasted an hour and three quarters :
of which an hour and a quarter were spent in reading, praying,
and singing ; and half an hour in preaching. The sermon treated
first of the equality of all the attributes of the three Persons in the
Trinity, and of the diversity of their offices; and then of the tem
porary mediatorial kingdom of Christ, and the final absorption of
all things into the Godhead ; after which epoch, we were to live and
move in the perpetual and visible presence of God.
 An American recently said to me : " I can readily
comprehend that you need a king and a queen in Europe : but
to what purpose is the long train of useless and expensive princes
and princesses ?" I was not exactly disposed to enter into a long-
political discussion ; and merely observed in reply : The princes
may defend themselves for me, and show of what use they were
in the Spanish, Austrian, and Bavarian wars of succession ; but
I .must oppose the sentence of condemnation you have indis
criminately pronounced upon all princesses. Fancy to your
self a woman of great talents,the most finished education, and the
most indefatigable desire for knowledge ; an enthusiast for art and
science, and for all that is beautiful and good ; one possessed of
force of will and elevation of character, without detriment to female
gentleness and amiability ; imposing by her royal dignity, encour
aging by her cheerfulness and good humor ; of such transcendent
loveliness and grace, that a glance of her eye, a motion of her

LETTERS. 479

hand, wins even those who would fain pride themselves on a cold
independence. Are not this dignity of character, this wealth of
mind, this grace and beauty, more poetical, more influential, more
inspiring,— are they not a fairer after-growth and fruit of the so-
called dark ages, than all that newspapers and stump orations can
produce in our days ? " Ah, these are a poet's fables," said the
American. " They are an historian's truths," replied the European.

Boston, 10th September.
Yesterday at half past seven we left Hartford in a steamboat,
and ascended the Connecticut and a canal running alongside of
it to Springfield. We dined there, and reached Boston by the
railroad at seven in the evening. The whole country showed
great industry on the part of the farmers ; but it is neither pictu
resque, nor fertile. Were I a tiller of the soil, I would certainly
emigrate from this stony and scantily watered region to the far
more favored West.
 To your question, whether it is true, that Jefferson
whom I have so highly praised had illegitimate children by a
negress, and sold them as slaves, — I answer, after very careful
inquiries, that Madison, his most intimate friend ; Gallatin, secre
tary of state under his presidency; and several others who knew
Jefferson well, deny the assertion in the most unqualified manner.
Nor have his descendants the slightest knowledge of such a thing.
Andrews Norton, one of the most zealous whigs of New England,
remarks in the Select Journal of Foreign Periodical Literature
(iii. 99), concerning Hamilton's statement, on which the rumor is
grounded : " We have always been connected with the political
party which Jefferson opposed ; perhaps too there never was in
any country a man whose moral character was subjected to a
keener scrutiny and bitterer condemnation on the part of the
public ; moreover, we have heard many stories to his disadvan
tage ; some perhaps true, others false, — but this story, which a
stranger just arrived in the country has picked up somewhere, we
have never before known or heard of, and we have been unable
to find any one to whom it was not in like manner unknown. It
is in itself wholly and utterly incredible. Doubtless Mr. Hamil
ton can and will produce sufficient proofs of its truth ; for if he
cannot do so, no libeller that ever was put in the pillory more richly
deserved such punishment than the relater of this story."
To refute some doubts respecting Jefferson's views with regard
to banks, I cite the following passages from his Writings : " It is
folly to expect that by juggling tricks and banking dreams, money

480 LETTERS.
can be made out of nothing." — "Banking establishments are
more dangerous than standing armies."

Boston, September 11th.
Boston is more like a European city than any other in the
United States. It has grown up gradually, without any previously
designed, general, regular plan. Hence the streets are some of
them very crooked. The fronts of the houses show great variety ;
while the newer portions, which have been rapidly springing up
since the opening of the railroad to Albany, remind one of the
streets in the West End of London. A regular extension is dif
ficult, on account of several inlets and bodies of water, over
which long bridges lead to the suburbs. The " Common " and
the adjoining public garden form a delightful walk, like the Bat
tery in New York. The laying out of a number of squares to be
converted into parks, has been neglected ; and it is now too late
to repair the error. The high granile obelisk set up as a monu
ment of the bold and courageous beginning of the war, on
Bunker Hill, commands a very extensive and beautiful prospect.
The same may be said of the State House, which at a distance
reminds one of the Capitol at Washington.

Boston, 14th September.
Yesterday, having finished my work, we paid several visits,
and then went to the Athenaeum. Here we saw, first, a collection
of casts of ancient works of art, and many busts of celebrated
Americans. Secondly, a collection of original paintings and
copies, which on the whole appeared to me but mediocre in qua
lity. Thirdly, an exhibition of statuary by Mr. Crawford, an
American sculptor, comprised some good busts and a group, to
wit, Orpheus going down with Cerberus into hell. Under the
left arm he holds his lyre ; his outstretched right hand seems to
cover his face, or rather his eyes, from the glare of light. One
leg is thrown far forward, and his mantle floats backward in the
breeze. Criticism might find something to censure in this man
tle, and in the right arm ; but on the whole, the work shows a
remarkable progress in American art.

Boston, 15th September.
The new Custom House in Boston, which we visited in com
pany with the amiable and obliging Mr. T., is built almost entirely

LETTERS. 481
of granite, in noble style and fine proportions. Even in the roof
and stairs there is no combustible material whatever.
 — The Market House in Boston is spacious and cleanly.
No American city is without such a building, which is equally
agreeable and useful for protecting the buyers, sellers, and articles
brought for sale from the weather ; whereas in the capital city of
Prussia, which is moreover the residence of a court, every body
and every thing is exposed to the snow, the rain, the wind, and
the dust.
 ¦ — It appears as if many of the citizens of Boston (per
haps from their education and their close relations to England)
were impelled if not to an aristocratic tendency, at least to an
aversion to locofocoism. And yet they tell me, the difference
between the higher and lower classes is not so great as in New
York. Moreover, no where in the world does there exist such
a universal, finished, and withal quiet democracy, as in New
England. The use of compulsory influence, or of secret corrup
tion in elections, is a thing unheard of. An attempt, for instance,
to deprive of custom such mechanics and shopmen as would not
vote in obedience to the dictates of their employers and patrons,
would be immediately detected, and bring the offender to the
pillory. — During a doubtful election, one of the most respectable
men in Boston told his coachman to go to the poll and vote ;
supposing that he would follow his master's example. The
coachman replied, that he was quite indifferent as to this election,
and had not intended to go at all ; but if he went, he should
vote against his master's candidate, as he had always been
in the habit of doing. In another very dubious election, it is said,
the wealthiest man in the country was afraid that his free negro
servant, who enjoyed the right of suffrage, would vote contrary
to his wishes. His wife undertook to prevent it. She ordered
him to bottle off without stopping a large cask of wine ; and
when her husband returned, told him with great glee of the ma
noeuvre, by which she had imprisoned the negro in the cellar.
"But,"" replied her husband, "he was there and voted." — " Sci-
pio," said the lady to her servant, " did I not tell you to bottle
off that wine?" " Yes, ma'am, and so I did; but you see the
corks did not hold out ; so I had to get some more ; and while
the shopman was counting them out, why I had time to go and

vote

i»

Boston, September 19th.
 After dinner we visited Mount Auburn cemetery ; which
may rank with those near New York and Philadelphia, though

482 LETTERS.
it does not surpass them. Thence we went to a lake, on the shore
of which stand large buildings for keeping the ice, which is sent
from Boston to all parts of America, and even to China. A
simple machine, a kind of harrow, is drawn by horses lengthwise
and crosswise over the ice. The ice divided by these cracks,
breaks into large regular blocks ; which are easily taken out,
packed in masses as high as a house with layers of shavings and
sawdust between, and afterwards sent thousands of miles away,
without melting.
On the 17th I turned over, in the well provided and well
arranged Athenaeum, the latest volumes of some journals, particu
larly the notices of different works on America. A piquant attack
in the Foreign Quarterly of London, drew forth an equally sharp
retort in the North American. It attacks the prerogatives of birth,
the morals and manners of the royal family (George IV. and his
wife, the Duke of Cumberland, &c), the nobility and clergy,
the severity of the laws, the barbarity of English amusements
(such as boxing), the abuses of the factory system, the treatment
of Ireland, the language, the pretended originality of the English,
&c. I will give a short passage or two by way of specimens of
this parody upon the English reviewer's attack : " The great mass
of the English nation gibber their scanty thoughts in a complica
tion of hideous sounds, which neither gods nor men can compre
hend." " Every thing with them is transplanted from other
nations ; the waltz and transcendental philosophy were borrowed
from Germany. And surely, in the whole range of modern spec
tacles, there is not one so well suited to inspire serious reflections
upon the uncertainty of human affairs, as an Englishman of the
present day attempting to wind through the mazes of a waltz, or
to thread a dark problem of Teutonic metaphysics."
There is much dispute about the mode and formation of
English English and American English. At any rate the Ame
ricans have the right and the need to make further improvements
on their language ; and in this respect they are as little subject to
the pleasure of the English, as the latter are to the caprice of the
Americans. And yet their innovations and alterations are in
fact but few, if we consider how much and in how many things
their circumstances differ. Many of the English themselves
own that in the United States the language is spoken generally
with greater purity and uniformity, and with fewer differences of
dialect, than in England. Hence too it is universally intelligible;
although delicate English ears may detect the want of a certain
elegance of expression, and of a favorite modulation of the
voice. It is certainly in general more easy for a German, who
can make no pretensions to such connoisseurship, to understand
the Americans and the Scotch, than the English. — On occasion of

