Mr. B. and my brother can only be equalled by his _falsehood_. His
inhuman attack on the latter I have already noticed; and his eagerness
in the same _Register_, to expose and misrepresent private matters
with which the public have no concern, for the sole purpose of making
mischief, must be too obvious to its readers to require farther notice.
I might quote from a subsequent _Register_, the manner in which he
has endeavoured to ridicule both my brother and Mr. B. but it is too
contemptible for a reply.
Mr. Birkbeck, in the letter quoted by Cobbett observes, "I suppose you
have seen Cobbett's attack on me, and laughed at the ridiculous posture
in which he has contrived to place me." On this Mr. C. indignantly
demands--"Pray Sir, by what rule known amongst men, are you justified
in imputing to me _an attack_ on you. I addressed to you two letters
while I was in Long Island, dated in the latter part of the year
1818:--now throughout the whole of those letters _there is not to be
found one single expression to warrant_ this charge of having made
an attack on you; from one end to the other I speak of you with the
greatest respect." Of the _sincerity_ of these professions the reader
will judge, by a short extract or two from the letters referred to.
"It is of little consequence," observes Mr. C. "what wild schemes
are formed by men who have property enough to carry them back; but
to invite men to go to the Illinois, with a few score of pounds in
their pockets, and to tell them that they can become farmers with
those pounds, appears to me to admit of no other apology {72} than an
unequivocal acknowledgment that the _author is_ MAD! Yet your fifteenth
letter from the Illinois really contains such an invitation. This
letter is manifestly addressed to an _imaginary_ person, it is clear
that the correspondent is a _feigned_ or _supposed_ being. It is, I am
sorry to say, a mere trap to catch poor creatures with a few pounds in
their pockets." Mr. Birkbeck in reply, after stating that his letter
was not addressed to an "imaginary person," but to one with whose
circumstances he was intimately acquainted, a relation by marriage,
adds:--"You have posted me over England and America as _mad_, as a
_simpleton_, and a _boaster_, and in one or two instances as _something
worse_. _So great a liberty with truth, you say, never was taken by any
mortal being_; and having made the discovery, you are in great haste
to conclude your letter to me, _that your son William might take it to
England with him, and publish it there six months before I could hear
of it_!"--So much for Mr. Cobbett's _sincerity_ in his high professions
of respect for Mr. B. his _veracity_ in declaring he made "no attack
on him," and that his letter, "_was not written_ to be circulated
_in Europe_!" It is a pity that he did not adduce his ever-memorable
denunciation against Mr. B. and his settlement uttered a short time
before he wrote his letters, as an additional proof of his _sincerity_
and _veracity_![73]
[73] Cobbett's Register, July 7, 1821. Birkbeck's Letters, printed for
Ridgway, 1819, second edition.--B. FLOWER.
The _conceit_ of this writer is as intolerable as his other vicious
qualities. Speaking of the House of Commons, he thus expresses
himself:--"I am well aware of all the feelings that are at work in that
assembly with regard to me and my writings. I have not mock modesty
enough, to pretend not to perceive the power that I have in the {73}
country; and it is out of the power of that assembly to disguise from
me that they are well aware of the extent of that power. Neither am I
ignorant of the power that I have with regard to _their_ actions, and
of the great reluctance that they have to suffer the public to perceive
that they feel the effects of any such power. I manage my matters
adroitly: but the power I have, and the power I will have; and this
I repeat it, the public know full as well as I do; and I only state
the facts here in order to let those who grudge me the power know,
that the possession of it gives me great satisfaction." How _adroitly_
this bankrupt in fortunes and character has "managed his matters," the
_London Gazette_ and our courts of justice have recently afforded
ample evidence; and should he profess modesty, that it will be "mock
modesty," no man will dispute: as to the rest of the paragraph, surely
the ravings of the poor bedlamite, with his crown of straw, brandishing
his straw scepter, and fancying himself a king, appears rationality
itself compared with this display of bloated pride and intoxicated
vanity! What particular _power_ this writer possesses over the country,
or over parliament, I know not: that he may impose upon some people by
his acknowledged talents as a writer, whose style is so well calculated
for the lower classes more particularly, and by his confident
assertions, I do not deny; but in justice to Mr. C. I must observe,
that I do not believe his powers for wickedness are so gigantic as he
has laboured to persuade us they are. How often has he boasted of his
power at any time totally to ruin the Bank of England by his favourite
project of a general forgery of bank notes; and which he could easily
put in execution at any time; but notwithstanding he proves his _good
wishes_ on the subject, he has not had that {74} confidence in his
own marvellous powers, as to risk his neck in the acquisition of that
_exaltation_, which the attempt to put such a project in execution
would most assuredly be his reward!
