The Stranger in America: Comprising Sketches of the Manners, Society, and National Peculiarities of the United States [2]

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3U'^t

THE

STRANGER

IN

AMERICA

COMPRISING

SKETCHES OF THE MANNERS, SOCIETY,

AND NATIONAL PECULIARITIES OF

THE UNITED STATES. IN

A SKRIES OF LETTERS TO A FRIENU

IN

EUROPE.

BY FRANCIS LIEBER, T:DiTOR OF

"THE ENCYCLOriEDIA AMERICANA."

IN

TWO VOLUMES. VOL.

II.

LONDON NEW BURLINGTON

RICHARD BENTLEY,

^ublisl)er in (©liJtixarg to ^.ii PlajtStp.

1835.

STREET,

V^ 0-

LONDON: IBOTSON AND PALMER,

PRI^TERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.

—

CONTENTS

THE SECOND VOLUME.

LETTER ness

of

and contrasts

ming

I.

Schenectady— Wearisoiiierapid travelling Anecdote Enjoyments

Rail road from

Albany

to

— — — Curious post establishments —Swim-

travellers

—Various

modes

of

travelling

Anecdote of the King of Prussia— The Empress Josephine and her grandson— Peculiar situation of kings

—Cross

— Origin of mental alienation — Interesting cases of insanity.

breeding

—Political excitement

Pagel

LETTER

II.

The grand canal—American activity— Floating companies of actors— German emigrants— Nationality of the Irish— Home-sickness of the Swiss— Anecdote of a

Danish soldier— Love of people

Love

of

for their

country— The Germans

trade-

and French—

Anecdote— German toys— Practical turn of mind of the Americans— A turtle— German and English libraries—American paper,

.

•

31

A

CONTENTS.

LETTER attached

Interest

Land

to

III.

names of places — America the of Americans-

Names— Good-nature

of Silly

Groundless charge against the early settlers of

England— American method ships

—Colloquial

corruption

Difficulty of selecting

covered

places

fit

of

names

in

—Importance

— Its

—Quaint — Love of

names

of

— Colling wood—Washington —Change — Family names of the Indians

America

LETTER Utica

names—

foreign

appellations for newly-dis-

personal names used in the United States

genealogy

New

naming new town-

of

shops or stores

of

73

IV.

— Standard

of comfort in

— The Trenton FallsSound of the falling waters — The mania comparationis — A lovely country — The Ridge Road — Roundabout way of answering— Idiom of New EnglandFlour mills in Rochester— Lockport— New England activity — No peasants in America — Condition of the cultivator of the soil— The American farmer — Rent —Heads of statistical tables — Titles and decorations America

—The

—Absence

Weigh-lock

of cripples in the United States— Causes

of this —Treatment of children— A cradle rocked

by water

.

Roman baby— .

.

136

—

CONTENTS.

LETTER Buffalo — American enterprise

V.

— Slave-emancipation

Mental and physical difference between the white

and black races

— Remarks

lition of slavery in

on the question of abo-

America

.

.179

.

LETTER VL A

camp meeting— Religion

of the Methodists founded

on the excitement of feeling

camp meeting— Christian

— Preparations

fanatics

for

a

—Dogmatism— In-

decorum and profanity of the songs used at a camp meeting — Moral danger of such meetings — Tents for "classes"— Rash solicitations— Persons of blessing"

— Peculiar

christian excitement

ers—Deplorable ject discussed—

—Un—Delusion— Travelling preach-

effects of camp

A

"state

in a

kind of enunciation

meetings

— The sub-

fanatic mulatto preacher

preachers— Sublime sermon

LETTER Effect produced on the

.

— Italian .

.

215

VII.

mind by a view

of Niagara

—Goat

Characteristic outlines of the great cataract

Island— Quantity of w^ater hourly sent into the abyss

—Colour —Noise produced by the cataract — Rainbow of Niagara — Majestic steadiness of the Falls — Mist— Meteors— The whirlpool

— Passage behind the of

Niagara

— Leap

Falls— Mr. Ingraham

of the waters

Concludint; reflections

.

.

.

268

—

THE

STRANGER

IN AMERICA,

LETTER

I.

—Wearisomeness of and contrastsCurious post establishments— Swimming — Various modes of —Anecdote of King Prussia The Empress Josephine and her grandson — Peculiar kings — Cross breeding — Origin of mental — excitement— Interesting cases of

Rail road from Albany

rapid travelling

to

Schenectady

— Anecdote — Enjoyments

travellers

of

the

travelling

situa-

alienation

tion of

insanity.

Political

From Albany rail-road velling,

;

it

train of ideas II.

least

seems to me,

by steam on a VOL.

to Schenectady,

and the

rail-road. is

is

you

exciting

of

travel all

by

tra-

decidedly locomotion

The

traveller,

whose

always influenced by the manB

RAPID TRAVELLING.