LETTERS. 483
some investigations into the uncommon difficulty of spelling and
reading English, Horace Mann remarks upon the almost incredi
ble difference between the written and spoken language; and
calls the five English vowels, on account of their various pro
nunciation, the five harlequins. But how frequently are the con
sonants too either changed in sound or passed over in silence
On the 18th we went on the railroad to the first manufactur
ing town in the United States,— Lowell. It is one of the won
ders of America, produced by intellect, industry, perseverance,
and virtue, — all in such measure and combination as are very
rarely to be found. It is astonishing that such a town, with so
many handsome houses, such immense factory buildings, and so
many thousand inhabitants (it had already 21,000 in 1840)
should have grown out of nothing in the course of twenty-two
years. I cannot forbear subjoining a few figures by way of
illustration.* The capital of the manufacturing companies
amounts to 11 millions of dollars ; there are 6,144 looms and
201,076 spindles. There are employed in the factories 2,345
men and 6,295 girls ; they make every week 1,425,000 yards of
cotton stuff; and use in the year 23 million pounds of cotton and
600,000 bushels of coals. The money paid in wages averages
$150,000 a month, &c. Great as these quantities may seem,
they are also to be found elsewhere ; but the most admirable
peculiarities of Lowell are altogether unique. The philanthro
pist who views the enormous strides of the factory system, and
reflects on all the well known and oft repeated evils with which
it is accompanied, cannot hear without anxiety and sadness of
the progress which Lowell is making in this direction ; but he
must see it, in order to become convinced that here, Heaven be
praised, the state of things is different, and, with the blessing of
God, it is to be hoped will continue so. Together with the houses
and factory buildings, there have arisen schools and churches.
And, what is still more important, all, without exception, employ
ers and employed, have been and are possessed with the firm
conviction, that their temporal welfare depends on that of each
other ; and that this can be permanently founded upon and secur
ed by morality and virtue alone. I mention a few facts ; but a
great many would be required to give an adequate idea of the
whole. Only a very small number of the female operatives
belong to the town itself; almost all the rest are daughters of
farmers in New England. They are sent willingly by their
parents to Lowell, and go themselves without reluctance ; for
instruction keeps pace with work, due precautions are taken to
guard their morals, and they are furnished with proper facilities
# For further particulars, see Appendix II.

484

LETTERS.

for laying up small sums of monsy. How altogether different
is it in Europe, where the highest wages which the employer
gives and can give; scarcely suffices to appease their hunger, and
to cover their nakedness ! For one dollar and a quarter a week,
the girls can obtain in the boarding-houses food, lodging, and
washing. Their weekly wages amount, in proportion to their
skill and industry, to from one dollar and a quarter to three dol
lars. The girls generally visit their parents once in. the course of
the year ; and after remaining here from one to four years, return
to the circle of their homes. Here, being well trained and well
educated girls, and not without means of their own, they are
rather sought after than avoided, by young men desirous lo
marry. None are admitted into the factories under fifteen ; and
any one guilty of a serious offence is immediately dismissed,
and will not be received into any other factory. This strictness
enforces circumspection and good behavior. The boarding-
houses before mentioned are under the management of steady,
respectable women ; and the furniture and chambers, several of
which I saw, are neat and even elegant, to a degree beyond what
citizens' daughters in Europe us'ually enjoy. There is no oppor
tunity, and hardly any possibility of going astray ; and it may
be, that the women and girls here are less impelled by nature to
evil courses. At any rate, want never drives them to extremes.
Some of the factory girls have been teachers in schools; and
some, after the accumulation of a little money, return to that
occupation. It is commonly found, that those girls who dili
gently attended school make more rapid progress in the facto
ries, and earn more than the uneducated. The printed produc
tions of some of the workwomen (the Lowell Offering) show a
degree of cultivation, of which one has no idea in the European
factories. And even if but few attain to such advancement, the
rest follow in their track, and make use of the collections of
books. Even the mechanics here have built themselves a house,
and have established a circulating library and reading-room ;
which is more than has yet been accomplished in Berlin, even
by authors and educated men.
Now and then the natural fondness of girls for finery may
lead to individual instances, of extravagance ; but on the whole,
it is pleasing to observe that there is »o appearance of poverty or
want of neatness, and to see the natural form undisfigured by
the grotesque devices of Parisian fashions. I saw in a single
factory (and it is so in all of them) more healthy, blooming, and
handsome, girls, than I had before in all America. They do not
vibrate between the Scylla and Charybdis of dyspepsia and calo
mel; but move in regular measure between work and recreation.
If you ask, — Is there no essential defect to counterbalance all

LETTERS. 485

these advantages ? I answer, I have perceived none ; but my
heartfelt sympathy impels me to anxious wishes for the future.
May the friendly harmony betwixt employers and employed never
be disturbed by selfishness or presumption ! may there never
grow up in Lowell itself a generation of mere factory children ;
may the erroneous idea of the necessity and utility of protective
duties never lead to the adoption of artificial and imminently
dangerous courses ; and may it never be forgotten, that those
riches only are lawful and honorable, which are not gained at
the expense of our fellow-citizens !

Boston, 20th September.
Yesterday we passed a day peculiarly American ; there being
here a " mass-meeting" of the whigs. The time from nine till
one was spent by the companies in putting themselves in order,
and marching in procession through many parts of the city; after
which they assembled on the Common, where a stage had been
erected for the orator of the day. The streets were ornamented
with numerous banners, pieces of tapestry, and emblematic de
vices; and the windows were filled with ladies, who testified their
approbation by waving their handkerchiefs. Hurrahs resounded
in every direction ; but they were briefer and more moderate than
those of the South. A large number of well mounted horsemen
were followed by the procession on foot, in regular divisions, con
sisting of citizens of Boston and strangers present on the occasion.
Many of the banners and legends were not wanting in wit and
significance ; although the opposite party could easily attach to
some of them a contrary meaning. The standard of Maine, for
instance, where the locofcoos are in the majority, bore the
inscription, " Wait till November !" For Tennessee there was
only one man present ; and the motto was, " Tennessee is doing
her duty at home." A large strong carriage contained a number
of young girls dressed in blue and white, and waving flags
which bore the names of the different states. Two carriages
succeeded each other filled with mechanics ; one of which bore
the inscription, " Henry Clay and Frelinghuysen ; protective
duties for American industry ;" and the other, " Polk and Dallas ;
Free Trade." The former carriage was a handsome one, the
driver and workingmen well dressed, the horses in excellent
condition, &c. ; the latter was the reverse in every particular.
The last in the procession carried a banner inscribed, " Millions
are behind us!" I heard nothing of the speech ; the crowd and
the heat were absolutely intolerable. To-day I can read the
whole in print.

486 LETTERS.
It bespeaks much previous training and admirable bringing
up, that so vast a number of men can associate and act so freely
together, without the slightest disorder, and without the direction
or supervision of soldiers and policemen. It is a great and
purely republican advantage, that their interest in the affairs of
their country should be so lively and general, the expression of
their thoughts and feelings so completely unfettered, and that
they should still keep within the bounds of decorum and modera
tion. The first men of the country do not esteem it beneath
their dignity, but regard it as an honor, to address these masses
of their fellow-citizens ; and with all their democracy, all their
feelings of equality, these masses listen with attention and re
spect. Lastly, the interruption of their serious way of life, by
processions, music, cheering. &c, is all the more useful, inas
much as the ideas that prevail here with regard to keeping
Sunday or rather the Sabbath, do not allow the cheerfulness of
other nations to come into vogue.
I should have much still to say on this subject, were it not
perhaps better to give my remarks elsewhere. I will rather can
didly confess (which will perhaps please you more), that notwith
standing the praise I have expressed, and which is less than they
deserve, all the republican meetings and celebrations I have wit
nessed here, have not afforded me complete satisfaction or unal
loyed pleasure. Not that I felt any desire for soldiery, police
men, or other signs of government interference ; not that the old
aristocratic leaven worked within me ; the cause of my objections,
my misgivings, my sadness, was, that in all of them we behold an
American party rather than the American people ; that millions
abuse, what other millions praise ; that differences which can, nay
must be accommodated, are artificially worked up into seemingly
irreconcilable contradictions. I kflow full well how all this
moderates and clears up of itself, and how wrong and faint
hearted it is to confound this ripple on the surface of pure
waters with the foul fermentation of streams corrupted through
and through ; but America has greater festivals to celebrate than
these mere party gatherings. What glorious, what unique days
were those, when Jefferson and his friends looked forward with
eagle eyes into the mists of futurity, and saw a really new world
spring up before their prophetic vision ; when Washington, the
renowned warrior, resigned his sword into the hands of the civil
authorities ; when, after a long and peaceful administration, he
returned gladly to his quiet domestic life, and left in his parting
words, an inexhaustible treasure of wisdom, which, in good and
in evil times, shines forth like a pillar of fire, both to present and
future ages ! Those were festivals without an equal ! Nor are
there wanting days of mourning of the noblest kind, when tears

LETTERS. 487

of sorrow mingle with tears of joy ; such for instance as the fif
tieth anniversary of the nation's birth, the day that witnessed
the death of Jefferson and Adams, those men who had aided in
bringing into the world, had stood sponsors for at the font, and had
reared to a hopeful adolescence, this great and glorious child.
These recollections present themselves to the mind of even me, a
stranger, with such vividness, that the pageants of the present day,
in spite of all the splendor shed around them, appear but as tawdry
theatrical decorations.

