of the Susquehanna, and papa, who had bought a copy of Gertrude of
Wyoming, made me read it aloud to him, to the great astonishment of our
fellow-travellers and at the expense of my lungs, the noise of a railway
carriage in America not being much suited for such an occupation. The
river presented a succession of rich scenery, being most picturesquely
studded with islands. We were quite sorry to take leave of it; but after
these few miles of great beauty, the road made a dash across the country
to Philadelphia. Papa, during the whole of the morning, had been most
wonderfully obtuse in his geography, and was altogether perplexed when,
before reaching Philadelphia, we came to the margin of the river we had
to cross to reach that town. He had been quite mystified all the morning
at Harrisburg, and at fault as to the direction in which the river was
running, and as to whether the streets we were in were at right angles
or parallel to it. This state of confusion became still worse when we
got into the carriage, as he had miscalculated on which side, after
leaving the town, we should first see the river, and had placed me on
the left side of the car, when it suddenly appeared, in all its glory,
on the right. He almost lost his temper, we all know how irritable he
_can_ become, and exclaimed impatiently,--"Well, are we now on this side
of the river or the other?" but his puzzle at Philadelphia was from the
river which we then came upon, being the Schuylkill, while he thought
we had got, in some mysterious way, to the Delaware, on the _west_ bank
of which the town is situated, as well as on the _east_ of the
Schuylkill. The discovery of the river it really was of course solved
the puzzle; but for a long time he insisted that the steamboat we were
to embark upon, later in the day, on the Delaware, must be the one we
now saw, and it was all the passengers could do to persuade him to sit
still. He exclaimed, "But why not stay on this side, instead of crossing
the river to cross back again to take the cars?" It was altogether a
ludicrous state of confusion that poor Papa was in; but it ended, not
only in our crossing the river, but in our traversing the whole town of
Philadelphia, at its very centre, in the railway cars, going through
beautiful streets and squares; and, as we went at a slow pace, we had a
capital view of the shops and of the town, which was looking very clean
and brilliant, the day being fine and frosty.
We made no stay at Philadelphia, but at length taking the cars on the
east side of the Delaware, we proceeded in them to South Amboy; where,
embarking again, we had a fine run of twenty-four miles between Staten
Island and the coast of New Jersey, and reached this place in time for
dinner. We regretted thus turning our backs on Philadelphia, and
Baltimore, and Washington, without seeing more of them; but the time we
have spent in the west has exceeded what we had counted on this part of
our journey occupying, and we are anxious to get home to you all.
On our railway and on the steamer, we had with us a body of the firemen
of Philadelphia, who were on their way to pay to their brother-firemen
here one of those complimentary visits we have spoken of. There was loud
cheering from their cars as we left Philadelphia, and as we passed
through the different towns on the road, which was well responded to by
the bystanders who had collected to witness the sight. The men were
dressed in a most picturesque uniform, and had a good brass band, which
played during the whole time that we were on board the steamer. On
landing, there were bonfires on the quay, and rockets let off in honour
of their arrival; but, though the crowd was great, we had not the
slightest difficulty in landing, for all these matters are carried on
with the greatest order in this country, which is the more remarkable,
as the people have very excitable natures. Late at night, when we were
going to bed, a company of firemen crossed this street with lights and
torches, with a band playing, and dragging a fire-engine covered with
lamps; forming quite a moving blaze of light.
We yesterday spent our first Sunday in New York, having hitherto been
always away on that day; and we heard a wonderfully impressive and
admirable sermon from Dr. Tyng. The church in which he preached was of
very large dimensions, but his voice penetrated it throughout; he stood
on a small platform instead of a pulpit, with a low desk in front, so
that his whole figure could be seen. He had a good deal of action, but
it was in very good taste, and the matter of his sermon was beyond all
praise. The text was from the latter part of Col. i. 17, "And by Him all
things consist." In the afternoon we heard a good, but not so striking a
sermon, from Dr. Bedell; and it was suggested to us to go in the evening
to the Opera-house to hear a great Presbyterian preacher, Mr. Alexander;
but this we did not feel disposed to do. The Opera-house is being made
use of, as our Exeter Hall is, for Special Services.