2

ner in which he proceeds, thinks in a steam car of nothing else but the place of his destination, for the very reason that he

Pent up

is

moving

so quickly.

narrow space, rolling along on an

in a

even plain which seldom offers any objects of curiosity,

and which, when

by with such never fixed

who have like

;

all

rapidity, that

together with a the

same object

you of nothing

else,

it

does,

you pass

your attention

is

number of people in view,

and think

but when they shall

arrive at their journey's end

—thus

situated,

you

find nothing to entertain or divert you, except

now and

then a spark flying into the

window of

the car and burning a hole in a lady's

veil,

or

otherwise exciting the interest of the travellers

by a

gentle smell of burning.

common

There

is

no

conversation, no rondo-laugh, nothing

but a dead calm, interrupted from time to time, only by some passenger pulling out his watch

and uttering a sound of impatience, that a mile minutes is the rate of travelling on " this

in four line."

Strange, that the most rapid travelling should

be the most wearisome, but so

it

is;

les ex-

tremes se touchent, always and every where.

—

MADAME DE

STAEL.

3

The animal which comes nearest to the shape of man is the ugliest gods and beggars go half ;

naked, and kings and servants are called by their baptismal

names

and

;

Madame

de Stael

delighted in playing souhrettes, while sombre Shelley amused himself by letting

paper I

float

ships of

Madame de Stael, and, in Madame de Recamier and now

have mentioned

a former

letter,

;

you an anecdote which ought not

I will tell

be

little

on the water.

A gentleman

lost.

(who

Kotzebue round the world)

to

sailed with Captain

told me, that,

when

he lived in Copet, in the house of the former

he took, one day, a

two

ladies

is

these

storm, which

a very dangerous occurrence on that

superb water.

The whole

and when,

" Had we

have afforded a

party had a narrow

in the evening at tea,

talked over their perils, served,

company with

They were overtaken by a

Geneva. at times

escape,

sail in

and some gentlemen, on the lake of

all

fine

the most beautiful

Madame

been drowned,

newspaper

woman

they

de Stael obit

article;

would both

of the age and the

most gifted would have perished together." Rolling on in

my

the different ways

swift car, I

by which

thought of

little

all

earth-bound B

2

TRAVELLING OX FOOT.

4

man

contrives to

man

move from one

If a

money

in his pocket,

and time

with Rousseau, that there travelling

— that

place to ano-

has health in his limbs, and

ther.

on

to spare, I agree

but one way of

is

always

"jirovided

foot,

nevertheless" the country be interesting. is

impossible to learn half as

way

and, as

;

pennv

Seume

says,

to be sure,

it

well,

easier to give a

it is

would not make much

miles, or live for

may

many

This,

difference in

many hundred

travel

asked for alms.

Boston, for the

first

She belonged

residence.

are on foot

years in a place, without I recollect very

when I was addressed by

girl, in

It

any other

out of the coach window.

our country, since you

ever being

in

when you

to a poor fellow

than to throw

much

a

little

beggar

time after a long

to emigrants

who had

lately arrived.

There

is

a zest in

all

enjoyments, even the

meanest, when you travel on foot. fore daybreak

To

and march into the day

lonelv forest; to

lie

down,

under the rich foliage of a

be-

rise

in a thick

after a long walk, be«ifch-tree,

on the

top of a mountain, from which you see into a valley variegated

by nature and

civilization

:

to

take a refreshing bath after the journe}', and go

AMPHIBIOUS POST-BOYS. to

o

a library or gallery, or into the opera of a

large city I can

—are enjoyments and

compare

to

down

in

To

sit

contrasts, which

no others. Switzerland, at ten o'clock in

the morning, with a fine piece of cheese and a fidl

tumbler of wine,

tite, is

a march,

after

just after sunrise, has given

begun

you a smart appe-

who sit down West End club-house know the

a luxury of which but few

to a dinner at a

Next seems

keenness and pleasure-

to

come

Though

by way of swimming.

the travelling

I

consider myself a pretty fair swimmer, I cannot

much

say, that I should relish

peditions of the correos que

the aquatic ex-

nadan.*

amphibious post-boys, how you must

feel

Poor

when

you descend the Guancabamba and Amazon, floating with tied

your bombax

round your head

!

stick,

and the mail

Naturalists mention, as

something very remarkable, of the animal homo, that he alone

seems to

is

able to live in all climes.

me much more

he can vegetate

in

all

It

surprising, indeed, that situations,

from these

paddling couriers, or the sooty chimney-sweeper, to the refined

banker

richest countesses in • Couriers

in

Paris or one of the

England

;

from the beggar

who swim.-— Editor.

CURIOUS POST-OFFICE.

b

at the door of a palace to its inmate, or the

starving copyist of music or galley-slave to the

dispenser of sinecures or a governor-general of the East Indies. It is well that they tries,

where the mail

have not

in

those coun-

carried along

is

by swim-

mers, franked bushels of pamphlets and papers to send,

we have

as

There are curious

here.

post-establishments in this world

old

woman who

spent her

Berlin to Posen,

life in

!

I

and from Posen to Berlin,

about a hundred and forty miles. called the

knew an

walking from

Living Gazette.

She was

Have you

ever

heard of the celebrated post-office of the whalers at

Essex Bay, on one of the Gallapagos Islands

in the Pacific

?

