Of this city I shall say little at present, but hasten the western
journey. Having both read and been told of streets with clear water
running along the channels, and of trees planted on each side, affording
a pleasing shade during the heat of summer, I confess a great
disappointment at finding but very few trees, and no water but green
stinking puddles! Indeed, for the credit of New York, I must say that
their Board of Health is more active, or the people themselves are more
cleanly; for, there no stinks assaulted our noses equal to those we met
with here: walking in these streets under the influence of a hot burning
sun I have {31} met with the putrifying carcass of a dead dog; from the
stench of which I have ran off, while the natives were passing it
without notice! We need not then be at a loss to account for their
fevers.
Away from the wharfs the streets are in general good, well paved, and
laid with fine broad causeways of brick: the handsome flights of marble
steps to the doors would look still better if well polished; the marble
is white with blue veins, of a good kind, and comes by water about sixty
miles, at a cheap rate.
During the hot season, mineral waters, (chiefly soda,) sometimes mixed
with syrups, are drank in great abundance;--the first thing every
American who can afford five cents (about threepence) takes, on rising
in the morning, is a glass of soda water: many houses are open for the
sale of it, and some of them are fitted up with Parisian elegance.
Being so attached to water potations it is not surprising that these
people should stand in more than usual dread of canine madness; they are
dog-mad without being bit: such is the rage against the canine species
that carts are sent round the town both here and at New York every two
or three days, attended by fellows armed with bludgeons and spears, with
which they kill every dog they meet, and receive I am informed a dollar
for each. I had a fine Bull-dog put an {32} end to in this manner, for
which fifty dollars had been offered since my arrival; the cold blooded
wretches first enticed him, as I heard, towards them, and when he, not
knowing fear, came up to be caressed, they despatched him with spears
and bludgeons. For this I obtained no redress.
Accompanied Mr. ******* to the handsome public library presented to
Philadelphia by Dr. Franklin;[10] and of which his ungrateful countrymen
make use, while they are as silent as his statue over the entrance if
the worthy donor is mentioned, or if they do speak of him, it is
generally slightly;--the fact is, he was too good and too shrewd for
them to understand. I inquired respecting his philanthropic bequest of
money laid out at compound interest in aid of young tradesmen, and heard
it was properly attended to; though my informer added that several who
had been assisted from the fund had not subsequently been fortunate in
trade: that is probably according to the old adage "lightly come lightly
go," they had spent it instead of attending to business: the original
sum was four thousand dollars, and it has now increased to sixteen
thousand.[11]
14th. Visited the Penitentiary: this institution has been so fully
described by others that it is not necessary to give more than an
additional testimony to the truth of its admirable {33} plan;
unfortunately, the prison is at this time so full, (five hundred are in
confinement,) that it is impossible to lock up, separately at night,
those whose crimes are trifling from culprits of greater magnitude; but
a new prison is building which will enable them, when finished, to
correct this evil: the utmost cleanliness prevails, with order and
industry; indeed, the whole had the appearance of a well-regulated
manufactory, in which a regular debtor and creditor account is kept with
each individual, who receives, at the termination of his confinement,
the balance of his earnings, with which he may be enabled to maintain
himself while he seeks honest employment: an excellent regulation. We
afterwards viewed the Hospital for Lunatics, where the same, or more
attention to cleanliness and every thing conducive to the health and
recovery of the patients pervade every part; no appearance of gloom in
the building, but all calculated to inspire the mind with ease and
comfort. There is a good garden which, besides providing fruits and
vegetables to the house, affords a pleasant walk to the convalescent;
and in front of the building, encircled by a beautiful collection of
trees, lemon, orange, pomegranate, &c., stands the statue of William
Penn, holding in his hand the Charter of Liberties.
