_Journey from Cincinnati to Detroit—Macadamized
road—Lebanon—Passengers—Agricultural Notices—Pawpaws—Cider
making—Hotels of the United States—Customs of the
Country—Columbus—Details to Sandusky—Mr Hamilton on the Prospects of
the Union—Sandusky—Cider making—Perrysburg—Mamee—Ohio—Michigan._
At two o’clock next morning, I was seated in a stage-coach, on my way to
Canada, through the state of Ohio, and no less than two hours were spent
in calling and waiting on different passengers, before getting out of
Cincinnati. I was delighted to find Mr Gemble amongst the number who
intended to have gone up the Ohio to Wheeling, by steam, but learning
the water was too low to admit of vessels sailing with certainty, he was
induced to proceed by land. When day dawned, we were passing through an
undulating country, over an excellent macadamized road, newly formed by
a company, in the most complete manner, to the distance of twelve miles.
There was a toll-bar on the road, which is to be extended to
Springfield, in the state of Ohio, and there communicate with what is
called the National road. We passed through the village of Lebanon, the
parent seat in this country of the religious sect of Shakers. The
village is of considerable size, and the bar-room of the hotel was
filled with a set of drunkards, which I had not seen any thing
resembling since leaving Canada. Xenia, in Green County, is a neat
place, and we reached Springfield after dusk.
Next morning we left Springfield at three o’clock with the same stage
party that had come from Cincinnati the day before. When light appeared,
the ground was thickly covered with hoar-frost, and ice was seen in
several places. This was on the 12th October, in 40 degrees of latitude.
Ten miles from Springfield the stage had to wait half an hour for a
change of horses, the driver being in bed when we arrived. Here one of
the passengers, a lady travelling with her husband, complained of being
sick and cold. A cup of coffee was suggested to her. The hostess of the
tavern, a very old woman, boiled water and prepared coffee with
incredible despatch. I know not whether the beverage was good, but it
was agreeable to see the old creature moving about like a girl in her
teens, and manifesting anxiety to please her guests. The lady was from
Baltimore, and had resided several months in the west, on account of her
health. She had a most delicate appearance, a sylph-like form, regular
features, and a lively manner. Notwithstanding the coldness of the
weather, and her delicate state of health, she was dressed in silk
stockings, and it was with reluctance she consented to draw a pair of
worsted ones over her shoes, which her husband purchased for her. Like
many of her countrywomen, she had feet and ankles of exquisite
formation, and perhaps in the display of this gift of nature, she made a
sacrifice of her health.
We reached Columbus in time for dinner, where I remained for the night,
the stage proceeding on with the party for Wheeling. I found myself
pleasantly situated with the passengers from Cincinnati, who conversed
sensibly on a variety of subjects, and made themselves agreeable to each
other. On leaving Columbus, each of them came up, and bade me farewell.
In particular, I regretted parting with Mr Gemble, whose moral worth and
unobstrusive manners pleased me the more I was in his company.
The country from Cincinnati to Springfield, Ohio, was chiefly a good
clay of a yellow colour. The surface undulating, and in some places
picturesque. The farm-houses were of large size, and generally brick.
The soil was dry, and where seen, in making the road, six feet deep, of
yellow coloured clay. There were no furrows in the fields, and wheat was
above ground, and well sown. Herds of cattle and flocks of sheep were
seen browsing on pastures as verdant as if in spring. Numbers of
handsome hogs were fattening, in enclosures of worm fence, on Indian
corn, without straw to lie on. Hogs are generally fatted in the open air
in America, and whether kept in enclosures or small pens I never saw one
of them have straw, and they make their beds in mud or sand. The waggons
seen moving towards Cincinnati were in charge of men who rode on the
shaft-horse, whether the vehicle was drawn by two or more horses. The
country for twenty miles east of Springfield is level, rather wet, and
not so fertile as that from Cincinnati. After passing this distance,
there are many small prairies, most of which are wet and uncultivated.
This tract is thinly settled, the soil, clay of a dark colour, and
inferior to the yellow tinged clay. The bottoms of the Scioto are fine
rich soil.
After dining at Columbus, I strolled into the woods north of the village
in search of the pawpaw fruit, which I had heard much extolled by some
of my fellow-travellers. This plant grows plentifully as underwood on
most of the rich soils in this part of the country. I found the fruit
growing on slender trees or shrubs fifteen or twenty feet high; it
resembles, in size, shape, and colour, the jargonelle pear of Britain. I
found them variable in quality, and the best might rank with a
third-rate pear of Scotland. The forests were now clothed in the
splendour of autumn, and the richness and variety of their tints was of
the most pleasing description. The oak, maple, beech, and dogwood,
seemed to vie in brilliancy, and I often observed many leaves on the
same lateral branch, exhibiting every shade from vivid green to the
darkest purple.