There

is

a cave, well secured

against the weather, in which whalers deposit letters

sometimes for the information of other

whalers, sometimes to be taken home,

when a

returning fellow-hunter on the deep passes by. I

had heard of

found

it,

it

by whaling

captains,

and

afterwards, mentioned in Lieutenant

Paulding's Journal of a Cruise of the United States Schooner Dolphin

the Pacific,*

—a

•

little

New

among

the Islands of

unassuming book,

York, 1831.— Editor.

full

of

A LETTER CARRIER.

Lieutenant Paulding found

interesting items.

This insolated

a letter there safely deposited. fact

7

shows strikingly the existence of a common

bond and

among

trust

civilized nations

so does

;

a letter deposited in a post-office of the farthest

west of Missouri, which safely arrives in a

Germany,

lage in the most eastern part of

only has the two words " Via

Havre" on there

man who

was a

Pomerania

the

to

New York and

In the middle ages,

direction.

its

carried

the university of Paris, and

when

Rome

yet

who to

regularly

Spain.

ments of

carried

And

goes back; or this

was

is

yet it

we

letters

are

country

that

in

"courier"

from

letters

students of

in

the

vil-

if it

I lived existing,

Rome

from

told

the world

maintained that improve-

kind belong to the industry of

nations only, which

is

allowed on

all

hands to

improve rapidly, while, morally, we degenerate I

would deny

this

;

there

is

?

morality in an in-

tercourse of this kind between nations

;

it

re-

quires a universal acknowledgment of certain

broad principles of honour and morality. will yet

— It

happen, within the next hundred years,

that letters are directed from

London

to

Canton,

LONDON POST-OFFICE.

8

New York

(perhaps, to Peking,) via city

which

will rise at the

and the

mouth of the Colum-

bia River.

And now you may

contrast the general post-office, as

well call

it,

of the Gallapagos Islands

When

with that in London. passed

time, office,

for the first

I,

through the old London post-

an unpretending narrow building, and

found, written on a

little

" Mails due

table,

from Hamburg, Malta, Jamaica, Canada," with a long

list

the world,

of other places and islands 1

all

over

was forcibly reminded, by

this

small board, of Great Britain's vast dominion,

and knew of nothing with which except the

Rome's

many

St. Peter,

to

compare

over each of which the

of a particular language

is

name

written, inviting the

faithful of all nations to confess in their

tongue.

it,

confessionals in the nave of

own

Over one stands Lingua Germanica,

over another Lingua

Gallica,

Anglica,

His-

panica, Hungarica, Lusitana, Neograeca, &c.

But, to return to

The

my swimming

travellers*

peasants of a certain part of Bavaria some-

times journey in a manner not

from the Indian

in

the

much different They take

Amazon.

TRAVELLING ON HORSEBACK. large logs of wood, dispose

of their

somehow

much

go,

beaver fashion,

the

in

all

in a

down they

riding position on the hind end, and

dangling

or other

baggage, place themselves

little

9

their

feet

the time in the water.

Travelling on horseback

is,

in

some countries,

Man''s thoughts are freer on

very agreeable.

the back of an animal, whose four legs are his

own,

Mephistopheles

as

But the care of sitions, the

correctly

regular rests which he requires, and

the slowness of this

way

of travelling, are seri-

ous drawbacks to employing a

our

We

seat.

horse*'s

stage-coaches, ;

and

as

it is

back for

cannot, besides, speed our jour-

ney by taking, now and then, a "

foot

suggests.

a horse, his liability to indispo-

the

lift" in

we may do when we go on

very convenient to cross rapidly

an uninteresting country, like skipping over an insipid passage of an otherwise

ride on a

always

To

good book.

mule with a caravan of muleteers

is

muleteer has

a

interesting;

for

the

thousand amusing and instructive things and anecdotes

to

tell

you

given you the

skill

people of this

class.

kind

is

provided nature

;

has

of easily assimilating with

A

peculiar gift of the

not, however, required, at least in

B 5

any

TRAVELl.ING IN SEDANS.

10

uncommon

when you pass over the when the

degree,

mountains from France to Spain girl

who

;

takes care of the mule, rides with

found

easily.

To When

travel in a sedan

you

words are then

on the same faithful animal;

must be abominable.

went up Vesuvius I could not even en-

I

dure the idea of seeing men labouring hard in

move my

the heat of the sun only to skeleton

the

;

men who

alone.

and

flesh

and preferred paying something

However,

to travel in

in

India

to

and going up

offered themselves,

often impossible

it is

any other way, and people soon

ac-

custom themselves to see the trotting bipeds under the

litter

travel post-haste,

Moore has

on

which they

To

recline.

either on an ostrich,

as

Mr.

seen, or on a dolphin with Arion, or

on a cannon-ball, as Munchausen

tried,

jumping

from one twenty-four pounder, shot into the tress,

upon another, shot out of

the air in Zambullo's style,

it

by holding

the mantle of the diahle boiteux

for-

—or navigating

—

or,

fast to

which

is

the

equal of any of these, sliding from the snowy

mountain tops on a small sledge fashion, I

do not believe

in the Swiss

will generally

sidered the ne plus ultra of comfort.

be con-

A

camel

—

IN CANOES.

11

the desert makes you sea-sick,

in

howdah on an

my

deer.