Boston, 21st September.
Yesterday we went to the neighboring town of Cambridge, the
seat of Harvard University. We heard first a spirited lecture
from Judge Story, on marine insurance. He showed among
other things, how difficult it is, to clothe ideas in such definite
language, that no misinterpretation is possible. Next we heard a
very clear and instructive lecture from Mr. Sparks, on the earlier
constitutions of the American states. We attended also Mr.
Beck's instruction of a Latin class, which may be compared with
our Tertia. The students displayed a good degree of proficiency.
We dined with Mr. B. The conversation was very interesting
and instructive, on the subjects of the Constitution, Rhode Island,
the writing of history, &c. The assertion was here made, that no
such thing as a history could be written, and above all, a history of
the United States. If this means no more than that God alone
possesses the entire and absolute truth, no one will venture to dis
pute it. But if it involves the often expressed supposition, that
history rests substantially on private anecdotes and the gossip of
chamberlains and waiting women, it shows an over-estimation of
mere worthless and wretched trifles, and a want of discernment and
feeling for what is truly great and proper to history. If such a
one succeeds in fixing a few spots on the fame of an illustrious
man, he exults in his heroic deed, and cackles over it as though
he had found a veritable mare's nest. The sun may show more
specks than a cobbler's lamp ; yet both remain what they are.
 Instead of enumerating the contents of the sermon I
heard to-day, I will give you an anecdote. The father of Mr. P.
many years ago, was travelling in Connecticut on a Sunday,
when a magistrate came up to the carriage, and asked if he knew
that by the law Sunday travelling was prohibited ? — " I know it,"
replied Mr. P. — " Then you must turn back with me." — " By no
means ; you have the right to stop me, but not to fetch me back.
I choose to remain here till Monday morning." He then settled
himself back in his carriage, pulled out a paper, and began to

488 LETTERS.
read. After pondering awhile, the magistrate went off; where
upon the traveller resumed his journey.
Another anecdote. Water-power, and the right of using it, are
called here a privilege. A Yankee, on seeing Niagara for the first
time, exclaimed, " What a first-rate privilege !" Some predict that
after a few years that miracle of nature's beauty will be destroyed,
and its voice of thunders changed into the clatter of spinning
machines. I hope the ancient river-god will be on his guard, should
they attempt, to dam up his crystal floods, or lead them away.

Boston, September 25th.
Yesterday we went to Salem, and visited, under the guidance
of a very agreeable gentleman, Mr. S., that pleasant town adorned
with numerous trees, and the museum, established by the free
contributions of captains sailing from the port. It is rich for its
size, in curiosities from all parts of the world. I will mention only
a globe, which I would fain have brought with me for S. This
globe was received by the donor from a Mr. Muller, a Westpha-
lian, who said he got it in Italy. It consists of two halves ; one
of which represents heaven, the other hell, carved in wood (proba
bly boxwood). There are altogether 110 figures, in the most
various attitudes, and with every imaginable diversity of expres
sion. The diameter of these curious hemispheres, which are
hollowed out on the inside, is about one and a half German
inches.  We received yesterday from the railroad people in
Boston a bank note which they would not take in the Salem
office. So much for the boasted convenience of eight hundred
sorts of paper-money for travellers. In the evening we went to
what is called the Museum in Boston. On the ground floor was
a chapel full of people singing; in the second story a museum
de omni scibili et quibusdam aliis, Frederic II. — with ihe inscrip
tion Frederic I., a tall giraffe, and opposite to it, a small Medicean
Venus. A story higher, there was a theatre in operation (the
people below singing hymns the while). _ The play was "The
Drunkard ;" which, according to the bill, was a very moral piece,
in five acts. We had sufficient reasons for leaving after the
second act, before the sinner joins the temperance society.
From Mr. P., the secretary of the commonwealth, I have
received, I may say, a library of the most valuable papers and
reports relating to Massachusetts. I meet every where a readi
ness to oblige, which altogether surpasses that practised by us.

LETTERS. 489
Boston, 26th September.
Yesterday the mayor of Boston, Mr. B., took us in his carriage
(it was a rainy day, and gloomy as night) to see the Lunatic
Hospital, the Prison, the Poor House, and the House of Refuge
for helpless and neglected children : all large, useful, and well
conducted institutions. To-day Mr. B. came again, and escorted
us to the equally valuable schools. Yesterday moreover I visited
a court of justice, to hear some pleadings ; and afterwards what is
called the " Mechanics' Exposition." I saw here an immense
number of articles which to examine and judge of with accuracy,
would require a great deal of time and knowledge.

Boston, 28th September.
This morning Mr. B. took us to several extremely well con
ducted schools ; and this afternoon to some very elegant and
tasteful country-houses and gardens, the surrounding scenery of
which is beautifully diversified with hill and valley, while the
distant views, particularly those towards the city, are as enchant
ing as the foreground. On such a drive with a highly intelligent
companion, a great deal of varied information may be gathered.
 — . The Yankees are often ridiculed for their cunning
and shrewdness ; but we seldom hear of their extraordinary libe
rality to objects of public utility. Here is an instance to the point :
The Athenaeum, now so admirably arranged, was formerly cramp
ed for want of room. " I will present you with my house," said the
wealthy Mr. P., "if you will buy another as large and join to it."
The offer was thankfully accepted. Afterwards the library need
ed to be increased. He subscribed $8,000, on condition that
those who had taken the matter in hand should raise an equal
sum. They waited next upon his nephew. "What has my
uncle subscribed?" he asked. "Eight thousand dollars." "I
will give the same sum provided you raise $16,000 more." In
this manner $43,000 were subscribed. Facts of this kind show
that they not only understand here how to make money, but also
how to dispose of it in magnificent style.

Boston, 30th September.
Yesterday we dined with Dr. W., and went in the evening to
hear the Creation. We had been told the performance might be
curious to us as strangers, but would certainly not be satisfactory
in a musical point of view. As I had heard nothing but dances
played in America, I was too anxious to attend a great perform-

490 LETTERS.
ance to be kept away by this warning. The hall was spacious
and simple, with gradually ascending seats and a gallery. In
the middle of one end was an organ ; in front of it the orchestra;
and on either side of it the choir, consisting of more men than
women and girls, the latter of whom, with very few exceptions,
were naturally and simply dressed. If I compare this with the
great European performances (for example, in the Garrisonkirche,
with the collective force of the opera and the whole Singing
Academy), it certainly falls very far behind them. But if I,
though a spoilt man in music, experienced sincere and great
pleasure in this performance, and pronounce it successful, — those
who have never been in Europe should not find fault, but lend
their aid. The difficult introduction was performed by the or
chestra (which to be sure was not very numerous) with spirit and
delicacy ; the choruses were brisk and vigorous ; and among the
female singers, Miss Stone was particularly remarkable for com
pass, purity, and execution. The laudable object of the Handel
and Haydn Society is at once evident from its name ; and I trust
the great and noble twin-brother of the first of these geniuses,
Johann Sebastian Bach, will not remain unknown, but be called
in to share their sovereignty. All the musical instruction in the
schools, all the lessons taken by fashionable ladies, will never con
vert the Americans into a musical people, so long as they adhere
strictly to the puritanical Sabbath. A people who are allowed
to sing only during the week, or on Sunday only one or two
chants in the liturgy, will never find time for the cultivation of
that noble art, — will never become penetrated with a universal
feeling for it, and elevated to the proper pitch of enthusiasm. I
look upon it therefore as an event of very great importance, and
one denoting essential advancement, that the value and excel
lence of a union between art and religion should be admitted,
and performances of sacred music be instituted on Sundays. If
it be impossible to execute properly here grand, genuine, dramatic
compositions,* still it may be called a piece of good fortune, that
the Americans are not pestered with the stupid, characterless
operas of many modern composers, and (as it often happens in
Europe) seduced by them into a superficial and ridiculous furor.
On the other hand, it is to be hoped, that the still unwilling part
of the people may gradually be reconciled to sacred music on
Sundays. This musical society is, I understand, substantially
founded and supported by mechanics. As Zelter, the master-
mason, was long at the head of the Singing Academy in Berlin,
— so butchers and goldsmiths in Boston have shown equally
* The department of lyric music is also deficient, and the popular songs inferior
to those of many other nations. The tune of " Hail Columbia " is positively
said to be founded on a Hessian march.

LETTERS. 491
praiseworthy activity, if they have not exactly converted them
selves into artists. Whether, as I have been told, the rich and
fashionable part of the community show an inferior degree of
interest in the subject, I am not qualified to assert But I can
scarcely believe that in this respect Boston exhibits more aristo
cratic feeling than Berlin.

