_Journey from Lowell to Saratoga—Keene—Bellows
Falls—Townsend—Arlington—Driver at Table—Landlord and Driver—Passage
of the Green Mountains—Stage Coach practices of America and
Britain—Passengers and Travellers—Juvenile Politeness—Agricultural
Notices—New England Villages—Free School Education unfairly
estimated by British travellers—Education of Scotland and the United
States—Public Schools—Fagging in the Seminaries of
Britain—Principles of Education._
We left Lowell on the morning of the 2d June, passing through Gorton,
Townsend, New Ipswich, Jeffrey, and Keene, a pretty little town with a
neat square, in which there is a church with a handsome spire, and many
of the houses are composed of brick. The situation is an extensive plain
surrounded by well-wooded hills, but the beauty of the place is injured
by the want of trees and grass in front of the houses in the square. The
population amounts to about 2500 souls. There are two glass
manufactories—two for cotton, and one for woollen are about to be
erected.
Bellows Falls are romantically situated on the river Connecticut, the
approach passing round the base of a beautiful mountain, and over a
bridge across the rapids of the river. The manufacture is paper, the
machinery propelled by water obtained from a canal half a mile in
length, and there is a vast unemployed power.
Townsend is a small village lying in the bosom of a sweet amphitheatre
of hills of limited extent. Its general effect is somewhat destroyed by
a glaring church spire, the basement of which is painted white, the
middle part pea-green, and the top a chocolate colour.
Arlington consists of a few houses; it has a stone church, finished with
turrets of wood work, a combination of materials in the exterior of
buildings very common in the United States and the Canadas.
At New Ipswich, the driver of the stage seated himself at table with the
passengers, which was the only instance of the kind that came under my
observation. Some of the passengers were of the most genteel
description, and the driver conducted himself with propriety.
On arriving at Bellows Falls, the landlord of the hotel saluted the
stage driver with “How do you do, captain?” and he answered—“Quite well,
major—this is a cold morning.” The major in question ushered us into the
breakfast room, where he presided with a suavity of manner that would
have done credit to a Frenchman; and I considered this individual the
most courteous I met with in the course of my tour. The hotel-keepers of
the country are the noblesse of the district, and are generally chosen,
by the people, officers of the militia. Captain is a general title for
stage drivers; and I found, both in the States and Upper Canada, that
military titles of high sounding were often used as nicknames. I did not
enquire if our driver was actually a military captain, but so far as
appearance entitles a man to rank, he might have been a field-marshal.
The road from Jeffrey to Arlington is through a poor hilly country,
abounding in scenic beauty of infinite variety, which afforded me more
pleasure than the banks of the Hudson. From Bellows Falls to Arlington
we passed over what, in common parlance of the country, is termed a new
built turnpike, leading through the Green Mountains, which had been only
a few weeks open to travellers, and some parts of which were almost
impassable. Twenty miles of this road is through a dense forest, quite
impervious to the sun’s rays; and for five or six miles on the other
side of the Green Mountains towards Arlington, in a deep narrow ravine,
the rocks and hills being finely wooded to the summit. The country opens
up into picturesque views towards Sunderland, which is a few miles from
Arlington.
Passing the night in a crowded hotel at Arlington, we proceeded next
morning to Saratoga, by Union Village and Schuyler-ville, where the
stage stopped a little after twelve, to afford two passengers an
opportunity of dining, who did not take breakfast at Arlington, although
only twelve miles distant from Saratoga, the end of our journey. This
accommodating spirit of stage-coaches stopping whenever passengers
choose to feed, and calling for or setting them down at their respective
residences in towns, seems at variance with the character of the people,
and is somewhat trying to the temper of a newly-imported traveller. In
Britain travellers must wait for the coaches which arrive and depart
from each place at specified hours, with perfect punctuality. In America
the coaches wait for the travellers, and the consequent irregularity is
such, that if a coach is said to reach a given place by twelve, there is
an equal chance whether it does so by twelve at noon or midnight.
The road from Arlington passes for many miles along the river
Battenkill, the banks of which afford good sheep-pasturage, and some
fine grain-growing districts were seen near Cambridge, before reaching
Union Village.
From Schuyler-ville to Saratoga, the soil is of the quality of
drift-sand. A fence of considerable extent was observed on the wayside,
composed of pine-tree roots adhering to the trunks, and placed close to
each other, so as to form an effectual barrier against ordinary
intruders. This was the most picturesque fence I ever beheld.
The stage passengers and other travellers we came in contact with
throughout our excursion in the states of New England, were chiefly
mechanics, unobtrusive in manner, intelligent, and free from vulgarity.
They conversed on every subject connected with their own and other
countries, and betrayed none of that question-searching curiosity
imputed to the population. They seemed to possess a general knowledge of
British literature, and more especially of the works of Sir Walter Scott
and Robert Burns. They are also familiar with the works of Captain Hall
and Mrs. Trollope, and occasionally asked if I found the people of the
States as inquisitive as represented by those writers. The proceedings
and success of Dr. Franklin were often quoted; and the life of that
great man seems to have had no small share in stamping the character of
this class of the population.