I found so much to interest me in the productions of the forest and its
feathered inhabitants, that my walk was insensibly prolonged, till at
length the declining sun reminded me of the necessity of returning to
Columbus. On emerging from the forest, I observed people engaged in
making cider, and walked towards them to enquire my way, having lost the
direction of the city, by wandering in the woods. The apples were
collected into an immense heap, from which two men were engaged in
carrying them to a mill, consisting of vertical cylinders, turned by the
power of two oxen, which reduced the fruit to a pulp. A shovel was used
in removing the pulp, which, by means of straw and wattles, was piled
above a receptacle for the juice, and pressed by a powerful screw. The
people engaged in cider-making, asked me to partake of the expressed
juice, and to fill my pockets with the choicest fruit. I learned from
them cider was very plentiful this season, and did not pay much more
than the expense of making, being delivered at Columbus for 75 cents per
barrel of 32 gallons. Some forest land, of medium quality, in the
neighbourhood, had lately been sold by public sale at $2½ and $2¾ per
acre. Wheat at the present time was worth 50 cents, and Indian corn 20
cents per bushel.
I found my distance from Columbus was five miles, and supper was over
before I reached the National hotel. On stating to the bar-keeper I had
been detained in the woods, he ordered me fresh tea; and although I
mentioned to him it was not my practice to eat meat in the evening, a
newly broiled fowl was placed before me, and a variety of preserves.
Next morning, after the usual preparatory bell had tolled for breakfast,
the landlord called me personally, stating, that as I was a stranger in
the country, and might not be aware of its customs, the breakfast would
be on the table in ten minutes. The waiters were all white people, smart
in their calling, and attentive to guests.
I found the hotels gradually improve on leaving Springfield, Illinois,
and many of those in the state of Ohio appeared to be every thing a
reasonable person could wish, with the exception of the want of
single-bedded rooms. Water was always placed for washing without being
asked for, and a bell communicated with each room. The waiters and helps
of the States are said to dislike being summoned by the sound of a bell,
and many travellers have assigned this as a reason for the want of
bells. But such a feeling in all probability never existed, as the
guests of every hotel are first warned, and afterwards summoned to each
meal, by sound of bell, and it is preposterous to say waiters are averse
to the like call. Meals are served at fixed hours, when all the company
sit down together. In good establishments, the principal joints at
dinner are carved by the landlord and waiters, often at side tables, and
the company seldom assist in the office. Abundance of iced water is on
the table during summer, occasionally cider, and very rarely brandy.
Wine may be had for payment. The company leave the banqueting room when
the meal is over, and do not gain admittance until summoned. A number of
smart attentive waiters skip about the room, and often anticipate your
wants. They are generally addressed in a whisper, and in all the eastern
states of the Union a loud tone is never heard at table. The conduct of
some people in Britain, who command attention by oaths and noise, does
not suit this region of America, where the mild and unassuming are never
neglected. A friend of mine, on his first entrance to the public tables
of New York, spoke to the waiters in the strains he had unfortunately
accustomed himself to in Britain; they pretended not to hear him, and he
found difficulty in getting his plate changed; while his companions, by
adopting a different course, had the waiters pressing them to the
principal dishes on the side-table, and paying the most assiduous
attention. Civility is at all times duly appreciated by the
establishment of hotels, and foreigners will find much annoyance in
attempting to dispense with it. The morning and evening meals are served
with the same regularity, and ample attendance, as the dinner, &c. A
profusion of animal food is placed on the table, and the quantity
increases in proportion to want of refinement in the people of the
district. Boots and shoes are deposited at night in a fixed place, where
they are found cleaned in the morning. Slippers, and bedroom lights, are
obtained at the bar. As a general rule, wants are stated at the bar, and
from this place orders are given to servants for supplying them. All the
bells of the house communicate with the bar-room, and the bar-keeper
sees that the call of a bell is attended to. Throughout the whole of my
intercourse with hotels in the United States, I did not receive an
uncivil answer, or experience neglect from any one connected with the
establishment, and every request which I made was cheerfully complied
with. The landlords are much less fawning in manner than those of
Britain, but equally civil and anxious to oblige.
The hotels of America are such as might be expected from the state of
the country. Servants being particularly expensive, and difficult to be
had, is the cause for having fixed hours for meals, and one table for
the company as well as for most orders passing through the bar-keeper.
