proselytes for them. Upon these trifles are, from time to time,
engrafted views and objects of more weight, and hence the sect becomes
respectable.—A congregational society becomes divided on account of some
petty dispute upon a minor question involved in church discipline, or in
relation to taxation for the support of the ministry. The consequence
is, that in a few weeks an episcopalian, and a baptist, and perhaps
other societies become established in the same town. Where the
oppositionists will not resort to a new form, some variations will be
suggested, and texts of scripture will be found to sanction them.—The
protestants gave rise to the sect of puritans; and the presbyterians
have created the sect of seceders.
No man who is acquainted with the human mind and heart, and who is well
versed in ecclesiastical history, will ever suffer himself to be partial
to one {148} sect above another of sincere and pious Christians. A man
cannot say, that, under certain circumstances, he might not himself
become a bitter sectary. What has been may be again; and what may be may
be now.—Our righteous ancestors fled from the persecuting hand of
christianized Europe; and, in America, they, in their turn, persecuted
unto death the sect of Quakers. Where was their humility!—where was
their charity! I would sooner trust a mad man than a religious zealot;
and I should think that man weak minded, who would not be perfectly and
equally willing to engage in public worship with any sect of pious and
sincere Christians on earth.
Many people pretend to know too much respecting the mysterious parts of
religion. The great apostle of the Gentiles, who, as a man, possessed a
powerful and highly improved mind, and, as a christian, abounded in
grace said, that “here we see through a glass darkly;” yet mere babes in
the knowledge of the christian system, pretend even to demonstrate
concerning it, what, in the nature of things, is not demonstrable. In
young ministers this is the foppery of learning; and in old ones
clerical pride.
Many persons too, are dissatisfied with the light which exists upon this
subject; and hence arise fruitless speculations, and ultimate unbelief.
God has sufficiently enlightened our path to futurity; and he has
condescendingly done it, to quicken us in the christian course, and to
cheer us in the hour of death. Instead, however, of gratefully
considering this expression of kindness as a gift, we look, with
discontent, for the development of the whole counsel of Heaven
concerning us:—this is pride!—this is presumption!
But I may add, that if this light affects _only_ the reasoning powers of
man, it will never, _in my humble {149} opinion_, eventuate in that
faith which is necessary to the production of a pure heart and holy
life. The _moral_ as well as the intellectual man must be enlightened.
True faith resides altogether in the heart.—This is the theatre of hope
and fear, joy and sorrow, love and hatred;—the theatre of guilt, and of
repentance; the theatre of rebellion, of obedience, and of prayer.
As I dislike to see a layman in theology, or a theologian in politics, I
shall say no more upon this subject.
The people of Pittsburgh are not, generally speaking, remarkable for
their sociability. They are very attentive to their business, and seem
to care but little about those around them. A next-door neighbour is,
with them, frequently unknown; and months and years pass, without their
exchanging with each other the ordinary compliments of friendship and
good will. As is the case with many of the cities of Europe, a simple
partition renders unknown, for a great length of time, those who live
under the same roof.
The inhabitants of Pittsburgh are very suspicious of the Yankees; and
judging from the character of a few, uncharitably condemn the whole.
This is more or less the case throughout the west. The Yankees are every
where considered, an intelligent, hardy, bold, active, and enterprising
people; but they are supposed to be excessively fond of money, and
frequently to obtain it by fraudulent means.
As to the love of money it is, throughout the whole country, poisoning
the fountain of individual and national respectability; but as to the
means of obtaining it, the Yankees are, probably, as honest as other
people.
The characteristics of the people of any particular town, generally
depend upon the disposition and {150} habits of its first settlers.
Sometimes these first settlers are hospitable and fond of society; and
sometimes they are exclusively devoted to business, and consider every
stranger, who makes his appearance among them, as actuated by the same
views.
With respect to the characteristics of the people of Pittsburgh, I judge
only from information which I obtained there, and which appeared to be
sanctioned by the general aspect of things in relation to them.
