A tour through North America

“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]

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.

Journey from Detroit to New York—Western Lakes which form the River St Lawrence—Cleveland—Erie Canal—Cold Weather—Canal Packets—Sabbath School Children at Rochester—Black Children—Slavery in the United States—Agricultural Notices—Washington Hotel—Transition from Rudeness to Refinement—Travelling—Cheap Land—State Election—Inhabitants Consulted in Political Matters—Arrival at Liverpool.

After spending five days in Upper Canada, it became necessary to wend my way to New York. The weather for weeks past had been tempestuous. The trips of the steam-boats on the lakes had been interrupted, and the ferry-boat at Detroit had, on more than one occasion, ceased to ply from the violence of the wind. Had there been a stage through Upper Canada, from Sandwich to Niagara, I would have preferred travelling to New York by land, but dreading the state of the roads, and length of journey in passing round the west end of Lake Erie, I decided in going from Detroit to Buffalo by steam. Vessels were still leaving Detroit for the Western Lakes, notwithstanding the advanced period of the season, and I saw the Michigan steamer sail for Green Bay, with troops on board.

Lake Superior is the most Westerly and largest of the lakes which divide Upper Canada from the United States, and the accumulated waters of which form the river St Lawrence. Its length is about 360 miles, and its average breadth 109 miles. The outlet of the lake is the river St Marie, through which the waters flow, and are not navigable for sailing vessels from the strength of current.

Lake Michigan is stated to be 300 miles long, and 50 wide, branching off from the east end of Lake Superior, and their united waters pass into Lake Huron. On the west side of Lake Michigan, is situated the village of Green Bay and Chicago, to which steam-vessels ply occasionally from Detroit.

Lake Huron is 218 miles long, by 180 broad, and has several large branches running into Michigan and Canada. Michilimackinac, or Mackinaw, is an island on which there is a village of the same name, at the entrance of the lake, and Goderich is on the east shore.

The waters of the three-mentioned lakes flow through the river St Clair, and form a lake of the same name, which is about ninety miles in circumference.

From Lake St Clair issues the river Detroit, which falls into Lake Erie, having the villages of Detroit, Sandwich, and Amherstburgh, on its banks. Lake Erie is stated at 290 miles long, and about 50 broad, and from the many thriving villages on its margins, has a most extensive and increasing trade. Its waters are much shallower than those of any of the other lakes, and more easily agitated, which renders the navigation dangerous in boisterous weather. From Lake Erie, flows the Niagara, in the channel of which are the celebrated falls of the same name, and empties itself into Lake Ontario, which is 171 miles in length, and 40 wide. The depth of water is said to be very great. On issuing from Lake Ontario, the waters assume the title of the river St Lawrence.

I sailed from Detroit on the morning of the 25th October, with moderate wind, which increased towards noon, and the vessel anchored under the lee of an island in Lake Erie during the night. Next day we put into Cleveland for an hour or two, and reached Buffalo towards the close of the third day.

Cleveland is in the state of Ohio, on the banks of Lake Erie, and at the mouth of the Ohio and Erie canal, which connects the waters of the lake with the river Ohio. It is a place of considerable trade, and rising with rapidity.

On reaching the Eagle hotel at Buffalo, I found three or four gentlemen who were known to me, and whose conversation on European matters I greatly enjoyed after my western tour. Next day, after breakfast, I took a canal-boat for Schenectady.

In passing down the canal, on the banks of the Niagara, several new houses were erecting on the Canada side, and as they were of large size, I considered the circumstance evidence of improvement.

The Erie canal connects the waters of the river Hudson with that of Lake Erie. It commences at Albany, and terminates at Buffalo, the length being 363 miles. Besides the main cut, there are lateral branches intersecting the country in all directions. One branch communicates with Lake Ontario at the village of Oswego, and I believe another branch is in progress to communicate with one of the tributary streams of the river Ohio. The height of Lake Erie above the Hudson is 568 feet, and the lockage of the canal 688 feet. The breadth of the canal is forty feet at the top, twenty-eight at the bottom, and the depth of water four feet.

