The opening in September last of the grand railway which unites
Massachusetts with British North America is one of the most noticeable
events of our times. Before this, the commercial path of transit from
Europe lay from the Atlantic up the St Lawrence, the navigation of
which--at all times difficult and dangerous--is closed by ice during
five months of the year, and thus all intercourse through the States,
except by sleighs, stopped. Now, goods may be brought direct to Boston
and shipped to Europe, or unshipped at Boston for the Canadas without
interruption. But in a moral and social point of view, the subject is
still more important. Rivalry and bad feeling vanish before
intercourse, and the locomotive mows down prejudices faster than corn
falls before the Yankee reaping-machine.
When I heard that there was to be a _procession_, the word vulgarised
the whole affair. It conjured up before my mind's eye our doings of
the sort in England, with the Lord Mayor's Show at the head of them;
and I concluded that the Yankee attempt would be still more trashy.
Let us see how it turned out. I send you a newspaper for the details;
but _here_ you must be a spectator, with the whole picture dashing,
mass by mass, upon your sensorium.
As the first requisite for enjoyment, it was a glorious day even for
this climate. Nothing shews off a pageant like fine weather. I left
home shortly after daybreak, and went to the Common, as it is
called--a Park about as large as St James's, handsomely laid out, with
long alleys, some parallel, others crossing at various angles, and all
shaded by fine trees. The scene presented by this Park reminded me of
Camacho's wedding in _Don Quixote_, on a large scale. There stood the
tent for the banquet, constructed to dine 3000 persons, and decorated
with the flags of America and England streaming from the top, with the
flags of other nations below. Close by, were large tents for the
preparation of viands, surrounded with all the paraphernalia of a
feast. In various places, booths had been erected by the city, for the
gratuitous supply of all comers with pure iced water, and these were
thronged throughout the day, especially with children. The pedestrian
portion of the procession assembled in the Park, while the vehicles
crowded all the adjacent streets. And now might be observed the
various societies, with their bands of music; volunteer companies
marching here and there, getting into step, arranging their order and
practising their tunes. I was chatting with a raw Vermonter, who was
as much a stranger as myself. 'In the name of creation,' he suddenly
exclaimed, 'what tarnal screeching is that yonder?' 'That,' I said,
'is the bagpipes, the national music of Scotland.' 'That?' said he:
'it would clear a State of racoons in no time!' But the Scots had
determined to shine, and they advanced: a tall Highlander first, in
full costume, and blowing the pipes at his loudest; after him ten
others, in full Highland costume, with a banner--the Scottish Friends;
and about 200 with silk sashes, and walking three abreast. The
Catholic Irishmen followed, with a banner displaying a portrait of the
Pope and other Catholic emblems; and directly after came the
Protestant Irishmen, with their banners and music. Why will they not
associate thus in their own land? A very interesting portion of the
assembling was a party of about a thousand fine-looking, hardy men,
all remarkably clean, dressed in labourers' costume--blue blouses and
white trousers--headed by a band of music playing Irish popular tunes,
with a large banner of the stars and stripes, and the word 'Liberty,'
with the inscription--'The Irish Labourers. Under this we find
Protection for our Labour.'
The Park is an irregular square. On the north side, on the highest
point of the city, stands the State-House, where the legislature
meets. Near that is the house which was formerly inhabited by the
governor, at the time the British flag waved where there now fly,
glancing in the sun, the stars and stripes. As the president was
expected at the State-House, and the procession was to start from
thence, that was the point of attraction, where the spectators formed
into a vast, dense, and steady mass. We English are in the habit of
seeing the paraphernalia of courts, and are slow to disconnect the
ideas of pomp and state from the persons of those who hold power and
distinction; but the chief of this great nation, together with the
secretary of state, had arrived in town by railway in an ordinary
carriage, without the least parade, and the corporation had hired for
the occasion an open carriage-and-four--such an equipage as would have
passed quite unnoticed in an English provincial town. Let me here
observe, that by an ordinary carriage I mean a carriage open to all;
for in America there are no locomotive distinctions of 1st, 2d, and 3d
classes. I never saw expectation more on tiptoe. A rattle round the
corner was heard; then the noise of the wheels ceased, and then the
president--a tall, gentlemanly-looking, elderly man--was ascending the
steps of the State-House; and as soon as his gray locks were seen by
the immense multitude, such a shout arose as only Anglo-Saxon lungs
can raise and prolong. The president turned round on the landing of
the steps, took off his hat, bowed, and entered the hall. I have seen
many ceremonies, regal and imperial, which passed off very much like a
scene at a theatre; but I felt the sublime simplicity of this. There
is no road to distinction here but talent; and as the fine old man
stood on the steps bowing, with Mr Webster, Secretary of State, by his
side, they looked the very embodiment of intellect, and the manly,
overpowering shout of the crowd the recognition of it. The
multitudinous voices died away in the distance with a peculiar effect.
No firing of guns. While on this part of the subject, I may mention my
strong impression, that in no place is the government so much
respected as in America. The public press may ridicule and joke upon
certain acts of individuals; but whatever side is taken, there is
nothing that can bring the laws, or those who administer them, into
disrespect. This produces order to an extent unknown elsewhere. No one
seems to question the law or the commands of its officers excepting
Europeans, who bring their turbulent habits with them.