Were another system adopted, a greater number of servants would be
necessary, and there would be more difficulty in obtaining them. The
plain and meagre furnishing of the hotels may also be traced to
expensiveness of servants, and so also may the number of people which
frequent them. The furniture of the bedrooms, consisting of a bedstead,
without posts or curtains, and counterpane of small size, washing-stand,
and solitary chair, seemed to me admirably fitted for promoting a
circulation of air, which was the greatest luxury during the season I
was in the country, and I doubt much if bedroom furnishings will be more
ample in summer, when the wealth of the population becomes greater than
it now is.
The circulation of air, in connexion with shade from the sun-rays, will
account for the use of the calash as a head-dress for females, so
generally met with in the States of New England, and which I imagine to
be the most agreeable summer wear that can be devised. On the same
grounds may be justified the New England gigs with hoods, having an
aperture behind; thus the customs of a country will generally be found
to have originated from circumstances connected with it, and to be well
suited to the inhabitants.
Columbus is the capital of the state of Ohio, and beautifully situated
on the east bank of the river Scioto. The public buildings are extensive
and good. The village having been founded in 1812, the buildings, which
are chiefly of brick, are well arranged. The state prison is a new and
substantial stone-building. The population is about 3000. A lateral
branch of the Ohio and Erie canal communicates with Columbus.
Next morning, after breakfast, I left Columbus for Sandusky city,
formerly called Portland, on Lake Erie, passing through Delaware,
Marion, and Bucyrus. The first part of the road lay on the banks of the
Whetstone, a small river with very little bottom land. The country was
thinly settled; and the soil second rate. The night was passed in a very
bad hotel at Marion, and by three o’clock in the morning I was again in
the stage. When day dawned, the stage was passing through a country
between oak-opening and prairie, seemingly wet and unsettled. A good
deal of forest was also passed through, thinly peopled. I reached
Sandusky a little after nightfall.
The stage was nearly empty all the way from Columbus to Sandusky. A
young joiner travelled from Columbus to Marion. Two striplings rode a
mile or two near the village of Caroline, who were rude swearing
fellows, and smelling strongly of onions and whisky.
The hotel at Sandusky was small and crowded with passengers. I found
myself ushered into a small bedroom, with two individuals, with a bed
for each. One of the persons rose in the middle of the night, smoked
tobacco, and made himself as disagreeable as possible. The other opened
the window to admit air to purify the sty. This was the only unpleasant
circumstance that occurred to me from sleeping in apartments with
others, and sufficiently illustrates how disagreeable the practice may
occasionally become.
Sandusky city is a small village on Lake Erie, containing perhaps five
or six hundred souls, and has a considerable trade. There is plenty of
stone in the immediate neighbourhood, and some of the buildings are of
this material. I found the price of beef at Sandusky was from three to
five cents per lb., and hind quarters of mutton four cents. Wheat was 75
cents per bushel.
It was my intention to have proceeded from Sandusky to Detroit by one of
the steam-boats passing up Lake Erie, but tempestuous gales of wind a
day or two before my arrival, having totally wrecked one vessel and
disabled another, I was detained two days in suspense. I could not go
far from the hotel during this period, lest a steamer should pass in the
interval; and my time was in part occupied in reading Mr Hamilton’s
beautifully written work of “Men and Manners in America.”
In the early part of my tour, I remarked that, without sound judgment to
discriminate and appreciate information, the gleanings and impressions
of a traveller will be as apt to mislead as instruct, and his
lucubrations will often be found more illustrative of his own character
than of the people and country he visits. When penning this sentence, I
had not another individual in view than the one treated of, and it is,
perhaps, fraught with more truth than may at first sight appear. The
wielders of the pen and pencil seem to be fond of portraying their own
likeness, and the narrative of most travellers will be found stamped
with their character. Truth ought to be the first object with every
writer of travels, and is perhaps, like beauty, “when unadorned, adorned
the most,” and wherever it is lost sight of, the highest endowments may
become prostituted in misleading others. It must, however, be admitted,
that the best intentioned writer may become the dupe of appearances,
resulting, perhaps, from his own feelings and prejudices. There are also
some writers who aim at producing an effect on their readers unconnected
with the subject treated of, and in such cases a traveller’s narrative
frequently becomes absolute fiction. I shall not say in which class of
travels “Men and Manners in America” may be ranked, or whether parts of
the work appertain to different classes; but I do not hesitate in
saying, that the author’s conclusions did not always appear to me to be
just or consistent with sentiments expressed in other parts of the work.