The Erie canal was formed by the State of New York, the operations commencing in 1817, and ending in 1825. The revenues of the canal are so ample, that the rates of charge were greatly reduced in 1833, and it is expected the whole debt will be discharged in 1838; after which, the charges will be diminished, so as the sum collected may be just sufficient to keep the works in repair. The canal is therefore like a public highway, from which no revenue will be exacted from the inhabitants, and is an instance of the advantages they enjoy from the wisdom with which public matters are conducted.

The traffic on the canal is already so extensive, that the barges are sometimes detained a long time in passing the locks. In all probability it will be quite unable to convey the traffic in two years hence, although a double set of locks were to be constructed throughout the whole length of the canal. The enterprise of the inhabitants of this State is adequate to any emergency, and relief to the crowded canal will be found in a railway. There is already a railway from Albany to Schenectady, and in 1833 a railway was contracted for to proceed from the latter place to Utica, all of which are situated on the banks of the canal. A railway may therefore be said to be already formed on the banks of the canal one-third of its length; and there is little doubt of its being speedily extended all the way to Buffalo, and ultimately along Lake Erie into Illinois. However advantageous canals may have hitherto been found in the United States, such a conveyance is incompatible with the order of things that is arising. The population is advancing so rapidly towards the west, that the intercourse between the Eastern and Western States must enormously encrease, while canals are shut by ice for nearly five months in the year. In this view railways, which afford communication during the whole season, will be had recourse to, and are admirably adapted to the country and climate. There is abundance of iron and coal in the United States, and the substitution of railways for canals will be aided by the rapidity of conveyance, the application of steam power, and unobstruction from frost.

While passing down the canal, the temperature of the atmosphere became cold; on the third morning, snow covered the ground to the depth of three inches, which did not entirely melt by the influence of the sun; and although the canal was not frozen, in consequence of its waters being kept in motion by the incessant traffic, the pools on the banks were covered with ice several inches thick. On reaching Albany, I learned Fahrenheit’s thermometer had stood twelve degrees below the freezing point on the 29th October, and at New York ten degrees.

The canal packets were crowded with passengers all the way from Buffalo to Schenectady, who made themselves agreeable to each other, and time passed as pleasantly as the nature of things would admit. Two of the gentlemen on board seemed to be clergymen, with whom I conversed a great deal, and was invited to spend some days with one of them. Few things in America seem more extraordinary than the sleeping accommodation of the packets. The seats on which the passengers sit during day, around the sides of the vessel, open out by means of hinges, and having the outer extremities supported by small ropes from the roof, form beds. A second tier of beds is formed by frames hooking to the sides of the vessel, and supported from the roof by ropes. The sleeping place for the ladies is separated from the gentlemen’s by a curtain, and the two rows of beds around the sides of the packet have a close resemblance to shelves in a British shop. The passengers are sent on the roof of the packet while the cabin is altering from sitting to sleeping-trim, which does not occupy more than ten minutes, and the passengers, suspended in rows when in bed, look like strings of onions in a green-grocer’s shop. The eating department was tolerably well managed.

There was a changing of packets three times in the length of the canal, and a delay of twelve hours at Rochester; during which I stopt at the Eagle hotel. When standing at the door of the hotel, after breakfast, my attention was attracted to a number of children walking in pairs along the pavement, attended by a few grown-up people, and on enquiry I learned they were proceeding to church, to the anniversary meeting of the Sabbath schools. After many hundreds of both sexes had passed, attended by their teachers, I observed four black children forming the rear of a school division; and being anxious to see so interesting a sight as the assembled children, I followed the little blackamoors. Knowing the prejudice which white people have to the coloured race in almost every part of the world, I was disappointed at seeing the four black children separate from the others, and instead of entering the church they were conducted round the corner of a street into a building within a court. I still followed the blacks, but seeing none of the people entering the place where they were, I walked to and fro on the outside. At the end of two minutes, about twenty black children came out of the building, attended by five or six white men, and walked into the church amongst the rest of the children. I occupied a place in the gallery, and listened to a very commonplace address to the children, and the meeting separated without religious exercises of any kind.

The want of religious exercise appeared to me to arise from a desire of preventing any feeling of jealousy amongst sects regarding minute differences in forms of worship and creeds of faith; and if such was the case, the inhabitants of other countries would do well to imitate this conciliatory proceeding. I did not observe, after getting into church, if the black children were kept separate from the white; but the fact of this hitherto despised race attending Sabbath schools with white children, and being taught by white people, in the town of Rochester, was placed beyond doubt, and gave rise to pleasing anticipations for the improvement of their condition.