Mr. Birkbeck has drawn a most correct miniature likeness of his grand
enemy, in describing him as a man,--I copy the sentence as printed by
Mr. C.--"KNOWN _to be wholly indifferent to truth_." This description
is so terribly galling as to provoke him to give additional proof of
its justice. How numerous are the proofs,--how vast the evidence which
might be collected from his writings! How many of the most useful
and ornamental characters, and of the greatest and best men in the
political, social, and literary world has he not libelled! It is not
only Birkbeck, and Flower, but Waithman, Burdett,[74] {75} and Fox,
Priestley, Franklin, Locke, and Addison, with many others whom this
general libeller has calumniated. But to wade through his innumerable
pages, and to collect the numberless proofs of the truth of this
statement would be a more Herculean task than that of cleansing the
Augean stable. To the number of his _Register_ already quoted I must
confine myself: and indeed _that_ may be produced as a fair specimen of
many others. Many years since, and early in his political career, he
poured forth his abuse on Dr. Franklin; the fit has lately revisited
him; and it has happened to him, to use the language of St. Peter,
when describing similar characters of his time, _according to the
true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again_. Speaking of
this friend of his country, and of the world, Mr. C. observes:--"Dr.
Franklin's maxims are childish, if not trivial; a still greater number
of them are false, _the whole tenor of them tends to evil_, for it
constantly aims at strengthening selfishness, and at enfeebling
generosity."--Yes reader! such is the description of the luminous pages
of this illustrious American philosopher, statesman, and patriot,
and which abound equally with lessons of philanthropy and prudence,
enforced by his own example, and which have instructed, improved, and
adorned, not only his own country, but almost every civilized spot on
the habitable globe.
[74] In my Mr. C.'s treatment of Sir Francis Burdett, INGRATITUDE seems
the crowning vice. The benevolent and patriotic baronet, deceived by
him as many others have been, lent him a large sum of money, which just
as he was setting out for America he declined paying, under the pretext
that as government had by their oppressive measures injured him, he
did not consider himself bound to discharge his debts till it suited
his convenience! Sir Francis, alluding to this letter, remarked, that
he did not know whether such a principle had ever before been acted
upon, but he believed it was the first time it had ever been openly
professed! As those letters are I find, very imperfectly recollected
by many of Mr. C.'s readers, if he will reprint them in his _Weekly
Register_, they will consider it as a favour.
Mr. C. commenced his notice of the worthy baronet by reviling him, and
all men of his principles; in his usual style he afterwards veered
about to the opposite point of the compass, and panegyrised him in the
highest terms; but although he had partly gained his ends, finding
that he could not completely transform Sir Francis into one of his
tools, and by his means, accomplish his darling, but uniformly defeated
project, of procuring a seat in the House of Commons, he in his rage,
and under that prophetic impulse with which "The angel he so long has
served," not unfrequently inspires him, pledged himself that in the
course of a few months he would so expose the baronet, as to hurry
him to his fate:--_That of committing suicide, and of being buried in
a cross road, with a stake driven through his body_! If Dr. Young's
sentiment--"He that's ungrateful has no crimes but ONE" be correct, Mr.
C.'s character appears to have reached its climax.--B. FLOWER.
But although there is much more offensive matter in the _Register_ I
have quoted, I must draw to a close. Mr. C. on some subjects shews
considerable talents and industry, and he might have been useful to
society, had he confined himself to his peculiar forte,--ferretting
out {76} public abuses, and making every class understand their nature.
