They said their father used to tell them to read their Bible, do their duty, and learn their way to heaven, and this they wished to do. They were honest, straightforward good women, andladiesin their minds, though great curiosities to look at.
This walk, and our subsequent explorings in Grafton, occupied the whole forenoon, the temptation to pick the red leaves and shake the trees for hickory nuts being very great, and having greatly prolonged the time which our walk occupied. But the village itself, for it is no more, though, having a mayor, it calls itself a city, had great objects of interest, and is a curious instance of what a railwaywill do in America tomakea town; for it scarcely had any existence three years ago, and is now full of artificers and others employed in the railway works, all fully occupied, and earning excellent wages.
The people marry so early that the place was almost overflowing with children, who certainly bore evidence in their looks to the healthiness of the climate.
This being a slave state, there was a sprinkling of a black population; and among the slaves we were shocked by observing a little girl, with long red ringlets and a skin exquisitely fair, and yet of the proscribed race, which made the institution appear more revolting in our eyes than anything we have yet seen. The cook at the hotel was a noble-looking black, tall and well-made, and so famous for his skill at omelettes, that we begged him to give us a lesson on the subject, which he willingly did. I asked him if he were a slave, and he replied, making me a low bow, "No, ma'am, I belong to myself." The little red-haired girl was a slave of the mistress of the hotel.
We again linked ourselves on to a train which came up at about one o'clock, and at Benton's Ferry, about twenty miles from Grafton, we crossed theMonongahela, over a viaduct 650 feet long; the iron bridge, which consists of three arches of 200 feet span each, being the longest iron bridge in America. Though the water was not very deep, owing to a recent drought, it was curious to see the little stream of yesterday changed into an already considerable river, almost beating any we can boast of in England.
We now began to wind our way down the ravine called Buffalo Creek, which we passed at Fairmont, over a suspension bridge 1000 feet long. The road still continued very beautiful, and was so all the way to this place, Wheeling, which we reached at about six o'clock. The last eleven miles was up the banks of therealOhio, for the Monongahela, after we last left it, takes a long course northward, and after being joined at Pittsburg by the Alleghany, a river as large as itself, the two together there, form the Ohio. From Pittsburg to where we first saw it, it had come south more than 100 miles, and at Wheeling it is so broad and deep as to be covered with magnificent steamers; there were five in front of our hotel window, and most singular-looking they were, with their one huge wheel behind, scarcely touching the water, and their two tall funnels in front. They tower up to a great height, and arecertainly the most splendid-looking steamers we ever saw.
We here left our valued friend Mr. Tyson, who after calling on us at the hotel in the evening, was to return at ten o'clock to Baltimore. We certainly never enjoyed a journey more. He is the most entertaining man you can imagine, full of anecdotes and good stories; and, as we have said before, with such a marvellous memory, that he could repeat whole passages of poetry by heart. His knowledge too of botany was delightful, for there was not a plant or weed we passed of which he could not only tell the botanical and common name, but its history and use. He has travelled much, having been employed in mining business in the Brazils. He has also been in the West Indies, in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and on the Continent of Europe.
We had a pleasing variety in occasional visitors to the car; for not only the work-people on the road, as I have said, got up behind to speak to Mr. Tyson, and were always received by him in the most friendly manner, being men of high calibre in point of intelligence, but we had at different times a Dr. Orr, a physician and director of the railway, who was on the engine with us to set our bones, if papa had capsized us and the doctor had escaped;also a Dr. Gerbard, a German surgeon, with a scar on his cheek from a duel at college in his youth. Dr. Orr was accompanied by a lady, with whom I conversed a good deal, and found she was the owner of many slaves; but I must write you a chapter on slavery another time. All the last day of our journey from Grafton to Wheeling, was through Virginia, and the rural population were chiefly slaves. The two doctors I have mentioned were our visitors yesterday. To-day, we had throughout with us Mr. Rennie (Mr. Tyson's assistant), and also Major Barry, an agent of the Company, and an officer in the United States service, who in the last Indian war captured with his own hand, Black Hawk, the great Indian Chief, in Illinois. He is an Irishman by birth, and had been in our service at the battle of Waterloo, but he left the British army, and entered the United States service in 1818. He was very intelligent and agreeable. Our last visitor was Colonel Moore, also an agent of the company; a most gentleman-like man. This will show you what a superior set of men are employed on American railways.
Among the men who spoke to us as we stood on our balcony, was a delightful character, a nigger.I heard Mr. Tyson look over and say, "Jerry, why did you not tell me you were going to get married?" Up came Jerry, looking the very picture of a happy bridegroom, having been married the evening before to a dark widow considerably older than himself. He was quite a "get up" in his dress, with boots of a glistening blackness. He answered, "I sent you an invitation, Mr. Tyson, and left it at your office." He was nothing daunted by his interesting position in life, and had a week's holiday in honour of the event. He was, to use his own expression, a "'sponsible nigger," though he was actually only cleaner up, and carpet sweeper in the office, negroes never being allowed to have any charge in the working of the line, or a more "'sponsible" station than that connected with the office work, though in that they are often confidentially employed in carrying money to the bank, &c.
Columbus, Friday 22nd.—It began to rain last night, and continued to pour to-day till ten o'clock, so that we had no opportunity of seeing much of the town of Wheeling, but our rooms looked on to the Ohio, and were within a stone's throw of it. Another great steamer had come up in the night, so there weresixnow lying in front of the windows, looking like so many line-of-battle ships.