Boston, 29th September.
You are right in supposing that a large, interesting, and in
structive volume might be written on American customs and
manners. But my own observations were by no means adequate
to this purpose ; and I do not wish to copy the accounts of others,
nor indeed would I entirely confide in their correctness. I will
merely throw together to-day a few desultory remarks on the
subject. The Americans complain, and with justice, that many travel
lers, for the purpose of giving interest and piquancy to their de
scriptions, indulge in invention and embellishment, or in down
right misrepresentation. If the truth, as is proper, were strictly
adhered to, there would often be little to relate. Besides, as a
general rule, nothing is more difficult, than to impartially observe
and fairly judge, manners and customs which differ from our
own ; nothing more doubtful and dangerous, than to deduce
general rules from solitary facts. Of Americans the most
opposite things have been said, with respect to a thousand differ
ent matters ; so that one might be led to put mo faith in any of
their statements. Yet it would be better to believe them all, since
each has its relative degree of truth, and only to be cautious not
to take a part for the whole. For instance, we are told that the
Americans are cold and indifferent, and again that they are ex
citable and fanatical ; that they have no self-command, and that
they have too much ; that they scarcely ever marry for money,
and that they seldom marry for any thing else ; that they are
polite, and rude ; are civilized, and uncivilized ; are addicted to
drinking, and are moderate in sensual pleasures; are devoted to
women, and care nothing about them, &c.
It is not only true that many of their customs and usages differ
materially from those of Europeans, but they are naturally so
diverse in separate parts of the great confederacy, that any gene
ral description or judgment must of necessity be erroneous.
What differences may be observed between the English, Ger
man, and French elements of the population ; the manufacturers
and slaveholders ; the over-active, restless New Englander, and
the wealthy, luxurious Virginian ; the Puritans in New England,

492 LETTERS.
and the Catholics in New Orleans ; the social circles of opulent
merchants in New York, and the forest dwellers of the West,*
who take a pride in not entering a house the year round. — On
the other hand, these diversities are compensated by much that
is homogeneous, all-pervading, and promotive of union ; much
that reconciles sectional peculiarities, moderates the opposition
of religious sects, and brings nearer the gradations in the social
scale. There is particularly in their public life and the universal
love for the republican form of government, a strong bond of union
in thought and action; so that neither what is peculiar nor what
is general can exclusively prevail, while unity amidst variety is
most happily preserved.
Equality and distinction, or the gradations of society in the
United States, are very different from what they are in Europe.
Now that political equality has been won and acknowledged for
all, the social circles naturally separate from each other, and
wealth and education exercise their inevitable influence. But
it makes an immense difference whether this political equality
exists or is wanting ; whether it has a soothing effect, or whether
the social separations are accompanied by political prerogatives
conferred on hereditary ranks, which are then regarded as doubly
odious monopolies.
It has been made a subject of censure, that the wealthy mer
chants in America do not associate with the petty shopkeepers.
But is this the case in Europe ? or does the bright day ever arise
in that quarter of the world, when the man of humble rank can
attend some election or other popular assembly, where he can feel
and make available his own worth and importance ? The citizen
of the United States never hears his importance in this respect
disputed ; and hence he can recognise without reluctance or bit
terness the superiority of those higher in station or more cultivated
than himself, can let that sort of aristocracy rule in its sphere
without envy, and can emulate it in doing honor to the great men
of America.
As in steamboats, on railroads, in hotels and stage coaches,
there exists no distinction or separation into classes, European
travellers are brought into contact with all sorts of persons ; and
many of their habits appear strange and repulsive, such as spitting
about, cocking their legs up on the chair-backs, tables, window-
sills, &c. In polite society no one takes these unbecoming liber
ties, and no one would set up the principle, in opposition to
Athens and Florence, that a true republican must not sacrifice to
the graces. There is a certain refinement, elegance, and pleasing
polish of manner, equally remote from coarseness and from the
* Buckingham, Eastern States, i. 119

LETTERS. 493
affected airs of a dancing master's saloon ; this is found in the
best society of America ; and will continually have more to appre
ciate and practise it, without detriment to the graver virtues. Only
a few, however, of the*more highly cultivated, have a taste for
humanity without gloss or meretricious ornament. Jefferson hit
the true medium in this, as in many other things. He says :
" With respect to what are termed polite manners, I would wish
my countrymen to adopt just so much of European politeness, as
to be ready to make all those little sacrifices of self, which really
render European manners amiable, and relieve society from the
disagreeable scenes to which rudeness often subjects it"*
It was observed by an American lady, '• Our best society is
aristocratic in principle and feeling."f True, and so it is every
where ; in all grades of society, every one strives to rise higher,
and emulates those who are his superiors in education or posi
tion. Only in America this has nothing at all to do with the
political system, and does not originate from it. There the highest
and lowest grades of English society are wanting. The want of
the former class may be esteemed a gain or a loss according to the
point from which the subject is viewed; but the absence of the
latter is certainly a gain. Because there is no court ton in
America it does not follow that there is no good ton ; and it is
better that personal qualities should be allowed to manifest them
selves, than that they should be ground down to a dead level by
considerations of social diplomacy, so that all we come in contact
with has neither character nor physiognomy of its own. From
natural reasons already often mentioned, the lower classes of Ame
rica, taken altogether, are more cultivated and more rational than
in other countries. Even the backwoodsmen read the newspapers,
and show considerable information on many subjects.^ We
may smile to see here a major of militia driving a stage-coach,
and a colonel taking measure for a suit of clothes ;§ but we ought
to weep when we hear European village squires assert, that the
right and ability to think and act for the whole community be
long to them alone.
It would be an advantage if the Americans would have nothing
to do with the routs, soirees, and crowded saloons, in which so
many .persons belonging to the haute volee think they see the
bloom and triumph of European social life. On such occasions
there is not even' space enough to see the handsome women ; and
as to conversation, properly so called, or interchange of thought,
it is never dreamed of. On the contrary, this kind of social life
leads to a dissipation and extinction of all thought, and places the
• Tucker's Life of Jefferson, i. 190. Jefferson's advice has since been frequently
t M'Gregor's America, i. 32. ' % Vigne, ii. 71. § Murray, ii. 330, 364
32

494 LETTERS.
wisest and most stupid upon a level. The refinement and forms
of an old aristocracy, the polish of courtiers, the yielding, pliant
condescension of superiors, and the meaningless compliments of
equals, must not be sought for in America. Those who find the
highest charm of social intercourse in such things, will doubtless
bewail the irreparable loss. There is also no capital city that
gives the tone to manners; nor is there that strong contrast
between city and country which exists in many countries of
Europe. Scarcely any reproach is more frequently uttered against the
Americans, than that they are arrogant and irritable, and exces
sively fond of flattery. " They are," says Hamilton, " a nation of
braggarts." " They will endure no blame," says De Tocqueville.
" America is therefore a free country, in which, lest any body
should be hurt by your remarks, you are not allowed to speak
freely of private individuals or of the state, of the citizens or of
the authorities, of public or of private undertakings, or in short of
any thing at all. I know no country in which there is so little
true independence of mind and freedom of discussion as in
America."* Spurzheim too observed, that " he had never expe
rienced so much restraint in the expression of his religious views
under monarchical governments, as he had felt in a country
where republican freedom is supposed to exist."f
My own experience does not by any means confirm these accu
sations. I have often expressed myself freely, nay severely, con
cerning matters of every description, and have combated with
earnestness the opinions of others, without ever being subjected
to the slightest censure on that score. The worthy men who
listened and replied to me, knew that my conduct was not the
result of vanity or presumption, but that I was actuated by the
wish to view matters on every side, and to obtain as much infor
mation as I could. Thus, when I spoke against slavery with the
slaveholders, against immediate emancipation with the abolition
ists, — in favor of democratic opinions with the whigs, and of
whig principles with the democrats, — I drew forth such varied
and instructive communications, as I should never have ob
tained, had I, like a mandarin on a mantelpiece, kept nodding a
perpetual assent. The Americans would have far more reason
to find fault with my behavior, than I (like the writers above
quoted) to complain of them. It stands to reason also, that
where unconditional freedom of speech and of the press
exists, there cannot be such uneasiness, such aptness to take
offence, and such a tyrannical demeanor, as in countries where
civil and military officers, literati, &c. are wholly unaccustomed
to blame, and are vulnerable at all points.
* Hamilton's Eastern States, i. 305. De Tocqueville, ii. 136, 172.
t Abdy, Residence and Tour in the U. States, i. 131.

