Early Western Travels
1748-1846
Volume X
Early Western Travels
1748-1846
A Series of Annotated Reprints of some of the best and rarest
contemporary volumes of travel, descriptive of the Aborigines and
Social and Economic Conditions in the Middle and Far West, during the
Period of Early American Settlement.
Edited with Notes, Introductions, Index, etc., by
Reuben Gold Thwaites, LL.D.
Editor of "The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents," "Original
Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition," "Hennepin's New
Discovery," etc.
Volume X
Hulme's Journal, 1818-19; Flower's Letters from Lexington and the
Illinois, 1819; Flower's Letters from the Illinois, 1820-21; and
Woods's Two Years' Residence, 1820-21
[Illustration]
Cleveland, Ohio
The Arthur H. Clark Company
1904
COPYRIGHT 1904, BY
THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The Lakeside Press
R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY
CHICAGO
CONTENTS OF VOLUME X
PREFACE. _The Editor_ 9
I
A JOURNAL MADE DURING A TOUR IN THE WESTERN COUNTRIES
OF AMERICA: September 30, 1818-August 7,
1819. _Thomas Hulme_
Dedication. _William Cobbett_ 19
Preface. _William Cobbett_ 21
Author's Introduction to the Journal 23
Text 35
II
LETTERS FROM LEXINGTON [June 25, 1819] AND THE ILLINOIS
[August 16, 1819], containing a Brief Account of the English
Settlement in the Latter Territory, and a Refutation
of the Misrepresentations of Mr. Cobbett. _Richard
Flower_
Author's Preface 89
Text 91
III
LETTERS FROM THE ILLINOIS, 1820, 1821. Containing an
Account of the English Settlement at Albion and its
Vicinity, and a Refutation of Various Misrepresentations,
Those more particularly of Mr. Cobbett. With
a Letter from M. Birkbeck; and a Preface and Notes by
Benjamin Flower. _Richard Flower_
Publisher's Advertisement 114
Editor's Preface. _Benjamin Flower_ 115
Text 121
Extract of a Letter. _Morris Birkbeck_ 149
Editor's Notes. _Benjamin Flower_ 153
IV
TWO YEARS' RESIDENCE IN THE SETTLEMENT ON THE ENGLISH
PRAIRIE, in the Illinois Country, United States
[June 5, 1820-July 3, 1821]. With an Account of its
Animal and Vegetable Productions, Agriculture, &c. &c.
A Description of the Principal Towns, Villages, &c.
&c. With the Habits and Customs of the Back-Woodsmen.
_John Woods_
Text 179
Appendix 353
ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME X
Facsimile of title-page to Flower's Letters from Lexington
and the Illinois (1819) 87
Facsimile of title-page to Flower's Letters from the Illinois
(1822) 113
Facsimile of title-page to Woods 173
Map of the Allotments, from Woods 175
Map of the Illinois, from Woods 177
PREFACE TO VOLUME X
During the second decade of the nineteenth century, a colony of
English emigrants was established in southeastern Illinois, at a place
in Edwards County known afterwards as English Prairie. Interesting
in itself as being a typical experiment in transplantation and in
assimilation to frontier conditions, this settlement has attracted
unusual attention because of the war of pamphlets it evoked, and the
political prominence of some of its detractors.
Agricultural emigration was, at that period, a subject of much
importance in Great Britain, and the English Prairie settlement became
the nucleus around which the contention was waged. At the close of the
Napoleonic wars, England's rural interests were much depressed. Hopes
had been entertained that, with the return of peace, conditions for
the farmer would improve, but these expectations proved fallacious,
prices continually lowered, rents and wages increased, distress was
widespread, and agrarian discontent alarming. Added to this, the
political situation was grave. The domination of the Tory party, the
reactionary tendency of foreign affairs, and the general national
impoverishment led to the growth of a strong Radical party, which
demanded manhood suffrage, abolition of the Corn Laws, and abrogation
of the time-honored privileges of the upper classes. Mobs and
disturbances were frequent, and there was developed a strong sentiment
in favor of emigration to the United States, where political freedom,
combined with the prospects of cheap lands, offered an enticing
prospect to the harassed rural population of England.
The emigrants were not merely of the laboring classes, but frequently
were men of substance and property, who sold good estates to reinvest
in uncultivated lands in America, and to pave the way for the removal
thither of large colonies of Englishmen. Among the promoters of such
enterprises were Morris Birkbeck and George Flower, both of them
owners of considerable estates not far from London. The former was of
Quaker origin, and his growing dissatisfaction with affairs in England
made him open to the suggestion of emigration. Meeting in London the
well-known American diplomat, Edward Coles, returning from a mission to
Russia, the latter's account of the wide stretches of virgin prairie
lands in the then Territory of Illinois fired his imagination, and
determined him to transplant himself and family thither, purchase a
considerable area, and found an English colony for the relief of the
island's distressed agriculturists. His friend Flower joined him in
this resolution, and in the summer of 1816, went out in advance to the
United States, where Birkbeck and his family followed him the next
spring.