This seemed to be particularly the case in some speciously written
paragraphs on the political prospects of the Union, which many of the
people in Britain, who read the work, did not perhaps observe.
“In that city (New York) a separation is rapidly taking place between
the different orders of society. The operative classes have already
formed themselves into a society, under the name of ‘_The Workies_,’ in
direct opposition to those who, more favoured by nature or fortune,
enjoy the luxuries of life without the necessity of manual labour. These
people make no secret of their demands, which, to do them justice, are
few and emphatic. They are published in the newspapers, and may be read
on half the walls of New York. Their first postulate is ‘EQUAL AND
UNIVERSAL EDUCATION.’ It is false, they say, to maintain that there is
at present no privileged order, no practical aristocracy, in a country
where distinctions of education are permitted. That portion of the
population whom the necessity of manual labour cuts off from the
opportunity of enlarged acquirement, is in fact excluded from all the
valuable offices of state. As matters are now ordered in the United
States, these are distributed exclusively among one small class of the
community, while those who constitute the real strength of the country,
have barely a voice in the distribution of those loaves and fishes,
which they are not permitted to enjoy. There does exist, then, they
argue, an aristocracy of the most odious kind,—an aristocracy of
knowledge, education, and refinement, which is inconsistent with the
true democratic principle of absolute equality. They pledge themselves,
therefore, to exert every effort, mental and physical, for the abolition
of this flagrant injustice. They proclaim it to the world as a nuisance
which must be abated, before the freedom of an American be something
more than a mere empty boast. They solemnly declare that they will not
rest satisfied, till every citizen in the United States shall receive
the same degree of education, and start fair in the competition for the
honours and the offices of the state. As it is of course impossible—and
these men know it to be so—to educate the labouring classes to the
standard of the richer, it is their professed object to reduce the
latter to the same mental condition with the former; to prohibit all
supererogatory knowledge; to have a maximum of acquirement, beyond which
it shall be punishable to go.
“But those who limit their views to the mental degradation of their
country, are in fact the MODERATES of the party. There are others who
still go farther, and boldly advocate the introduction of an AGRARIAN
LAW, and a periodical division of property. These unquestionably
constitute the _extreme gauche_ of the Worky Parliament, but still they
only follow out the principles of their violent neighbours, and
eloquently dilate on the justice and propriety of every individual being
equally supplied with food and clothing; on the monstrous iniquity of
one man riding in his carriage, while another walks on foot, and, after
his drive, discussing a bottle of Champagne, while many of his
neighbours are shamefully compelled to be content with the pure element.
Only equalize property, they say, and neither would drink Champagne or
water, but both would have brandy, a consummation worthy of centuries of
struggle to attain.
“All this is nonsense, undoubtedly, nor do I say that this party, though
strong in New York, is yet so numerous or so widely diffused as to
create immediate alarm. In the elections, however, for the civic offices
of the city, their influence is strongly felt; and there can be no
doubt, that as population becomes more dense, and the supply of labour
shall equal, or exceed the demand for it, the strength of this party
must be enormously augmented. Their ranks will always be recruited by
the needy, the idle, and the profligate; and, like a rolling snow-ball,
it will gather strength and volume as it proceeds, until at length it
comes thundering with the force and desolation of an avalanche.
“This event may be distant, but it is not the less certain on that
account. It is nothing to say, that the immense extent of fertile
territory yet to be occupied by an unborn population, will delay the day
of ruin. It will delay, but it cannot prevent it. The traveller, at the
source of the Mississippi, in the very heart of the American continent,
may predict with perfect certainty, that, however protracted the
wanderings of the rivulet at his feet, it must reach the ocean at last.
In proportion as the nearer lands are occupied, it is very evident that
the region to which emigration will be directed must of necessity be
more distant. The pressure of population, therefore, will augment in the
Atlantic States, and the motives to removal become gradually weaker.
Indeed, at the present rate of extension, the circle of occupied
territory must, before many generations, be so enormously enlarged, that
emigration will be confined wholly to the Western States. Then, and not
till then, will come the trial of the American constitution; and until
that trial has been past, it is mere nonsense to appeal to its
stability.