Slavery excites much interest in America, as well as in Britain, and is so repugnant to my feelings, that before setting out on my Transatlantic tour, I determined not to penetrate into the slave-holding states. During my short excursion into Missouri, extending to about fifty miles, and stay at St Charles, St Louis, and Louisville, occupying four days, I had little opportunity of judging of the effects of slavery on the white population, or of the state of the slaves themselves. I must, however, say, no instance of cruelty or harshness towards the black population came under my notice, and all of them appeared to be well clothed and fed. Slavery, as existing in the United States, seems not to be well understood in Britain; and I regret it is not in my power to communicate more information on the subject.

The United States were originally English colonies, and they inherited slavery from the mother country. This foul stain on their character may in fairness be attributed to Britain, and accounted one of the curses with which her misguided rulers have afflicted mankind. In 1703, the colony of Massachusetts endeavoured to restrain the introduction of slaves, by the imposition of a tax, and to prevent it altogether in 1767. The colony of Virginia, in 1772, petitioned the Parliament of Great Britain on the subject, without obtaining redress, and other colonies remonstrated at different times. In 1780, the state of Pennsylvania, while engaged in struggling for independence, passed an act for gradually emancipating the slaves; and since that time, eight out of the thirteen original colonies have abolished slavery.

The United States are composed of twenty-four distinct countries, each having a different republican form of government, and the power of managing its own affairs—the general government legislating only in matters connected with defence, commerce, and taxation. At the time of the United States rising into existence, slavery engaged the attention of the legislature, but the evil had already spread thickly over the Southern States, and the feelings and habits of the white population in this part of the territory being strongly in its favour, a separation and weakening of the Union would have resulted from then pressing the subject. It is a disputed point whether the general government can interfere with slavery—the Northern and Southern States taking different views. A law was passed prohibiting slavery in the district north of the river Ohio, and east of the Mississippi, before the territory was organized into states; but since that time, the state of Missouri, with all the evils of slavery, has been admitted into the bosom of the Union, which seems to determine the noninterference of the general government in the slave question.

Slavery is felt and acknowledged to be an appalling evil throughout the Union, and the most intelligent inhabitants of the Northern States are also aware of its sinfulness. Here the prejudice against the sooty race is becoming less strong; and in one instance, at least, they have been invested with the rights of freemen. In the state of New York, men of colour exercise suffrage when twenty-one years of age, and the census of 1825 showed 298 of them qualified to vote.^[4] This act of wisdom and liberality on the part of the legislature, cannot fail of producing a good effect throughout the Union, and in all probability led to the teaching of the little children at Rochester already mentioned. I hail these advances of the coloured population with unmingled pleasure, as sure indications of improvement in the people of both complexions. Slavery exists by the cupidity of the white population; and in most cases it will terminate only by their moral enlightenment. However slow the progress of abolition may be in the United States, it cannot stand still. Justice, humanity, and religion are already enlisted on the side of the slave; and before the lapse of many years, his manacles will assuredly be loosened throughout the whole territory.

The world does not perhaps afford a more striking instance of human frailty, than the existence of slavery in the Southern States of the Union, where the white population, after having avowedly established governments in opposition to tyranny, and on the principle that all men are equal, continue to exercise the most inhuman oppression towards their coloured fellow-creatures, who are treated like the brute creation. This anomaly illustrates how much man is the creature of circumstances; and that with all his boasted powers of intellect, he is unable to conquer the habits and prejudices of his youth, even when his conduct is at variance with reason, and the principles of the religion he professes to follow. Whether the slave-owner, who has been instructed amidst slavery, and whose moral perception has been blunted by education, be answerable for all the enormities which result from the system, may be left for casuists to determine; but those who have been more fortunately situated may well commiserate his fate, and judge charitably of his errors.

However instrumental, under Providence, the people of Britain may have been in obtaining freedom for the West Indian slave, they would do well to reflect on the slow progress the question made amongst themselves, and that many of their own countrymen connected with the colonies were opposed to the measure of relief. If, having lived apart from slavery, and its demoralizing effects, they claim merit for their exertions in behalf of the slave, let them not withhold what is due to the inhabitants of the States, who, while living amidst slaves, set an example of emancipation which has not yet been carried to the same extent in any British possession.