We found that Jerry and his lady slept at our hotel, and I sent for them next morning to speak to us. She was smartly dressed in a dark silk, with a richly embroidered collar and pocket handkerchief, which she carefully displayed, and a large brooch. He wore a turn-down collar to his shirt, of the most fashionable cut; the shirt itself had a pale blue pattern on it, and a diamond (?) shirt pin, the shirt having a frillen jabot. His face was shining and glistening with cleanliness and happiness, and she looked up to him as if she were very proud of her young husband. He said he was very happy, and I complimented her on her dress, and asked her if she had bought much for the occasion, and she admitted that she had. I asked her where they went to church (all niggers are great worshippers somewhere, and generally are Methodists); and he said he went to the "Methodist Church," that his wife was a member, and I encouraged him to continue going regularly. He said he had married her for the purpose of doing so, and evidently looked up to her as a teacher in these matters. They said they could both read printed characters, but not writing, and that they read their Bibles. I asked him if there were any other cars on the line like Mr. Tyson's, and he said, "Yes, several,miss." "Are they handsomer than his?" "Some are, they are all different in their fancy principle." He told us, of his own accord, that they had both been slaves. He bought his freedom for five hundred dollars. They both had been kindly treated as slaves, but he said, not only the hickory stick, but the "raw hide," was frequently used by unkind masters and mistresses; and, on my asking him whether slaves had any redress in such cases, he said their free friends may try to get some redress for them, but it does no good. This washistestimony on the subject, and I shall give you the testimony of every one as I gather it for you to put together, that you may be able to form your own deductions. Mr. Tyson had told us theyhadredress, though he is an enemy to the "institution" of slavery, as it is here called, but still maintains, what is no doubt the case, that they are oftener much happier in America than the free negro. Indeed he told us a well-treated slave will look down on a freeman, and say, "Ah! yes, he's only some poor free trash. He's a poor white free trash." It was curious to notice Jerry's sayings, only some of which I can remember. Mr. Tyson looked down the line from the balcony yesterday, and said, to Jerry, who had got out of a passenger carfor a minute, "Jerry, do you see the train coming?" "Yes, sir; it blowed right up there;" meaning it had whistled. I will write to you more at large ere long about slavery, when I have not topics pressing on time and pen.
We left our hotel this morning at eight o'clock, and even in the omnibus noticed the improved and very intelligent appearance of the men. They answered us quickly, cheerfully, and to the purpose; many wore large picturesque felt hats of various forms. It is true that, on starting, we were still in Virginia, of which Wheeling is one of the largest towns; but the bulk of our fellow-passengers were evidently from the West; they are chiefly descendants of the New Englanders, and partake of their character, with the exception of the nasal twang, which is worse in New England than anywhere else in America, and we are now losing the sound of it. The omnibus made a grand circuit of the town to pick up passengers, and thus gave us the only opportunity we had of seeing something of it. It rained in torrents, and this probably made it look more dismal than usual, but it certainly is much less picturesque and more English-looking than any town we have yet seen. The coal and iron, which constitute its chief trade, give it a very dirty appearance; butits natural situation, stretching along the banks of the Ohio, which are here very high on both sides, is very beautiful. The omnibus at last crossed the river by a very fine suspension bridge, and, having left the slave states behind us, we found ourselves in the free State of Ohio.
On the opposite side of the river we entered the cars of the Ohio Central Railroad, but alas! we had no Mr. Tyson, and no sofas or tables or balconies, and were again simple members of the public, destined to enjoy all the tortures of the common cars. These however were in first-rate style, with velvet seats, and prettily painted, with brilliant white panelled ceilings; and we here fell in again, to my no small comfort, with the venders of fruit and literature, or "pedlaring," as it is called, which forms a pleasant break in the tedium of a long journey. I have been often told the reverse, but the literature sold in this way is, as far as we have seen, rather creditable than otherwise to the country, being generally of an instructive and useful character. Many works published quite recently in England, could be bought either in the cars or at the stores; and some of the better class of English novels are reprinted in America, and sold at the rate of two or three shillings a volume. The daily newspapers, sold on therailways, are numerous; but these, with very few exceptions, are quite unworthy of the country. In general there are no articles worth reading, for they are filled with foolish and trashy anecdotes, written, apparently, by penny-a-liners of the lowest order of ability. The magazines, and some of the weekly illustrated papers, are a degree better, but a great deal of the wit in these is reproduced from "Punch."
The first eighty-two miles to Zanesville were through a pretty and hilly country. The hills were as usual covered with woods of every hue, so that though the scenery was inferior to what we had been passing through for the last few days, it was still very beautiful. Zanesville, which is a considerable town, is situated on the Muskingham river. This fine broad stream must add considerably to the waters of the Ohio, into which it falls soon after leaving Zanesville.
At Zanesville, after partaking of an excellent dinner, we were joined by an intelligent woman, returning home, with her little baby of ten weeks old, from a visit she had just been making to her mother. Her own home is in Missouri, and her husband being the owner of a farm of 500 acres, she was able to give us a good deal of information about the state ofagriculture in the Far West. I learnt much from her on various subjects, and was much surprised at the quick sharp answers she gave to all my questions. She was well dressed, something in the style of the English lady's maid, was evidently well to do, and was travelling night and day with her merry little baby. She possesses one slave of fourteen, for whom she gave four hundred dollars, whom she has had from infancy; she brings her up as her own, and this black girl is now taking care of her other children in her absence. I asked, "What do the slaves eat?" "Everything: corn-bread, that's the most." Papa said, "It is a great shame making Missouri a slave state."