[Illustration: Little Brandywine, Pennsylvania]
This is not a cheap country for the _stranger_: {34} either
boarding-houses or taverns he must be in, (private lodgings being
unknown;) and in such establishments the charges are high: but the
_inhabitant_ must, it would seem, live at a very reasonable rate, as the
following prices will shew, and the lowest are not stated:--Meat, good
at six cents[12] a lb., excellent Tea for one dollar a lb., Sugar (loaf)
for eleven cents a lb., Soap at ten or eleven cents a lb., and other
groceries cheap in proportion. Of Wines, Port we buy for two dollars the
gallon, Claret one and a half the gallon, Sherry two and a half.
Spirits,--good Brandy for two dollars, Rum and Hollands the same.
But we will take leave of Philadelphia for the present--a future
opportunity may occur for further observations; and to that chance we
will leave it for the more important view of the Western country.
21st. With a strong but light carriage, called here a Dearborn waggon,
for myself and party, and a light covered baggage waggon driven by my
servant, I left the City about noon of such a day of heat as we had
never until lately experienced: in consequence of which my dog, the fine
animal above alluded to, ran off in a high fever, and I {35} never saw
him again; but he recovered, and came back to the house I had left in
search of me, and was taken care of for a few days, when the dog
butchers destroyed him. Not to mention the breaking of a three gallon
Demijon bottle of good liquor in rattling over the pavement, another
cross adventure happened, which made the commencement of so long a
journey ominous;--having sent the baggage waggon forward the first
stage, and there happening to be two roads and two inns with the same
sign at about the same distance, my man unluckily took the wrong way--we
slept the first night therefore ignorant of what had happened to him;
however he crossed over, and to our mutual satisfaction joined us the
following day. On requesting the ostler to call me early next morning,
the drunken old beast told me I might "call myself and be damned." Oh,
the blessings of independence!--But I will say this for the Americans,
that if during my stay one other oath was uttered it is the most I
heard.
24th. At Lancaster, Pensilvania.[13] We left Philadelphia on the 21st,
and have travelled through a country well cultivated and still improving
as we advanced, until, near this town, it breaks into hill and dale,
woodland and pasture, forming the most beautiful scenery, and wanting
nothing to the eye but water; actually {36} it is, we are told,
exceedingly well-watered. We admired the state of cultivation, observing
good crops of red clover-seed, and the wheat stubbles clearly showing
that heavy crops had been carried;--the beautiful Indian corn just
shooting into ear, green and luxuriant, greatly relieved the eye; the
oats alone (not yet harvested) looked short in the straw and bad, owing
we were told to their quick ripening and want of rain. The clumsy
zig-zag rail fence of the first settlers is giving way to strong post
and rail, and in a few spots to the live hedge, which looked beautiful.
[Illustration: Bridge at Columbia, Pennsylvania]
Thus we have passed along the centre of a fine valley of cultivated
land, grandly skirted by the primeval forest the whole way; the houses
and other buildings in general are excellent, bespeaking the inhabitants
to be at least rich in comforts; which are after all true riches. The
horses of Pensilvania have been frequently praised: they are indeed
excellent; uniting strength of frame with activity, and coming nearest
in form to the old English charger as seen in paintings; they are by no
means generally castrated as in England. The roads as yet we do not feel
inclined to praise, for they are abominably stony and jolting; yet they
seem to have been formed at some cost, in some parts, I am told, at
least twenty dollars {37} per rod; but no carriage except of the
strongest kind (and their construction here is admirable for the
purpose,) could last long against the perpetual concussions they
receive. It is much to be regretted that in laying out the roads of this
new country, the space allotted for them had not been thrice their
present width, which would have left an ample summer road on each side
of the principal one, rendering it better both for convenience and
ornament; but in this and too many more instances the Americans, instead
of adopting better plans, and improving by our errors, have servilely
copied those of the old country.
To the same lounging idleness remarked by Mr. Birkbeck we too must bear
testimony: added to which may be observed a most unconciliating manner
of studiously avoiding common civility, arising we suppose from a vulgar
idea of shewing their independence. The black population of all shades,
from the deepest to nearly white, still appears considerable as we
proceed.
Lancaster is a very respectable town, with a handsome court-house, &c.