The external appearance of the houses after passing the Green Mountains
became gradually less attractive, till at last they were little better
than mere log-houses.
Primary or State school-houses were frequently seen, and I regretted not
having an opportunity of examining the proficiency of the pupils. The
little boys attending the schools were often going without stockings or
shoes, and the girls generally wore flowing trowsers to their ankles. On
one occasion, in passing through the state of Vermont, I observed four
little girls and two boys going to school, dressed in clean clothes,
with nice little baskets over their arms, which I conjectured to contain
their dinner. When the stage passed by them, the misses curtsied, and
the boys bowed to the passengers. I was much gratified at this voluntary
and unexpected display of juvenile politeness, and repeatedly kissed my
hand in return; but recollecting they might not understand such a mode
of acknowledgment, I leant my head out at the coach window and bowed
familiarly, when they seemed delighted at my interchange of civilities,
and smiled to each other.
A valued friend, residing in the neighbourhood of Montreal, informed me
he was visiting at Rochester, in the state of New York, in 1831, when a
plain-dressed little girl approached the window of a cottage at which he
was seated, on a fine summer evening, and curtsying, asked him for a
rose, a flower which was growing profusely round the cottage. He told
her to help herself to the prettiest she could find, but being afraid of
injuring the bush, she returned, asked the use of his knife, which being
granted, she departed with the object of her affections.
The surface of the New England States is often hilly, always highly
undulating, and the soil generally rocky, and of the most inferior
description of sand. The staple crop appeared to be rye; and we did not
observe fifty acres of wheat throughout a journey of 400 miles. The
grass was scanty, and seemingly incapable of fattening oxen, from its
inferior quality. The cattle, as already stated, were of a good breed,
but often remarkably lean. Sheep were inferior, and so also were horses
used for farming purposes. The mode of farming did not meet my
approbation; but perhaps bad land, like bad wives, can be managed by
every one but by those who possess them; and a foreigner unacquainted
with the peculiarities of the district cannot be an infallible judge of
such matters. It appears to me, however, impossible that the New England
States can furnish food sufficient for the population; and the time is
perhaps near at hand when the whole produce will not do more than
maintain the agriculturists, and supply the manufacturers with dairy
produce, leaving their butcher-meat and bread to come from other
districts. The present farmers find difficulty in earning a subsistence,
and any thing paid in the name of rent must be truly insignificant.
The villages of New England are uniformly clean, airy, and neat, with
spacious openings near the centre, in which churches form the most
prominent feature. Indeed, a village is seldom seen without having two
or three churches of considerable size, composed of wood, painted white,
and surmounted with a spire, and generally flanked with a considerable
extent of shades for waggons and horses belonging to people coming from
a distance. The houses are, in some instances, built of brick, but more
frequently of wood, painted white, with green Venetian blinds, opening
to the outside. Both churches and dwelling-houses seem to be painted
annually; at least, they are never seen in the slightest degree dingy
coloured. The houses of every size and fabric, have a light appearance
from the number of windows they contain, the legislature not taxing the
inhabitants for enjoying air and light through the medium of windows as
in Britain. The houses seldom indicate either extensive wealth or
poverty of the inmates; and although the architectural decorations are
often in bad taste, and the materials of which they consist associated
in the mind of the Europeans with instability, yet the general effect is
highly pleasing, and the villages want only the judicious aid of flowers
and shrubs to render them absolutely beautiful.
The system of Free-school education in the Eastern States does not
appear to have been fairly estimated by some British travellers. Mr.
Stuart, in chapter xiv. of “Three Years’ Residence in America,” states,
“the general plan of education at the public Free-schools, is not
confined to merely reading, writing, arithmetic, and book-keeping, and
the ancient and modern languages, but comprehends grammar, mathematics,
navigation, geography, history, logic, political economy, and rhetoric;
moral and natural philosophy; their schools being, as stated in the
printed regulations, intended to occupy the young people from the age of
four to seventeen;” and in chapter xvi. he takes the same view when
conversing with President Jackson. Captain Basil Hall and Mr. Hamilton
seem to consider them charity-schools, and consequently objectionable to
an independent people.
The public Free-schools, or what are called “common schools,” and
maintained by public funds, are managed in each district by twelve
directors, chosen by the people, at which children are taught gratis,
the parents furnishing books. The funds being inadequate to provide
teachers during the whole year, men are engaged to teach in winter, and
women, who are engaged at a cheaper rate, to teach during the summer.
The period of teaching varies according to the extent of funds, which
are managed with economy, and seldom exceeds nine months throughout the
year, and in some States only six months. In one or two States, there is
also a Free grammar-school in each county town.
It has been formerly stated, that an opportunity of examining the common
schools of New England did not occur. I, however, saw the scholars of
upwards of twenty of them in the school-houses, and on the play-ground.
I also saw several of the teachers. None of the scholars, who, in
summer, are chiefly girls, seemed above twelve years of age, and the
teachers were invariably females. From this circumstance, it appeared to
me that Mr. Stuart had confounded the district common schools with the
grammar-schools of the county towns; and many of the natives, to whom I
showed his account of the schools, readily agreed in this view. Indeed,
to state that little children and female teachers in the woods of
America should be engaged in logic, rhetoric, and navigation, is taxing
credulity too far.