Woman."Ah yes; keeps it back."
Self."Have you good health?"—many parts being said to be unhealthy.
Woman.A quick nod. "First-rate."
Self."Did your mother give you the hickory stick?"
Woman."No: the switch:—raised me on the rod of correction."
Self."Had your husband the farm before you married?"
Woman."His father had 'entered it,' and he gave my husband money, and my mother gave memoney, and then we married and 'entered it' ourselves."
All these answers came out with the utmost quickness and intelligence. She is an Irish Roman Catholic, her mother having brought her as a baby from Ireland, her husband is also Irish; but they are now Americans of the Far West in their manner and singular intelligence, beating even the clever Irish in this respect.
I said: "Do you pray much to the Virgin Mary in your part of America?"
Woman."No: don't notice her much."
Self."I am glad of that."
Woman."We respect her as the mother of God."
She said the corn on the road-side we were then passing was far inferior to western produce, that it ought to be much taller, and that if it were so, the ear would be much larger and fuller. Our English wheat is never called corn, but simply wheat; and the other varieties oats, rye, &c., are called by their different names, but the generic termcorn, in America, always means Indian corn. It is necessary to know this in order to prevent confusion in conversation. This woman's name was MargaretM.; she was twenty-seven years of age, but looked younger; her husband, James M., was thirty-six.
I asked her whether he was tall or short. "Oh tall, of course. I wouldn't have had a poor short man." So we looked at papa, and laughed, and said our tastes were the same. She was a most agreeable companion. She noticed that I was reading a novel by the author of "John Halifax," which I had bought, the whole three volumes, for 1s.6d., and said, "Ah! that's the sort of reading I like. That's a novel; but my priest tells me not to read that kind, that it fills me with silly thoughts; but to read something to make me more intelligent." I thought there seemed no deficiency in this respect, but agreed that the advice was good, and said that I had bought this for cheapness, and for being portable, it being in the pamphlet form; and that I was so interrupted with looking at the lovely scenery when travelling, that I could not take in anything deeper.
We wished each other good bye, and she wished me a happy meeting again with our children. And now papa says this must be closed, and it certainly has attained to no mean length, so I will not begin another sheet, and hope you will not be wearied with this long chapter.
FOOTNOTE:[7]These photographs cannot be reproduced here, which I regret, as they were very well done.
[7]These photographs cannot be reproduced here, which I regret, as they were very well done.
[7]These photographs cannot be reproduced here, which I regret, as they were very well done.
JOURNEY FROM WHEELING TO COLUMBUS.— FIRE IN THE MOUNTAINS.— MR. TYSON'S STORIES.— COLUMBUS.— PENITENTIARY.— CAPITOL.— GOVERNOR CHASE.— CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.— ARRIVAL AT CINCINNATI.
JOURNEY FROM WHEELING TO COLUMBUS.— FIRE IN THE MOUNTAINS.— MR. TYSON'S STORIES.— COLUMBUS.— PENITENTIARY.— CAPITOL.— GOVERNOR CHASE.— CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.— ARRIVAL AT CINCINNATI.
Columbus, Oct. 23rd, 1858.
The letter which I sent you from this place this morning will have told you of our arrival here, but it was closed in such haste that I omitted many things which I ought to have mentioned. It, moreover, carried us only to Zanesville, and I ought to have told you that the view continued very pretty all the way to this place, and the day having cleared up at noon, we had a brilliant evening to explore this town.
Before describing Columbus, however, I shall go back to some omissions of a still older date; for I ought to have told you of a grand sight we saw the day we passed the Alleghany Ridge. On the preceding evening Mr. Tyson received a telegraphic message to say that an extensive fire was raging in the forest; it is supposed to have been caused by some people shooting in the woods. It must have been agrand sight to the passengers by the train from which we had separated, and which went on during the night through the scene of the conflagration, for the fire was much more extensive than those which are constantly taking place, and which are passed by unheeded,—unhonoured with a telegraphic notice. When we passed by the place next morning it was still burning vigorously, but the daylight rendered the flames almost imperceptible. It was curious, however, to see the volumes of smoke, which we first perceived in a hollow. The fire was then travelling down the side of the mountain; and long after we passed the immediate spot we saw the fire winding about the mountains, spreading greatly, in the direction of the wind and making its way even against it, though it was blowing with considerable violence. The people in the neighbourhood were busily employed in trying to save their hayricks from destruction. Mr. Tyson said they would probably succeed in this, though the whole of the forest was likely to be burnt, as the fire would wind about among the mountains and pass from one to another for perhaps two months, unless a heavy rain put it out. This we hope has been the case, as it poured in torrents all the following night when we were at Wheeling.