LETTERS. 495
I must say too, that I have not found the Americans excessively
curious, and disposed to annoy every stranger with questions.
They seemed to me in this respect rather indifferent. It is cer
tain that I asked a hundred times as many questions as have been
put to me. The Americans, it is true, are often fond of prais
ing themselves, and chiefly because there is much in their coun
try worthy of praise ; they also seek to ward off censure, as every
patriot is wont to do with strangers, without seriously and abso
lutely denying the existence of faults. The people are certainly
often flattered in the United States, as sovereigns are in Europe ;*
since it every where requires courage to speak and hear the truth.
But this praise is counterbalanced by such severe, eloquent, and
bitter denunciation, as show that no stranger can judge more
harshly of the Americans than they do themselves ; indeed, some
times their moral sensibility and noble indignation — or else mere
ill humor — urges them to melancholy and almost desponding
complaints.f As a procession was once passing through the midst of a
crowd, a gentleman called out, " Make way ; we are the repre
sentatives of the people !" — " Make way yourself," was the reply.
" We are the people themselves !"$ This anecdote throws a flood
of light on regions where many cannot see their way. Hence a
French observer remarks : " I prefer the involuntary rudeness of
plebeians to the insolent politeness of courtiers."§ The travel
ling journalists and their readers usually persevere in observing
things from the European point of view of persons of the higher
ranks, instead of also looking at them with the eyes of the ma
jority who are in an inferior condition. Hence, for instance, so
many complaints of the presumption and the expensiveness
of servants and domestics in America. The high wages, how
ever, are very welcome to them, and are the natural consequence
of the relation which the demand bears to the supply. Besides,
every one prefers the condition of an independent freeholder, a
citizen of the United States, to that of a domestic servant ; a
position which he only consents to assume on very advanta
geous terms, in order that he may the sooner escape from it.
Hence too arises the beneficial result, that masters are often
obliged to help themselves, and thus never fall into the foolish
* Thus Slick, the Cloekmaker, says (p. 52) : " Nothing improves the manners, like
an election. What bowing and smiling ; what flattering, and scraping, and shaking
of hands ' They are as full of compliments as a dog is full of fleas."
t "New as the country is, it is already in a great measure in possession of a
population as perfectly initiated in all the mysteries of vice as conversant in all
the scenes of depravity,  as can be found in any of the oldest and most
depraved countries of the old world."— Report upon the Extension of the Suffrage in
Rhode Island, p. 13. , ,, . . „,0
1 North American Review, xxv."432. § Beaumont, Mane, i. 2ia.

496 LETTERS.
habit, as they do in Spain, of maintaining a pack of idlers in
the quality of servants.
This bears a very close relation to general and most important
facts and truths. In a country where wages are high, land cheap,
and taxes low, and where there is no burdensome subjection to
military service, the mass of the people must be well off. This
prosperity produces contentment, which is of more value than the
disposition to criticise and find fault. To this widely diffused
prosperity the principles of an equal distribution of all heritable
property essentially contribute. If they had retained or intro
duced unequal rights of inheritance, privileges of primogeniture,
Fideicommissa, and the like, wealth would soon have been accu
mulated in the hands of a few, and a class of luxurious idlers
established. In America every one is made to know, that it is labor in some
specific pursuit that alone gives life its value and importance.
A Neapolitan admirer of the sweets of indolence may regard
this sentiment as absurd ; and another may express his fear that
the mental powers will be stifled by a restless passion for gain.
But the activity of the hands and the complete accomplishment
of the head stand in close connection ; and the American con
stitution carries education beyond school-days, and makes higher
claims on every individual than are made elsewhere. But, it
has been a thousand times repeated, in this manner the Ameri
cans fall into downright selfishness ; the acquisition of money is
the sum and substance of their existence, and is esteemed beyond
every thing else. One would imagine these fault-finders had a
mortal antipathy to gold and silver !* The American looks on
money essentially as the means of further activity ; he does not
lock it up in coffers, or accumulate for the mere purpose of leav
ing it to a few lazy heirs ; he is no miser that never makes use of
his wealth, nor is he a spendthrift that squanders it away ; but
his endeavor is, to employ it in the truest advantage. Mistakes in
this respect are only the exceptions, and do not form the rule, as
with prodigals and misers. The Americans are reasonably
disinclined to all useless expenses, which in Europe so often
impoverish both individuals and states ; yet on behalf of all great
and peaceful enterprises, they show themselves rather too ven
turesome than too niggardly and circumspect.
Putting out of consideration those persons who do nothing at
all, the American does not labor more than the European ; in
fact, the latter must undergo severer exerlion, without attaining
such* satisfactory results. On this account labor and business
are more attractive in America than in Europe : in the latter
* And yet they themselves often speculate in" railroad stocks, Spanish paper, &c,
and would fain become rich without labor.

LETTERS. 497
country, in spite of all the desire that is felt and all the exertions
that are used to become wealthy, the end is very seldom attained ;
while in the former, success is so much easier, that it naturally
encourages to redoubled zeal in the pursuit
There was no greater obstacle in the United States to physical
and mental well-being, than the prevalent vice of drunkenness.
In opposing this, the temperance societies have had an exceed
ingly beneficial effect ; although the temperance of voluntary
resolution is worth more than that secured by a kind of vow,
which prohibits even what is innocent for fear of excess, and
thus leads but too often to a reaction and relapse into old habits.
In all countries of the world this enterprise would find warmer
and more lasting support, if the prohibition were restricted to the
more pernicious spirituous liquors, and not extended to beer and
wine* After the drinking, I may as well mention the eating and cook
ing ; because this is a subject of importance, not merely for
pleasure, but still more for health. In the richer families, Jeffer
son's principles in regard to eating have been adopted along
with his principles in politics. His biographer, Tucker, says :
"Jefferson's discriminating taste soon taught him to appreciate
the merits of French cookery."f But in general, with the excep
tion of a few families who show good taste also in this respect,
the art is still in a very low condition in the United States. In
proportion to the excellence of the materials (fish, flesh, vegeta
bles, fruit, &c.) is the ignorance shown in the art of preparing
and improving them. Give the most exquisite block of marble
to a common stone-cutter, and he will not produce a statue ; so
let the finest ox be taken into the kitchen, and a bungler of a
cook will fail to give you from him a good roast joint. The
excessive quantity of seasoning, particularly pepper and salt,
destroys all the original flavor, creates an unnatural thirst, and
heats the blood. The roast meats are for the most part dry and
hard ; the sauces without variety ; many vegetables, such as
peas, too old ; the bread often doughy and smoking hot, &c. A
good cook knows how to alter and improve the poorest material;
the presumptuous, self-complacent beginner destroys the best
food, and the eaters into the bargain. On this subject an Ame
rican connoisseur^ observes : " When we think of the quantities
of half-masticated meat, the pounds of seasoning to make it
palatable, and the raw and indigestible substances which we
* In Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Mississippi, there are laws
against the sale of spirits in small quantities, and against the liquor shops. I have
seen no one completely drunk in the United States, but many who drank a great
deal of spirits.
t Life of Jefferson, ii. 505. { Mr. Sanderson of Philadelphia.

498

LETTERS.

force into our innocent stomachs, — we acknowledge our sins
with the deepest humility and repentance !"
I will here venture to express myself against the English and
American custom, in compliance with which the host and hostess,
during the whole time of dinner, can scarcely do any thing else
but rival each other in offering their provisions all about the table.
— Will you take roast beef, or mutton ? The wing, the leg, or
the breast ? Potatoes, peas, or cabbage ? — This questioning and
replying is an interruption to all conversation ; whereas our
method, of having things, carried round by servants, provides
much better for the helping of the guests, and leaves the enter
tainers at liberty to contribute in an intellectual manner to the
animation and pleasure of the company.
The prevalent habit of eating rapidly, and swallowing the food
half chewed, has awakened the attention of those who have the
jurisdiction of schools. They say to the children and to their
parents : " The food should be taken slowly and in company,
and amidst agreeable conversation."* In no country in the world
do so many persons suffer from indigestion as in America ; and
a thorough reform of the system of cooking and eating would
be productive of the most salutary effects. It would be attended
with the happiest consequences, with respect to health, content
ment, and the pleasures of domestic life, if, as is often the case
in Europe, the art. of cooking were included in the list of female
accomplishments taught at school, or if theoretical and practical
lectures were given on the subject.
It might be thought unbecoming to pass here into a few gene
ral remarks upon the women, were if not that the transition very
naturally presents itself.
Every traveller, indeed every man forms a judgment respecting
the women, though the majority are not capable of appreciating
even their external beauty. To speak correctly on this subject,
there are needed the right disposition, practice, and talent, in which
even many artists are wanting; otherwise they would not give
out so many wretched faces for beauties to be admired. It is
oftener a misfortune than a blessing to be beautiful ; whereas a
taste for beauty and art is attended with no danger, and belongs
to the higher grade of mental cultivation. Learned connoisseurs,
however, are often accustomed to praise and admire the singu
lar, the artificial, — nay, in their perversity, the disagreeable and
repulsive ; and the chorus of refined amateurs repeat, parrot-like,
the dicta of their abounding wisdom. — But I meant not to
talk of these generalities, or to repeat what other travellers have
said of American women. I will recall to mind the fact, how-
* H. Mann's Sixth Report on Schools, p. 113. __

LETTERS. 499
ever, that they admire the beauty of the female sex in the United
States, and at the same time assert that they soon grow old and
lose their teeth. And certainly, for my own part, I have seen
in no country in the world, among handsome women, so many
pale, sickly faces. Whether this is the effect of the climate, the
food,* the manner of life, the tight lacing, the drinking of vine
gar, or all these causes combined, — the fact itself cannot be
disputed. I should not mention vinegar drinking, if men,
women, and physicians had not unanimously assured me this
means is frequently resorted to in order to remove what is
considered the vulgar red from the cheeks. In comparison with
this perversity, the practice of rouging to relieve paleness is
a more natural, and certainly a less deleterious custom. The
mere pleasure of the eye, the feeling for beauty, is here not alone
concerned, but the existence and welfare of future generations.
Many professional men complain of the great number of still
born children and premature births. None but a person inca
pable of judgment could confound the paleness of embodied
spirituality, which gives us glimpses of a higher existence, and
confers angelic beauty, with the ghastly hue produced by a dis
ordered stomach. When God (it might be said, slightly altering
a Shakspearian saying) has created a fair being, let her not fall
upon the vinegar-cruet and the calomel-box !
That women in America are every where honored and respect
ed, that they can travel alone without the slightest apprehension
through the whole country, and that even he who is rough or dis
courteous in his intercourse with men is modest and civil towards
the gentler sex, — is perfectly certain, and is a proof of good morals
and praiseworthy self-control. But it also cannot be denied, that
certain forms and customs designed to prove this respect, have
something in them stiff and unsocial, or even seem to be regarded
as a still necessary means of defence. The invariable, externally
prescribed, dry distinction always made of the ladies, is quite a
different thing from a chivalric, poetical, and varied homage.
And even this habit is not consistent: for example, it would be
deemed offensive on board a steamboat to sit among the ladies,
but not to spit about the path where they have to walk with their
long dresses. The smallest girls claim these distinctions as a
matter of right ; while another duty, which is praised and prac
tised in all other republics, to wit, respect for age, nowhere makes
its appearance.
The seclusion of the ladies in parlors by themselves is a cus
tom very inconvenient for travellers. One may live for weeks in
* I frequently saw young girls eat in the morning not only over-cooked meat, but
also (what was if possible still more unwholesome) the smoking hot corn-bread
covered with melted butter.

