dwellings standing together, excepting at a small place called Downing’s
Town, which lies about midway; numbers of farm houses, however, are
scattered over the country as far as the eye can reach. These houses are
mostly built of stone, and are about as good as those usually met with
on an arable farm of fifty acres in a well cultivated part of England.
The farms attached to these houses contain about two hundred acres each,
and are, with a few exceptions only, the property of the persons who
cultivate them. In the cultivated parts of Pennsylvania the farms rarely
exceed three hundred acres; towards the north, however, where the
settlements are but few, large tracts of land are in the hands of
individuals, who are speculators and land jobbers. Adjoining to the
houses there is generally a peach or an apple orchard. With the fruit
they make cyder and brandy; the people have a method also of drying the
peaches and apples, after having sliced them, in the sun, and thus cured
they last all the year round. They are used for pies and puddings, but
they have a very acrid taste, and scarcely any of the original flavour
of the fruit. The peaches in their best state are but indifferent, being
small and dry; I never eat any that were good, excepting such as were
raised with care in gardens. It is said that the climate is so much
altered that they will not grow now as they formerly did. In April and
May nightly frosts are very common, which were totally unknown formerly,
and frequently the peaches are entirely blighted. Gardens are very rare
in the country parts of Pennsylvania, for the farmers think the labour
which they require does not afford sufficient profit; in the
neighbourhood of towns, however, they are common, and the culinary
vegetables raised in them are equal to any of their respective kinds in
the world, _potatoes_ excepted, which generally have an earthy
unpleasant taste.
Though the south-east part of the state of Pennsylvania is better
cultivated than any other part of America, yet the style of farming is
on the whole very slovenly. I venture, indeed, to assert, that the
farmers do not raise more on their two hundred acres than a skilful
farmer in Norfolk, Suffolk, or Essex, or in any well cultivated part of
England, would do on fifty acres of good land there. The farmer also,
who rents fifty acres of arable land in England, lives far more
comfortably in every respect than the farmer in Pennsylvania, or in any
other of the middle states, who owns two hundred acres of land, his
house will be found better furnished, and his table more plentifully
covered. That the farmers do not live better in America, I hardly know
whether to ascribe to their love of making money, or to their real
indifference about better fare; perhaps it may be owing, in some
measure, to both; certain it is however, that their mode of living is
most wretched.
[Sidenote: WAGGONS.]
The taverns throughout this part of the country are kept by farmers, and
they are all very indifferent. If the traveller can procure a few eggs
with a little bacon he ought to rest satisfied; it is twenty to one that
a bit of fresh meat is to be had, or any salted meat except pork.
Vegetables, seem also to be very scarce, and when you do get any, they
generally consist of turnips, or turnip tops boiled by way of greens.
The bread is heavy and sour, though they have as fine flour as any in
the world; this is owing to their method of making of it; they raise it
with what they call _sots_; hops and water boiled together. No
dependance is to be placed upon getting a man at these taverns to rub
down your horse, or even to give him his food, frequently therefore you
will have to do every thing of the kind for yourself if you do not
travel with a servant; and indeed, even where men are kept for the
purpose of attending to travellers, which at some of the taverns is the
case, they are so sullen and disobliging that you feel inclined to do
every thing with your own hands rather than be indebted to them for
their assistance: they always appear doubtful whether they should do any
thing for you or not, and to be reasoning within themselves, whether it
is not too great a departure from the rules of equality to take the
horse of another man, and whether it would not be a pleasing sight to
see a gentleman strip off his coat, and go to work for himself; nor will
money make them alter their conduct; civility, as I before said, is not
to be purchased at any expence in America; nevertheless the people will
pocket your money with the utmost readiness, though without thanking you
for it. Of all beings on the earth, Americans are the most interested
and covetous.
It is scarcely possible to go one mile on this road without meeting
numbers of waggons passing and repassing between the back parts of the
state and Philadelphia. These waggons are commonly drawn by four or five
horses, four of which are yoked in pairs. The waggons are heavy, the
horses small, and the driver unmerciful; the consequence of which is,
that in every team, nearly, there is a horse either lame or blind. The
Pennsylvanians are notorious for the bad care which they take of their
horses. Excepting the night be tempestuous, the waggoners never put
their horses under shelter, and then it is only under a shed; each
tavern is usually provided with a large one for the purpose. Market or
High-street, in Philadelphia, the street by which these people come into
the town, is always crowded with waggons and horses, that are left
standing there all night. This is to save money; the expence of putting
them into a stable would be too great, in the opinion of these people.