It is indeed to be lamented how little he feels himself, what he has
made others feel. But, as there is no system, men nor measures, but he
has equally panegyrised and reviled, as it has suited his caprice, or
weathercock opinions; his own conduct has, in a great degree, destroyed
the effects of the best parts of his writings.--But as he has lately
turned his attention to that best of books,--the bible,--which he has
frequently sneered at, and reviled the successful exertions of those
who have extended its circulation;--as his prolific pen has lately
produced SERMONS, in which he has displayed his usual energies, I will
not despair of him; and I hope he will take in good part my friendly
and concluding hints. I will help him to one or two subjects for his
succeeding sermons. The first shall be--THE SIN AND DANGER OF PROFANE
SWEARING, from _Exodus_ xx. 7. _Thou shalt not take the name of the
Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that
taketh his name in vain._ The other,--GOD'S ABHORRENCE OF FALSEHOOD,
from _Prov._ xii. 22. _Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord._ No
man is capable of doing these subjects more ample justice; and I will
promise him that, as I have distributed _some_ of his writings, I will
so exert myself respecting these proposed sermons, as that he may add
to his recent boastings of their extensive sale. It is impossible that
in reading and studying the Bible, he can prevent it from _flying in
his face_, and I most sincerely hope his reflections will terminate in
his repentance and reformation: that he may no longer remain in the
_gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity_; but that it may be
his fervent prayer to God,--_That the thoughts of his heart may be
forgiven him_.
FINIS
WOODS'S TWO YEARS' RESIDENCE IN THE SETTLEMENT ON THE ENGLISH
PRAIRIE--JUNE 25, 1820-JULY 3, 1821
Reprint of the original edition: London, 1822
TWO YEARS' RESIDENCE
IN THE SETTLEMENT ON THE
_ENGLISH PRAIRIE_,
IN THE
ILLINOIS COUNTRY,
UNITED STATES.
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.
BY JOHN WOODS.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR
LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,
PATERNOSTER-ROW.
1822.
[Illustration: _MAP of the_ ALLOTMENTS]
[Illustration: _MAP OF_ ILLINOIS.]
TWO YEARS' RESIDENCE, &c. &c.
WAMBRO, ENGLISH PRAIRIE, ILLINOIS STATE, NORTH AMERICA.
_June 5th, 1820._
AS I was much pressed to write to many of my friends in
England, to give them my opinion of emigrating to America, and as I
promised to write to several, to give them my sentiments of America,
and of my situation here; I will now endeavour to give them the best
description in my power of our voyage and journey to this place, and
how I am now situated, and of my future prospects.
As to the propriety of any person's leaving England, I must decline
giving any advice on the subject.
{2} As I was conscious but little information could be conveyed in the
short space of a letter to any particular friend, I shall, therefore,
present them, (that is, all those who requested me to write to them,)
with some extracts from my Journal.
_Extracts of a Journal, kept from April 29th to September 25th, 1819_
We left Killinghurst about noon, on April 29, and arrived at Portsmouth
in the evening. Our party consisted of nine persons, including Mr. C.
and a female servant.
30th. Our luggage, in a waggon, arrived at Portsmouth at noon, and we
got a permit from the Custom-House, and embarked it on board a vessel
for East Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, where it arrived in the evening,
but too late to enter it at the Custom-House. We slept at East Cowes.
May 1st. Entered our luggage at the Custom-House, and were ourselves
examined, {3} and afterwards put our luggage on board the brig
Resolution, of Newcastle, Captain Clarke. From that time till the 9th,
we were employed in procuring provisions and conveniencies for our
voyage, and in stowing our luggage, &c. When about noon, the wind and
tide being favourable, we sailed from East Cowes; but before we reached
the Needles' rocks, the wind and tide both failed, and we cast anchor
for a short time; but the wind again rising, we passed them, and before
dark got a few miles to the westward. The pilot left us as soon as we
had passed the Needles, and so did some friends of the passengers. They
gave us three cheers at parting, which was returned by firing a salute
with some small arms on board. The same was done at West Cowes, when we
heaved our anchor.
The brig Resolution was of five hundred tons, and had seventy-one
passengers on board, a small cargo of salt, the luggage of the
passengers, to a considerable amount, {4} with the following live
stock: a bull, two cows, a calf, three horses, with pigs, dogs, fowls,
and ferrets. Mr. Pittis, who chartered the Resolution, with Mr. Edney,
his son-in-law, and their families, occupied the cabin, but their young
man slept in the fore part of the steerage, with the young men of the
other parties. The females of my family, with myself, and some other
passengers, occupied the hind part of the steerage, divided into ten
separate births, with two bed-places in each birth; they were six feet
square, and about five feet nine inches high.