“Nor is this period of trial apparently very distant. At the present
ratio of increase, the population of the United States doubles itself in
about twenty-four years; so that in half a century it will amount to
about fifty millions, of which ten millions will be slaves, or, at all
events, a degraded caste, cut off from all the rights and privileges of
citizenship. Before this period, it is very certain that the pressure of
the population, on the means of subsistence, especially in the Atlantic
States, will be very great. The price of labour will have fallen, while
that of the necessaries of life must be prodigiously increased. The
poorer and more suffering class will want the means of emigrating to a
distant region of unoccupied territory. Poverty and misery will be
abroad; the great majority of the people will be without property of any
kind, except the thewes and sinews with which God has endowed them; they
will choose legislators under the immediate pressure of privation; and
if in such circumstances, any man can anticipate security of property,
his conclusion must be founded, I suspect, rather on the wishes of a
sanguine temperament, than on any rational calculation of probabilities.
“It is the present policy of the government to encourage and stimulate
the premature growth of a manufacturing population. In this it will not
be successful, but no man can contemplate the vast internal resources of
the United States,—the varied productions of their soil—the unparalleled
extent of river communication—the inexhaustible stores of coal and iron
spread even on the surface—and doubt that the Americans are destined to
become a great manufacturing nation. Whenever increase of population
shall have reduced the price of labour to a par with that of other
countries, these advantages will come into full play; the United States
will then meet England on fair terms in every market of the world, and,
in many branches of industry at least, will attain an unquestioned
superiority. Huge manufacturing cities will spring up in various
quarters of the Union, the population will congregate in masses, and all
the vices incident to such a condition of society will attain speedy
maturity. Millions of men will depend for subsistence on the demand for
a particular manufacture, and yet this demand will of necessity be
liable to perpetual fluctuation. When the pendulum vibrates in one
direction, there will be an influx of wealth and prosperity; when it
vibrates in the other, misery, discontent, and turbulence will spread
through the land. A change of fashion, a war, the glut of a foreign
market, a thousand unforeseen and inevitable accidents are liable to
produce this, and deprive multitudes of bread, who but a month before
were enjoying all the comforts of life. Let it be remembered, that in
the suffering class will be practicably deposited the whole political
power of the state; that there can be no military force to maintain
civil order and protect property; and to what quarter, I should be glad
to know, is the rich to look for security, either of person or fortune?
“There will be no occasion, however, for convulsion or violence. The
_Worky_ convention will only have to choose representatives of their own
principles, in order to accomplish a general system of spoliation, in
the most legal and constitutional manner. It is not even necessary that
a majority of the Federal legislature should concur in this. It is
competent to the government of each state to dispose of the property
within their own limits as they think proper, and whenever a _numerical_
majority of the people shall be in favour of an Agrarian law, there
exists no counteracting influence to prevent, or even retard its
adoption.
“I have had the advantage of conversing with many of the most eminent
Americans of the Union, on the future prospects of their country, and I
certainly remember none who did not admit that a period of trial, such
as I have ventured to describe, is, according to all human calculation,
inevitable. Many of them reckoned much on education as a means of
safety, and, unquestionably, in a country where the mere power of
breathing carries with it the right of suffrage, the diffusion of sound
knowledge is always essential to the public security. It unfortunately
happens, however, that in proportion as poverty increases, not only the
means but the desire of instruction are necessarily diminished. The man
whose whole energies are required for the supply of his bodily wants,
has neither time nor inclination to concern himself about his mental
deficiencies, and the result of human experience does not warrant us in
reckoning on the restraint of individual cupidity, where no obstacle
exists to its gratification, by any deliberate calculation of its
consequences on society. There can be no doubt, that if men could be
made wise enough to act on an enlarged and enlightened view of their own
interest, government might be dispensed with altogether; but what
statesman would legislate on the probability of such a condition of
society, or rely on it as a means of future safety?
“The general answer, however, is, that the state of things I have
ventured to describe, is very distant. ‘It is enough,’ they say, ‘for
each generation to look to itself, and we leave it to our descendants
some centuries hence to take care of their interests as we do ours. We
enjoy all manner of freedom and security under our present constitution,
and really feel very little concern about the evils which may afflict
our posterity.’ I cannot help believing, however, that the period of
trial is somewhat less distant than such reasoners comfort themselves by
imagining; but if the question be conceded that democracy necessarily
leads to anarchy and spoliation, it does not seem that the mere length
of road travelled over is a point of much importance. This, of course,
would vary according to the peculiar circumstances of every country in
which the experiment might be tried. In England, the journey would be
performed with railway velocity. In the United States, with the
advantages they possess, it may continue a generation or two longer, but
the termination is the same. The doubt regards time, not destination.