Food for the horses is always carried in the waggon, and the moment they
stop they are unyoked, and fed whilst they are warm. By this treatment
half the poor animals are foundered. The horses are fed out of a large
trough carried for the purpose, and fixed on the pole of the waggon by
means of iron pins.
Lancaster is the largest inland town in North America, and contains
about nine hundred houses, built chiefly of brick and stone, together
with six churches, a court-house, and gaol. Of the churches, there is
one respectively for German Lutherans, German Calvinists, Moravians,
English Episcopalians, and Roman Catholics. The streets are laid out
regularly, and cross each other at right angles.
[Sidenote: RIFLE GUNS.]
An act of assembly has been passed, for making this town the seat of the
state government instead of Philadelphia, and the assembly was to meet
in the year 1797. This circumstance is much in favour of the improvement
of the town. The Philadelphians, inimical to the measure, talked of it
much in the same style that they do now of the removal of the seat of
the federal government, saying, that it must be again changed to
Philadelphia; but the necessity of having the seat of the legislature as
central as possible in each state is obvious, and if a change does take
place again, it is most likely that it will only be to remove the seat
still farther from Philadelphia. On the same principle, the assembly of
Virginia meets now at Richmond instead of Williamsburgh, and that of New
York state at Albany instead of the city of New York.
Several different kinds of articles are manufactured at Lancaster by
German mechanics, individually, principally for the people of the town
and the neighbourhood. Rifled barrel guns however are to be excepted,
which, although not as handsome as those imported from England, are more
esteemed by the hunters, and are sent to every part of the country.
[Sidenote: RIFLE GUNS.]
The rifled barrel guns, commonly used in America, are nearly of the
length of a musket, and carry leaden balls from the size of thirty to
sixty in the pound. Some hunters prefer those of a small bore, because
they require but little ammunition; others prefer such as have a wide
bore, because the wound which they inflict is more certainly attended
with death; the wound, however, made by a ball discharged from one of
these guns is always very dangerous. The inside of the barrel is fluted,
and the grooves run in a spiral direction from one end of the barrel to
the other, consequently when the ball comes out it has a whirling motion
round its own axis, at the same time that it moves forward, and when it
enters into the body of an animal, it tears up the flesh in a dreadful
manner. The best of powder is chosen for a rifled barrel gun, and after
a proper portion of it is put down the barrel, the ball is inclosed in a
small bit of linen rag, well greased at the outside, and then forced
down with a thick ramrod. The grease and the bits of rag, which are
called patches, are carried in a little box at the but-end of the gun.
The best rifles are furnished with two triggers, one of which being
first pulled sets the other, that is, alters the spring, so that it will
yield even to the slight touch of a feather. They are also furnished
with double sights along the barrel, as fine as those of a surveying
instrument. An experienced marksman, with one of these guns, will hit an
object not larger than a crown piece, to a certainty, at the distance of
one hundred yards. Two men belonging to the Virginia rifle regiment, a
large division of which was quartered in this town during the war, had
such a dependance on each other’s dexterity, that the one would hold a
piece of board, not more than nine inches square, between his knees,
whilst the other shot at it with a ball at the distance of one hundred
paces. This they used to do alternately, for the amusement of the town’s
people, as often as they were called upon. Numbers of people in
Lancaster can vouch for the truth of this fact. Were I, however, to tell
you all the stories I have heard of the performances of riflemen, you
would think the people were most abominably addicted to lying. A rifle
gun will not carry shot, nor will it carry a ball much farther than one
hundred yards with certainty.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+LETTER + IX.
_Number of Germans in the Neighbourhood of York and Lancaster.—How
brought over.—White Slave Trade.—Cruelty frequently practised in the
carrying it on.—Character of the German Settlers contrasted with that
of the Americans.—Passage of the Susquehannah between York and
Lancaster.—Great Beauty of the Prospects along the River.—Description
of York.—Courts of Justice there.—Of the Pennsylvanian System of
Judicature._
MY DEAR SIR, York, March.
[Sidenote: WHITE SLAVE TRADE.]
I Arrived at this place, which is about twenty miles distant from
Lancaster, yesterday. The inhabitants of this town, as well as those of
Lancaster and of the adjoining country, consist principally of Dutch and
German emigrants, and their descendants. Great numbers of these people
emigrate to America every year, and the importation of them forms a very
considerable branch of commerce. They are for the most part brought from
the Hanse Towns and from Rotterdam. The vessels sail thither from
America, laden with different kinds of produce, and the masters of them,
on arriving there, entice on board as many of these people as they can
persuade to leave their native country, without demanding any money for
their passage. When the vessel arrives in America, an advertisement is
put into the paper, mentioning the different kinds of men on board,
whether smiths, taylors, carpenters, labourers, or the like, and the
people that are in want of such men flock down to the vessel; these poor
Germans are then sold to the highest bidder, and the captain of the
vessel, or the ship holder, puts the money into his pocket[16].