Nothing daunted by the difficulties and hardships of frontier
conditions, Birkbeck and Flower bought a large tract of unbroken
prairie in southeastern Illinois, began the building of log huts and
the importation of furniture, and established themselves and their
delicately-reared families on this border-land of civilization. Their
optimistic, and even enthusiastic, reports, soon led to the accession
of a considerable number of their English friends and neighbors.
Some of the newcomers were disappointed in the situation. After
the long, tedious ocean voyage, and the still longer and far more
tiresome westward journey by land, they would fain have returned to
the comparative ease and comfort of their English homes. Detractors
arose, who took advantage of the sometimes ill-considered letters of
the discontents, and utilized these to decry all English emigration to
America. Others urged the intending English emigrant to go no farther
than the Eastern part of the United States, where civilized conditions
already existed. Prominent in the ranks of the latter was William
Cobbett, the famous Radical leader and pamphleteer. Self-exiled from
England to avoid prosecutions for libel and consequent fines, Cobbett
was employed in rutabaga culture on Long Island. It was commonly
reported by his enemies that he had been subsidized by land speculators
in the vicinity of New York and Philadelphia to attract and retain in
that neighborhood the well-to-do English emigrant who was proposing
to make investment in American lands. Be that as it may, Cobbett
began an attack upon the Birkbeck-Flower Illinois settlement, which
at once brought it into notoriety. Wielding one of the most popular
and trenchant pens of his day, the political oracle of thousands of
Englishmen, he certainly was a formidable antagonist.
Birkbeck had recently (1817) published _Notes on a Journey in America_,
and (1818) _Letters from Illinois_--honest, straightforward books, if
somewhat optimistic in tone. Cobbett replied with _A Year's Residence
in the United States of America_ (New York, 1818, and many subsequent
editions), in which he made a savage attack on English Prairie,
using as a weapon the journal of his follower, Thomas Hulme, lately
returned from a visit to Illinois. Birkbeck and Richard Flower (father
of George, the first founder), answered the strictures of Cobbett;
and various other emigrants added their testimony. From this mass of
controversial literature, we have chosen for inclusion in volume x of
our series those publications which appear to us best to exemplify
Western life and conditions, and contain the most varied descriptions
of an English immigrant's impressions and experiences.
Thomas Hulme was an honest English farmer, with strong Radical
tendencies, and in earnest sympathy with democratic institutions as he
found them in America. The Introduction to his _Journal of a Tour in
the Western Countries of America_--which we herein extract and reprint
from Part III of his friend Cobbett's _A Year's Residence_--contains
some autobiographical material. In explaining his object in coming
to America, he declares: "I saw an absence of human misery. I saw a
government taking away a very small portion of men's earnings. I saw
ease and happiness and a fearless utterance of thought everywhere
prevail." The only question with him was, in what region of America
would it be best for him to settle. His visit to the "Western
Countries" was undertaken with a view to examining agricultural and
social conditions there. Travelling over the usual Pennsylvania road to
Pittsburg, he voyaged down the Ohio, and thence went through Illinois.
His notes along the way contain shrewd but useful observations on the
route, the people he encountered, prices, and wages. Hulme has nothing
adverse to say of the West. Cobbett, who first published this journal,
uses it as a text; but in making it serve this purpose of detraction,
he obviously wrests Hulme's words from their meaning. We have thought
it desirable to reprint Hulme's _Journal_ apart from the mass of
diatribe with which Cobbett originally enveloped it.
Richard Flower, whose _Letters from Lexington and the Illinois_
(London, 1819), and _Letters from the Illinois_ (London, 1822), herein
reprinted, were first published in reply to Cobbett, was a man of
culture and refinement, owner of a considerable estate in Hertford.
In 1818, at the age of sixty-three, he sold his property and joined
his eldest son, George, in promoting the colony to Illinois. The first
winter in America was passed at Lexington, Kentucky, awaiting the
preparation of a residence at Albion, the new Illinois town founded
by his son in Edwards County. After his removal thither (July, 1819)
he passed the rest of his life at this settlement, holding religious
services for the infant colony, and in many ways serving as a medium of
enlightenment and refinement in this distant region. He died in 1829.
His _Letters_ are eminently sane and sensible. His comments upon the
American character are appreciative and kindly, his chief strictures
being upon the subject of slavery.
The major portion of our volume is devoted to a reprint of John Woods's
_Two Years' Residence ... in the Illinois Country_ (London, 1822),
detailing with precision the experiences of a well-to-do English
farmer seeking a home in the new world. Woods was a matter-of-fact
person, whose book has no pretensions to literary style; but it does
present faithfully the average Englishman's impressions of persons and
things in the United States of 1819-21. Landing in Baltimore, Woods
bought conveyances that transported his family and goods over the new
National Road to Wheeling, whence a flat-boat furnished their means
of carriage down the Ohio River to Shawneetown, then the principal
port of Illinois. From this point the immigrants walked overland to
English Prairie, sending the baggage around by way of the Wabash and
its tributaries. Arrived at the settlement, Woods bought of American
pioneers lands that had already received some cultivation, and settled
contentedly to build up a new farm in these rich regions. His
experiences were typical; and while he expressly disclaims attempting
to influence others intending to remove from England, yet his favorable
pictures could not have failed of their effect.