500 LETTERS.
the same hotel with twenty or thirty, and never become acquaint
ed with one of them. They eat, drink, read, or play alone ; and
only their husbands, parents, or children are allowed to penetrate
into this seraglio. To seek an acquaintance, or begin a conver
sation of one's own accord, would at least excite surprise. In a
single hour in France, the most motley company will become
better acquainted and more intimately associated with each other
than in America in many months.
There is no ground for this complaint in company properly so
called, where the women exhibit much cordiality, and in their
cheerful and intelligent conversation show a cultivation quite
equal to that of Europeans. It is true that in the new, as in the
old world, time is often wasted and the taste corrupted by the
reading of wretched novels ; and the mental powers are some
times so much blunted and enfeebled, that serious works are
neither relished nor understood. Otherwise one might suppose
that the education of women in America was too masculine and
abstruse, when informed that they receive instruction in algebra
and politics, technology and logic, &c. These however are only
the exceptions ; or else the academies are designed for the form
ation of future teachers. For my own part, I have by no means
found that the American ladies made a display of learning : even
popular authoresses never paraded their accomplishments; and
the only woman, or the only girl with whom I conversed acci
dentally about philosophy, combined with knowledge and true
love of science the most winning feminine grace.
As every where else, so in America, home and family form the
central point around which the affections and activity of woman
revolve. It is talking absurdly and at random, to assert that the
women here are all idle and careless, neglect their household
affairs and the education of their children, or trifle away all
their time at the toilet. This may be true, as in all countries, in
individual cases of negligent and spoiled persons ; the climate
and manner of life may be unfavorable to exertion, and the
novel-reading already condemned may be regarded as no bet
ter than idleness; — still the mental activity and cultivation often
undeniably found, are to be more highly esteemed than mere
manual labor. How any one can imagine, or induce others to
believe, that in America women in good circumstances thought
lessly and unfeelingly desert their natural, favorite, and delightful
sphere of action as wives and mothers ; and that the wives of
mechanics, farmers, and laborers sit lazily the whole day long in
their rocking-chairs, — is altogether incomprehensible. Equally
strange and unjust is the assertion, that in the life of the Ameri
can man, all is material ; while in that of the woman, all is moral:

LETTERS. 501
as if in labor there was no essentially moral element, and no
morality in public political life !* Let all have their due !
Although much still remains to be related, I must break off
and conclude this last American letter for want of time. I have
here seen, heard, and learned, more than in any equal portion of
time in my life ; so that I regard my journey as fully justified and
abundantly rewarded. I shall always remember the United
States, in spite of some little drawbacks, with feelings of interest,
gratitude, and admiration.
You will understand and feel, that a longing for home, and
love for my native country, are perfectly compatible with the sen
timents I have expressed. Nevertheless, I distinctly foresee, and
am sorry to say it, that in both respects I shall be assailed with
loud complaints and bitter reproaches. Yet I cannot let this con
sideration induce me to timidly conceal what, after diligent inves
tigation, I feel to be the truth, or to color it in conformity with
party prejudices.
* Among many toasts offered on public occasions, I will give a few as specimens.
" The ladies ! the only aristocracy that can be borne. They govern without laws,
decide without appeal, and are never in the wrong !" — " The ladies ! in happiness
and misfortune always valued and dear to us ; and without whom life would be a
burden !" — " The beauty of a cultivated woman ; it is the only tyranny a man should
ever submit to !" Not content with these marks of regard, a female traveller com
plains that the republican Americans are inconsistent in not allowing their women
the full exercise of civil rights. But it does not appear that they themselves are
very desirous of such an emancipation, or consider their present influence too small.

APPENDIX I. -SYNOPSIS OF THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SEVERAL STATES.
> **
o
SENATORS.
REPRESEN TATIVES.
years.Inumber.
QUALIFICATIONS
O F
QUALIFI CATI ON
S O F
QUALIFICATIONS OF
STATES.
YEARS.
NUMBER.
THE GOVERNORS AND
THEIR ELECTO'RS.
THE SENATORS AND
THEIR ELECTORS.
THE REPRESENTATIVES
AND THEIR ELECTORS.
1. Alabama (capital Tuscaloosa, since
2
3
33
1
100
30 years of age, 4 years resident in the state.
Elected by the people-
27 years of age, 2 years a resident.
By the people.
21 years of age, 2 years a resident.
21 years of age, 2 years a resident.
1810)
2 Arkansas (Little Rock, since 1836)
4
4
21
o
66
30 years of age, born in the U. S., 4 years resident in the state.
By the people.
30 years of age, 1 year a resident.
By the people.
25 years of age, and a resident.
21 years of age, 6 months a resident.
3. North Carolina (Raleigh)
2
2
50
o
120
30 years of age, 5 years a resident, freehold of £1,000 sterling.
By the people.
A resident, with 300 acres of land.
By the people, through hold
ers of 50 acres of land.
A resident with 100 acres of land.
21 years of age, 1 year a resident, a tax-payer.
4. South Carolina (Columbia)
2
4
45
2
124
30 years of age, 10 years a resident, £1,500 freehold.
By the legislature.
30 years of age, 5 years a resident in the state, £500 free
hold.
Like those of the Represen-
21 years of age, 3 a resident, £150 freehold.
21 years of age, 2 years a resident, a tax-payer.
5. Connecticut (Hartford)
1
1
12
1
215
Those of a voter, 30 years of age.
By the people.
21 years of age, 6 months a resident, $7 freehold or a tax-payer,
and subject to military duty.
6. Delaware (Dover)
7. Georgia (Milledgeville)
8. New Hampshire (Concord)
4 2 1
4 1 1
9
47 12
211
12
130
250
30 years of age, 12 years resident in the U. S., of which C in
Delaware.
30 years of age, 5 resident in the state, 12 in the U. S. $4,000
property or 500 acres of land.
30 years of age, 7 years resident in the state, £500 property.
By the people.
By the legislative assembly.
By the people.
27 years of age, 1 year a resident in the county, £1,000
property.
25 years of age, 9 in the United States, 3 in the state, £500
freehold.
30 years of age, 7 years a resident, £200 freehold.
By the people.
By the people.
24 years of age, 3 years a resident.
21 years of age, 7 in the U. S., 3 in the state,
$250 freehold.
30 years of age, 2 a resident, £100 property.
22 years of age, 1 year a resident, a tax-payer.
6 months a resident, a tax-payer.
21 years of age (a tax-payeT), 6 months in the state, 3 months a
resident of the place.
9. New Jersey (Trenton)
3
3
1 each
1
60
1 year a resident, 21 years of age.
10. Illinois (Vandalia, adopted 1818)
4
4
county 40
2
91
30 years of age, 2 years resident in the state.
By the people.
25 years of age, 1 year a resident.
By the people.
21 years of age, 1 year a resident.
21 years of age, a resident.
11. Indiana (Indianapolis, adopted 1S1G)
3
3
50
1
100
30 years of age, 5 years resident in the state.
By the people.
25 years of age, 2 years a resident.
By the people.
21 years of age, 1 year a resident.
21 years of age, 1 year a settler.
12. Kehtucky (Lexington, adopted 1799)
4
4
38
1
100
35 years of age, 6 years a resident.
By the people.
35 years of age, 6 years a resident in the state.
By the people.
24 years of age, 2 years a resident.
21 years of age, 1 year a resident.
13. Louisiana (New Orleans, adopted
4
4
17
2
60
35 years of age, 6 years a resident, $5,000 real estate.
By the people.
27 years of age, 4 years a resident, $1,000 real estate.
By the people.
21 years of age, 2 years a resident, $500 real
21 years of age, 1 year a resident, a tax-payer.
1812)
14. Maine (Augusta, adopted 1820)
1
1
31
1
151
30 years of age, born in America, 5 years resident in the state.
By the people.
25 years of age, 5 years in America, 1 in the state.
By the people, according to
districts.
21 years of age, 5 an American citizen, 1 a
resident in the state.
21 years of age, a tax-payer, 3 months settled in the state.
15. Maryland (Annapolis)
3
5
91
1
80
3 years a resident, 30 years of age.
By the people.
25 years of age, 3 years a resident.
By the people.
21 years of age, 1 year a resident.
21 years of age, 1 year a resident.
16. Massachusetts (Boston)
1
1
40
1
356
7 years a resident, £1,000 freehold.
By the people.
£300 freehold, 5 years a resident, or £600 other property,
By the people .
£100 freehold, or £200 of other property.
21 years of age, a tax-payer, 1 year a resident.
17. Michigan (Detroit, adopted 1836)
2
2
18
1
54
2 years a resident in the state.
By the people.
Those of voters.
By the people.
Like the voters.
21 years of age, 5 months a resident.
18. Mississippi (Jackson, adopted 1817)
2
4
30
2
91
30 years of age, 20 in the D. S., 5 in the state.
By the people.
30 years of age, 4 years a resident.
By the people.
21 years of age, 2 years a resident.
21 years of age, 1 year a resident.
19. Missouri (Jefferson, adopted 1820)
4
4
18
2
49
35 years of age, 4 years a resident.
By the people.
30 years of age, 4 years a resident.
By the people.
24 years of age, 2 years a resident.
21 years of age, 1 year a resident.
20. Ohio ( Columbus, adopted 1S02)
2
2
36
1
72
30 years of age, 12 resident in the U. S., 4 in the state.
By the people.
30 years of age, 2 years a resident, and a tax-payer.
By the people.
25 years of age, 1 year a resident, a tax-payer.
21 years of age, 1 year a resident, liable to pay taxes.
21. Pennsylvania (Harrisburg)
3
3
33
1
100
30 years of age, 7 years a resident.
By the people.
25 years of age, 4 years a resident.
21 years of age, 3 years a resident.
21 years of age, 1 year a resident, a tax-payer.
22. Rhode Island (Providence)
1
1
31
1
72
Those of a voter.
By the people.
By the people.
21 years of age, 2 years a resident, a tax-payer.
23. Tennessee (Nashville, adopted 1796)
2
2
25
2
75
30 years of age, 7 years a resident.
By the people.
30 years of age, 3 years a resident.
By the people
21 years of age, 3 years a resident.
21 years of age, 6 months a resident.
24. Vermont (Montpelier, adopted 1791)
1
1
31
1
231
4 years a resident.
By the people.
Elected by counties.
2 years a resident.
21 years of age, 1 year a resident, of good behavior.
25. Virginia (Richmond)
3
4
32
1
134
30 years of age, 5 years a resident.
By the legislature.
30 years of age, a freeholder.
By the people.
25 years of age, a freeholder.
21 years of age, a freeholder, householder, and tax-payer.
26. New York (Albany)
2
4
32
1
128
30 years of age, 5 years a resident, a freeholder.
By the people.
A freeholder.
By the people.
25 years of age.
21 years of age, 1 year a resident, a tax-payer, and subject to
military duty. Negroes, 3 years resident, $250 freeholders.
REMARKS TO APPENDIX I.