Footnote 16:
Thousands of people were brought from the north of Ireland in the same
way before the war with France.
There have been many very shocking instances of cruelty in the carrying
on of this trade, vulgarly called “The white slave trade.” I shall tell
you but of one. While the yellow fever was raging in Philadelphia in the
year 1793, at which time few vessels would venture to approach nearer to
the city than Fort Mifflin, four miles below it, a captain in the trade
arrived in the river, and hearing that such was the fatal nature of the
infection, that a sufficient number of nurses could not be procured to
attend the sick for any sum whatever, he conceived the philanthropic
idea of supplying this deficiency from amongst his passengers;
accordingly he boldly sailed up to the city, and advertised his cargo
for sale:
“A few healthy servants, generally between seventeen and eighteen years
of age, are just arrived in the brig ——, their times will be disposed of
by applying on board.” The cargo, as you may suppose, did not remain
long unsold. This anecdote was communicated to me by a gentleman who has
the original advertisement in his possession.
When I tell you that people are sold in this manner, it is not to be
understood that they are sold for ever, but only for a certain number of
years; for two, three, four, or five years, according to their
respective merits. A good mechanic, that understands a particular kind
of trade, for which men are much wanted in America, has to serve a
shorter time than a mere labourer, as more money will be given for his
time, and the expence of his passage does not exceed that of any other
man. During their servitude, these people are liable to be resold at the
caprice of their masters; they are as much under dominion as negro
slaves, and if they attempt to run away, they may be imprisoned like
felons. The laws respecting “redemptioners,” so are the men called that
are brought over in this manner, were grounded on those formed for the
English convicts before the revolution, and they are very severe.
[Sidenote: GERMAN SETTLERS.]
The Germans are a quiet, sober, and industrious set of people, and are
most valuable citizens. They generally settle a good many together in
one place, and, as may be supposed, in consequence keep up many of the
customs of their native country as well as their own language. In
Lancaster and the neighbourhood German is the prevailing language, and
numbers of people living there are ignorant of any other. The Germans
are some of the best farmers in the United States, and they seldom are
to be found but where the land is particularly good; wherever they
settle they build churches, and are wonderfully attentive to the duties
of religion. In these and many other respects the Germans and their
descendants differ widely from the Americans, that is, from the
descendants of the English, Scotch, Irish, and other nations, who, from
having lived in the country for many generations, and from having
mingled together, now form one people, whose manners and habits are very
much the same.
The Germans are a plodding race of men, wholly intent upon their own
business, and indifferent about that of others: a stranger is never
molested as he passes through their settlements with inquisitive and
idle questions. On arriving amongst the Americans[17], however, a
stranger must tell where he came from, where he is going, what his name
is, what his business is; and until he gratifies their curiosity on
these points, and many others of equal importance, he is never suffered
to remain quiet for a moment. In a tavern he must satisfy every fresh
set that comes in, in the same manner, or involve himself in a quarrel,
especially if it is found out that he is not a native, which it does not
require much sagacity to discover.
Footnote 17:
In speaking of the Americans here, and in the following lines, it is
those of the lower and middling classes of the people which I allude
to, such as are met with in the country parts of Pennsylvania.
[Sidenote: GERMAN SETTLERS.]
The Germans give themselves but little trouble about politics; they
elect their representatives to serve in congress and the state
assemblies; and satisfied that deserving men have been chosen by the
people at large, they trust that these men do what is best for the
public good, and therefore abide patiently by their decisions: they
revere the constitution, conscious that they live happily under it, and
express no wishes to have it altered. The Americans, however, are for
ever cavilling at some of the public measures; something or other is
always wrong, and they never appear perfectly satisfied. If any great
measure is before congress for discussion, seemingly distrustful of the
abilities or the integrity of the men they have elected, they meet
together in their towns or districts, canvass the matter themselves, and
then send forward instructions to their representatives how to act. They
never consider that any important question is more likely to meet with a
fair discussion in an assembly where able men are collected together
from all parts of the states than in an obscure corner, where a few
individuals are assembled, who have no opportunity of getting general
information on the subject. Party spirit is for ever creating
dissentions amongst them, and one man is continually endeavouring to
obtrude his political creed upon another. If it is found out that a
stranger is from Great Britain or Ireland, they immediately begin to
boast of their own constitution and freedom, and give him to understand,
that they think every Englishman a slave, because he submits to be
called a subject. Their opinions are for the most part crude and
dogmatical, and principally borrowed from newspapers, which are
wretchedly compiled from the pamphlets of the day, having read a few of
which, they think themselves arrived at the summit of intellectual
excellence, and qualified for making the deepest political researches.