His comments upon American life are shrewd and kindly. On the whole, he
says, "we have received as good treatment as we should have in a tour
through England; but the manners of Americans are more rough than those
of Englishmen." Gifted with penetration that permitted him to discover
the good qualities beneath the rude exterior, he makes an interesting
portrayal of the backwoodsman, giving us an amusing although not a
sarcastic record of an imaginary conversation imbued with some of the
peculiar Americanisms of his time. More interesting, perhaps, from
the point of view of our series, is the account he gives of the towns
on the Ohio, and the progress of settlement, compared with those of
the travellers of 1803-09. He finds older towns falling into decay,
new ones springing into existence, and over it all the trail of the
speculator. The extent and cheapness of public lands is a subject for
comment, and the land laws and methods of survey are minutely detailed.
In view of the strictures of later English writers, their flippant
comments and inappreciative criticisms, the plain, straightforward
descriptions of these farmers of English Prairie give a just and
wholesome account of the American West at the beginning of the third
decade of the nineteenth century. One further service the English
settlers performed for Illinois, and civilization. When a new
constitution for the state was agitated--one that should admit slavery
to its borders--it was the sturdy opposition of the English leaders
that turned the scale in favor of freedom. In this struggle (1824-25),
Morris Birkbeck once more met his friend Edward Coles, now become
governor of Illinois. Although a Virginian, Coles was opposed to the
extension of slavery, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Birkbeck in
this great fight. Largely to English devotion to free institutions, it
was due that the attempt to foist the "peculiar institution" upon the
new West failed, and the state which was to shelter and train Abraham
Lincoln was made a free land.
In the preparation of notes to this volume, the Editor has had the
assistance of Louise Phelps Kellogg, Ph.D., Edith Kathryn Lyle, Ph.D.,
and Mr. Archer Butler Hulbert.
R. G. T.
MADISON, WIS., November, 1904.
HULME'S JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN THE WESTERN COUNTRIES OF
AMERICA--SEPTEMBER 30, 1818-AUGUST 8, 1819.
Extracted and reprinted from William Cobbett's _A Year's Residence in
the United States of America_: London, 1828.
{259} DEDICATION
TO TIMOTHY BROWN, ESQ.
OF PECKHAM LODGE, SURREY
_North Hempstead, Long Island,
10th Dec. 1818._
MY DEAR SIR,
THE little volume here presented to the public, consists,
as you will perceive, for the greater and most valuable part, of
travelling notes made by our friend HULME, whom I had the
honour to introduce to you in 1816, and with whom you were so much
pleased.
His activity, which nothing can benumb; his zeal against the twin
monster, tyranny and priestcraft, which nothing can cool; and his
desire to assist in providing a place of retreat for the oppressed,
which nothing but the success in the accomplishment can satisfy; these
have induced him to employ almost the whole of his time here in various
ways all tending to the same point.
The Boroughmongers have agents and spies all over the inhabited globe.
Here they cannot _sell blood_: they can only collect information and
calumniate the people of both countries. These vermin our friend _firks
out_ (as the Hampshire people call it); and they hate him as rats hate
a terrier.
Amongst his other labours, he has performed a very laborious journey
to the _Western Countries_, and has been as far as the Colony
{260} of our friend BIRKBECK. This journey has produced a
JOURNAL; and this Journal, along with the rest of the volume,
I dedicate to you in testimony of my constant remembrance of the many,
many happy hours I have spent with you, and of the numerous acts of
kindness which I have received at your hands. You were one of those,
who _sought acquaintance with me_, when I was shut up in a felon's
jail for _two years_ for having expressed my indignation at seeing
Englishmen flogged, in the heart of England, under a guard of German
bayonets and sabres, and when I had on my head _a thousand pounds fine
and seven years' recognizances_. You, at the end of the two years,
took me from the prison, in your carriage, home to your house. You and
our kind friend, WALKER, are _even yet_, held in bonds for my
_good behaviour_, the seven years not being expired. All these things
are written in the very core of my heart; and when I act as if I had
forgotten any one of them, may no name on earth be so much detested and
despised as that of
Your faithful friend,
And most obedient servant,
WM. COBBETT
{261} PREFACE
IN giving an account of the United States of America, it
would not have been proper to omit saying something of the _Western
Countries_, the Newest of the New Worlds, to which so many thousands
and hundreds of thousands are flocking, and towards which the writings
of Mr. Birkbeck have, of late, drawn the pointed attention of all those
Englishmen, who, having something left to be robbed of, and wishing to
preserve it, are looking towards America as a place of refuge from the
Boroughmongers and the Holy Alliance, which latter, to make the compact
complete, seems to want nothing but the accession of His Satanic
Majesty.
_I could not go_ to the Western Countries; and the accounts of others
were seldom to be relied on; because, scarcely any man goes thither
without some degree of partiality, or comes back without being tainted
with some little matter, at least, of self-interest. Yet, it was
desirable to make an attempt, at least, towards settling the question:
"Whether the Atlantic, or the Western, Countries were the best for
_English Farmers_ to settle in." Therefore, when Mr. HULME
proposed to make a Western Tour, I was very {262} much pleased, seeing
that, of all the men I knew, he was the most likely to bring us back
an _impartial_ account of what he should see. His great knowledge
of farming as well as of manufacturing affairs; his capacity of
estimating local advantages and disadvantages; the natural turn of
his mind for discovering the means of applying to the use of man all
that is furnished by the earth, the air, and water; the patience and
perseverance with which he pursues all his inquiries; the urbanity of
his manners, which opens to him all the sources of information; his
inflexible adherence to _truth_: all these marked him out as the man on
whom the public might safely rely.