Some recent British travellers in America, in pandering to the depraved taste of a portion of their countrymen, will not allow merit to the states who have emancipated their slaves, on the ground that they did so only when slave labour ceased to be profitable, and that the step involved no sacrifice, as the able-bodied slaves were sold to the inhabitants of other states—the aged and infirm being alone set free. This is a most uncharitable judgment. I have not the means of ascertaining the number of slaves that were emancipated, but contend that other motives than selfishness must pervade some of the inhabitants of New York state, where the coloured population are invested with suffrages, and taught at Sabbath schools with white children. It is true, however, the negro race is the subject of deep-rooted prejudice, and the slave of opinion; but in what portion of the globe, inhabited by white people, is not this the case?

There are many pretended philanthropists in Britain, who feel keenly for the sufferings of the coloured people in distant countries, and do not sympathize with the unfortunate beings of their own complexion at home, who proclaim to the world the sinfulness of slavery, and yet strain every nerve to retain the unjust fetters of their own countrymen, and who lament the negro being an object of prejudice in the United States, while they regard most of the white people around them with the same feeling. In America, the inhabitants of the Southern States talk of the tyranny of Europe and the degraded population of Ireland, while the sound of the lash, and the moanings of their own suffering slaves, ring in their ears; and in Britain, the cruelty of the American slaveholder, and the injuries of his oppressed slave, are descanted on by people who actively engage in withholding just rights from the lower orders of their own countrymen, and remain insensible to their base condition. Such is the shortsightedness and inconsistency of man over the world. At a distance, he sees oppression in others, and sympathizes with its victim, while insensible to his own tyranny and its effects at home. Almost all the evils which afflict humanity, originate from the passions of man. Slavery in the United States, and the degradation of the Irish peasantry, sprung from the same source—the aristocratic feeling of the people of England.

On the packet reaching Shenectady, a stage-coach was on the banks of the canal waiting our arrival, into which I stepped, and soon afterwards found myself in Albany. My first proceeding was to obtain a new hat, and after dinner I waited on Mr Buel.

From some paragraphs I had read in newspapers while in Ohio, I learned an agricultural exhibition was to have taken place about this time at Albany, at which I was anxious to be present. It had, however, been held two days before my arrival, and I learned from Mr Buel it had not altogether come up to his expectation. A certain time must elapse before the public acquire a taste for such things, and I have no doubt Albany will, in this respect, set an example to other places in the States. I had carried from Britain a few copies of the Agricultural Exhibition at Stirling, by Messrs Drummonds, which I left with some of my friends in the United States, and doubt not they will find them useful.

From Buffalo to Albany, by way of the canal, there is a good deal of fine land, and much of the foliage having dropt from the trees, afforded an opportunity of seeing the country. Indian corn was frequently seen on the ground, though in some instances the ears had been plucked from the standing stalks, and I was particularly struck with the puny appearance of the crops, compared with those of Illinois. Pumpkins seemed to have been frequently grown amongst Indian corn, and farmers generally engaged in carrying them home. This vegetable is given to oxen and cows. In most instances the wheat crop was above ground. Before reaching Utica, I observed a drain forming, at no great distance from the canal, which was the only attempt of the kind I saw executing on the American territory.

On the morning after my arrival at Albany, I set out for New York, and the day being particularly fine, I enjoyed the sail down the river. The trees presented a diversity of appearance, some being without a leaf, and others in all the freshness of spring. The blue rocks were seen behind the fading foliage, a bright sun added to the brilliancy of the autumnal tints, and rendered the scenery more beautiful than I thought it when seen before in the early part of June.

On reaching New York, about eight in the evening, I bent my steps towards the Washington hotel in Broadway, and found my trunks and keys were in the possession of the landlord, Mr Ward. After having seen some of the most celebrated hotels in the States, such as the Tremont at Boston, and Mr Head’s at Philadelphia, none of them pleased me so much as the Washington hotel. No individual could be more civil, accommodating, and attentive, than Mr Ward, and all the arrangements of the house seemed to me extremely judicious. The tables were at all times served with the best of fare; the hours were kept with punctuality, and the waiters numerous and active. I cannot speak of the accommodation for people who have private parlours. Ladies never appear at the public table of the Washington hotel, although many of them have private rooms in it. The traveller who dislikes the Washington hotel is more likely to find the cause of his dissatisfaction in himself than in the establishment.