Nor has it been Esquimaux dog or the rein-

elephant's back.

to try the

lot

On

an ass I have travelled, and

broken step

is

to resort, in the

a

had hurt myself

I

The toilsome journeying in our farthest

fall.

west,

to

was once obliged

I

army, when

its short,

compared

paradisiacal comfort

a ride on a cow, to which

by

during the

days, and I have never been rocked in a

first

when by turns the canoe

carries

you and

you carry the canoe, and when the packages and provisions are taken over the portages

way

trotting voyageurs in the

number of the goods

from one place

kittens

by running

to

and

fro,

—

abound

But now, we have

to another

and thus transporting

by instalments

ling which cannot

by the

that cats carry a

is

a style of travel-

in pleasure.

of travelling in

all sorts

wagons, carts, and coaches;

from the rickety

one-horse omnibus in the south of France, to the proud and flying mail-coach in

from the wagon of the to the vettorino

from the to the is all

from

—

snail-like, ancient post

hght Tartar the travelling

in

England

New England emigrant, Florence to Rome and Turkey

by

:

baggage- wagon,

and then there

water, from the raft on

—

ANECDOTE.

12

the Rhine, or the American rivers, to the refined packet of

New York

and Philadelphia

from the boat on the Nile, where you are devoured by canal,

without

Buffalo

in

our boat on the grand

insects, to

where you must look out not a

head

to arrive

—from

the slow

market-boat between Mayence and Frankfort, to the darting

steamboat in our west.

we

there would never be an end, were

merate

which

all

the ways of crawling and creeping,

after

it

But to enu-

all

remains, of bustling man.

Only of one more way of compound locomotion will I tell you.

It is said that Frederic

who

Prussia,

William

liked a joke, though

I.,

it

King of

might be a

rude one, overheard a peasant saying to his companion, that not

if

he were the king he would " You in a sedan.

move otherwise than

shall try it," said the king, stepping

and soon brought.

after the wished-for

The

peasant

forward

;

conveyance was

stepped

in,

but the

king had ordered the bottom to be taken out

and now the

carriers

began

to run,

and wind

about, forward and backward, over stones and

through mire, until the shins of the poor fellow within

were deplorably

sore.

At

length they

— !

ANECDOTE. halted

—and

how he was

when

the king asked the peasant

pleased with the royal conveyance,

he answered, "Uncommonly, only, to say the truth, if

honour,

it

13

would be

sire,

it

uncommonly

almost like

Walking."

Don't you think there are many things in life

very

much

this

like

;

were not for the

sedan

and,

?

this

alas

kings themselves are but too often obliged to go

through honourable but shin-breaking proce-

How

dures of this kind.

often

do they not

look with envy upon a simple, healthful pedestrian, still

—whose

whole power of self-locomotion

remains inviolate,

— from

and

their gilt

or-

namented, but narrow and uncomfortable incasement, in which, however splendid they remain

men like

all their

it

may

be,

fellow-creatures

with the same pains and desires, and not an inch higher from the ground than those, who,

admire and envy them. thought this would be " positively the last"

in their turn, I

anecdote, but I

am

Russian ultimatums ample.

Were

my

bold enough to take the to the Porte, for

there not four of them

train

which

calls

up another, which

my ?

ex-

The

ideas took by the last anecdote, is

of too generic and

representative a character, to be omitted.

You

—

ANECDOTE.

14

me

thank

will

when

for

communicating

that I have

I tell you,

which allows no doubt of the whole

is

it

it

truth

its

to you,

from a source, ;

besides,

but natural.

The Empress Josephine had

some exand favorite

sent

quisite Parisian toys to her little

grandson, Louis, the son of the King of Hol-

When

land.

they were unpacked,

and the

queen of Holland, who was a most tender mother, was anticipating the pleasure of her

by

child, the prince disappointed her entirely,

the

he seemed to take

little interest

in all the

He

beautiful toys and contrivances around him.

would look

at

them, but always return to the

window from which he looked ing desire, into the

street.

out, with a long" Louis, are you not

charmed with these beautiful play-things *'

Yes,

but""

— " What

is

your desire

?

?"

look here,

with what tender care the Empress has chosen these

handsome play-things

sure ?"

— " Oh,

my

" But what, thing else

mamma

.?"

?

child

?

fine,

you pleabut

""

can you wish for any

don't you feel grateful to grand-

— " Yes,

do not seem but,

to give

they are very

to

mamma,

certainly I do.""

amuse you much

if I

!"

— " But they " They do

;

only could walk for a short

—

;

ROYAL PLEASURES. mud

time in the

mine instructed Princess

friend of

German, and

in

that child in the

!"

square

A

there, with

15

,

he could not

for a long time,

bestow a more acceptable reward upon his royal pupil, than

by

mitive

of some peasants on the continent

life

telling her of the rustic

on the same principle that every sant

and

pri-

tale for pea-

must begin with, " There was a

girls

beautiful princess."