“At present the United States are perhaps more safe from revolutionary
contention than any country in the world. But this safety consists in
one circumstance alone. _The great majority of the people are possessed
of property_; have what is called a stake in the hedge; and are,
therefore, by interest, opposed to all measures that may tend to its
insecurity. It is for such a condition of society that the present
constitution was framed; and could this great bulwark of prudent
government be rendered as permanent as it is effective, there could be
no assignable limit to the prosperity of a people so favoured. But truth
is undeniable, that as population increases, another state of things
must necessarily arise, and one, unfortunately, never dreamt of in the
philosophy of American legislators. The majority of the people will then
consist of men without property of any kind, subject to the immediate
pressure of want, and then will be decided the great struggle between
property and numbers; on the one side hunger, rapacity, and physical
power; reason, justice, and helplessness on the other. The weapons of
this fearful contest are already forged; the hands will soon be born
that are to wield them. At all events, let no man appeal to the
stability of the American government as being established by experience,
till this trial has been overpast. Forty years are no time to test the
permanence, or, if I may so speak, the vitality of a constitution, the
immediate advantages of which are strongly felt, and the evils latent
and comparatively remote.”
On re-perusing the quoted paragraphs, the love of champagne and brandy
was conspicuous in the second one, and the whole of them seemed like a
maudlin dream, in which truth and probability were altogether wanting,
told in strains admirably fitted to delight the ear and obscure the
understanding of the reader. To me, who had made an extensive tour in
the territory of the United States, and from all I had seen personally,
and learned from the best sources of information, concluded that
nine-tenths of the surface are still unemployed in the production of
human sustenance, the idea of an agrarian law was ludicrous in the
extreme. Whether there is such a society as “_The Workies_,” and my
after enquiries while at New York rendered the point doubtful, did not
seem to affect the matter, as the only legitimate inference that could
reasonably be deduced from the sentiments which Mr Hamilton has imputed
to its members, is, that America does not exempt humanity from
aberrations of mind. This seems to be admitted in the third paragraph,
where it is stated, “all this is undoubtedly nonsense,” yet the dream
which is confessedly founded on man’s infirmity, has been received by a
portion of the British public as infallible wisdom. The quotations being
founded on “nonsense,” do not admit of criticism. An ordinary mind,
however, cannot fail of observing that in almost every paragraph, the
author raises up and demolishes a fantasy, and turns from one position
to another, like fevered excitement tossing on an uneasy couch.
The following quotations from “Men and Manners in America” are of a
different tenor from the preceding ones. “It is the fashion to call the
United States the land of liberty and equality. If the equality be
understood simply as implying that there exists no privileged order in
America, the assertion, though not strictly true,[2] may pass. In any
wider acceptation, it is mere nonsense. There is quite as much practical
equality in Liverpool as New York. The magnates of the Exchange do not
stand less proudly in the latter city than in the former; nor are their
wives and daughters less forward in supporting their pretensions. In
such matters legislative enactments can do nothing. Man’s vanity, and
the desire of distinction, inherent in his nature, cannot be repressed.
If obstructed in one outlet, it will only gush forth with greater
vehemence at another. The most contemptible of mankind has some talent
of mind or body—some attraction—virtue—accomplishment—dexterity—or gift
of fortune—in short, something real or imaginary, on which he arrogates
superiority to those around him. The rich man looks down upon the poor,
the learned on the ignorant, the orator on him unblessed with the gift
of tongues, and he that is a true-born gentleman, and stands upon the
honour of his birth, despises the _roturier_ whose talents have raised
him to an estimation in society, perhaps superior to his own.
Footnote 2:
“Not strictly true, because in many of the states the right of
suffrage is made dependent on a certain qualification in property. In
Virginia, in particular, this qualification is very high.”
“Thus it is with the men, and with the fairer sex assuredly it is not
different. No woman, conscious of attraction, was ever a republican in
her heart. Beauty is essentially despotic—it uniformly asserts its
power, and never yet consented to a surrender of privilege. I have
certainly heard it maintained in the United States, that all men are
equal, but never did I hear that assertion from the lips of a lady. On
the contrary, the latter is always conscious of the full extent of her
claims of preference to admiration, and is never satisfied till she
feels them to be acknowledged. And what zephyr is too light to fill the
gossamer sails of woman’s vanity! The form of a feature, the whiteness
of a hand, the shade of a ringlet, a cap, a feather, a trinket, a smile,
a motion—all, or any of them, or distinctions yet finer and more
shadowy, if such there be—are enough, here as elsewhere, to constitute
the sign and shibboleth of her fantastic supremacy. It is in vain,
therefore, to talk of female republicans; there exists, and can exist,
no such being on either side of the Atlantic, for human nature is the
same on both.