[Sidenote: THE SUSQUEHANNAH.]
The Germans, as I have said, are fond of settling near each other: when
the young men of a family are grown up, they generally endeavour to get
a piece of land in the neighbourhood of their relations, and by their
industry soon make it valuable; the American, on the contrary, is of a
roving disposition, and wholly regardless of the ties of consanguinity;
he takes his wife with him, goes to a distant part of the country, and
buries himself in the woods, hundreds of miles distant from the rest of
his family, never perhaps to see them again. In the back parts of the
country you always meet numbers of men prowling about to try and buy
cheap land; having found what they like, they immediately remove; nor
having once removed, are these people satisfied; restless and
discontented with what they possess, they are for ever changing. It is
scarcely possible in any part of the continent to find a man, amongst
the middling and lower classes of Americans, who has not changed his
farm and his residence many different times. Thus it is, that though
there are not more than four millions of people in the United States,
yet they are scattered from the confines of Canada to the farthest
extremity of Georgia, and from the Atlantic to the banks of the
Mississippi. Thousands of acres of waste land are annually taken up in
unhealthy and unfruitful parts of the country, notwithstanding that the
best settled and healthy parts of the middle states would maintain five
times the number of inhabitants that they do at present. The American,
however, does not change about from place to place in this manner merely
to gratify a wandering disposition; in every change he hopes to make
money. By the desire of making money, both the Germans and Americans of
every class and description are actuated in all their movements;
self-interest is always uppermost in their thoughts; it is the idol
which they worship, and at its shrine thousands and thousands would be
found, in all parts of the country, ready to make a sacrifice of every
noble and generous sentiment that can adorn the human mind.
In coming to this place from Lancaster I crossed the Susquehannah River,
which runs nearly midway between the two towns, at the small village of
Columbia, as better boats are kept there than at either of the ferries
higher up or lower down the river. The Susquehannah is here somewhat
more than a quarter of a mile wide, and for a considerable distance,
both above and below the ferry, it abounds with islands and large rocks,
over which last the water runs with prodigious velocity: the roaring
noise that it makes is heard a great way off. The banks rise very boldly
on each side, and are thickly wooded; the islands also are covered with
small trees, which, interspersed with the rocks, produce a very fine
effect. The scenery in every point of view is wild and romantic. In
crossing the river it is necessary to row up against the stream under
the shore, and then to strike over to the opposite side, under the
shelter of some of the largest islands. As these rapids continue for
many miles, they totally impede the navigation, excepting when there are
floods in the river, at which time large rafts may be conducted down the
dream, carrying several hundred barrels of flour. It is said that the
river could be rendered navigable in this neighbourhood, but the expence
of such an undertaking would be enormous, and there is little likelihood
indeed that it will ever be attempted, as the Pennsylvanians are already
engaged in cutting a canal below Harrisburgh, which will connect the
navigable part of the river with the Schuylkill, and also another canal
from the Schuylkill to the Delaware, by means of which a vent will be
opened for the produce of the country bordering upon the Susquehannah at
Philadelphia. These canals would have been finished by this time if the
subscribers had all paid their respective shares, but at present they
are almost at a stand for want of money.
[Sidenote: LAWYERS.]
The quantity of wild fowl that is seen on every part of the Susquehannah
is immense. Throughout America the wild fowl is excellent and plentiful;
but there is one duck in particular found on this river, and also on
Patowmac and James rivers, which surpasses all others: it is called the
white or canvass-back duck, from the feathers between the wings being
somewhat of the colour of canvass. This duck is held in such estimation
in America, that it is sent frequently as a present for hundreds of
miles—indeed it would be a dainty morsel for the greatest epicure in any
country.
York contains about five hundred houses and six churches, and is much
such another town as Lancaster. It is inhabited by Germans, by whom the
same manufactures are carried on as at Lancaster.
The courts of common pleas, and those of general quarter sessions, were
holding when I reached this place; I found it difficult, therefore, at
first, to procure accommodation, but at last I got admission in a house
principally taken up by lawyers. To behold the strange assemblage of
persons that was brought together this morning in the one poor apartment
which was allotted to all the lodgers, was really a subject of
diversion. Here one lawyer had his clients in a corner of the room;
there another had his; a third was shaving; a fourth powdering his own
hair; a fifth noting his brief; and the table standing in the middle of
the room, between a clamorous set of old men on one side, and three or
four women in tears on the other; I and the rest of the company, who
were not lawyers, were left to eat our breakfast.
[Sidenote: PENNSYLVANIA COURTS.]