Every great monarch has been glad at times, the lacing of royalty

ojff,

Harun

pear like an equal of others.

to

and

throw to ap-

Alreshid,

Charlemagne, Henry IV., Frederic the Great, Napoleon,

all

have enjoyed

but for a moment. think

it

To

this pleasure,

though

say the truth, I should

must be a tedious way,

di

campare,*

to

be born for a throne, without uncommon capacity

;

one's

to be

own

above the law, to owe nothing to

exertions,

and to be from birth at the

We

* Italian, for " getting- along."

dressed in Naples by a man,

who

were one evening ad-

looked reduced in his cir-

cumstances indeed, but had nevertheless the tions of dress. for

"Ah!

is it to

clerical distinc-

expressed our amazement at being asked

alms by a person in this dress, when

swer,

use

We

che vuoL,signore, cost

talkf thus

we must

si

we

campa."

received the an-

—(Ah,

try to get along.)

sir,

what

Editor.

KINGS.

16

ne plus ultra of

This, undoubtedly,

life.

They want

have loved conquest.

is

many monarchs

pne of the great reasons why so

to

be active

;

the meanest of their subjects can say, " This I

have done

:"

they alone find every thing done

to their hands.

Lucian was not wrong when he

Olympic ennui.

pitied the gods for their

are always something of a Dalai

noured and revered outlaws ciety,

continual quarrel for

am

—

it

;

ho-

sacrifices to so-

whose welfare often requires one

being above the law, just to

I

;

Kings

Lama

visible

a place that no

fill

shall disturb the peace.

thankful for being under the law, a citizen,

a whole

man

;

for

man was

ing under the law.

created to be a be-

Or, must we presume, that

for the very reason

above the common

which elevates monarchs interests,

and

cares,

and

pangs of ambition, they seek a higher sphere of activity,

and

strive to

do good for

its

own

sake

.''

That, from their peculiar situation they have an immense start before other men, and can deliver,

when three years

old, a

speech " with

peculiar grace," as Croly says, in his Life of

George IV., the prince

did,

when receiving the

society of Ancient Britons on St. David's

day ?

History records, as yet, no such necessary con-

KINGS.

17

sequence, and every book of memoirs shows us, that kings have all the

and

lousies, pains,

and

ache, gout, tion

all

same petty

griefs, that

troubles, jea-

we have

;

tooth-

the other elements of vexa-

of our mortal bodies

and as strong a

;

disrelish of a minister's popularity, as the mi-

nister has of his first secretary. It has often

appeared to me, that since the

by primogeniture has been firmly

succession

established in Europe, which was the only

way

of securing those advantages which are peculiar to monarchies, there is

no

situation less envi-

able, than that of a brother to a

prince.

With

all

king or crown-

the privations of the monarch,

and they are numberless indeed, they have not his power,

and must

see the

same honour, due

their birth, paid to greatness

risen

by

to

merit.

There are but few princes who create their own sphere, as the noble Prince Henry, the Navigator. Why ?— have not many the power to promote,

in

a similar way, knowledge, or

or the progress of discovery

?

art,

— Simply because

they are princes by birth.

Yet there a prince to

can do

are

two

whom

much good

sides to every subject,

and

has been given a noble soul, in certain

ways, for the very

DERANGED MONARCHS.

18

reason that he

is

so fixedly elevated,

Only

the actual ruler.

to pass uninjured

soul,

it

and yet not

requires a truly noble

through the ordeal of

high elevation from earliest infancy. Esquirol, in his Lectures, states that the proportion of deranged monarchs to other people

under an alienation of mind

is

as sixty to one

a bitter comment upon the principle of

macy!

since Esquirol ascribes to the

cross-breeding,

this

we make

legiti-

want of

proportion, so enormous, possible allowance for the

even

if

fact,

that not a single deranged ruler escapes

all

public notice, while the will

lists

of lunatic subjects

always be defective. If Esquirol be correct

in assigning this cause for so startling a fact,

we

should haveanother reason against the philosophy of the principle, for the

first

time

officially

pro-

nounced by the Congress of Vienna, that a legiti-

mate heir

to

a throne can be only an indivi-

dual descended from two parents legitimately descending from sovereign families. Strange, some countries are peculiarly jealous of the birthright of their citizens, and will not allow a fo-

reigner to hold as

much

as an inferior office

and, according to the principle of legitimacy, as

now

observed, the monarch, in

whom

all

nation-

DIVINE RIGHT. ality

19

ought to concentrate, must always be half

and some dynasties never can become naturalized by blood, e. g. the Hanoverian a foreigner

;

race on the English throne, which was, and ever

has remained

same

is

German

in

The

blood and bone.

the case with the Holstein race, on the

throne of Russia, and, in other cases,

it

leads

to the result that a foreigner rules over a nation

peculiarly proud of

have an instance Spain.

its

nationality

in the present

The same was

Monarchies

of which we

the case with the mother

Mary of and many other

of Louis XIV., with rine of Russia,

;

government of

will yet last for

Medici, Cathesovereigns.

many

nations a

long time, owing to their state of political as well as social development, or to their relations

with other states

;

but even Chateaubriand

said,

chamber of peers, on the 19th of April, 1831, " I do not believe in the divine right of kings,"" and " monarchy is no longer a religion

in the

;

it is

a political form."

Nay, even the Duke of

Fitz- James waived the idea of divine right,

and

Our time has seen so many thrones tumbling down and in the state of being raised, has seen so many crowns handed

appealed to the people.

round

like dishes of

no peculiar attraction, and

DIVINE RIGHT.