I, therefore, give his Journal, made during his tour. He offers no
_opinion_ as to the _question_ above stated. That _I shall_ do; and
when the reader has gone through the Journal he will find my opinions
as to that question, which opinions I have stated in a Letter addressed
to Mr. BIRKBECK.
The American reader will perceive, that this Letter is intended
principally for the perusal of _Englishmen_; and, therefore, he must
not be surprised if he finds a little bickering in a group so much of a
_family_ cast.
WM. COBBETT
_North Hempstead,
10th December, 1818._
{263} INTRODUCTION TO THE JOURNAL
_Philadelphia, 30th Sept. 1818._
IT seems necessary, by way of Introduction to the following
_Journal_, to say some little matter respecting the author of it, and
also respecting his motives for wishing it to be published.
As to the first, I am an Englishman by birth and parentage; and am of
the county of Lancaster. I was bred and brought up at farming work,
and became an apprentice to the business of _Bleacher_, at the age of
14 years. My own industry made me a master-bleacher, in which state I
lived many years at Great Lever, near Bolton, where I employed about
140 men, women, and children, and had generally about 40 apprentices.
By this business, pursued with incessant application, I had acquired,
several years ago, property to an amount sufficient to satisfy any man
of moderate desires.
But, along with my money my children had come and had gone on
increasing to the number of _nine_. New _duties_ now arose, and
demanded my best attention. It was not sufficient that I was likely
to have a decent fortune for each child. I was bound to provide, if
possible, against my children being stripped of what I had earned for
them. I, therefore, looked seriously at the situation of England; and,
I saw, that the incomes of my children were all _pawned_ (as my friend
Cobbett[1] truly calls it) to pay the Debts of the Borough, or seat,
owners. I saw that, of whatever I might be able to {264} give to my
children, as well as of what they might be able to earn, _more than one
half_ would be taken away to feed pensioned Lords and Ladies, Soldiers
to shoot at us, Parsons to persecute us, and Fundholders, who had lent
their money to be applied to purposes of enslaving us. This view of the
matter was sufficient to induce the father of nine children to think of
the means of rescuing them from the consequences, which common sense
taught him to apprehend. But, there were other considerations, which
operated with me in producing my emigration to America.
[1] For a brief biography of William Cobbett, see Flint's _Letters_,
volume ix of our series, note 4.--ED.
In the year 1811 and 1812 the part of the country, in which I lived,
was placed under a _new sort of law_; or, in other words, it was placed
out of the protection of the old law of the land.[2] Men were seized,
dragged to prison, treated like convicts, many transported and put to
death, without having committed any thing, which the law of the land
deems a _crime_. It was then that the infamous _Spy-System_ was again
set to work in Lancashire, in which horrid system FLETCHER of
Bolton was one of the principal actors, or, rather, organizers and
promoters. At this time I endeavoured to detect the machinations of
these dealers in human blood; and, I narrowly escaped being sacrificed
myself on the testimony of two men, who had their pardon offered them
on condition of their _swearing against me_. The men refused, and were
transported, leaving wives and children to starve.
[2] In 1811 the growing hostility of those employed in the manufacture
of stockings to the introduction of knitting frames, culminated in
the Luddite Riots, and in Nottingham over six hundred stocking frames
were broken. The riot spread rapidly among the artisans in the cotton
and woolen industries in Lancashire and Yorkshire, mills were burned,
machinery of all kinds destroyed, and it became necessary to call
out seven regiments before quiet was restored. The government became
alarmed, especially as the mobs had stormed the militia depots and
secured arms for themselves, and several repressive measures were
hurried through Parliament. The first, passed March 5, 1812, made
frame-breaking a capital offense; the second, the Nottingham Watch
and Ward Bill, passed the same month, enabled the lord-lieutenant
or sheriff to establish watch and ward if further riots occurred;
and the third, the Preservation of Public Peace Act, passed July 27,
1812, empowered any magistrate in the disturbed district to search for
secreted arms, and to call upon the people to give up their weapons.
See _Parliamentary Debates_, xxi, pp. 859, 1166; xxiii, pp. 1099,
1251.--ED.
Upon this occasion, my friend DOCTOR TAYLOR, most humanely, and with
his usual zeal and talent, laboured to counteract the works of FLETCHER
and his associates. The DOCTOR published a pamphlet on the subject,
in 1812, which every Englishman should read. I, as far as I was able,
co-operated with him. We went to London, laid the real facts before
several members of the two houses of Parliament; and, in some degree,
checked the progress of the dealers in blood. I had an interview with
Lord Holland, and told him, that, if he would pledge himself to cause
the _secret-service money_ to be kept in London, I would pledge myself
for the keeping of the peace in Lancashire. In {265} short, it was
necessary, in order to support the tyranny of the seat-sellers, that
_terror_ should prevail in the populous districts. _Blood_ was wanted
to flow; and _money_ was given to spies to tempt men into what the new
law had made crimes.