As soon as I ascertained my trunks were in possession of Mr Ward, I proceeded to call on Captain Smith of the Napoleon, who was to sail in a few days for Liverpool, and from whom I secured a berth. I was still in my travelling garb, my tattered garments being concealed by “Mrs Trollope.” Captain Smith, in the warmth of his greeting, hurried me into his parlour before I had time to explain my situation; and never shall I forget my feelings on again finding myself seated on a luxurious sofa in a fashionable room. Since leaving Montreal on the 18th August, I had not seen a sofa, or a chair with a stuffed bottom, except one at York, nor a window-curtain, or carpet. The walls of the rooms did not support a painting or print of any description, and in all domestic arrangements there was a total absence of the elegances of life. I had become so much habituated to the state of things around me, that for the remainder of my days I would have been satisfied with bare walls and wooden-bottomed chairs, and regarded the gewgaws of refined society with contempt. It is not likely the impressions of my Backwood tour will be altogether effaced while the pulse of life beats true. I confess, however, the facility with which I adopted the refinements of New York, and the enjoyment they afforded, seemed to arise from something else than mere novelty. The venison at the table of the Washington hotel, served on plates with a flaming spirit-lamp underneath, appeared more palatable than the coagulating fried pork of Canada, and my head seemed higher than it had been for ten weeks before, from being surrounded with a collar of velvet instead of rags. Man may often learn humility from his own inconsistency and folly. I felt ashamed of my weakness.

Soon after my arrival at New York, I retired to bed. Next morning my trunks were ransacked, and I was mortified at finding I had outgrown my wearing apparel. Travelling may at all times be regarded as conducive to health, by affording mental and bodily exercise, apart from worldly cares, and more especially under the circumstances I was situated, having had choice of time, route, and distance, without incumbrance of any kind.

For weeks together I seldom entered a house which was not the scene of human suffering. Associating with disease and pestilence, I conversed at the bedside of the fever patient, and rubbed the muscles of the victim of cholera. I had been exposed to the effects of solar heat, night-damp, rain, cold, hunger, and fatigue. Few people perhaps ever enjoyed so large a measure of health as fell to my lot during my wanderings in the western parts of inhabited America, and at no period of life did I possess so much mental and bodily vigour. While I gratefully acknowledge my health and strength to have emanated from divine agency, I may state my habits were strictly temperate, having denied myself every liquid but water and tea. The trammels of society prevented me trying the effects of absolute temperance at an earlier period. They exceeded my expectations, and from experience, I recommend temperance to all who wish to enjoy life.

On the second day after my arrival at New York, I attended a sale of land by auction, which I had observed advertised. An estate fifty miles from Albany, sold at about 7s. 6d. sterling per acre. Another, situated in St Lawrence county, state of New York, consisting of 25,000 acres, was knocked down, in one lot, at 1s. 1½d. sterling per acre.

On the same day, there was an election of members of Senate for the state. The legislature of the state of New York consists of a Senate and Assembly. The Senate contains thirty-two members, who are elected for four years, and vacate their seats by rotation, one-fourth yearly. The right of suffrage belongs to every white male citizen, who has attained 21 years of age, and who has resided six months in the state, and paid taxes. Men of colour are allowed to vote if they are 21 years of age, and have been citizens of the state three years, and possess a clear freehold of $250.

On getting into the street after breakfast, I did not see any thing indicating an election, the people seemed going about in their ordinary way. There was not a crowd, or idler of any kind on the outside of the ballot-rooms, and on entering one of them, I found nine or ten people inside. There were two printed ballot tickets, containing a different list of candidates, and which were supplied by individuals near the door. The voters, on entering the room, were offered tickets, which they handed to people on the opposite side of a counter, appointed to receive them, and who dropt them into a box. The voter was asked his name and place of residence, and immediately retired. The business excited little interest, the voters almost never reading any part of the ticket handed them, and the secretaries seldom referring to the lists for the identity of the voter. I also entered a ballot-room in the suburbs. Here a good many vehicles were standing around the door, and the interior, which seemed the bar-room of a hotel, was filled with men who had evidently been drinking spirits. Printed tickets were also here received and delivered, as already described. Individuals may prepare tickets for themselves.