Another circumstance we ought to have mentioned was our passing through a very long tunnel, called the Board Tree Tunnel, about 340 miles from Baltimore. This tunnel, after having fallen in, has only been repaired within the last two months. The history of this catastrophe, and of the mode of remedying it, forms quite an incident in the history of the railway, and shows with what resolution difficulties in this country are overcome. To reopen the tunnel it was clear would be a work of time, so Mr. Tyson resolved to run a new temporary railway for three miles over the mountain which had been tunnelled, and this was accomplished by 3000 men in ten days. We saw the place where this road had passed, and the zig-zag line by which the mountain was crossed. The road seems positively to overhang the precipice, and reminded me of a mountain pass in Switzerland—as, indeed, the whole of the road here does. Mr. Tyson himself drove the first train over, and he said his heart was in his mouth when, having got to the top, he saw the descent before him, and the engine and train on a precipice where the leastcontretempswould have plunged the whole into the abyss below; but happily all went right, and till within the last two months this temporary road has been used.It was really quite frightful to look up and think a train could pass over such a place, the grade being 420 feet in a mile, or 1 in 12½; but you will one day be able to form some idea of it, as a photograph was taken, and Mr. Tyson will give us a copy of it. This is certainly a wonderful country for great enterprises, and the Pennsylvania Central Railway, by which we contemplate recrossing the Alleghanies, is in some respects a still more remarkable undertaking, though the height at which the mountains are crossed on that line is not so great as that on the Baltimore and Ohio line, which, as I told you in my last, is at an elevation of 2700 feet. It was long supposed that such a feat could not be surpassed, but Mr. Tyson says that, encouraged by this, a railway now crosses the Tyrolean Alps at a somewhat higher level.
To return, however, to the Board Tree Tunnel: Mr. Tyson told us that the difficulty of restoring it to a safe condition was so great as almost to dishearten him till he had arched it completely over from one end to the other with solid stone masonry, which has rendered the recurrence of the accident impossible; but the disheartening circumstance, while the work was in progress, was the danger to which the men employed in the work were exposed, from the constant falling in of the roof. During its progress no less than forty-five men were killed, and about 400 severely wounded. They were chiefly Roman Catholics, and were it not for the encouragement given by an energetic Roman Catholic priest, he hardly thinks the men would have continued the work. The doctor, too, who attended the wounded, and whom we saw at breakfast at Grafton, was also most devoted to them. It was quite touching to hear the tender-hearted way in which Mr. Tyson spoke of the poor sufferers, for he was constantly there, and often saw them go in to almost certain death. He mentioned one poor widow to whom he had just sent three hundred dollars as a gift from the railway.
Before leaving the subject of Mr. Tyson, I must tell you one or two of his good stories. I had been telling him of the negro meeting, which I described to you in my last. In it I told you how the negroes had cried out "glory! glory!" from which it appears it is almost impossible that they can refrain. In corroboration of this he told us of a nigger woman who was sold from a Baptist to a Presbyterian family. In general slaves adopt, at once, the habits and doctrines of their new owners; but this poor woman could not restrain herself, and greatly disturbed the Presbyterian congregation, by shouting out"glory! glory!" in the middle of the service. Next morning the minister sent for her and rebuked her for this unseemly interruption of his sermon; but she said doggedly, "Can't help it, sir; I'm all full of glory; must shout it out." Many of his amusing stories were about Irish labourers employed on the road. One of these, whose duty it was to show a light at the station as the train passed, failed one night to do so, and was seen asleep. The man who drove the engine threw a cinder at him as he passed, to awake him; but, instead of hitting him, the cinder broke his lamp glass. All this was told to Mr. Tyson, and also that the man was very angry at his lamp being broken. When Mr. T. went down the line next day, he stopped to lecture him, and the following colloquy ensued:—
Mr. Tyson."Well, your lamp was broke, I hear, yesterday."
Irishman."O, yes sir;" (terrified out of his life at the scolding he feared was coming, for he saw that Mr. Tyson knew all about it;) "but I forgive the blackguards intirely, sir, Iquiteforgive them."
Mr. T. kept his counsel, said nothing more, and the lamp has never failed since; but half the merit of this story depended on Mr. Tyson's way of telling it. He was deliciously graphic also, and fullof witty sayings of his own. When, for example, I showed him my photograph of your little brother, he exclaimed, "Well, heisa fine fellow;hedon't mind if corn is five dollars a bushel." I think you will all appreciate this as a perfect description of the unconcern of a healthy intelligent-looking child, unconscious of the anxieties of those about him; but I must reserve his other good sayings and stories till we meet.
To-day we have been most busily employed, for Mr. Garrett, our railway friend at Baltimore, not only did us the good service of sending us by the car under Mr. Tyson's auspices, but gave us letters of introduction both to this place and to Cincinnati; and his letters here to Mr. Neil and Mr. Dennison have been of great use to us, as one or the other of them has been in attendance upon us since 11 o'clock this morning, together with a very pleasing person, a widow, niece of Mr. Neil, and they have shown us the town in first-rate style.
Columbus is built on the banks of the Sciota, about 90 miles from the point where it falls into the Ohio. It is the capital of the State, and its streets, like those of Washington, have been laid out with a view to its becoming one day a town of importance; but as the preparations for this,though on a considerable scale, are not so great as at Washington, the non-completion of the plan in its full extent produces no disagreeable effect. In fact, the streets where finished are completely so, and the unfinished parts consist of an extension of these, in the shape of long avenues of trees. In the principal streets the houses are not continuous, but in detached villas, and, judging by the one in which Mr. Neil lives, appear to be very comfortable residences. He and his niece called upon us yesterday evening, and, although he is an elderly gentleman, he was here by appointment this morning at half-past 8, and took papa to call on Mr. Dennison, when they arranged together the programme for the day.
At 11 o'clock Mr. Dennison called, and took us to the Penitentiary, where nearly 700 prisoners are confined. I think he said 695, although it will hold the full number of 700 if need be. For the credit of the sex, I must say that only ten out of the whole are females. These ten are lodged each in a small room, for it can scarcely be called a cell, very well furnished, and opening into a large sitting-room, of which they all have the unrestrained use, although the presence of a matron puts a restraint on their tongues. They were employed in needlework. The cells of the men are arranged in tiers,and are certainly very different looking habitations to those of the women, and greatly inferior in size and airiness to the cells at Philadelphia, where, in addition to the grating in front of the cell, there was a door behind leading into a small enclosure or court. Here the only opening in the cell is by a door into a long gallery, and the cells were much smaller than either at Philadelphia or at Kingston; but the prisoners only inhabit these cells at night, the solitary system not being adopted or approved of here.