From this time I resolved _not to leave my children in such a state
of things_, unless I should be taken off very suddenly. I saw no hope
of obtaining _a Reform of the Parliament_, without which it was clear
to me, that the people of England must continue to work solely for
the benefit of the great insolent families, whom I hated for their
injustice and rapacity, and despised for their meanness and ignorance.
I saw, in them, a mass of debauched and worthless beings, having at
their command an army to compel the people to surrender to them the
fruits of their industry; and in addition, a body existing under the
garb of _religion_, almost as despicable in point of character, and
still more malignant.
I could not have died in peace, leaving my children the slaves of such
a set of beings; and I could not live in peace, knowing, that at any
hour, I might die and so leave my family. Therefore I resolved, like
the Lark in the fable, to _remove_ my brood, which was still more
numerous than that of the Lark. While the war was going on between
England and America, I could not come to this country. Besides, I had
great affairs to arrange. In 1816, having made my preparations, I set
off, _not with my family_; for that I did not think a prudent step. It
was necessary for me to _see_ what America really was. I therefore,
came for that purpose.
I was well pleased with America, over a considerable part of which I
travelled. I saw an absence of human misery. I saw a government taking
away a very small portion of men's earnings. I saw ease and happiness
and a fearless utterance of thought every where prevail. I saw laws
like those of the _old laws_ of England, every where obeyed with
cheerfulness and held in veneration. I heard of no mobs, no riots, no
spies, no transportings, no hangings. I saw those very _Irish_, to keep
whom in order, such murderous laws exist in {266} Ireland, here good,
peaceable, industrious citizens. I saw no placemen and pensioners,
riding the people under foot. I saw no greedy Priesthood, fattening
on the fruits of labour in which they had never participated, and
which fruits they seized in despite of the people. I saw a _Debt_,
indeed, but then, it was so insignificant a thing; and, besides, it
had been contracted for _the people's use_, and not for that of a set
of tyrants, who had used the money to _the injury of the people_.
In short, I saw a state of things, precisely the reverse of that in
England, and very nearly what it would be in England, if the Parliament
were reformed.
Therefore, in the Autumn of 1816, I returned to England fully intending
to return the next spring with my family and whatever I possessed
of the fruits of my labours, and to make America my country and the
country of that family. Upon my return to England, however, I found
a great stir about _Reform_;[3] and having, in their full force, all
those feelings, which make our native country dear to us, I said, at
once, "My desire is, not to change country or countrymen, but to change
slavery for freedom: give me freedom here, and here I'll remain."
These are nearly the very words that I uttered to Mr. COBBETT, when
first introduced to him, in December 1816, by that excellent man,
MAJOR CARTWRIGHT.[4] Nor was I unwilling to _labour myself_ in the
cause of Reform. I was one of those very _Delegates_, of whom the
Borough-tyrants said so many falsehoods, and whom SIR FRANCIS BURDETT
so shamefully abandoned. In the meeting of Delegates, I thought we went
too far in reposing confidence in him: I spoke my opinion as to this
point: and, in a very few days, I had the full proof of the correctness
of my opinion. I was present when MAJOR CARTWRIGHT opened a letter
from SIR FRANCIS, which had come from _Leicestershire_. I thought the
kind-hearted old Major would have dropped upon the floor! I shall never
forget his looks as he read that letter. If the paultry Burdett had
a hundred lives, the taking of them all away would not atone for the
pain he that day gave to Major Cartwright, not to mention the pain
{267} given to others, and the injury done to the cause. For my part,
I was not much disappointed. I had no opinion of Sir Francis Burdett's
being sound. He seemed to me too much attached to his _own importance_
to do the people any real service. He is an _aristocrat_; and that is
enough for me. It is folly to suppose, that such a man will _ever_ be
a real friend of the rights of the people. I wish he were _here_ a
little while. He would soon find his proper level; and that would not,
I think, be very high. Mr. HUNT[5] was very much against our confiding
in BURDETT; and he was perfectly right. I most sincerely hope, that my
countrymen will finally destroy the tyrants who oppress them; but, I am
very sure, that, before they succeed in it, they must cure themselves
of the folly of depending for assistance on the _nobles_ or the
_half-nobles_.
[3] The year 1816 was a time of intense suffering among the working
classes in England. Corn reached famine prices, and at the same time
the return of peace, by reducing the foreign demand for manufactured
articles, created an over supply of labor. Riots again occurred,
but the general discontent found a new outlet in the demand for
parliamentary reform. In this, Cobbett was the leader, and under his
direction Hampden Clubs were established all over the country. Sir
Francis Burdett, president of the London Hampden Club, was first chosen
to further the cause in the House of Commons. A graduate of Oxford, he
entered Parliament in 1796, when twenty-six years of age, and served
almost continuously until his death, in 1844. He was throughout an
earnest advocate of parliamentary reform, of freedom of speech in the
House, and of other liberal measures. Cobbett, Hulme, and the Radicals
disliked him because his methods were too moderate for them. The
incident mentioned by Hulme refers to a large meeting held at London
at the end of the year (1816), to which all the Hampden Clubs sent
delegates; and to avoid which Sir Francis, who had a horror of popular
demonstrations, fled to Leicestershire, and sent a letter stating his
inability to be present. See Cobbett, _Weekly Political Register_,
September 13, 1817.--ED.