10th. In the afternoon, part of the coast of Dorsetshire in sight.
11th. A great swell of the tide, and much sea-sickness on board;
Berry-Head in Devonshire in sight in the morning, and land near
Plymouth seen in the evening.
12th. Land seen in the morning, the last we saw of England; as the wind
was north and north-west we stood to the southward, and it prevented
our touching {5} at the Land's End, as our captain intended.
13th. We supposed ourselves opposite to the Land's End about noon.
15th. A good wind from the south-east, but the ship rolling much during
the night; most of the passengers got but little rest. Weather fine,
but cold.
16th. Being Sunday, two of the passengers read some chapters from the
Testament, and a sermon.
22d. A good shower of rain, just as we had got our bedding on deck to
air it. In the evening, I observed, for the first time, the water at
the bows of the vessel to look like sparks of fire.
23d. Being nearly in the latitude of the Western Isles, many on board
were on the look-out for them, in the hopes of getting some fish and
fruit, and sending letters to England; but we were disappointed, as we
saw nothing of them.
24th. The ship's carpenter tried a girdle {6} made of tin, and water
tight, called a life-preserver; he found he could not sink, but at the
same time he could not make any way in the sea with it on.
25th. Early in the morning we got sight of the island of St. Mary's;
it was seen at a great distance. We had seen no land since the 12th,
when we last saw the coast of Cornwall. In the afternoon, we passed the
island 15 or 18 miles to the north of us, so we did not get any fruit,
to the great disappointment of many on board.
27th. The sea ran high, and once cleared the fore-part of the vessel of
every thing that was moveable. When the waves broke over the deck, some
of the passengers generally got a wetting, which caused a hearty laugh
from those who escaped.
29th. At noon, by observation, we were in latitude 33 deg. 58 min.
north, which is three degrees south of Cape Henry, at the entrance of
Cheasepeake Bay, to which we were bound. The weather warm, though not
more so than a fine May-day in {7} England, although we were upwards of
a thousand miles south of it.
30th. Some of the passengers bathed, till one of them got stung in the
leg by a sea-nettle, or what the sailors called a Portuguese man of
war; he was in great agony, but by rubbing it with vinegar, the pain
abated.
June 6th. There were four ships in sight in the morning, and in the
afternoon another was seen, and, at four o'clock, she sent a boat, with
an officer and five men. They proved to be Russians, from a frigate of
thirty-six guns, the Kamtschatka, from Kamtschatka, and the north-west
coast of America; they had been round Cape Horn in their way out, and
returned by Manilla, the Cape of Good Hope, and St. Helena, where only
the captain was suffered to land. The inhabitants know but little of
Bonaparte, as the governor was extremely jealous of all intercourse
with his prisoner; most that they knew of him was from the English
newspapers. {8} The officer eagerly enquired for news from Europe, they
having been out two years. We gave him some English newspapers, and he
in return took some letters for our English friends, as they intended
to touch at some port in England, before they proceeded to Russia. The
officer was regaled in the captain's cabin, and the men were treated
with plum-pudding and strong beer, but they refused to taste it,
till one of the passengers had first partaken of it; they then seemed
to relish it extremely well. Some large fish and porpoises were seen
round the ship, and two rifles were fired at them, without effect. A
sea-snake was also seen in the evening, it appeared to be six or seven
feet long.
7th. We saw some sea-weed that had much the appearance of the tops of
dead juniper bushes, with many small berries on them; we took some
pieces out of the sea, and found many little crabs in them, and a few
small shrimps; the crabs from a quarter to two inches long. Most of the
{9} passengers were now in good health. A pleasant evening, and the
young people had a dance on the deck.
8th. Some dolphins taken by the sailors, with hooks and lines; they
were from 18 to 30 inches long, and very beautiful fish. I bought one
of the small ones, it weighed six or seven pounds, and proved very good
eating.
9th. A small Swedish brig, the Dryade, sent a boat to enquire for
a surgeon, their captain being ill; our surgeon went on board, and
afterwards sent some medicines, for which, through a speaking trumpet,
their captain thanked ours. They took some letters from us for England,
as they proposed going thither, before they proceeded to Copenhagen.
Our water being got very bad, it caused a little commotion on board,
as there was but little water belonging to the captain. The passengers
were found water by the person who chartered the Resolution; and the
badness of {10} the water appeared to be occasioned by its being put
into foul casks.