During my short visit at this place, I became particularly acquainted
with the family of E. B. Esq.; and mention this circumstance for the
purpose of affording myself the satisfaction of expressing some
sentiments respecting them. So interesting were they, that I have, ever
since I left them, regretted the loss of their society. Mr. B. is a
German; has travelled a great deal, both in Europe and America; is
acquainted with many languages; possesses very extensive information;
and is a man of a sound and discriminating mind. Possessing too, much
sensibility, and much delicacy of taste, his ideas are polished, and
interestingly expressed. In Mrs. B. are combined good sense, simplicity,
and benevolence. E**** is sensible, and innocently romantic; and in the
little daughters are blended much vivacity and loveliness.
On the back part of Pittsburgh there is a rise of ground, called Grant’s
Hill. Here one may have a perfect view of the town; and its appearance
from this position is very much in its favour. This hill was occupied by
the English General Grant during the old French war; and here he
surrendered to the enemy.[141] About nine miles up the Monongahela is
the place called Braddock’s Fields.[142] It is celebrated by the defeat
there of the general of this name. These fields are also noted by their
{151} being the rendezvous of the Whiskey Boys during the western
insurrection in 1794. The defeat of Braddock took place in 1755. Many
vestiges of this bloody engagement are still visible. It is well known
that here our Washington acted as a volunteer aid to General Braddock;
and by his intrepidity, and military skill, saved the English troops
from total destruction. In the engagement Washington had two horses shot
under him, and received four balls through his clothes.
The Monongahela river is a noble stream. It rises at the foot of the
Laurel mountains, is about four hundred yards wide at its mouth, is
navigable at a great distance, and its current is deep and gentle.
Across this river, at Pittsburgh, an elegant bridge has recently been
erected.
After remaining at Pittsburgh two days, I descended the Ohio for a few
miles, and then landed on its western bank. The state of Ohio is
situated altogether on the west of the river, and is bounded east by
Pennsylvania, north by Lake Erie and Michigan Territory, and west by
Indiana. The length of the river is about eleven hundred miles, and its
average breadth about one half of a mile; in some places, however, its
width is about twice this distance. The river is, generally, very deep,
sufficiently so for the navigation of large ships. Its aspect is placid
and clear; and when the water is high, is expansive and beautiful. It
contains a great many islands, and is stored with a variety of fish and
fowl. The river sometimes rises forty or fifty feet, and greatly
endangers the settlements upon its banks. Sometimes too, the river is
low and appears inconsiderable. Its sinuosities are numerous, and in the
spring of the year, the abrasive effect of the floating ice and trees
upon its banks is very great.
{152} The general aspect of the state of Ohio is rather level than
otherwise. There are here no elevations which can be called mountains;
but the country is gently diversified. The upper part of it is most
hilly. West of Chilicothe it is nearly level. In various parts of the
state, there are extensive prairies covered with high grass. Those near
the river are small; but those in the interior are from thirty to fifty
miles in extent. The soil of the state is, generally, very fertile; but
as is the case every where else, some of its lands are sterile, and some
unfit for cultivation. Its forests are spacious and elegant. The
sycamore trees here are numerous, and some of them surprisingly large.
In this and the other western states there is still considerable game;
but the hand of civilization having here wantonly destroyed much, a
scarcity has, for some time, been experienced.
Most of the western states in a great measure resemble, as to their
aspect, the state of Ohio. This whole range of country is better
calculated for the production of grain than for the growth of cattle.
The pastures here, however, are rich; and the woods so abound with nuts,
that immense herds of swine are raised in them without the least
expence. The climate, judging from the general appearance of the
inhabitants, I should suppose much less healthy than that of
New-England; and in particular situations the fever and ague, and
bilious fevers are very prevalent.
In travelling from Pittsburgh to New-Orleans, I sometimes moved upon the
rivers, and sometimes marched in the woods. In the latter the traveller
is, during the summer season, greatly annoyed by musquetoes. Having no
covering, I was often employed during the whole night in defending
myself against them. Here I may observe, that from the {153} time of my
leaving Pittsburgh to my arrival at New-Orleans, I slept in the open air
about thirty nights. The night dews did not affect my health.