[4] Next to Cobbett, the most important leader of the reform movement
during this period was Major John Cartwright. Born in Nottinghamshire
(1740), he had entered the navy and was being promoted rapidly when
he refused to join his commander, Lord Howe, against the American
colonies, thus putting an end to his professional advancement. Turning
his attention to politics, he began (1780) the agitation which earned
for him the title of Father of Reform. He was a frequent contributor
to Cobbett's _Register_, in the cause of parliamentary and other
reforms.--ED.
[5] Henry Hunt, familiarly known as Orator Hunt (1773-1835), belonged
to a Wiltshire family. He was engaged in farming near Bristol when,
during a visit to London (1807), he became interested in the Radical
cause, and immediately set to work to organize the Radical party in
Bristol and the surrounding country. An eloquent speaker, and of
magnetic personality, he exerted his influence by addressing popular
meetings, undergoing two years' imprisonment for a speech delivered
at a Manchester meeting in 1819. After several unsuccessful attempts
to enter Parliament, he was elected in 1831, but held his seat only
two years, when, becoming estranged from the other Radical leaders, he
retired from politics.--ED.
After witnessing this conduct in Burdett, I set off home, and thought
no more about effecting a Reform. The _Acts_ that soon followed were,
by me, looked upon as _matters of course_.[6] The tyranny could go on
no longer _under disguise_. It was compelled to shew its naked face;
but, it is now, in reality, not worse than it was before. It now does
no more than rob the people, and that it did before. It kills more
now out-right; but, men may as well be shot, or stabbed or hanged, as
starved to death.
[6] December 2, 1816, a large mob collected at Spa-fields, London,
and after addresses by certain Radicals and Spencean Philanthropists
(members of a society which aimed to abolish private property), it
proceeded to take possession of the Tower, but disbanded before much
damage had been done. Feeling confident that sedition was being plotted
in all the newly-organized clubs throughout England, Parliament (March
3, 1817) authorized the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. March
25, the Seditious Meetings Act was passed, prescribing the death
penalty for refusal to discontinue any meeting when required to do so
by a magistrate (see _Parliamentary Debates_, XXXV, pp. 795, 826, 1083,
1227). The reformers regarded these laws as subversive of all liberty;
Cobbett headed the articles in his _Register_, "A History of the
Last Hundred Days of English Freedom, ending with the passing of the
Absolute-Power-of-Imprisonment Act, in the Month of March, 1817."--ED.
During the Spring and the early part of the Summer, of 1817, I made
preparations for the departure of myself and family, and when all was
ready, I bid an everlasting adieu to Boroughmongers, Sinecure placemen
and placewomen, pensioned Lords and Ladies, Standing Armies in time of
peace, and (rejoice, oh! my children!) to a hireling, tithe-devouring
Priesthood. We arrived safe and all in good health, and which health
has never been impaired by the climate. We are in a state of ease,
safety, plenty; and how can we help being as happy as people can be?
The more I see of my adopted country, the more gratitude do I feel
towards it for affording me and my numerous offspring protection from
the tyrants of my native country. There I should have been in constant
anxiety about my family. Here I am in none at all. Here I {268} am in
fear of no _spies_, no _false witnesses_, no _blood-money men_. Here no
fines, irons, or gallowses await me, let me _think_ or say what I will
about the government. Here I have to pay no people to be ready to shoot
at me, or run me through the body, or chop me down. Here no vile Priest
can rob me and mock me in the same breath.
In the year 1816 my travelling in America was confined to the Atlantic
States. I there saw enough to determine the question of emigration or
no emigration. But, a spot _to settle on myself_ was another matter;
for, though I do not know, that I shall meddle with any sort of trade,
or occupation, in the view of getting money, I ought to look about me,
and to consider soberly as to a spot to _settle on_ with so large a
family. It was right, therefore, for me to see the _Western Countries_.
I have done this; and the particulars, which I thought worthy my
notice, I noted down in a _Journal_. This Journal I now submit to
the public. My chief motive in the publication is to endeavour to
convey useful information, and especially to those persons, who may
be disposed to follow my example, and to withdraw their families and
fortunes from beneath the hoofs of the tyrants of England.
I have not the vanity to suppose myself _eminently_ qualified for
any thing beyond my own profession; but I have been an attentive
observer; I have raised a considerable fortune by my own industry and
economy; I have, all my life long, studied the matters connected with
agriculture, trade, and manufactures. I had a desire to acquire an
accurate knowledge of the Western countries, and what I did acquire I
have endeavoured to communicate to others. It was not my object to give
flowery descriptions. I leave that to poets and painters. Neither have
I attempted any _general_ estimate of the means or manner of living, or
getting money, in the West. But, I have contented myself with merely
noting down the facts that struck me; and from those facts the reader
must draw his conclusions.