The silent system, however, is practised here as at Kingston, and the prisoners are employed in large workshops, chiefly in making agricultural instruments, hoops for casks, saddles, carpenters' tools, and even rocking horses and toys, which must be rather heart-breaking work for those who have children. The men have certain tasks allotted them, and when the day's work is done, may devote the rest of their time to working on their own account, which most of them do; the chief warden told us that he had lately paid a man, on his leaving the prison, a hundred and twenty-five dollars for extra work done in this way. The warden told us that the men, when discharged, were always strongly urged to return to their own homes instead of seeking to retrieve theircharacters elsewhere, and that their doing so was generally attended with a better result than when they went to a new place and had no check on their proceedings. This does away with the chief argument of our quaker friend at Philadelphia, in favour of the solitary system, which was, that the prisoner's return to his friends became more easy, when none of them knew that he had been in prison, of which they could not well be ignorant if he had mixed with other prisoners in a public jail. It must be borne in mind, however, that the great demand in this country for work renders it much more easy for a person so circumstanced to obtain employment, even with a damaged character, than in England, where our ticket-of-leave men find this almost impossible. There is also, we are told, a kinder feeling towards prisoners here on their leaving the jail than in England, and this saves them from the want and consequent temptation to which our English ticket-of-leave men are exposed; the result is that a much less proportion of those released in America are re-committed for new offences.
We visited the workshops, and afterwards went into a large court to see the men defile in gangs, and march into their dining hall, in which we afterwards saw them assembled at dinner, and a capital savourydinner it seemed to be. They have as much bread as they choose to eat, and meat twice a day; their drink is water, except when the doctor orders it otherwise. There are chaplains, called here Moral Instructors, who visit them and perform the service in the chapel, and evening schools are provided, at which the chaplains attend to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. A library of books of general information is provided for the prisoner's use, and to each a Bible is given, and they are allowed to buy sound and useful books. They have each a gas lamp in their cell, which enables them to read there when their work is done, and they are allowed to see their friends in the presence of an officer. Sixty of the prisoners were Negroes, which is a large proportion when compared with the total numbers of the white and black population, especially as the blacks are often let off, owing to the leniency of the committing magistrates who have compassion on their inferior intelligence; and it is owing, it is said, to a like leniency that there are so few females, though certainly not for the same reason. There are a large number of Irish in the prison.
Our next visit, still under Mr. Dennison's escort, was to the Capitol or State House, a very fine building of white limestone. The façade is more than300 feet long, and the height nearly 160 feet to the top of the dome. This however has not yet been completed. The architecture is Grecian. Here, as at Washington, are Halls for the Senate and House of Representatives, in equally good taste and somewhat similarly arranged. Mr. Dennison, who had once been a member of the Senate, was repudiating the accounts so commonly given of the behaviour of the senators, when Mr. Niel came in, and over-hearing what he was saying, begged to remark that when they "went to work" they usually divested themselves of their coats without substituting any senatorial garment in its place; and putting his legs on the desk before the chair, he declared that such was the usual posture in which they listened to the oratory of the place.[8]
We afterwards went through the apartments appropriated to the Treasurer and Auditor of the State, the two chief officers of the Government, which are very capacious and well fitted up—and wewere specially introduced to both these functionaries; Mr. Neil, who is somewhat of a wag, was rather jocose with them, and high as their position here is, they very cordially retaliated on him. We next went to those appropriated to the Governor of the State, General Chase, in order that we might be introduced to him, but he was out, which we regretted. He is a candidate to succeed Mr. Buchanan as President. The remainder of the building was occupied by numerous committee-rooms, by the courts of law, the judges' apartments, a law library, and a beautiful room intended for a general library, but in which the collection of books at present is very small. On the whole the building and its contents are very creditable to this, the largest and wealthiest of the States in the West, considering that forty years ago the country here was a wild forest region where no tree had been cut down.
25th October.—We have seen Columbus well, and it has much to attract attention. On Saturday we went from the Capitol to the Lunatic Asylum, but excepting in its being more pleasingly arranged than the one at Utica, there was nothing very striking in its appearance. The galleries in which the patients were walking were prettily decorated with flowers cut out in paper, giving it a verygay appearance; and when the patients become desponding, they have a dance in the great hall, to revive them. The matron who went round with us said that the men and women conduct themselves on these occasions with perfect propriety. The men and women are otherwise so entirely separated in this Asylum that papa went round to the men's wards with the doctor, while I was taken round by the matron to those appropriated to the women. We thought it a pleasant, cheerful-looking place, considering the melancholy object to which it is devoted.
The next sight we saw was, the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb: being Saturday, we could not see the mode of tuition, but we have gone through it this morning, and yesterday we attended the afternoon service there, so that in our three visits we have been able to form a pretty good idea of the system carried out. They have an alphabet by which they can spell words, which they do by using one hand only. They speak thus with considerable rapidity, but this method is confined almost entirely to express proper names and words of uncommon use, as the whole conversation is carried on in general by signs, and it was most beautiful to see the graceful manner in which the matron spoke to them.As this system of signs does not represent words, butthingsandideas, it has the great advantage of being universally understood when taught, and as the same system is adopted in several countries of Europe, in Norway and Sweden for example, a Norwegian and American child can converse easily together without either knowing a syllable of the other's language. It seems quite as rapid as talking.