I think I may as well fill up the rest of this sheet by describing the
arrangements of American hotels. There are frequently two entrances, one
for ladies and the other for gentlemen. That for the ladies leads by a
private staircase to the ladies' drawing-room; and the gentlemen's
entrance opens upon what is called the office. Whether there are
separate entrances or not, the gentleman is at once conducted to the
office, which is usually crowded with spitters and smokers; and there he
enters his name in the travellers' book. This done, the waiter shows him
to the drawing-room, where the lady has been requested, in the meantime,
to wait, and they are then taken, often through long and wide passages,
to their bedrooms. A private drawing-room may be had by paying extra for
it; but the custom is to do without one, and to make use of the ladies'
drawing-room, which is always a pretty room, and often a very handsome
one. In it are invariably to be found a piano, at which the ladies
frequently perpetrate most dreadful music; a marble table, in the centre
of which always stand a silver tray and silver tankard and goblets
containing iced water, a rocking chair, besides other easy-chairs and
sofas, and a Bible. It is a rare thing not to find a Bible, the gift of
a Society, in every bedroom and drawing-room in the hotel. The bedrooms
never have bed-curtains, and sometimes no window-curtains; but the
windows usually have Venetian or solid shutters.
The dining-hall is a spacious apartment, often 80 or sometimes 100 feet
long, and in some large hotels there are two of these, one used for
railway travellers, and the other for the regular guests. The meals are
always at a _table-d'hôte_, with printed bills of fare; the dishes are
not handed round, as in Germany, but the guests are required to look at
the bill of fare and name their dishes, which does not seem a good plan,
as one's inclination is always to see how the dish looks before ordering
it. Everything comes as soon as asked for, and there is a great choice
of dishes. There is very little wine drunk at table, but to every hotel
there is appended a bar, where, we are told, the gentlemen make amends
for their moderation at table by discussing gin sling, sherry cobbler,
&c.; but of course I know nothing of this, excepting from hearsay. The
utmost extent of Papa's excesses on the rare occasions when he went into
these bars, was to get a glass of Saratoga water; but he has failed to
give me any description of what he saw. The breakfasts are going on
usually from seven till nine. The general dinner-hour is one; but there
is sometimes a choice of two hours, one and three. Tea, consisting of
tea, coffee, and sweet cakes and preserves, takes place at six; and
there is a cold meat supper at nine. Meals are charged extra if taken in
private. It is a good plan in travelling never to reserve oneself at
the end of the day's journey for the hotel dinner, as there is a chance
of arriving after it is over, when the alternative is to go without; the
railway dinners are quite as good, find often better, than those at the
hotel. The use of the ladies' drawing-room is restricted to ladies and
gentlemen accompanying them; no single gentleman, is allowed to sit in
it unless invited by a lady; but there is a separate reading-room for
gentlemen, supplied with newspapers, and there is generally another room
reserved for smoking, but the accommodation in these rooms is, in
general, very inferior to those set apart for the ladies. In the hall of
the hotel there is frequently a counter for the sale of newspapers,
books, and periodicals, and all hotels have a barber's shop, which is a
marvellous part of the establishment. The fixed charge at the hotels is
generally from 8s. to 10s. per day for each person.
We have just settled to sail for England on the 1st December, so I shall
have only one more journal letter to write to you, and shall be myself
the bearer of it.
FOOTNOTE:
[13] The account referred to was written as far back as 1839, and is so
much more accurate a description of the Falls, and of the canal, than
that given in the Railway Guide, that I must here extract it.
"The falls of the Ohio are occasioned by an irregular ledge of rock
stretching across the river. They are only perceptible at low water, the
whole descent being but twenty-two feet, while the difference of level
between the highest and lowest stages of the water is about sixty feet.