The boats which float upon the river Ohio are various:—from the ship of
several hundred tons burthen, to the mere skiff. Very few if any very
large vessels, however, are now built at Pittsburgh, or indeed at any
other place on the Ohio. They were formerly built on this river,
particularly at Pittsburgh and Marietta; but the difficulties incident
to getting them to the ocean, have rendered such undertakings
unfrequent.
An almost innumerable number of steam boats, barks, keels, and arks, are
yearly set afloat upon this river, and upon its tributary streams. The
barks are generally about one hundred tons burthen, have two masts, and
are rigged as schooners, and hermaphrodite brigs. The keels have,
frequently, covered decks, and sometimes carry one mast. These and also
the barks are sometimes rowed and sometimes moved up the river by
poling, and by drawing them along shore with ropes. The flat boat or ark
is of a clumsy construction; but very burthensome. Its foundation
consists of sills like those of a house, and to these is trunneled a
floor of plank. The sides are of boards loosely put together, and the
top is covered in the same way. The bottom of the boat, and so much of
the sides as come in contact with the water, are caulked. Some of this
kind of boat will carry four or five hundred barrels of flour, besides
considerable quantities of bacon, cheese, and other produce. On the deck
of the ark are two large oars, moving on pivots, and at the stern there
is a large stearing oar. The progress of the ark is principally in
floating with the current; and the oars are seldom used excepting for
the purpose of rowing ashore.
{154} The business carried on by boats, on the Ohio and Mississippi, is
immense. The freight of goods up and down these rivers is high; and the
freighting business here is exceedingly profitable. No property pays so
great an interest as that of steam boats on these rivers. A trip of a
few weeks yields one hundred per cent upon the capital employed.
The arks, and, generally speaking, the keels, when they reach
New-Orleans, seldom return up the river again. The former are sold for
lumber.
The current of the Ohio is about four miles an hour. That of the
Mississippi is rather quicker.
On the river Ohio, nearly opposite to Louisville, there are rapids, the
descent of which is about twenty-three feet in the distance of two
miles. Owing to this circumstance many boats do not return from below
this place. This difficulty, however, is about to be removed by a canal,
which will give to the river, at this place, another direction.[143]
This is the only considerable obstruction in the whole course of the
Ohio.
In the rapids there are three passages, and they are all taken at
different times, according to the state of the river. Pilots are, by
law, appointed to navigate boats down the rapids. The quantity of water
in the river often varies: it sometimes both rises and falls in the
course of a few hours.
Before I proceed further down this river, I must notice those parts of
Pennsylvania and Virginia, which lie on the Ohio. The western boundary
of Pennsylvania lies about forty miles west of French Creek and
Alleghany river; and west of Pittsburgh, on both sides of the Ohio,
about the same distance. North-west, it is bounded by a part of Lake
Erie, and south by a part of Virginia.
A part of the state of Virginia lies on the Ohio, {155} having a part of
Pennsylvania on the east,[144] and Kentucky on the west. The principal
waters, which enter the Ohio from Pennsylvania, are the Big Beaver on
the north, and Racoon Creek on the south.
In travelling in the vicinity of the western rivers, I could not always
obtain good accommodations upon them. As such accommodations, however,
were of but little consequence to me, I always, when I wished to descend
the rivers, jumped into the first boat I could find.—Sometimes I moved
along in a keel, sometimes in an ark, and sometimes rowed myself in a
little skiff. By taking this course, I not only could land when I
pleased, but became particularly acquainted with the navigation of the
rivers, and with the various means of transportation upon them. My
society, it is true, was not always the best; but, perhaps, not the less
instructive for this circumstance. To become practically acquainted with
the world, one must see human nature in all its aspects. Sometimes I met
real gentlemen, and sometimes fell in with the perfect boor. I was not
known to any one; but the boatmen, frequently becoming sick, applied to
me for medical aid; and hence I acquired the title of Doctor.