The funds, remunerating teachers of common schools, being provided by
the State, _for general use_, not only removes from the inhabitants any
feeling of degradation or dependence, in the education of their
children, but renders it their duty to prefer such seminaries, when the
teachers are equally good. It is singular that Captain Hall and Mr
Hamilton, both Scotsmen, should consider these schools eleemosynary and
degrading, when the religious establishment, as well as the schools of
their own country, are similarly situated. The inhabitants of Britain do
not consider themselves partaking of charity when listening to teachers
of religion, or preachers in connexion with establishments, nor when
educating their children at public seminaries, the teachers of which are
almost always in part remunerated by public funds, and the fees
consequently lower than they would otherwise be. In private tuition the
teacher has, in most cases, received his education in part from public
funds, and, in consequence, is a cheap source of instruction. The
principle of public education in Scotland and the United States is the
same, and if at all eleemosynary, the degree is less in the American
States, where the inhabitants generally have a voice in levying and
disposing of the funds. The Scotch system of schools is, however,
preferable, by guarding against a change of teachers, frequently
injurious to the progress of those under tuition—the appointment of
parochial teachers being for life, or during good behaviour; and each
session continuing throughout the year, with the exception of two or
three weeks’ vacation. The schools are not like those in the States,
free; but in consequence of the teachers having a fixed salary, the fees
may be said to be half-price, which operates on the diligence of the
teachers, and is a considerable boon to the inhabitants. In some of the
States, where common schools are open half the year, the expense to
parents is nearly the same as in Scotland, where the parochial school is
open throughout the year at half-price, without, however, the pupils
having a chance of making the same progress.
Public schools are founded on the principle of diffusing knowledge
amongst the people, thereby raising the standard of morality—by which
crime is prevented, and good government secured. Simple, and in some
respects defective, as the American common school system is, it has,
nevertheless, succeeded well, and seems suited to the present wants of
the people.
Reading and writing, with the elements of arithmetic, which can be
attained in a few years, enable those to improve themselves by
application who are at all desirous of acquiring knowledge. Indeed, the
learning generally obtained at school may be regarded as but a
foundation to build on in after life; and therefore the schools of the
United States and Scotland supply, alike, the primary means of ultimate
improvement. A longer and severer course of mental study than afforded
by these institutions often converts weak minds into polished nothings,
without adding to the usefulness of the man.
The system of fagging, so generally introduced into the higher
seminaries of England, and which may be described as each of the senior
members holding a junior in slavery, requiring not only the discharge of
menial services, such as brushing clothes, and cleaning shoes, but often
the performance of criminal and immoral actions, is altogether unknown
in the States. Fagging is so complete and systematic in many of the
English schools, that the junior boys have not the power of resisting
the commands of their seniors, and must lie or steal at their nod. Such
a system inculcates passive obedience in the weak, and absolute power in
the strong; the ductile youth, after being corrupted by vice, and
degraded by offices of slavery, becomes, in turn, slave-master, when
recollections of his former sufferings leads him to exercise his power
with more zeal, and when so trained, he is sent forth to play his part
in the world. Powerful minds occasionally overcome the effects of this
pernicious education, but ordinary ones are unable to do so. It is
chiefly the aristocracy of Britain who are reared under the fagging
system, and it unfortunately too often influences their conduct in after
life. A law prohibiting fagging in seminaries of youth would be a
blessing to Britain, where man too often fags his fellow-creatures.
Fagging has found an eloquent advocate in Mr. Hamilton, in his work
entitled “Men and Manners in America,” wherein he seems to consider its
menial duties as tending to overcome pride of birth and station. But
even in this narrow view fagging must be condemned, as the menial
offices are forcibly imposed, and flow not from philanthropy of feeling
or legitimate authority, but from usurped and overpowering tyranny.
Menial offices in the seminaries of England are the means of corrupting,
not of improving youth, and fagging fosters the worst of human vices. If
pride of birth and station is to be corrected, public schools where
fagging is unknown, and where all the pupils are placed on an equality,
will best attain the object.
Mr Hamilton treats of fagging as if it were general in England, whereas
it exists only in the higher description of schools, and is, I believe,
altogether unpractised in Scotland. When lately discussing this point, a
friend stated that fagging existed at the academy of Dollar in Scotland;
and on applying to my brother Charles, who was educated at that
seminary, if such was the case, I learned that he himself was the only
instance of an attempt of the kind, a big fellow having claimed such a
privilege on his first arrival, and which was frustrated by Willie M——
and he joining and beating the tyrant well. Very few Scotch boys would
feel inclined to fag their companions, and still fewer to submit to such
a bondage.
The education of youth ought to embrace all that is necessary for
discharging the duties of life, and is most effectual when combining
industrious and moral habits with the highest degree of mental
cultivation—on such a principle some of the schools of continental
Europe are founded, and it is also acted on in one or two instances in
the State of New York.