Independent of the election of members of Senate, there was a ballot for reducing the duty on salt, which the following circular, copied from a newspaper of the day, will explain. “To the Public. After a most thorough examination of the subject, and a full conviction of the injustice and partial operation of the existing tax on salt of domestic manufacture, the Legislature of this State, at their three last sessions, successively passed resolutions for an amendment of the Constitution, by which they would be enabled to reduce that tax or duty from twelve-and-a-half to six cents per bushel. Those resolutions are now submitted to the people for their approval, and are dependent for ultimate success on the votes that may be given in their favour at the approaching annual election.

“The words of the amendment are, ‘That the duties on the manufacture of salt, as established by the act of the fifteenth of April, one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, and by the section of the seventh article of the Constitution of the State, may at any time hereafter be reduced, by act of the Legislature of this State, but shall not, while the same is appropriated and pledged by said section, be reduced below the sum of six cents upon each and every bushel, and the said duties shall remain inviolably appropriated and applied as is provided by the said tenth section; and that so much of said tenth section of the seventh article of the constitution of this state, as is inconsistent with this amendment, be destroyed.’

“At a meeting, called for the purpose of considering and deciding upon such measures as might be deemed most proper for the occasion, the undersigned were appointed as a committee to correspond with their fellow-citizens in the different parts of the States and to take such steps to secure a favourable result in regard to the proposed amendment, as in their opinion circumstances should require. They, accordingly, ask permission to state some of the many important considerations which have a bearing on the question, and which, they trust, will satisfy every person, as they have the Legislature, of the propriety and obvious necessity of the intended alteration.

“The present duty, or more properly excise, is excessively disproportioned to the value of the salt at the works, varying from 100 to 200 per cent, and obliging the purchaser, when he sells at retail to the consumer, to charge an advance of profit on this as well as on the net cost. And the consequence is, that a bushel of salt, at the present time worth about twelve and a half cents at the works, must have the duty of twelve and a half cents and the profit of the dealer added, and altogether make the cost to the distant consumer, (independent of bills and transportation,) from twelve to fifteen shillings per barrel, one-half of which, and sometimes three-fourths, arising from the duty exclusively, will be in a ratio corresponding with any reduction that may be made in the duty. Now, the reduction anticipated by the amendment will make a saving to the consumer of six to ten cents on the bushel, or 30 to 50 cents on the barrel, and to the state at large, exclusive of the extra price for foreign salt, an aggregate of $200,000 per annum; and farther, both the manufacturer and the dealer will be relieved in part, from an onerous and troublesome exaction.

“As a source of revenue, the following brief exposé will exhibit the glaring impolicy and sinister effect of the duty. Suppose that the quantity manufactured this year is 2,000,000 bushels.

“Thus the $234,375 paid into the canal fund, costs the people, and they are principally the farmers and the labouring classes, $390,625, or, in other words, they pay directly and indirectly more than two dollars for every one dollar that that fund receives from the duty—a fund, too, that does not need it, as may be seen by the report of Mr Stilwell to the Assembly in 1833, No. 268. If, instead of an insidious impost, the sum received into that fund were even paid by a direct tax, the cost to the consumers would not be one-fourth the amount that is now drawn from them.

“It can be satisfactorily shown, should the object in view be attained, that the immediate extension of the markets to vast districts of country, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, the Canadas, and some of the Eastern States, which have hitherto drawn their supplies from other sources, and the consequent enlargement of the manufacture, upon which about one-half of the duty would continue to be paid, with a great and certain increase of canal tolls, will preserve the canal fund undiminished, and probably exceed at once the sum that would be obtained by a continuance of the duty at its present high rate.

“The salt-springs, judging from the consumption of brine for the last two years, each of which require from ninety to one hundred millions of gallons, and produced about 2,000,000 bushels of salt, without any perceptible diminution, appear as inexhaustible as the Onondaga lake itself. And we may, of course, confidently assume, as the state possesses unlimited control, that there can be no monopoly, and that an increase in the quantity made will establish a steady supply at the lowest prices, and be a security against any sudden and extravagant rise, which would otherwise certainly happen in the event of a war, or interruption of our intercourse with other nations.