20

of which the " refusaF at most was asked, that the only safe authority for a crown,

and the

interest of the people

longing the belief that there liar in

is

is

reason

but as to pro-

;

something pecu-

an anointed race, an actual difference

between the blood of a ruling family and other

blood,— why, people who have gone through our time and seen dozens of kings stripped of

and appearing

their purple, tal beings,

like

any other mor-

and who have had, by memoirs and

many peeps behind

documents, so cannot, even

if

they wished

theory upon their belief.

would stand

fight with

mind of a devout

it,

it,

the curtain,

force such

a

Plain naked facts

even in the most loyal

continental tory

;

he might as

well force himself to believe three times three

are ten

;

facts are facts,

and must remain such

to the world's end.

The more

times have advanced, the more has

royalty been enabled to rest

moral grounds. crowned, and ern

if

The

its

power upon

kings of Prussia are never

we compare a monarch of north-

Europe with an

Asiatic ruler, surrounded

by the trappings and pompous show of despotism, and consider

how much

forms and formalities of royalty

is, in

eastern

less of the

our times,

ROYAL MARRIAGES. found to be necessary for giving

it

to the conclusion, that the time

come

be too far when

it

will not

and

stability

a century ago,

authority, than but

21

we

shall

may

not

be considered any

longer dangerous, that dynasties should continue their race without exposing themselves to the

frightful consequences pointed out

However,

I

by Esquirol. some

to you, that

must confess

farther proof ought to be brought to support

the assertion of that distinguished man, that the

" breeding

European enormous

in

and in." as

dynasties,

is

frequency

under crowns.

dwells

it

is

termed, of the

the only cause of the

derangement

of

which

In former ages, not a

few consorts of monarchs have, with the most maternal feeling for their people, taken care of a proper admixture of renovating blood in their race.

Beaux Rantxaus

rare in

European history

are not so exceedingly ;

and, though I

know

asserted, and, I believe, pretty well tested,

it is

that Jews, Quakers, and Catholics, in England,

produce more insane people than others, owing, as

it

seems, to their marrying generally

themselves, yet I do not

among

remember having read

that in those villages in Europe, the inhabitants

of which marry hardly ever a girl out of their

CROSS-BREEDIXG.

22

name,

place, and often have but one family

sanity lages.

is

met with more often than

An

inquiry of this kind would be inter-

There are many peasants

esting and very easy.

who would have if

in-

in other vil-

the best claim to high nobility,

belonging to an "old family" constitutes one

That

of the chief ingredients of noblesse.

breeding improves the race I have

cross-

doubt,

little

Europe

on the principle that the farmer, both

in

and America, exchanges grain with

his neigh-

bour, to avoid

deterioration.

As

far

as

my

observation goes, I must say, that I have generally

found bright children

in the families of

parents of two different nations, though

I

allow

that this result can be accounted for in a different way. to

be

must so

in

This, at

recollect, that

many

first

sight,

would appear

favour of the ruling dynasties, but we they liave thoroughly mixed

years since, that they form,

time, one general race, and, again,

found by many

it

by

travellers, that, in large capitals,

the situation of which invites people of different nations classes in

this

has been

which

to all

settle

nations

within

mix

many

them, those

for a long time,

receive an addition in a breed, which

is

being desirable for a good population.

far

from

INFLUENCE OF POLITICS. Whatever

23

born, constructed, or contrived

is

germ of

in this nether world, carries with it the

The

dissolution. life

very principle which gives

or start becomes the cause of

Monarchy,

democracy,

aristocracy,

great elan to a nation

;

can give

but the principle of

timacy carries within

it

the

it

its decline.

legi-

germ of change,

equally with the principle of universal suffrage.

Nothing

shall last for ever, except the plans of

the great Ruler.

How

does, on the other hand, our system of

politics affect the

mind

Are

?

the frequent ex-

citements, which penetrate into arteries of tive of

our whole

much

Aristotle,

evil

the

smallest

social system, not

in

this

very

produc-

particular?

even in his time, observed the great

prevalence of insanity

Esquirol says,

among

politicians,

that a history of

and

the French

revolution might be written from the variety of cases so

to

be found

much has each

in a

French insane

hospital,

convulsive change of politics

and government affected the hopes, bition, or happiness of a

desires,

number of

am-

persons,

strengthened as this effect was, by a very universal absence of that confidence which firmly relies

on the guiding care of a kind and wise

CAUSES OF INSANITY.

24

Do

supreme Ruler.

then our politics not lead,

with many individuals, to any alienation of mind Certainly

many

act in a

?

way which would make

the observer suppose that but the final disap-

pointment in the result of an election

loss of reason

wanting

is

them one step farther

in order to lead

—

to the

?

I have paid

some attention

worthy of inquiry and from

to this subject, so

my

visits to

the in-

am

inclin-

sane hospitals in the United states, I

ed to believe that political disappointment very rarely the say,

from

seemed sanity,

to

is

cause of loss of reason.

my visits to these hospitals me that the view of the causes ;

now

sicians,

final

often adopted

I

for

it

of in-

among English phy-

and which ascribes the origin of

aliena-

tion to physical causes alone, is very frequently

to be found also

That

among American

physicians.