In one respect I am a proper person to give an account of the Western
Countries. I have _no lands there_: I have no _interest_ there: I
have nothing to warp {269} my judgment in favour of those countries:
and yet, I have as little in the Atlantic States to warp my judgment
in their favour. I am perfectly impartial in my feelings, and am,
therefore, likely to be impartial in my words. My good wishes extend to
the utmost boundary of my adopted country. Every particular part of it
is as dear to me as every other particular part.
I have recommended most strenuously the encouraging and promoting of
_Domestic Manufacture_; not because I mean to be engaged in any such
concern myself; for it is by no means likely that I ever shall; but,
because I think that such encouragement and promotion would be greatly
beneficial to America, and because it would provide a happy Asylum
for my native, oppressed, and distressed countrymen, who have been
employed all the days of their lives in manufactures in England, where
the principal part of the immense profits of their labour is consumed
by the Borough tyrants and their friends, and expended for the vile
purpose of perpetuating a system of plunder and despotism at home, and
all over the world.
Before I conclude this Introduction, I must observe, that I see with
great pain, and with some degree of shame, the behaviour of some
persons from England, who, appear to think that they give proof of
their _high breeding_ by repaying civility, kindness, and hospitality,
with _reproach and insolence_. However, these persons are _despised_.
They produce very little impression here; and, though the accounts they
send to England, may be believed by some, they will have little effect
on persons of sense and virtue. _Truth_ will make its way; and it is,
thank God, now making its way with great rapidity.
I could mention numerous instances of Englishmen, coming to this
country with hardly a dollar in their pocket, and arriving at a state
of ease and plenty and even riches in a few years; and I explicitly
declare, that I have never known or heard of, an instance of one common
labourer who, with common industry and economy, did not greatly better
his lot. Indeed, how can it otherwise be, when the average wages of
{270} agricultural labour is _double_ what it is in England, and when
the average price of food is not more than half what it is in that
country? These two facts, undeniable as they are, are quite sufficient
to satisfy any man of sound mind.
As to the _manners_ of the people, they are precisely to my taste;
unostentatious and simple. Good sense I find every where, and never
affectation. Kindness, hospitality and never-failing civility. I have
travelled more than four thousand miles about this country; and I have
never met with one single insolent or rude native American.
I trouble myself very little about the party politics of the country.
These contests are the natural offspring of freedom; and they tend to
perpetuate that which produces them. I look at the people as a _whole_;
and I love them and feel grateful to them for having given the world a
practical proof, that peace, social order, and general happiness can be
secured, and best secured, without Monarchs, Dukes, Counts, Baronets,
and Knights. I have no unfriendly feeling towards any Religious
Society. I wish well to every member of every such society; but, I love
the Quakers, and feel grateful towards them, for having proved to the
world, that all the virtues, public as well as private, flourish most
and bring forth the fairest fruits when unincumbered with those noxious
weeds, hireling priests.
THOMAS HULME
{271} THE JOURNAL
PITTSBURGH, _June 3_.--Arrived here with a friend as
travelling companion, by the mail stage from Philadelphia, after a
journey of six days; having set out on the 28th May.[7] We were much
pleased with the face of the country, the greatest part of which was
new to me. The route, as far as Lancaster, lay through a rich and
fertile country, well cultivated by good, settled proprietors; the
road excellent: smooth as the smoothest in England, and hard as those
made by the cruel _corvèes_ in France. The country finer, but the road
not always so good, all the way from Lancaster, by Little York, to
Chambersburgh; after which it changes for mountains and poverty, except
in timber. Chambersburgh is situated on the North West side of that
fine valley which lies between the South and North Mountains, and which
extends from beyond the North East boundary of Pennsylvania to nearly
the South West extremity of North Carolina, and which has limestone
for its bottom and rich and fertile soil, and beauty upon the face
of it, from one end to the other. The ridges of mountains called the
Allegany, and forming the highest land in north America between the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans, begin here and extend across our route
nearly 100 miles, or rather, _three days_, for it was no less than
half the journey to travel over them; they rise one above the other
as we proceed Westward, till we reach the Allegany, the last and
most lofty of all, from which we have a view to the West farther than
the eye can carry. I can say nothing in commendation of the road over
these mountains, but I must admire the drivers, and their excellent
horses. The road is every thing that is bad, but the skill of the
drivers, and the well constructed vehicles, and the capital old English
horses, overcome {272} every thing. We were rather singularly fortunate
in not breaking down or upsetting; I certainly should not have been
surprized if the whole thing, horses and all, had gone off the road and
been dashed to pieces. A new road is making, however, and when that
is completed, the journey will be shorter in point of time, just one
half.[8] A fine even country we get into immediately on descending the
Allegany, with very little appearance of unevenness or of barrenness
all the way to Pittsburgh; the evidence of good land in the crops, and
the country beautified by a various mixture of woods and fields.
[7] For a description of this route through western Pennsylvania at the
beginning of the century, see F. A. Michaux's _Travels_, volume iii of
our series, pp. 132-156.--ED.
[8] For the Cumberland Road, see Harris's _Journal_, volume iii of our
series, note 45.--ED.