13th. Many flying fish seen; they flew from twenty to thirty yards at a
time, some of them about the size of a herring, and others not larger
than a chafer; when they rose near the vessel, the water that ran from
them, had the appearance of a white string behind them; and when it
ceased, they dropt into the sea again.
14th. We made 186 miles in 24 hours, being a great deal more than we
had sailed, in the same space of time, since we left Cowes.
23d. We had a strong gale that blew down one of our sails.
26th. In the evening the main-sail boom broke, and spoiled a dance just
began on deck. The accident was owing to the sailor at the helm being
intoxicated, and letting the vessel get out of her course.
27th. All eagerly looking out for the gulf stream. In the evening we
saw a sea-gull; {11} these birds are said never to fly far from land.
30th. We had a rough windy night, and it continued stormy through the
day, and about six o'clock we had a tempest that split one of our
sails. About noon we saw a ship that proved to be the Commodore Rogers,
a pilot vessel of Baltimore, and from her we received a pilot, who
informed us that Cape Henry, at the entrance of Cheasepeake Bay, was
distant 25 miles. But a storm coming on, the wind changed just as we
had sight of land, supposed to be Smith's Island, just at the entrance
of the bay; this was the first land we saw after we lost sight of the
island of St. Mary's.
July 1st. A wet night: we got upwards of 20 miles from Cape Henry. In
the evening we again stood out to sea, the wind against us.
2d. In the evening, it being calm, we anchored two miles from Cape
Henry light-house, and one mile and a half from the shore; which was
very low land and covered {12} with trees to the water's edge, mostly
pines of a barren appearance, resembling a furze hedge in the poor
heaths of England. We had a good view of the shores for several miles.
The weather being pleasant, there was a dance on deck; and as the night
was calm and the moon shone brightly, it was kept up till a late hour.
3d. The captain and some passengers went on shore in a boat; when
they returned, they brought on board a branch of wild vine, with some
small grapes on it, a bough of myrtle, and some honeysuckles like the
trumpet one in leaf and flower. They likewise brought some crab fish,
of different sorts, unlike any I had ever seen before; one of them had
a long tail, and was much larger than the rest; this the pilot called
a sea-crab. They also brought a few sea-shells. The land, near the
light-house, very sandy and barren, mostly covered with woods, composed
chiefly of pines and a few oaks. The very little that was cultivated,
was Indian corn.
{13} Cape Henry light-house is built of wood, and stands on the west
side of the bay of Cheasepeake, and is in latitude 37 degrees north,
longitude 85 degrees west. The bay, at its entrance, is upwards of 20
miles wide. On the opposite side is Cape Charles. At one o'clock we
entered the bay opposite the mouth of James River.
4th. In the night there was a riot with the sailors; they quarrelled
amongst themselves and with the captain; it was owing to the former
having drank too freely; it was happily made up without any effusion
of blood: I was in bed at the time, and heard nothing of it. We were
much disappointed in not reaching Baltimore by this day, as it was the
anniversary of American independence, and, as such, is always kept as
a high holiday. We much wished to see their manner of celebrating it,
but, for this year, we were disappointed in so doing.
5th. A little before day-break the mate discovered a comet. The
bay much narrower, and both banks full in view, the land {14} much
higher than before, and covered with trees. Early in the morning, the
captain and some passengers went on shore, on the west side of the
bay. They went four miles through the woods; but little cultivated
land; wheat mostly harvested; Indian corn just come into ear; tobacco
in a green state. The land poor, the woods mostly pines with a few
oaks, &c. The country round was thinly peopled, no towns, villages,
churches, or mills, for many miles. It is in Maryland, and the land
is mostly cultivated by negro slaves, of whom they saw several, and
their habitations. They shot a sea-eagle, as large as a goose, with
very long wings, the quills of which were too hard for pens. They also
shot a bird something like an English blackbird, except that the wings
were crimson. They likewise killed a small dove, and were informed
many wild ducks frequented the creeks in winter; and heard of two men
killing a hundred and ten in one day. They brought on board some ripe
cherries, and some apples nearly so; they saw great quantities {15} of
the latter; also peaches and nectarines in a green state. They saw a
few sheep, oxen, and cows, but no horses, oxen being worked instead of
horses.