I cannot subscribe to this opinion,

from the remarks

I

appears

The me numerous and

have already made.

proofs to the contrary seem to

conclusive, if patient investigation,unbiassed

by

preconceived ideas, or a fondness for a system, or some general views, be given to the matter.

However, treatise.

I

am

not going to give you a medical

POLITICAL EXCITEMENT.

How much tical

25

the frequent recurrence of poli-

may gradually

excitement

many

dispose

in-

dividuals in this country, finally to fall victims to a disturbance of the

mental

faculties, I

had, of course, no opportunity to observe.

have But,

as I stated, I believe that the frequent changes in politics are not

pregnant with the same dis-

astrous consequences here as they have been in

Several

other countries, for instance, in France.

good reasons,

seems to me,

it

And

this difference.

first,

may be

given for

the very frequency of

elections neutralizes the injurious effect, which,

otherwise, the disappointment they necessarily

must bring

to

mind of many

one party, would have on the individuals.

To day

thrown out, a party vanquished,

— to

man

a

is

morrow

he goes to work again, and hopes for success Secondly, however great the

the next time.

excitement

may

the people

know very

appear, on paper or in words, well that their lives and

property are not in jeopardy

may come

party

ciples of the

in or

;

that whatever

go out, the broad prin-

whole system will be acted upon,

the general laws will be observed.

Should that

it

ever

come with us

to that point,

the monstrous idea should prevail,

VOL.

II.

c

that

—

POLITICAL EXCITEMENT,

26

liberty exists there only

do what they please

where the majority can

— while, on

the contrary,

the degree of existing liberty can justly be mea-

sured only by the degree of undoubted protection

in

which the minority enjoys, and the degree

which the sovereign, be he one or many, or

represented by the majority,

is

by

restricted,

fundamental laws, from acting on sudden im-

and impassioned caprices,

pulses

body of men should

it

to

which a

as subject as a single

is

man

ever come with us to this absolutism,

for absolutism

there where the representative

is

of sovereignty can act capriciously and uncontrolled

;

much

as

man's fickleness

as,

insane

hospital

the direful records of

according to Esquirol, the

French hospitals now this

our

indeed,

then,

would become

are.

Thirdly, there

is in

country no dishonour whatever connected

either with being turned out of office or being

vanquished at an defeated.

election.

It is

One party must be

no sJiame to be victorious,

the other tries to be so the next

time.

and

An

American, as the member of a party, may be defeated, he

is

never conquered.

Persecutions

do not take place; the successful party does not annihilate

its

opponents

— each

party con-

POLITICAL EXCITEMENT.

27

And,

tinues to have its meetings, papers, &c. as in those periods in

which many persons are

discharged from public places,

acknowledged that all

blemish which

an

office in

may be

attached to the loss of

public service, in countries where no

such changes occur, must vanish the

most openly

it is

politics alone is the reason,

country

offers

many

so

;

while, again,

of

opportunities

gaining one's livelihood, that, also, in this respect, a loss of office is not

France, where a is

gone, and

man

his

so ruinous as in

destroyed,

for ever

career

as soon as he is thi-own out of public

The frequency

ment.

prevents the higher

honour

often thinks his

of changes,

employlikewise,

from becoming the

offices

objects of so ardent an ambition as to affect seri-

ously the mental faculties of the disappointed candidate.

As

I

have touched upon

this subject, I

may

mention here an interesting case of alienation, with which I met in the Manhattanville hospital,

near

I refer,

a

New York. man

The individual to whom

apparently of the lower classes,

laboured under the very being a monarch. I think,

He

common

delusion of

called himself

emperor of the United

Henry

He

States.

c

2

I.,

was

ALIENATION OF MIND.

28

an ardent newspaper reader, and the interest of the case lay in the readiness with which his dis-

turbed mind assimilated whatever he read to his

presumed which

it

state of royalty,

and the rapidity with

invented causes of which what he read

appeared to him the consequences, precisely the same

way

as our mind,

and some pain

affects

when we

us,

often

in

are asleep, invents,

in

dreaming, various causes of which, according to the dream, this pain

is

the final effect, though,

in reality, it is the cause of the

The

patient read in

my

whole dream.

presence the news re-

lating to the election of the governor of his state,

and immediately showed me that and how he appointed him, turning, with great ingenuity, the various data of the election into items of his story, with a zeal

the

and earnestness, as

cares of government

shoulders.

if all

had rested on

So he showed me some

his

cents, which,

according to him, were medals coined on occasion

of some victories which

pointing out to allusions, the

me

he had gained,

a number of emblematic

images of which his diseased mind

undoubtedly perceived in that moment. In speaking of derangement, I remember a circumstance, which will not be without interest

ALIENATION OF MIND. though

to you,

The

this place.

physician of an establishment for the in-

sane, introduced care,

be irrelevant in

it

29

me

to a

gentleman under his

who betrayed no symptoms whatever of a

disturbed mind, yet his faculties were deranged.

He

held a book in his hand, which, he informed

me, he was perusing with great

was Dr. Spurzheim's work on praised cized

my

He

some

respects, in others he criti-

and when

I declared, on one occasion,

in

it

it,

It

interest.

insanity.

dissent from his opinion, he assured

me

that

he knew what he maintained from his own experience,

more

and never have

I heard any one speak

rationally on insanity than this deranged

man.