“The subscribers would present herewith other statements and calculations, but for their great length, and a desire to avoid prolixity, which have appeared upon this question in the several reports to the Legislature, especially that of Mr Throop, made to the senate in 1831, No 56, and which most fully sustain these representations. The committee rely on the aid of the people at large for the accomplishment of the object in view; and in order that you may be prepared to cooperate with them, send a quantity of ballots, to the distribution of which at the polls, to be held in November next, they solicit your attention.

“The following is the form of the ballot which the law prescribes for those in favour of the proposed amendment. ‘For authorizing the Legislature to reduce the duties on salt.’”

I rode with a gentleman in his gig to a ballot-room in the suburbs of New York, and saw him vote for continuing the duties on salt. An immense majority, however, of the inhabitants were in favour of reducing the duties.

To the people of Britain it may appear somewhat strange, that the inhabitants of a country should be consulted on a political question, its supporters and opponents being ascertained by ballot, and the circumstance of universal suffrage and annual parliaments prevailing in the state of New York, will heighten the feeling. The followers of aristocracy may denounce the proceeding, and proclaim the people incapable of judging political matters, which are alone comprehensible to nobility. But whatever peculiarities may exist in Britain, experience in America has demonstrated that the powers of human intellect do not, in any degree, depend on hereditary title, texture of garment, or weight of purse; and that all matters connected with the domestic policy of a state, may be made comprehensible, and intrusted to its inhabitants. The intricacy of legislation has long been a favourite theme with the few who rule the many. But whatever may be the state of enlightenment regarding legislation, the people of every civilized country must be as competent to understand it as their rulers are, both parties having the same common sense, and against the dictates of which law-making should not even be attempted. Whatever is clearly understood by men in power, may be made manifest to the people, and safely left to their decision; and when such men wish to adopt measures without seeing their way, the people ought also to be consulted, both with a view of obtaining instruction and lessening the responsibility and odium of failure. These remarks are borne out by the proceedings of the state of New York regarding the salt question.

Nobility and mobility, or by whatever names the aristocracy and people can be distinguished, may each have their advocates; but the propriety of placing political power in either, must be decided by the effects produced. In measures connected with public interest, the state of New York is not surpassed, and perhaps not equalled, by any district on earth, and all of them originated from, and exist by, the power and consent of the people. How different is the state of things in Britain, where the people have hitherto had almost no voice in political matters. If the legislation of Britain was to be regulated by collecting the opinions of the people by ballot, many important changes would soon take place. There is, however, much difference between the people of America and those of Britain. In the latter, a considerable portion of the population has been so debased by the effects of aristocracy, that they are ill qualified for discharging political duties. This is not, however, a just reason for withholding rights from any portion of the community entitled to them; and should excess arise amongst the people in obtaining or exercising their rights, the aristocracy who have neglected and degraded them, may be considered its real authors.

Before leaving New York, it became necessary to change my American money into that of England, which was easily effected. The chief currency of the United States is paper, and consists of one dollar bills and upwards. The currency passing at par in one state, is often at a discount in the adjoining one; and as the value of almost the whole paper currency is published weekly in the newspapers, little loss need arise. Travellers often complain of loss sustained on paper money in passing from one part of the country to another. I supplied myself with large dollar bills of the United States Bank, which passes current throughout the Union, and on changing which, the hotel keepers and coach-office keepers asked me the direction I meant to travel, and gave me silver coin, or such provincial bills as they knew would pass at par. Throughout my whole tour, I did not lose a cent by depreciated paper currency.

Notwithstanding the coldness of the weather in the end of October, November commenced most favourably, being calm, with bright sunshine. The ladies thronged the streets of New York in summer attire; and in some cases fires were dispensed with. In several little excursions made in the vicinity of the town, I remarked the graceful weeping willow still in fresh and full leaf on the 7th November, although the thermometer a week before had stood at ten degrees below the freezing point; and a branch of considerable length which I pulled and brought to Scotland, still retains the leaves.

I left New York in the Napoleon on the 8th November. The vessel was towed by a steamer until reaching the Narrows; the day was delightful, and looked and felt like what has often been described as Indian summer. On the second day of the voyage the wind blew strong, and sometimes afterwards tempestuously. The passengers were most agreeable people, but sea-sickness prevented my enjoying their company; and we arrived at Liverpool in sixteen days from the time of leaving New York.