Leaving this imposing scene, I turned to the route of the procession,
which had been advertised to pass through certain streets. In some
degree to account for the masses of human beings that filled them, the
three railways had kept pouring people in for three days, and the
trains, immediately on arrival, turned back to fetch the thousands
they had left waiting at the stations. It was said that there never
was such a gathering in one place since the independence of the
States. The arrangements of the pageant were made by the committee of
the city; but the audience, or public, arranged themselves, and never
was there anything better done. Along the whole line of streets, about
three miles in length, the goods had been removed from the
shop-windows, and their places filled with ladies. Every window that
commanded a view was appropriated to females and children, who were
likewise in many cases on the tops of the houses. Men occupied the
pavement to the kerbstone. The roadway was kept by deputy-marshals,
who rode up and down, in black dress suits, cocked, open hats, and
white sashes; and in this vast assemblage their every request was
immediately attended to. At the end of every street, carriages of all
descriptions were placed, filled with people. As an instance of the
courtesy of the spectators, my wife had handed our Little Red
Ridinghood to some gentleman on the top of an omnibus, who very kindly
held her up to see the show, and took charge of her while Mrs W----
found her way to the window where her place had been kept. If anything
could mark the kindly disposition and good order of the crowd, it was
the fact, that although I should think all the children in the city
were there, not one was hurt, but everybody exerted himself to
accommodate this interesting portion of the community. Across the
streets, and at all available points, the stars and stripes waved
proudly in the air, and altogether the scene was most beautiful and
imposing. I walked the whole length of the route before the procession
moved, and the _coup d'oeil_ was perfect. The military portion looked
remarkably well; but when the open carriage appeared in which rode
Lord Elgin and his friends, the representative of Great Britain was
greeted with such shouts and by such waving of handkerchiefs from the
windows by crowds of elegantly dressed females, as I am sure his
lordship can never forget. On his part, Lord Elgin continued bowing in
acknowledgment, almost without intermission, for two hours and twenty
minutes--the time occupied in passing.
Nearly equal to this was the enthusiasm elicited by the appearance of
an open carriage, drawn by four grays, and containing only two men,
wellnigh ninety years of age, then the sole survivors, in the State of
Massachusetts, of those who fought in the War of Independence. It is
the custom to shew honour to the survivors of that event on all public
occasions. On the 4th of July last, the last public gathering, there
were four in the carriage: two are gone. Before the carriage, was
carried the banner of Washington, used in the struggle. When these old
men raised their withered hands to remove their hats, in reply to the
welcome of the crowd, they appeared like spirits of the past. In all
probability, they will not appear in public again; but the fruits of
their courage will live for ever. The appropriateness and beauty of
the arrangement of details were remarkable in the representation of
the particular trades. The most imposing objects were the two new
locomotives, shining brilliantly in their might of brass and steel,
and richly painted; and as they loomed in sight, turning the bends of
the streets, they were truly magnificent and appropriate objects. Each
was raised upon a car, so that, on the whole, it was thirty feet high;
it was drawn by eighteen iron-gray horses, all in line, decorated with
blue ribbons, and handsomely caparisoned; each horse being led by a
workman, in clean, new, working costume. The next was a procession on
foot. Eight negroes, in Eastern costume, walked as guards round a
platform, carried palanquin-fashion by four negroes, with 5000 ounces
of manufactured silver-plate, built up in a pyramid, and forming a
splendid object, fully equal in workmanship to anything of the kind I
have seen. A very interesting part of the pageant was the children of
the different schools, in four-wheeled cars, covered with drapery, and
decorated with flowers and plants; and it was really pleasing to see
the happy little creatures enjoying such a holiday as they would never
forget. It is impossible to give a third of the details of this unique
procession; but I cannot omit to notice the last feature--the
labourers on their truck-horses. These were the carmen of the town.
Their clean, healthy, happy faces, with their glossy horses, decorated
with ribbons, made me regard them as the best and proudest cavalry a
nation could have. These are all men who, a very short time since,
landed from the Old World--fugitives from misery and starvation.
I had a ticket offered me for the banquet, but I preferred being
outside among the people. I have had enough of dinner-speeches in my
time, although this occasion was one of peculiar interest. The Park
continued to be crowded to excess; and as the company arrived, they
were greeted by the people and the bands of music stationed here and
there. But what sound is that? They are drinking toasts within; and
one is now given which stirs the vast multitude like an electrical
shock. I cannot hear at first, the roar is so deafening: but presently
I am able to analyse the sounds that have caused the commotion; and I
confess it is with a beating heart, and a sort of choking sensation in
the throat, I hear every lip repeat--'The Queen of England!' and every
band in the Park take up from the music in the tent our own national
strain, till the whole atmosphere vibrates with _God save the Queen!_
The effect was magical, and I felt gratified beyond measure--not alone
at the compliment to our country, but as evidence that the
Anglo-Saxons are still one great community, and that the proceedings
of that day would rivet between the two countries the bond of common
blood. The day closed as happily as it had begun, and the streets were
crowded up to a late hour. I was in all the thickest of the press, and
I know that there was not a single accident, nor did I see or hear of
any instance of drunkenness or disorder. All was harmony and
good-humour.
I would mention, as a strong proof of the growing interest felt for
the old country here, in New England especially, that almost every
family is desirous of being known to be connected with it. They have
all English names; and a numerous society have employed a gentleman of
skill in such matters for the last ten years in England in tracing out
the English branches of the different families, in the State, so as to
have the genealogy complete. This has become a passion; and I have
found every person I met who could trace his descent from the
mother-country proud of it. I fell in, the other day, with a highly
intelligent American, who told me with quite a feeling of pride, that
his grandfather and grandmother were English, and his wife's father a
Scot.