1. Alabama.— Judges appointed by both houses of the legislature, for 6 years.
Compensation 4 dollars per day.
2. Arkansas.— Judges appointed by both houses, for from 4 to 8 "years. The
votes are given publicly.
3. North Carolina. — A council of seven persons, elected by both houses for 2
years. The judges are elected in like manner, during good behavior.
They meet every 2 years.
4. South Carolina. — All public officers and electors of the president are
appointed by both houses.
5. Connecticut. — Judges appointed by both houses, during good behavior.
6. Delaware. — Judges appointed by the governor, during good behavior.
7. Georgia. — Judges appointed by both houses, for 3 years.
8. New Hampshire. — Councillors of the governor chosen by the electors for 5
years, 30 years of age, 7 years resident, with a property of £500. Judges
remain in office during good behavior. The governor has a veto like the
president of the United States.
9. New Jersey. — In 1844 a new and more democratic constitution was adopted,
from which I could obtain only what I have already given.
10. Illinois. — Judges appointed by both houses, during good behavior.
11. Indiana. — The different judges are appointed in different ways, mostly for 7
years.
12. Kentucky. — Judges appointed by the governor, with the assent of the senate,
and during good behavior. Viva voce elections, without ballot.
13. Louisiana. — Judges appointed by the governor and senate, during good beha
vior.
14. Maine. — Councillors of the governor chosen every 7 years by the senators and
representatives. The governor has a veto like the president.
15. Maryland. — Judges appointed by the governor with concurrence of the senate,
during good behavior.
16. Massachusetts. — Nine councillors elected annually by both houses. Judges
appointed by the governor, with advice and assistance of the council,
during good behavior.
17. Michigan. — Judges appointed by the governor and senate, for 7 years.
18. Mississippi. — Judges elected by the people, for from 2 to 6 years.
19. Missouri. — Judges elected by the governor and senate, during good behavior.
A majority of both houses decides against the governor's veto.
20. Ohio. — Judges elected by both houses, for 7 years. The governor has no veto.
21. Pennsylvania. — Judges appointed by the governor with assent of the senate,
for different periods.
22. Rhode Island. — Judges elected by both houses, and removable by a majority
of them.
23. Tennessee. — Judges chosen by both houses, for from 6 to 12 years.
24. Vermont. — Judges elected annually by both houses.
25. Virginia. — The higher judges appointed by both houses, during good behavior.
The elections are viv& voce without ballot.
26. New York. — Judges appointed bv the governor, with assent of the senate, dur
ing good behavior.

506 APPENDIX II.
Yards of Cloth per annum  74,141,600
Pounds of Cotton consumed  22,880,000
Assuming half to be Upland, and half New Orleans and Alabama, the
consumption in bales, 361 lbs. each, is  58,240
A pound of Cotton averages 3-g yards.
100 lbs. Cotton will produce 89 lbs. Cloth.
Average wages of Females, clear of board, per week  flj'S
Average wages of Males, clear of board, per day  70c.
Medium produce of a Loom, No. 14 yarn, yds. per day.  44 to 45
Medium produce of a Loom, No. 30 yarn, yds. per day  30
Average per Spindle, yards per day  ly Tf
Average amount of wages paid per month  $150,000
Consumption of Starch per annum (lbs.)  800,000
Consumption of Flour for Starch in Mills, Print Works, and Bleachery,
bbls. per annum  4,000
Consumption of Charcoal, bushels per annum  600,000
The Locks and Canals Machine Shop, included among the 33 Mills, can furnish
Machinery complete for a Mill of 5000 Spindles in four months ; and lumber and
materials are always at command, with which to build or rebuild a Mill in that
time, if required. When building Mills, the Locks and Canals Company employ
directly or indirectly from 1000 to 1200 hands.
To the above-named principal establishments may be added, the Lowell Water-
Proofing, connected with the Middlesex Manufacturing Company ; the extensive
Powder Mills of O. M. Whipple, Esq.; the Lowell Bleachery, with a capital of
$50,000 ; Flannel Mill ; Blanket Mill ; Batting mill ; Paper Mill ; Card and Whip
Factory ; Planing Machine ; Reed Machine ; Foundry ; Grist and Saw Mills —
together employing about 500 hands and a capital of $500,000.
With regard to the health of persons employed in the mills, six of the females out
often enjoy better health than before entering the mills ; and of the males one-half
derive the same advantage. In their moral condition and character, they are not
inferior to any portion of the community.
A very considerable portion of the wages of the operatives is deposited in the
Lowell Institution for Savings.

APPENDIX III.
PLAN OF RECITATIONS AND LECTURES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT.

Years.

Times of
Recitations
and Lectures.

Ending on

AUTUMN TERM,
he first Wednesday of December.

September.

October.

November .

Morning, 5-7.B

Algebra.

Algebra.

Algebra.

1. •

11 o'clock,
A. M

Greek Forms.

Greek Syntax.

Greek Syntax.

Afternoon, at 4.

Herodotus.

Herodotus.

Herodotus.

Morning,
6 per week.
Trigonometry.
Trigonometry.
Conic Sections.
II. -
11 o'clock,
A. M.
Chronology. History.
History.
History. Heat.
Afternoon,
4 per week.
Odyssey.
Odyssey.
Odyssey.
Morning. | Horace. i Horace. Thucydides.
III. -
11 o'clock
A.M.
Chemistry.
Chemistry.
English
Literature.
Afternoon.
Statics.
Statics.
Statics.
Dynamics.
Morning. | Physiology. | Psychology. j Psychology.
IV. -
11 o'clock,
A. M.
Anatomy.
Physiology.
Central Forces.
Chemistry.
Afternoon.
Chrystallography.
Mathematics.
Mathematics. Astronomy.
Years.
Times of
Recitations
and Lectures.
SPRING TERM,
Finding on the second Wednesday of May.
February. March. April.
Morning, 5—7.
Livy.
Livy.
Livy. Tacitus.
I. ¦
11 o'clock,
A.M.
Roman
Antiquities.
Algebra. English
Grammar.
Principles of Gen
eral Grammar.
Afternoon, at 4.
Algebra.
Geometry.
Geometry.
Morning,
6 per week.
Quintilian.
Surveying.
Navigation.
Navigation. Projection.
II. H
11 o'clock,
A. M.
French.
French.
French.
Afternoon.
4 per week.
Analytical Geometry.
Quintilian.
Greek Orators.
Morning.
Dynamics.
Thucydides.
Latin Drama.
Greek Drama.
III. i
11 o'clock,
A.M.
Experimental Electricity.
Zoology. Natural
Philosophy.
Natural
Philosophy.
Afternoon.
Thucydides.
Hydrostatics.
Hydrodynamics.
Electricity.
Hydrodynamics.
(
Morning. | Science of Logic. | Metaphysics.
Metaphysics.
iv i 11 o'clock,
J-V' i A. M.
Natural History.
Astronomy.
Astronomy.
[ Afternoon. | Science of Logic. |  Plato.  |_
Plato.
508

APPENDIX III.