When the river is full, they present, therefore, no serious obstruction
to the navigation. To obviate the inconvenience, however, at low water,
a canal, called the Louisville and Portland Canal, has been constructed
round the falls, which is deserving of notice, as being, perhaps, the
most important work of the kind ever undertaken. The cross section of
the canal is 200 feet at the top of the bank, 50 feet at the bottom, and
42 feet deep, making its capacity about fifteen times greater than that
contemplated for the Erie Canal after its enlargement is completed: its
sides are sloping and paved with stone. The guard lock contains 21,775
perches of masonry, being equal to that of fifteen locks on the New York
Canals; and three others contain 12,300 perches. This canal is capable
of admitting steamboats of the largest class. It is scarcely two miles
in length; but, considering the quantity of mason work, and the
difficulty of excavating earth and rock from so great a depth, together
with the contingencies attending its construction, from the fluctuations
in the depth of the river, it is probably no over-statement when it is
said, that the work in it is equal to that of seventy or seventy-five
miles of an ordinary canal."
LETTER XIII.
NEW YORK--ASTOR LIBRARY.--COOPER INSTITUTE.--BIBLE HOUSE.--DR.
RAE--DR. TYNG.--TARRYTOWN.--ALBANY.--SLEIGHING--FINAL RETURN TO
BOSTON.--HALIFAX.--VOYAGE HOME.--CONCLUSION.
Albany, Nov. 27th, 1858.
My last letter was despatched to you on the 23rd inst.;--that evening we
dined at Mr. Aspinwall's. He has a handsome house in New York, and a
large picture gallery, and as we wished to see this by daylight, we
called on him after breakfast on the following morning, and had an
opportunity of examining the pictures, many of which are very good,
especially some by early Dutch masters.
Mr. Aspinwall afterwards took us to the Astor Library. This library was
founded by the munificence of the late Mr. Astor, a very rich merchant,
who bequeathed a large sum of money for the purpose. It is remarkably
well arranged and pretty, and capable of containing about 300,000
volumes. Mr. Cogswell, the librarian, showed us some of the most
valuable books. He was acquainted with Papa's name, as he had bought
his book in London for the library, and appeared familiar with its
contents. He said he valued it as filling up a gap in the financial
history of America that was not supplied by any work in this country.
Mr. Aspinwall took us afterwards to the Cooper Institute, founded by Mr.
Peter Cooper, another very eminent citizen of New York, who has done
this good deed in his lifetime. He happened to be there, and as Mr.
Aspinwall introduced us to him, he showed us round the building himself.
He is a rich ironmonger, and an eccentric man. The building has cost
100,000_l._; it is intended for public lectures and for a school of
design. At the time we were there, some specimens of drawings,
penmanship, &c., by the scholars of the Free Schools in New York were
being exhibited, and were, in general, very creditable performances. We
went to the top of the building, and, the weather being remarkably clear
and fine, we had a good view of the town and of the surrounding country.
Anything like country, however, can only be seen on one side across the
Hudson, although, on the opposite side of New York Bay, Staten Island
can be seen stretching "right away" to the south; but the wonderful
sight is the immense city itself, extending for miles in a northern
direction.
We rather crowded into this last day all the sights that we had hitherto
omitted to see at New York; for we went also to the Bible House, a very
large building near the Cooper Institute. In this Bible House not only
are copies of the Bible sold, as in our corresponding institution in
London, but the whole process of printing, making up, and binding the
Bible is carried on. The number of Bibles and Testaments issued by the
establishment is very great, amounting, during the last year, to
712,045. During that period there were 250,000 Bibles printed and
381,000 Testaments, besides 500 books for the blind printed in raised
types, making a total of 631,500 volumes; and this, owing to a scarcity
of funds, arising out of the late pecuniary pressure, is a decrease from
the year before of 110,000 volumes, so that it was from the store in
hand that the excess of the volumes issued above the number printed was
taken. These Bibles and Testaments are in every language, and in every
form and size. The machinery is worked by steam, and the immense
building is warmed from the same source. Some idea of its extent may be
conceived by the fact that there are twelve miles of pipes used in this
warming process.[14]
After this hard day's work we dined at Mr. Russell's, to meet Dr. Rae,
the Arctic traveller, and in the evening we went to the Geographical
Society to hear a lecture on his last northern expedition, when he
gained all the information known respecting poor Sir John Franklin, in
search of whom he had been sent by the British Government. He showed us
many relics of that unfortunate party, consisting of spoons,
watch-cases, &c.; the lecture was very interesting, especially with
regard to the origin and transportation of boulders. He produced an
enormous head of a deer, which had a curious horn in front between the
two side ones; this is a common appendage to the antlers of the deer of
that region. He told us an amusing anecdote of his having been present
when Professor Owen was lecturing on this strange appearance, and
described the wisdom of this provision, to enable the animal to clear
its way in the snow in search of its food below it; but Dr. Rae was able
entirely to overset this theory, by stating that the whole horny
appendages of this deer are always shed before any snow makes its
appearance on the ground.