We were present at the afternoon sermon, which lasted about half an hour, the subject being that of Simeon in the Temple, and except to express Simeon's name, there was no use at all made of the fingers. Dr. Stone, the principal, had preached in the morning on the subject of Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and when we went, the children were being examined on the subject of this lecture. Wesawa number of questions asked, but in this case the words were spelled in order that Dr. Stone, who was teaching them, might be satisfied that they understood the full meaning of the question in its grammatical sense, as well as its general signification, and the answers were all written down on large black boards. They wrote with prodigious rapidity in large distinct writing—and the answers, which were all different and showed they were not got up by rote, were in most cases very good.This was being done by the eldest class, and some of the elder boys and girls seemed full of intelligence. We saw minutely only what was going on in this and in the youngest class, which was no less remarkable, considering that some of the children had not been more than two or three months in the Asylum, and when they came there had no idea of either reading or writing.
When I say the youngest class, it is not with reference to the age of the pupils, but to the recent period of their admission, for some of them were as old in years as in the first class, while others were very young; one of them, a very pretty little Jewish girl with sparkling intelligent eyes, was indeed a mere child. We had on Sunday seen this little girl being taught her lesson, which consisted of the simple words, "I must be kind," and it was very pretty to see the way in which the notion of kindness was conveyed by signs. This morning she was writing this on the slate, and she afterwards wrote in a very neat handwriting a number of short words—cat, dog, horse, &c.—which were dictated to her by signs which were of so simple a nature that we could understand many of them; a goat, for example, was represented by the fingers being stuck on each side of the head ashorns, and then by the man drawing his hand down from his chin to indicate the beard. They thus became acquainted by signs with almost every object in the first instance, and are led on by degrees to complex ideas of every kind. Dr. Stone says that the use of signs is known in England, but he believes is never practised to any extent, and certainly not in giving religious instruction. No attempt is made here, as in England, to teach them to articulate, as he considered the attempt to do this to be a great mistake, it being a painful effort to the child, which never leads to any good practical result. In some cases where deafness has been accidentally brought on after children have learned to speak, it is then as far as possible kept up; but even then the effort, as we saw, was very painful.
Our next visit was to the Blind Institution, but here there was nothing very remarkable, though owing to the children not being in school we saw the Institution very imperfectly. Raised characters are used here, as I believe everywhere else; one little girl who was called up read and pronounced very well; we also heard some of them sing and play for a considerable time. The bulk of the children, or rather young people, for they keep them here till they are one or two and twenty, werewalking about the gardens invariably in pairs, which seems an excellent preservative against accidents: this they do of their own accord.
We next went to the Idiot Asylum, but the children being, as usual on Saturday, out of doors, we merely took a general look at the place, and returned there this morning to see the system pursued for them more in detail. Dr. Patterson, the superintendent, is a man of wonderful energy; and two young women and a matron, the two young teachers especially, must be exemplary characters, for they appear to devote themselves to their work with an energy and kindness which is perfectly marvellous, considering the apparently hopeless task they are engaged in. However, when taken young, from six to seven years of age, the capabilities of these poor children for improvement seem in general great, unless the infirmity is occasioned by epileptic fits, when the cure is considered almost hopeless. We were entertained by a story told by Dr. Patterson of a boy brought to him by the Mayor of C., who told him it was a bad case, but that he would be satisfied if he could fit him to be a missionary. Dr. P. replied that he could not answer for that, but that he could at all events fit him to be Mayor of C.
The great means resorted to for improvement is constant occupation, changed every quarter of an hour through out the day. By this means their physical power at night is nearly exhausted, and they invariably sleep well; where no greater improvement is arrived at, they can in all cases gain cleanly habits, and get entirely rid of that repulsive appearance which an idiot left to himself is almost sure at last to acquire. Active exercises are what they resort to in the first instance; they have a large school-room fitted up with ladders and gymnastic apparatus of all kinds. We saw little boys, who shortly before were scarcely able to stand alone, climbing places which made me tremble for their safety, but it was curious to observe with what caution they did it.
When we entered the room the youngest class were all standing round a piano, at which one of the teachers was playing, whilst she and the other teacher were leading them on in singing a cheerful song, and it was really quite touching to hear and see them; they sang very fairly, not worse than children usually do at that age. After a quarter of an hour of this they went through their Calisthenic exercises, marching in perfect time, clapping their hands, and going through differentgestures with great accuracy, and these poor children a very few months ago had hardly any control over their actions.
Another thing taught is, to distinguish colour and form—for which purpose they have cards cut out into circles, squares, and octagons—and other marked shapes, of every variety and shade of colour. Five or six of these of different sorts were spread on the table, and a large unsorted pack was placed before a little boy five or six years old, and it was quite interesting to see him proceed to sort them by placing each one on the top of the counterpart which had been placed at first on the table. As there were many more kinds in the pack than those spread out on the table, when he came to a new one he first placed it in contact with the others to see if it suited, and after going round them all and seeing that none were the same, he appeared puzzled, and at last set it down in a place by itself. Although there was a certain degree of vacancy in the expression of the child, it seemed quite to brighten up at each successive step, and the occupation was evidently a source of considerable enjoyment to him. This little fellow had been a very short time in the Asylum, and when admitted had not the slightest idea of form, colour, or size.