“In truth, the spirit of aristocracy displays itself in this commercial
community in every variety of form. One encounters it at every turn.”
It must be evident to every person who has visited the United States,
that wealth has already obtained a prominent place in many parts of the
country. That there are distinctions and classes in society, will not
admit of doubt; and from the constitution of human nature, it cannot be
otherwise in a civilized and numerous population. The wealthy, the wise,
the proud, the profligate, the virtuous, and the vicious, will associate
with people of the same character, in despite of every means that could
be devised for their separation; and it is perhaps well for society that
such is the case. The vain and frivolous are harmless creatures. The
proud man may puff himself into bigness, like the frog in the fable
imitating the ox, and assume the emblems of luxury and pomp with
impunity. The form of aristocracy meets the eye in all the social
relations of life. There is no such thing as equality in the abstract
sense of the term, with the political privileges of the inhabitants, the
right of franchise varying in different States, and a qualification
being requisite in all of them.
_Liberty and equality_, as understood in Britain, is not to be found
amongst the inhabitants of the United States. The people must obey the
laws, which impartially affect the whole population, except in the case
of suffrage; a privileged class by inheritance, creation, wealth, or
purchase, being unknown. The laws are founded on the principles of
freedom, and the mass of the population may be said to be politically
equal. Here liberty and equality of the United States is applicable only
to the political condition of the inhabitants, and in this relation must
be taken in a restricted sense.
Aristocracy seems inseparable from civilized society, and an individual,
by attending to the communings of his own heart, will perhaps be
convinced that its spirit pervades the life veins of humanity. In almost
every quarter of the globe, it has at some period attained strength, and
from the earliest ages, the earth has been watered with the blood of the
best and bravest of mankind, in attempts to check the workings of its
spirit. The form of aristocracy is already raised in the United States,
and many of the citizens, when conversing with me on the institutions
and inhabitants of their country, strongly displayed a feeling of
aristocracy. If there is latent danger to the constitution of the Union,
in the present state of things, it is from the seeds of aristocracy.
Human nature is said to be the same on both sides of the Atlantic, and
the population of the United States and Britain having sprung from a
common source, and inheriting the same natural dispositions, the growth
of aristocracy in the former might be inferred from the experience of
the latter, provided all the circumstances affecting the inhabitants
were similar. But history does not furnish a parallel to the United
States, and the experience of past ages, and analogies of other
countries, are inapplicable to them.
The United States were first settled by people seeking relief from
religious persecution, who, in the neighbourhood of Boston, worshipped
the Author of the Universe according to their conscience, which liberty
had been denied them in England. It may, perhaps, not be going too far
to suppose the finger of Providence pointed the way to the pilgrims,
since which, many of the persecuted of the human race have found a
sanctuary in the same territory. When the conduct of the mother-country
goaded the colonies to rebellion, they shook off her yoke at an
enlightened period of the world, with the history of past ages before
their eyes, and almost without an obstacle to adopt the advantages, and
shun the evils recorded. The career of the States is evidence of the
judicious proceedings of the inhabitants, and the many privileges which
they enjoy can only be lost by their own corrupt and sinful venality.
The United States having risen and struggled into existence in
opposition to despotic power, a dislike of tyranny, and love of liberty,
pervades the inhabitants, and the institutions of the country are
calculated to nurture and retain such feelings. The unexampled and
growing prosperity of the country—the recent progression in the
governments of almost all European states, and more particularly in
Britain—the mother-country—will, doubtless, tend to strengthen the
principles on which the Union has been formed. But human nature often
departs from principle, and there cannot be a doubt that aristocracy,
which is already deep-rooted and flourishing amongst the people, will,
when aided by wealth and luxury, and their inseparable evils, destroy
the Union. The whole history of mankind warrants such a conclusion. The
event is certain, but many circumstances lead me to suppose it is yet
distant, such as the want of entail laws, the extensive franchise, and
the probability of institutions altering with the progress of the
people. In the meantime, they have a constitution, “the immediate
advantages of which are strongly felt, and the evils latent, and
comparatively remote.”[3]
Footnote 3:
Men and Manners in America.
Seeing no prospect of a steam-boat calling at Sandusky, I hired a horse
in the afternoon of the second day, and rode to the village of Lime,
where I obtained a seat in the mail-stage for Detroit.