At dinner we met Mr. Rutherford, who begged us to go after the lecture
to see his observatory, in which, he said, he had the best and largest
telescope in America, not excepting the one at Washington; we went
therefore to see it, though the lecture was not over till half-past ten,
and were repaid by a sight of Jupiter, and his belts and satellites: but
though the telescope was larger than the one at Washington, being of the
same focal length, and having an object glass nearly two inches wider,
it did not strike us as being so clear and good an instrument. It is
undoubtedly, however, a very fine one, and entirely of American make.
Much as we have had to record this day, there was more jumbled into it;
but instead of going to see the last sight I have to record, it obtruded
itself upon us at every turn. This was a military procession, flags
flying, &c., to commemorate the evacuation of the town of New York by
the British, after the first war of Independence. A great dinner is
always given on this day by the members of the Order of Cincinnati, and
Papa was asked to go to it, but our engagement to Mr. Russell prevented
his accepting the invitation.
I think the only further thing of interest which I have to record about
our visit this time to New York, was our calling on Dr. Tyng; he is a
most interesting person, and talked much about revivals and slavery. He
said there was undoubtedly a greater degree of serious feeling gradually
spreading in New York, especially among the artisans and labouring
classes; but he could see nothing of that work of the Spirit on the
large scale which others speak of, and he thinks the nature and extent
of the revivals have been over-estimated.
With regard to slavery, Dr. Tyng is a very good judge, as, for the first
six years of his ministry, he had a considerable parish in the slave
state of Maryland, extending over a large tract of plantation lands,
cultivated entirely by slaves. The slave population in this parish was
about 8000, and he says the treatment of the slaves was almost all that
could be desired for their temporal comfort, as far as good clothing,
good food, and kind treatment went, and he had known but very few cases
of slaves being ill-treated or even flogged during his six years'
residence there: still no one can condemn more strongly than he does the
whole system, as lowering and degrading the moral tone, both of the
white and the black population.
As I shall probably have no occasion to allude again to slavery, as the
rest of our short stay on this continent will now be among the free
states, I may say I have seen nothing to lessen, and everything to
confirm, the strong impression I have always entertained respecting it.
Besides what we have seen, we have read as much as we could on the
subject, and must record a little book called "Aunt Sally, or the Cross
the Way to Freedom," as being the most faithful account of the evils of
slavery we have met with. It is the story of a female slave's life, and
is said to be strictly true and devoid of all exaggeration, and it is a
most touching account of the power of religion in her case, in upholding
her through a long life of trials and degradation.[15]
On Friday, the 26th instant, we took our final leave of New York. We
left it by the Hudson River Railway, the same by which we went to West
Point two days after our arrival in America, and it was curious to
contrast our feelings on getting into the cars now with those which we
experienced when we first set our foot into them; we thought at first
that we never could encounter a long journey in them, and dreaded all
sorts of disasters. Yet now, independently of steamboat travelling, we
have travelled altogether in railways over more than 5500 miles, and it
is somewhat singular that in the great number of separate journeys we
have taken, we have only on one occasion been late on arriving at our
destination, which was on reaching Chicago. The train was then two hours
late in a journey of 281 miles, and that not owing to any accident, but
solely to the slippery state of the rails, after a heavy rain, which
rendered caution necessary. The only hitch from accident (if it was
one), was for five minutes at Rome, on the New York Central Railway,
when we were delayed for that time, on account of what William told us
was "something wrong with the engine." We have only 200 miles left to
travel between this and Boston, and we have great reason to be thankful
for having performed so long a journey not only in perfect safety, but
without any anxiety, and scarcely any fatigue.[16]
One marked improvement in the eastern over the western railways, is in
the gentlemen's special accomplishment of spitting being much less
active in the east, owing to their chewing tobacco less vigorously. In
the west it is dreadful to see and hear how this habit goes on during
the whole day, not out of window, but on the floors of the cars and
omnibuses, and all over the hall and passages of the hotels.