Very good accommodations for travellers the whole of the way. The
stage stops to breakfast and to dine, and sleeps where it sups. They
literally feasted us every where, at every meal, with venison and good
meat of all sorts: every thing in profusion. In one point, however,
I must make an exception, with regard to some houses: at night I was
surprized, in taverns so well kept in other respects, to find bugs in
the beds! I am sorry to say I observed (or, rather, _felt_,) this too
often. Always good eating and drinking, but not always good sleeping.
_June 4th & 5th._--Took a view of Pittsburgh. It is situated between
the mouths of the river Allegany and Monongahela, at the point where
they meet and begin the Ohio, and is laid out in a triangular form
so that two sides of it lie contiguous to the water. Called upon Mr.
Bakewell, to whom we were introduced by letter, and who very obligingly
satisfied our curiosity to see every thing of importance. After showing
us through his extensive and well conducted glass works,[9] he rowed
us across the Monongahela to see the mines from which the fine coals
we had seen burning were brought. These coals are taken out from the
side of a steep hill, very near to the river, and brought from thence
and laid down in any part of the town for 7 cents the bushel, weighing,
perhaps, 80 lb. Better coals I never saw. A bridge is now building over
the river, by which they will most probably be brought still cheaper.
[9] The glassworks of Bakewell, Pears and Company were established in
1808. For the beginning of this industry in Pittsburg, see Cuming's
_Tour_, volume iv of our series, note 28.--ED.
This place surpasses even my expectations, both in natural resources
and in extent of manufactures. {273} Here are the materials for every
species of manufacture, nearly, and of excellent quality and in
profusion; and these means have been taken advantage of by skilful and
industrious artizans and mechanics from all parts of the world. There
is scarcely a denomination of manufacture or manual profession that
is not carried on to a great extent, and, as far as I have been able
to examine, in the best manner. The manufacture of iron in all the
different branches, and the mills of all sorts, which I examined with
the most attention, are admirable.
Price of flour, from 4 to 5 dollars a barrel; butter 14 cents per lb.;
other provisions in proportion and mechanic's and good labourer's wages
1 dollar, and shipbuilder's 1 dollar and a half, a day.
_June 6th._--Leave Pittsburgh, and set out in a thing called an ark,
which we buy for the purpose, down the Ohio.[10] We have, besides, a
small skiff, to tow the ark and go ashore occasionally. This ark, which
would stow away eight persons, close packed, is a thing by no means
pleasant to travel in, especially at night. It is strong at bottom, but
may be compared to an orange-box, bowed over at top, and so badly made
as to admit a boy's hand to steal the oranges: it is proof against the
river, but not against the rain.
[10] See Harris's _Journal_, volume iii of our series, p. 335, for a
description of an Ohio River "ark."--ED.
Just on going to push off the wharf, an English officer stepped on
board of us, with all the curiosity imaginable. I at once took him for
a spy hired to way-lay travellers. He began a talk about the Western
Countries, anxiously assuring us that we need not hope to meet with
such a thing as a respectable person, travel where we would. I told
him I hoped in God I should see no spy or informer, whether in plain
clothes or regimentals, and that of one thing I was certain, at any
rate: that I should find no Sinecure placeman or pensioner in the
Western country.
The Ohio, at its commencement, is about 600 yards broad, and continues
running with nearly parallel sides, taking two or three different
directions in its course, for about 200 miles. There is a curious
contrast between the waters which form this river: that of the Allegany
is clear and transparent, that of the Monongahela {274} thick and
muddy, and it is not for a considerable distance that they entirely
mingle. The sides of the river are beautiful; there are always rich
bottom lands upon the banks, which are steep and pretty high, varying
in width from a few yards to a mile, and skirted with steep hills
varying also in height, overhanging with fine timber.
_June 7th._--Floating down the Ohio, at the rate of four miles an hour.
Lightning, thunder, rain and hail pelting in upon us. The hail-stones
as large as English hazelnuts. Stop at Steubenville all night. A nice
place; has more stores than taverns, which is a good sign.[11]
[11] For the towns along the Ohio mentioned by Hulme, see A. Michaux's
_Travels_, volume iii of our series: Wheeling, note 15; Marietta, note
16. Cuming's _Tour_, volume iv of our series: Steubenville, note 67;
Cincinnati, note 166; Shippingport, note 171. Bradbury's _Travels_,
volume v of our series; Vevay, note 164. Croghan's _Journals_, volume i
of our series: Louisville, note 106.--ED.
_June 8th._--Came to Wheeling at about 12 o'clock. It is a handsome
place, and of considerable note. Stopped about an hour. Found flour to
be about 4 to 5 dollars a barrel; fresh beef 4 to 6 cents per lb., and
other things (the produce of the country) about the same proportion.
Labourers' wages, 1 dollar a day. Fine coals here, and at Steubenville.
_June 9th._--Two fine young men join us, one a carpenter and the
other a saddler, from Washington, in a skiff that they had bought at
Pittsburgh, and in which they are taking a journey of about 700 miles
down the river. We allow them to tie their skiff to our ark, for which
they very cheerfully assist us. Much diverted to see the nimbleness
with which they go on shore sometimes with their rifles to shoot
pigeons and squirrels. The whole expenses of these two young men in
floating the 700 miles, will be but 7 dollars each, including skiff and
every thing else.