Slaymaker's inn or tavern excellent. A large manufactory of rifle
barrels is carried on here, much cheaper than they can be produced in
Europe; a very good rifle may be had complete for twelve or {38}
fourteen dollars, clumsy in appearance, but throwing a ball with
astonishing exactness. It was market day, and horses, carriages, &c.,
were among other things put up to auction; the auctioneer, riding or
driving up and down the streets, with stentorian lungs proclaiming the
qualities of the horse or carriage on sale, and receiving the biddings
as he went on: a ranting preacher's exertions are nothing compared with
this man's.
[Illustration: Susquehannah River at Columbia]
[Illustration: Place of Worship and Burial Ground at Ligonier Town,
Pennsylvania]
29th. At Chambersburgh. From Lancaster, by Columbia passing over the
beautiful Susquehannah by a close bridge of one mile and a quarter long,
to this town the roads are at present wretched, even dangerous; and the
settlers, German and Dutch boors, as abominable. Having broke a buckle
of one of the traces, we applied to a blacksmith to mend it, which he
refused to do. Night with a thunder-storm approaching, we tied up the
harness as well as we could, wasting plenty of hearty bad wishes upon
the cursed smith which some poor Irishmen working on the road joined us
in, though they could not assist us; and proceeded some distance, the
storm still lowering, to a tavern kept by one of the above wretches
where we were absolutely refused admittance: obliged to drive on we just
got to the door of another, when the thunder in tremendeous peals burst
over us {39} accompanied with torrents of rain; here we bolted in
determined to be received, and found ourselves in the midst of parties
of ill-looking people drinking whiskey and smoking. It was the bar or
tap-room, and as no offer was made of a better or safer place for
ourselves and luggage, and a little disapprobation being consequently
shewn by some of my party, the brute landlord, notwithstanding the
storm, told us we had better drive on to the next town, if we disliked
his accommodations.--Not chusing to be drenched in rain for his ill
humour we were obliged to remain during pleasure; until at length I got
mine host into better humour, and he gave us a tolerable good supper and
beds, though with the usual company of bugs and fleas, and without water
for washing, which they positively refused to let us have; observing, we
might wash out of doors. This man boasted of being possessed of
thirty-five thousand dollars in property, and said, that land now worth
one hundred dollars per acre was bought by his father for four dollars.
* * * * *
Tired of such abominable inns and the keepers of them, we have now twice
boiled the kettle in the woods and breakfasted upon the contents {40} of
our canteen, a plan we have much enjoyed, and recommend to all
travellers in this country whose convenience it may suit. The scenery is
beautiful, the land pretty well cultivated and finely interspersed with
woodland; the harvest, except Indian corn or maize, is nearly got in,
and seems to have been abundant. Man alone here stands an object of
disgust. How strangely to our circumscribed views does Providence work
its purposes! To a rough untutored set of naked savages, another race of
little less than savages (clothed savages) has succeeded; who, in all
probability, will in their turn give place to a third of some intellect
and refinement; themselves driven from their paternal hearths by the
insolence of an aristocracy, the intolerance of a state religion, or the
craving demands of an extravagant government: these, seeking for
themselves and their posterity relief from such evils, will bring into
this fine portion of the earth, the letters and refined manners, which
alone it wants to make it perhaps one of the most desirable countries of
the globe.
We are now ascending the first range of mountains separating the eastern
from the western part of the continent. The grand and ancient monarchs
of the forest have only been removed where the road is opened for the
passage of the {41} traveller. The Oak, the Chestnut, the Locust and
various other trees tower aloft in their prime, while some lie fallen
with age, and others, inclining from their aged roots, ready to
follow,--emblems these of the lot of humanity!
The heat of the sun, though great, is here tempered by a cool air from
the mountains. A man, his wife, and children travelling in their light
waggon with one horse, have joined us; they are on their way to
Virginia, in which State he lives; he seems to be a good-natured civil
being and by no means wanting in humanity in general; yet custom could
make him smile at my expression of abhorrence, when he said there was no
law practically for slaves in that State, and that he has _frequently_
seen them _flogged to death_!