But to return to our journey from New York on the Hudson. It was a
beautiful day, and the scenery quite lovely. We had only twenty-seven
miles to go to Mr. Bartlett's, to whom we had brought letters from
England, and who asked us to pass the first night of our journey at his
country place near Tarrytown. On arriving at the station there, he drove
us to his house, which stands on an eminence three miles higher up the
river. The river here is rather more than three miles in width, but the
atmosphere was so clear that every house on the opposite bank could be
distinctly seen, and the opposite shore is so high, that we could hardly
imagine the river to be as wide as it is. The view from the house is
perfectly magnificent. The eye takes in a distance of thirty miles up
and down the river, there being here a long reach, having almost the
appearance of a lake, the river above and below not being more than from
a mile to a mile and a half in width. Immediately opposite Tarrytown is
the town of Nyach, which is connected with Tarrytown by a steam ferry.
In passing from Tarrytown to Mr. Bartlett's house, we drove through the
Sleepy Hollow, the scene of one of Washington Irving's tales, and passed
the old Dutch church, which is mentioned by him in the legend, as the
place of sanctuary where Ichabod took refuge. In fact, the whole scenery
is classic ground here; and Mr. Irving himself, who has rendered it so,
lives only two miles off, at Sunnyside.
After giving us some luncheon, Mr. Bartlett took Papa a walk up a high
hill behind the house, the view from which he describes as perfectly
enchanting; but it would be difficult for anything to surpass the one
seen from the house, combining every possible feature of wood, hill,
dale, and water; but if I cannot describe this, it would be equally
impossible to describe the perfect taste and beauty of the house itself.
The chief features are the carving of the wooden staircase, the
chimney-pieces in the library and dining-room, and of the book-cases in
the library. The carpet of the drawing-room was Aubusson tapestry, and
the furniture was entirely from French patterns or imported from Paris,
where it was made on purpose for the different rooms; every part of the
house, including the bed-rooms, was filled with choice engravings. One
bed-room specially struck us, the paper and chintz furniture of which
were exactly of the same pattern of roses on a white ground, and the
effect was beautiful; but there were many others in equally good taste,
all with French papers. Hot and cold water were laid on in the rooms,
and hot air likewise, though not so as to be in the least oppressive.
Mrs. Bartlett's bed-room and dressing-room were the climax of all. The
woodwork throughout the house was varied in every story: there was black
oak, red pine, and white pine, all of very fine grain; the hall was
covered with encaustic tiles from Minton's; the offices were in keeping,
dairy, laundry, &c. Papa went over the farm and gardens, which were in
the same exquisite order; and there were greenhouses and hothouses,
which looked at a distance like a little Crystal Palace. Mrs. Bartlett
is a very amiable person, but a great invalid, and seldom leaves her
room.
This morning we proceeded on our way to this place; before getting into
the train at twelve o'clock, we drove over to Sunnyside; but, alas! Mr.
Irving was out, and we could only walk about his grounds, and peep in at
his study window. As this brought us to Tarrytown sooner than we counted
upon, I had time to climb up one of the hills, and much enjoyed the
view, although it was not so extensive as the one Papa saw yesterday. As
we got northward, on our way to Albany, the snow, which had almost
disappeared at Tarrytown, became very deep, the land was covered with a
white garment, and the river partially with a coating of ice. At Hudson,
opposite the Catskill mountains, we, for the first time, saw sledging,
sledges having there taken the place of the usual carriages which come
to meet the train. There were many carts, also, and an omnibus, all on
sledges, and the whole had a singularly wintry appearance.
We are housed again at the Delavan House, and find the twenty-four
damsels have donned long sleeves to their gowns, which are now of dark
cotton instead of pink; but their hoops are as large, and their faces as
impudent as ever, forcing Papa to restrain his grin, particularly when
they stand in double file on each side of the table, all in the same
pose, with their arms crossed before them, when we enter the
dining-room.