Another mode adopted is, to take little blocks of wood of different sizes and forms, which the child is required to fit into corresponding holes cut out in a board. All this is for the least advanced pupils. They learn afterwards to read and write, and some of the very little ones traced lines upon a board as well as most children could do with all their senses about them. The elder ones could write short words and read easy books; they are taught to read by having short words like cow, dog, ox, printed on cards, and are then shown by a picture what the words represent, and they are not taught their letters or to spell words till they begin to learn to write; the elementary books therefore consist chiefly of words representing ideas quite independently of the letters of which the words are formed. Many, however, can never fully obtain the power of speech, and that without any physical defect in their organs, and without the accompaniment of deafness, for they hear perfectly. In these instances to teach them to speak is very difficult, and sometimes hopeless. The poor little boy whom we saw sorting his cards, was one of those cases in which no articulate sound had ever been uttered, or could be produced by any teaching. At the same time the development of his head, and that of many others,was almost perfect and quite a beau ideal of what a head should be.
I forgot in speaking of the deaf and dumb to mention that their crying and laughter were quite like those of other children, and it appears to be the same with the idiots, even though they cannot speak. There was among the idiots one boy in irons to support his legs, which were otherwise quite without power, and he seemed under this treatment to be rapidly improving. They all have meat twice a day, and great care is taken to feed them generously. The only other sight in Columbus is the Medical College, which, however, we had no time to go over. We must, however, except the Governor's house, not forgetting its inmates, Governor Chase himself, and his interesting daughter. We had been introduced to the Governor by Mr. Dennison, after missing him on Saturday at the Capitol, and he most kindly asked us to drink tea and spend the evening with him, apologising for time not permitting his daughter to call upon us. He is Governor of the State of Ohio, an office that is held for two years. He is a first-rate man in talent and character,—a strong abolitionist, and a thorough gentleman in his appearance—showing that the active and adventurous habits of his nationare quite consistent with the highest polish and refinement. He is deeply involved in the politics of his country, and, as I said before, is a candidate for the next presidentship. His strong views on the question of slavery will probably be a bar to his success, but unfortunately another hindrance may be that very high social character for which he is so remarkable. To judge at least by the treatment of such men as Henry Clay, and others of his stamp, it would appear as if real merit were a hindrance rather than a help to the attainment of the highest offices in America.[9]
The Governor's house looked externally something like an English rectory standing in a little garden, and we were at first shown into a small sitting-room. It seems the fashion all over America, as it is abroad, to leave the space open in the middle of the room, and the chairs and sofas arranged round the walls, but there is always a good carpet of lively colours or a matting in summer, and not the bare floor so constantly seen in France and Germany. The littlegathering consisted of the Governor, his two daughters (his only children), his niece, and his sister, Mr. Dennison, and Mr. Barnay, a clever New York lawyer, with whom we had crossed the Atlantic. But if the Governor recommended himself to us as a gentleman, what am I to say of his daughter? Papa has gone out and has left her description to me, whereas he could give a much more lively one, as he at once lost his heart to her. Her figure is tall and slight, but at the same time beautifully rounded; her neck long and graceful, with a sweet pretty brunette face. I seldom have seen such lovely eyes and dark eyelashes; she has rich dark hair in great profusion, but her style and dress were of the utmost simplicity and grace, and I almost forgave papa for at once falling in love with her. Her father has been three times a widower, though not older-looking than papa, and with good reason he worships his daughter. She has been at the head of her father's house for the last six months, and thenaïveimportance she attached to her office gave an additional attraction to her manners. While we sat talking in the little room the Governor handed me a white and red rose as being the last of the season. He had placed them ready for me in a glass, and I have dried them as a memorial of that pleasant evening. We soon wentinto the dining-room, where tea and coffee were laid out on a light oak table, with an excellentcompôteof apples, a silver basket full of sweet cakes, of which the Americans are very fond: bread—alas! always cut in slices whether at the hotels or in private, fresh butter,—an improvement on the usual salt butter of the country, and served, as it generally is, in silver perforated dishes to allow of the water from the ice to drain through, and a large tureen of cream toast. This is also a common dish, being simply slices of toast soaked in milk or cream and served hot. It often appears at the hotels, but there it is milk toast, and is not so good. I thought the cream toast excellent, and a great improvement on our bread and milk in England, but papa did not like it. The Governor and his fair daughter presided at the table, the Governor first saying grace very reverently, and we had a very pleasant repast.
After this we were conducted to the drawing-room. Such abijouof a room! The size was about twenty feet by eighteen, and the walls and ceiling, including doors, window-frames, and shutters—there were no curtains, might have been all made of the purest white china. It is a most peculiar and desirable varnish which is used on their wood-work thatgives this effect. Mr. Tyson told us that it is made of Canada balsam, and that it comes therefore from our own territory, so that it is very stupid of Cubitt and others not to make use of it. The effect is like what the white wood-work of our drawing-room was when it was first finished, and you may imagine the appearance of the whole room being done with this fine white polish everywhere. We see it in all the hotels and railway carriages, so that it cannot be expensive. The windows were pointed, and the shutters were made to slide into the walls. They were shut on that evening, and were made, as they often are, with a small piece of Venetian blind-work let into them, also painted white. If we had called in the morning we should probably have found the room in nearly total darkness, as we found to be the case at Mr. Neil's, for the dear Americans seem too much afraid of their sun. There was a white marble table in the centre of this drawing-room, and the room was well lighted with gas. The only ornament was a most lovely ideal head in marble by Power, the sculptor of the Greek slave. The simplicity and beauty of the room could not be surpassed, and we spent a most interesting evening.