My prescriptions were always simple; and, _strange to tell_, I did not
lose a single patient. My knowledge of the Materia Medica was, no doubt,
limited. Without, however, consulting Celsus or Boerhave, I always told
the sick, that in a few days, they would be perfectly well. I really
suppose that men often die, because they think they shall. Much depends,
in sickness, upon the state of the mind. Our intellectual and physical
nature always sympathise with each other. Resistance lessens the force
of an attack; and there is something {156} in the declaration, I will
not be conquered! which fortifies both the mind and the body.
My next _learned_ theory was, that nature loves herself; and, in
sickness, requires, in many cases, only a little aid to enable her so to
exert her powers as to produce the desired effect. The most simple
prescriptions, if efficient, are always the best. Powerful remedies tend
to disorganize the most subtle functions of the animal economy; and by
curing one disease to produce a complication of many others.
But I would not call in question the importance of the profession of
medicine. As to its station in the catalogue of sciences, it ranks among
the very first. This profession presents to the human mind the most
extensive field for investigation. The great science of physiology is
its basis; and chymistry, the wonderful magician, by whom the
constituent parts of matter are ascertained, the effects of their
various combinations discovered, and the production of new qualities
realized. The physician should be, emphatically, a child of nature, and
well acquainted with the principles of her government, both with respect
to mind and matter.
Upon the western rivers a great many boatmen die, and their graves upon
the banks are numerous; hence those who are taken sick are, generally,
much alarmed.
The boatmen of the west are conspicuous for their habits of
intemperance, and swearing. Whilst on the western rivers my ears were
shocked by their oaths and curses. I endeavoured to lessen this
practice. To effect my object I, occasionally, associated with them; and
by a kind, free, and yet grave manner, prepared the way for some
friendly counsel upon the subject. They saw that I did not feel above
their labours, or their modes of living.—I fully participated in their
hard fare; slept across flour {157} barrels, without bed or covering,
drank water from the river, and sometimes laboured at their oars. Thus I
gained their confidence and their good will.
At one time, during the silence of evening, I addressed about twenty
boatmen upon the subject of swearing. I represented the practice as not
only wicked, but idle, low, and unmanly. They heard me with attention,
some of them made many acknowledgments, and whilst I continued with
them, they swore little or none. Upon many other occasions I spake to
boatmen upon the subject; and from their manner, I have no doubt that
the practice of swearing among them might be rendered less common. But,
perhaps, there is no habit, the controul of which depends less upon the
will than that of swearing. The tongue is a little member, and often
moves ere the judgment can controul the impulses of the heart. A pretty
lad, in one of the western boats, attracted my attention, both by his
beauty and his profaneness. After speaking to him upon the subject, I
offered him a dollar upon the condition of his not swearing for the
remainder of the day. He was much pleased with the proposition; but
after controuling himself with much watchfulness, for about an hour, he
became discouraged, and partially returned to his long established
practice. Let those, who are so happy as to be free from this vice,
guard against the subtle influences of its example.
As to intemperance, I think it is by no means peculiar, even in degree,
to this part of the country. But I am happy in being able to add, that
during a tour which I took through the middle and southern states in
1815; and also during that, an account of which I am now writing, I
witnessed much less intemperance than information previously obtained
had led me to anticipate. Still, there is, in the {158} United States,
much inebriation, and a great want of economy in the use of spirituous
liquors. By the distillery of grain among us, the community are,
sometimes, deprived of the necessary quantity of bread; and a substitute
is furnished which tends, at once, to beggar, and to depopulate the
country.
Before I dismiss these topics, I may add, that I have often heard of the
low conversation, which is said to prevail among the boatmen of the
west; and also of their quarrelsome and fighting habits. All these
practices are much less than they are represented to be.