Arriving at Lime some time before the stage, I walked a short distance
to some people engaged in making cider. The fruit was not crushed, as in
other instances seen in the country, but grated by a revolving cylinder,
which seemed to be an improved mode of extracting the juice. The grating
apparatus had been manufactured at Rochester, the other parts of the
machine were erected on the day of my visit by a person in the village;
and it is scarcely possible to conceive any thing more rudely and
ill-constructed than they were. On admiring the beauty of the fruit,
which was brought forward in waggon loads, Mr Russel, the owner of the
orchard from which they came, offered me grafts of any kinds I chose to
fix on. When he learned I was a foreigner on a tour through the country,
he asked me to look at the orchard, and conducted me to it. He raised
the trees from seed, and had planted 450 fourteen years ago, twenty-four
feet asunder, and the branches now interlope. Many of the kinds bore
delicious fruit, which was generally small in size, from the numbers on
the tree, and many branches were broken with the weight of fruit. There
seemed a demand for Mr Russel’s cider, which he sold at $1 per barrel,
of thirty-two gallons, when newly expressed, and he was unable to
satisfy some applications which were made in my presence. The orchards
are numerous in all parts of America, and most of the trees having been
raised from seed, it is probable many excellent varieties may be met
with deserving of propagation.
From the village of Lime, which is situated on a ridge, by which name it
is sometimes known, a beautiful prairie is seen, and which I believe is
entirely settled. The soil appeared somewhat wet, which ditching would
easily remedy, but this practice seemed altogether disregarded.
Soon after leaving Lime, light disappeared, and I was allowed to remain
three or four hours in a most uncomfortable hotel at Lower Sandusky,
situated on a river of the same name. When morning dawned, I was
travelling through a thickly-wooded country, and over a road, on the
surface of which lime rock was protruding in the manner of honey-comb.
The coach in which I rode being of a particular construction, the
roughness of the road rendered the journey disagreeable. My progress was
like a funeral procession, thirty-one miles occupying twelve hours. The
jolting of American stages, and more especially when passing over one or
two logs lying across the road, is truly annoying, and sometimes
dangerous, from contusions which maybe received, but I had never
experienced any thing like the motion on the present occasion. For the
first time since reaching the American shore, I was slightly afflicted
with headach, and felt the sensation of fatigue.
I breakfasted at a log-house on the banks of the river Portage, where I
was struck with the florid complexion and robust figure of a young man
employed in cutting pork into small pieces at the door, and which a
girl, apparently his sister, was salting and packing into a vessel. On
approaching him, I discovered he did not understand the English
language, but one of the inmates of the house acting as interpreter, he
told me he was from Hanover, and on his way to settle in Michigan.
I passed through the village of Perrysburg, situated on the south bank
of the river Mamee, which flows into the south-west point of Lake Erie,
and is navigable to the village. It is a thriving place, and when the
canal, now forming, which is to connect the waters of the Wabash and
Mamee is completed, it will soon become a place of importance.
On the opposite side of the river, and a little higher up than
Perrysburg, is the village of Mamee, consisting of fifteen or twenty
houses, where I dined, and arrived at Munroe in the evening. Next day I
reached Detroit, and travelled part of the way with an overgrown man,
who wore a blue cotton frock-coat above his clothes, and a pair of
double-barrelled guns over his shoulders. He spoke the English language
imperfectly, and stated he was from Saxony, and had just settled in
Michigan. His family was at Detroit, and he expected ten thousand of his
countrymen to join him next season.
The soil from Lower Sandusky, on the road by Perrysburg to Michigan
boundary, is not of first-rate quality, though good. The surface is
level, and thinly settled. Throughout the whole of my travels in the
state of Ohio, the country was chiefly forest, and seemingly not more
than one-sixth of the surface cleared of wood. Perhaps the other lines
of road were still more thinly settled. The state contains above one
million of souls.
The part of Michigan seen in passing from Mamee to Detroit is thickly
wooded, wet, and very thinly settled. There is no part of the United
States which disappointed me so much as Michigan. Having passed through
its whole breadth from Detroit to Niles, and along the shores of Lake
Erie, and the banks of the river Detroit, I met with more indifferent
soil in these routes, than in all the other Western States put together.
There may be much good soil in Michigan, which did not come under my
notice, but I am quite satisfied its eligibility for settlers has been
greatly overrated. An inhabitant of New England, who may have resided
all his life on poor soil, thickly covered with forest, can hardly fail
of being pleased with seeing the timbered land and oak-openings of
Michigan, while the small and beautiful prairies will impart ecstasy,
and it is, perhaps, to the accounts of such people that the territory is
indebted for its celebrity. Michigan, compared with the New England
States, is rich, and a desirable place of settlement, but in all
respects inferior to districts laying to the south and west.