Years.

Times of
Recitations
and Lectures.

SUMMER TERM,
Finding on the first Wednesday of August.

May.

June. J July.

Morning, 5—7

Tacitus.

Tacitus.

Tacitus.

I. -

11 o'clock,
AM.

Practical Logic
and Rhetoric.

Practical Logic
and Rhetoric.

Practical Logic
and Rhetoric.

Afternoon, at 4.

Geometry.

Geometry.

Geometry.

Morning,
6 per week.
Nautical Astrono
my. Calculus.
Calculus.
Calculus.
II. -¦
11 o'clock,
A.M.
Mineralogy, Botany.
Botany, Practical
Surveying,
Practical Survey
ing and Levelling.
Afternoon,
_ 4 per week.
Greek Orators,
Greek Orators,
Horace,
Morning.
Greek Drama.
Greek Drama.
Greek Drama.
III. -
11 o'clock,
A. M.
Botany.
Galvanism.
Galvanism. Elec
tro-Magnetism.
Latin or Greek
Literature.
Afternoon.
Electricity.
Magnetism.
Optics.
Optics.
1
Morning.
Moral Philosophy.
Principles of
Government.
Evid. of Nat'l &
Reveal'd Religion.
iv.-{
11 o'clock,
A.M.
Cicero de Officiis.
Princip's of Rheto
ric and Fine Arts.
Princip's of Rheto
ric and Fine Arts.
Afternoon.
Metaphysics.
Political Econo
my.
Evid. of Nat'l &
Reveal'd Religion.
English Compositions or Translations once in two weeks, and Declamation, by
divisions, weekly, through the first two years. Every recitation from 1 to 1 J hours
English Compositions and Original Declamations weekly, through the last two
years. University of Vermont, October 1, 1843.
APPENDIX IV.— PLAN OF RECITATIONS IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

Tabular View of the Exercises during the First
Term. 1844-5.
Class.
s— y.
9—10.
10-11.
11—12.
12—1.
1-2.
3—4.
4—5. | 5—6.
g f Freshmen.
Mathem.
Latin § Gr.
Latin fy Gr.
Latin fy Gr.
g J Sophomores.
Rhetoric.
Rhetoric.
Modern
Languages.
Mod
ern Lan
guages.
§¦ 1 Juniors.
Latin & Gr.
Latin & Gr.
Philosophy.
Philosophy.
1 Mod. Lit.*
} Mod. Lit.*
Mod
em
Lan
guages.
COco
f { Seniors.
Philosophy.
Philosophy,
Rhetor. Led*
Latin.
Physics.
Modern
Languages.
*i f Freshmen.
Mathem.
Latin fy Gr.
Latin tf Gr.
Latin c; Gr.
S j Sophomores.
History.
History.
Mathem.
Latin & Gr.
Latin & Gr.
S. "1 Juniors.
Physics.
Physics.
Philosophy.
Philosophy.
Mathem.
j Physics.*
) Physics.*
•^ |_ Seniors.
Philosophy.
Philosophy.
Latin.
Mathem.
Rumf. Lect*
SI
' Freshmen.
Mathem.
Latin fy Gr.
Latin <§r Gr.
Latin S; Gr.
»
Sophomores.
Rlietoric.
Rhetoric.
Modern
Languages.
Mathem.
' Mod
ern Lan
guages.
e
Juniors.
Latin & Gr.
Latin & Gr.
Philosophy.
Philosophy.
( Mod. Lit.*
1 Mod. Lit.*
Mathem.
Modern
Lan
guages.
•<
Seniors.
Philosophy.
Philosophy.
Declamation.
Latin.
Greek.
Modern
Languages.
H f Freshmen.
Mathem.
Latin & Gr.
Latin <Sr Gr.
Latin t} Gr.
b) Sophomores.
History.
History.
Mathem.
Latin & Gr.
Latin & Gr.
2 j Juniors.
Physics.
Physics.
History.*
Mathem.
Philosophy.
Themes
and
Forensics.
¦? ( Seniors.
History.*
Greek.
Mathem.
Physics.
Themes
and
Forensics.
». f Freshmen.
Mathem.
Latin 8f Gr.
Latin ^r Gr.
2. J Sophomores.
Rhetoric.
Rhetoric.
Modern
Languages.
Latin & Gr.
Latin & Gr.
Mod
ern Lan
guages.
p 1 Juniors.
^ 1. Seniors.
Latin & Gr,
Latin & Gr.
Philosophy.
Declamation.
History.*
Modern
Lan
guages.
Philosophy.
Philosophy.
Rhetor. Lect.*
Greek.
History.*
Physics.
Mod. Lang.
Rumf. Lect*
Mod. Lang.
<*> f Freshmen.
Latin If Gr.
Latin ty Gr.
g I Sophomores.
Them. $ Dec.
Them, tj Dec.
g, 1 Juniors.
Physics.
Physics.
•jf [ Seniors.
Philosophy.
Philosophy.
The prescribed studies are printed in Italics.
April 15, 1844.
The rest are the only elective studies allowed. * By Lectures.
o CO
i, Tabular View of the Exercises during the Second Term. 1S44-5.

Oli— >
o

Class. | 8—9. 9—10.

10—11. | " 11—12.

12—1.

1—2. | 3—4.

4—5. | 5—6.

g f Freshmen.
| I Sophomores.
§¦1 Juniors. ¦;
"fi [ Seniors.

Logic.
Pol. Econ. Is

Mathem. Logic.
Const. Law.

Mathem.
Philosophy.
Declamation.

Latin fir Gr.
Philosophy. Mathem. Latin.

Latin fir Gr.
Philosophy.
Latin & Gr.
Mod. Lang.

Latin fir Gr.
Mod
Latin & Gr.
Philosophy.

ern Mod
Modern

Nat. Hist. Lan
ern Lan
Languages.

Nat. Hist.
guages.guages. Anatomy.

*| f Freshmen.
» J Sophomores.
=¦1 Juniors.
f [ Seniors.

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Physics.
Pol Econ. Sf

Mathem.
Latin & Gr.
Physics.
Const. Law.

Mathem.
Philosophy. Physics.

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Philosophy. Mathem. Latin.

Latin fir Gr.
Philosophy. Mathem.

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Philosophy.

History.

History.

Botany.*
j Botany.*
( Botany.*

T a S 1
P.a
•<

Freshmen.Sophomores.
Juniors. Seniors.

Logic.
Pol. Econ. &;

Logic.
Const. Law.

Chemistry.
Philosophy. Greek.

Latin fir Gr.
Philosophy. Latin.

Latin fir Gr.
Philosophy.
Latin & Gr.
Mod. Lang.

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Mod
Latin & Gr.
Philosophy.

ern Mod
Modern.

Nat. Hist. Lan
ern Lan
Languages.

Nat. Hist.
guages.guages.
Anatomy.* Min. & Geog.

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Mathem. Physics.

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> wa
APPENDIX IV.

511

Time occupied each week, by each Student, in Recitation in required
Studies.

( Mathematics
Recitations, -j Greek
[Latin

\

Rhetoric

Recitations A ™,, ^ .
' J Themes, or ( i =g„ >
I Declamation J ' (

FIRST TERM.
FRESHMEN.
5h.
66=17h. No elective studies allowed.
SOPHOMORES.
3h.2

Elective Studies  12 hours.

Recitations, ¦

Lectures,

' PhilosophyPhysics Themes, or
Forensics Declamation
f Physics
1' ModernLiteratureHistory

JUNIORS.
3h.3
I' k
l=8h.
lh. 2=2i 1 nili i Leaving for Recitation in
lUfcn. | Elective Studies  7£ hours.

SENIORS.

' Philosophy 5h.
Rhetoric 2
Recitations, \ Themes, or ) .
J Forensics J
( .Dectonaft'on l=9h.
' History 2
Physics 1
Application "j
iJecif aiioms, -{ o/ Science to>2
the Arts J
^rfc™ £ 2=3J
L Literature ) lljh.

( Leaving for Recitation in
( Elective Studies  5| hours.

Mathematics Greek
Recitations, -i Latin Nat. History
History.

SECOND TERM ,
FRESHMEN.
3h.

=20h. No elective studies allowed.

512

APPENDIX IV.

SOPHOMORES.
Chemistry 3h.
RecUations,\PJth>soPhy ,3 , T . , „
I hemes, or ) -_„, (Leaving for Recitation in
. Declamation J " \ Elective Studies  11 hours.

JUNIORS.

Recitations, ¦

Lectures,

3h.
3

Logic Physics Themes, or ) 1
Forensics J
Declamation 1 =8h.

lOh I Leaving for Recitation in
' \ Elective Studies  8 hours.

5h.

IPolit. Econ.
Declamation 1
1 hemes, or ) . _
Forensics )

SENIORS.

Lectures,

7h.

Anatomy Physics
Botany

3
22=3|

lOlh $ Leayiig for Recitation in
5 • ( Elective Studies.  7J hours.

THE END-

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