Here I may be permitted to observe, that with respect to low
conversation, many who call themselves gentlemen, and pass for such in
the world, are highly culpable. Indecency is a vice committed without
temptation. It corrupts the moral sense, and deprives the human heart of
all those etherial visitations, which remind man of his original
innocence, and eloquently persuade him that there are pleasures far
above those of sense. Indeed, how evident is it, that when we cultivate
pure and upright affections, the blessed spirits of truth and peace
visit our hearts, enlarge our views of moral nature, and tell us of
nameless hopes. The infirmities of man would add an interest to human
nature, if they were not voluntarily displayed. When covered with the
mantle of an amiable and sensible delicacy, they blend the ideas of
weakness and suffering here, with perfection and immortality hereafter.
That part of the state of Virginia which lies on the Ohio, extends from
about forty miles below Pittsburg to Great Sandy River, the line between
this state and Kentucky. The western parts of Virginia are mountainous,
and a good grazing country. The soil below the mountains, though not
{159} rich, is well calculated for the growth of tobacco and Indian
corn. Many of the ridges of land in this state are very fertile;
particularly the Blue Ridge.
The town of Wheeling, in Virginia, is situated on the Ohio, twelve miles
above Grave Creek; and on this creek is a celebrated Indian grave.[145]
The principal rivers and creeks, which enter the Ohio from this state,
are Charteer’s, Big Grave, Baker’s, Fish, and Fishing creek; and Little
Kenhawa, Great Kenhawa, and the Great Sandy River.[146]
The Great Kenhawa is nearly three hundred yards wide at its junction
with the Ohio; but its rapids are numerous, and its navigation very
difficult. It derives its sources, through a vast tract of country, from
the Laurel and Alleghany mountains on the north-east, from the
Cumberland mountains on the west, and from the mountains in North
Carolina near the sources of the Roanoke. On the Great Kenhawa are
inexhaustible lead mines.
The principal source of the Great Sandy River is in the Cumberland
mountains. Its length is not great; and it is navigable for loaded
batteaux only about fifty miles. At its mouth it is about sixty yards
wide, and it enters the Ohio opposite to Galliopolis. This place was
settled by a company of French emigrants; but in 1796 disease and other
misfortunes caused them to abandon the establishment.[147]
The town of Steubenville, in the state of Ohio, extends for a
considerable distance along the bank of the river.[148] There are here
some manufactories, and several handsome dwelling houses. Its situation
is considerably elevated, and here and there are some large trees which
were spared from the forest.
The first principal river which enters the Ohio, and which finds its
source in that state is the Muskingum. This river is situated about one
hundred {160} and seventy miles below Pittsburg, and is, at its
confluence with the Ohio, nearly one hundred and fifty yards wide. It is
navigable for large batteaux to a place called the Three Legs,[149] one
hundred miles from its mouth, and for small ones to its source, which is
within seven miles of the Cayahoga. The Muskingum presents a gentle
appearance, and near its banks there are valuable salt springs, and
considerable quantities of coal and free stone.
The town of Marietta is situated on the east of the junction of the Ohio
and Muskingum.[150] Its position is pleasant; but it has a deserted
aspect, and is rapidly declining. It is not true, that the Muskingum is
not subject to inundations. All the banks of the western river are, more
or less, exposed to freshets; and this circumstance considerably lessens
the value of the lands and buildings upon them. At the mouth of the
Muskingum stands Fort Harmar.
The Hockhocking is rather smaller than the Muskingum, and is situated
about twenty-five miles below the latter.[151] On the banks of this
river are quarries of free stone, iron and lead mines, pit coal, and
salt springs. There are some fine lands on both of these rivers.
The town of Athens lies on the Hockhocking, about forty miles from the
Ohio. It is pleasantly situated, and is the seat of the Ohio University.
The River Scioto is even larger than the Muskingum. It is navigable
nearly two hundred miles, and is connected with the river Sandusky,
which enters Lake Erie, by a portage of four miles. On the Scioto, about
one hundred miles from the Ohio, is the town of Chilicothe.[152] This
place is the seat of government. Not far from the Scioto, are salt
springs, which belong to the state; also coal, free stone, and several
kinds of valuable clay.