The

me, and

I

conversation became too painful to

wished to break

ceived the cause of

calmly to quiet

my

my

it

desire,

off,

apprehensions.

most eminent physicians

in

but he per-

and

tried

One

very of the

Philadelphia told

me, that he owns a copy of Dr. Rash's work on insanity, with notes

throughout by a deranged

man, who formerly was in the hospital of Philadelphia.

The

appalling frequency of alienation

mind, in some parts of our country,

owing

is

of

chiefly

to other causes, at least final causes, than

RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENT.

3f&

politics.

It is religious excitement, I believe,

together with a diseased anxiety to be equal to the wealthiest, the craving for wealth

and con-

sequent disappointment, which ruins the lect

of many.

But of

that

more anon.

intel-

31

LETTER

II.

— American activity— Floating companies — German emigrants— Nationality of the — Homesickness of the Swiss — Anecdote of a Danish soldier— Love

The grand canal

ot

Irish

actors

of people for their trade

—Love

of country

— The Germans

— Anecdote — German toys—Practical of the Americans — A — German and — American paper.

and French

mind

turtle

turn of

English

libraries

At

Schenectady you

canal boat

who has so.

;

I

may

take passage in a

would advise every

traveller,

Grand Canal, to do of the Mohawk, along which far as Rome, is in many parts

not yet seen the

The

valley

the canal goes as

very beautiful, and seen to

much

greater ad-

vantage from the canal boat than from a stage coach

;

and

it is

well worth the while to

acquainted with this great work

which the west of

this

union

is

become

—a clamp by

tightly fastened

NEW YORK CANAL.

32 to the east

and north

;

one of the great siphons

which equalizes prices and wages

our

stability of

this vast

in

country, and thus contributes not a

It

political existence.

in-

is,

monument which

deed, as yet, the greatest

the

little to

this

part of the world affords, of man's conquering

Yet, perhaps,

superiority over matter.

be outstripped by

which Pennsylvania

is

it

will

communication

the noble

leading over mountains

and through valleys westward to the Ohio, and which,

if finished, will

ness of

its

New York works

mony

;

—a

prove for ever the bold-

On

projector.

canal was the fact

which

the other hand, the

first

will

of these extensive

remain a great

in the history of civilization, in

the state which gave

it

birth.

testi-

favour of

shows Gothe's

It

good

sense, that the progress of this canal inter-

ested

him

so

much.

I will send you,

by the next opportunity, a

copy of the Laws of the State of

New York

in

Relation to the Erie and Champlain Canals, &c,,

Albany, 1825, where you official

will find, in detail,

history of these great works.

.

an

The study

of this undertaking has been a source of deep interest to

you.

me, and I doubt not

I shall

it

will

be so to

add Darby's View of the United

STATISTICS. which

States,

will give

view of

curate

you a much more

ac-

character

of

geological

the

33

these parts of the country, than an account of

mine could

afford

you

;

and as the natural

tures of the United States

as rapidly as the statistics, the

valuable when you receive tistics,

feel

book

it.

will

As

be

an author, I should almost think, would

low the example of the editors of the

fol-

New Hamp-

Laws, published by authority in 1830, who

thought

fit

to

put the following sagacious notice

" This

on the title-page of their collection. edition statutes

comprehends

now

all

the general and public

in force, ecccepting

an act passed

the 3rd day of January, 3829, entitled act establishing a for laying out is

still

to the sta-

tempted to say nothing about them, and

shire

fea-

do not change quite

'

An

board of road commissioners

and repairing highways,"* which

omitted under the expectation that

it

will be

repealed at the ensuing session of the Legislature."

For our

statistics

and every feature

imprinted upon the country by civilization are continually undergoing so rapid changes, that

what was true a year ago, may be antiquated to-day.

These immense canals send

branches into

c5

RAIL ROADS AND CANALS.

34

many

directions,

by which they are connected

with navigable rivers, lakes, and roads, nor this

is

Branch

system by any means completed.

canals and rail- roads are continually adding;

nay, rail-roads are building along the canal, as if

there

Thus

were no end

American

to

activity.

Albany company being

the building of a rail-road from

soon begin, the

to Utica, will

Could but a

already incorporated.

little

of this

quickness in practical perception, and boldness in

embarking

in the

engrafted upon

roughness,

But

it

it

most daring enterprises, be

German

steadiness

would produce

must be remembered, how

Germany would

aspect all

and tho-

fine fruits indeed.

different an

present, were

she

not chopped into pieces, and could enterprise as freely

work

this extensive

When

its

way

into all directions as in

and untrammelled country.

the canal was

first

opened, farmers,

whose property lay

close to this great blood-

vessel of the state,

had

their

own barges

to

carry their produce to advantageous markets;

but the navigation of passengers,

who

all

kinds, for goods and

required good accommodations,

became within a short time

so brisk, that pri-

vate navigation, if I can use this expression as

FLOATING LIBRARIES. company

contradistinguished to

35

navigation, soon

There are yet many proprietors of

ceased.

single barges, but they

navigation

;

make

no farmers, as

any longer boats for

their

a business of canal

I

own

understand, have use.

— You

i