The father and daughter we found to be full of intelligence and knowledge of our best authors,though neither of them has ever been in England. Miss Chase is much interested in a new conservatory, took me over it, and gave me several very pretty things to dry. I shall endeavour to get cuttings or seeds of them. I was generous enough to allow papa afterwards to go over the conservatory alone with her. She is longing to come and see England, but her father is too busy at present to leave the country. She expressed such sorrow not to know more of us, that we promised to call this morning after our "asylum" work was done, when she showed us over the house, which is very pretty, and nicely arranged throughout.
I think I have nothing more to say of Columbus, except that we heard two sermons andsawone on Sunday; for, besides the morning sermon at the Episcopal Church, and thesignone to the deaf and dumb, we looked in at another where a negro was preaching to his fellow niggers with great energy and life; but the ladies were quiet, and restrained their agonies and their "glory."
Cincinnati, Oct. 27th.—We left Columbus at forty minutes past twelve yesterday. Mr. Dennison and Mr. Neil's son met us at the station, and Mr. Neil gave me some dried red leaves he had promised me, which have kept their colour tolerably well. Mr. D. is presidentof the railroad on which we were about to travel, and wished to give us free tickets to this place, but papa declined with many thanks. Papa has no sort of claim or connection with this railway, and I only mention the circumstance to show the extreme kindness and liberality of these gentlemen, who knew nothing of us, and probably had never heard our names until they had received letters of introduction about us from others, who were themselves equally strangers to us a few days ago. They introduced us to the freight agent of the Ohio and Mississippi Railway, who travelled with us, as did also a clever handsome widow. She seemed to be well connected, being related to General Cass and other people of note. She reminds me a little of Mrs. B. in style and manner, and it is pleasant to have some one to talk to, for we do not find people in general communicative in travelling, though papa says the fault may be ours.
There was nothing particularly pretty on the road, as the trees are, I grieve to say, losing their leaves in this neighbourhood; but on approaching this great city, "the Queen of the West," we came again on the Ohio. The water is now very low, but the bed of the river shows how great its width is when full; and even now there is a perfect navy ofsplendid steamers floating on its waters, many of which we saw as our train drove through the suburban streets of the city. Unhappily the rain poured down upon us as we got into the omnibus, but we were soon consoled by finding ourselves in this most magnificent hotel, the finest I have yet seen. The drawing room, is I should think, unsurpassed in beauty by any hotel anywhere, and I shall endeavour to make a drawing of it before I leave. The hotel at Columbus was tolerably large, as you may suppose, when I tell you that our dining room there was about ninety feet by thirty. This one, however, has two dining rooms of at least equal dimensions, which together can dine 1000 persons, and it makes up 600 beds. We sat in the drawing room yesterday evening, for we could not reconcile ourselves to leave it, even to write this journal. There were various ladies and gentlemen laughing and talking together, but no evening dresses, and nothing of any importance to remark about them. One young lady only was rather grandly dressed in a drab silk; she afterwards sat down to the piano, and began the usual American jingle, for I cannot call it music; and I have since been told she was the daughter of the master of the house. "Egalité" is certainly the order of the day here, and this young lady wastreated quite on an equality with the other ladies in the room. The food is excellent, and we are very thankful to have so luxurious a resting place if we are at all detained here. We have several friends in the hotel, who are here to meet papa on business.
This morning we have had a visit from Mr. Mitchell, the astronomer, and author of the work on Astronomy, which I remember reading with pleasure just before I left England. His daughter is to call on me and drive us out, and we are to pay a visit to his observatory. We went this afternoon to leave some letters, which Mr. Dennison had given us for Mr. Rufus King and Mr. Lars Anderson. We found Mrs. King at home; her husband is much devoted to educational subjects and to the fine arts. There were some very good pictures and engravings in the drawing room, and amongst the latter two of Sir Robert Strange's performances. We found both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson at home; they live in a splendid house, but as it was getting dark we could not see the details. We sent in our cards with our letter, and the room being full of people, Mr. Anderson introduced papa to each one separately, and me as Mrs. S——. As these guests went out others came in, and fresh introductions took place,but still always Mr. T—— and Mrs. S——, and he so addressed me during the visit. As we were going away papa said that he was making some strange mistake about my name, but he insisted upon it that we had so announced it; and on looking at our cards I found the card of a very vulgar lady at New York, which I had given by mistake as my own.
As we were leaving the room, a very amiable and pleasing person asked me if I would not call upon Mr. Longworth, the most celebrated character in this country, who she said was her father and the father of Mrs. Anderson. I said that we had letters to him from Mr. Jared Sparks, and that we had meant to call on him the next day, but she said we had better return with her then. We accordingly accompanied her through Mr. Anderson's garden, and through an adjoining one which led to her father's house, likewise a very large one, though not presenting such an architectural appearance as Mr. Anderson's. The old gentleman soon made his appearance, and afterwards Mrs. Longworth. They were a most venerable couple, who had a twelve-month ago celebrated their golden marriage, or fiftieth anniversary of their wedding day. We were invited to stay and drink tea, which we did, and met a large assemblage of children and grand-children; a great-grand-child who had been present at the golden wedding, was in its nursery.
Mr. Longworth, among other things remarkable about him, is the proprietor of the vineyards from which the sparkling champagne is produced, known, from the name of the grape, as the sparkling Catawba; but he seems no less remarkable from the immense extent of his strawberry beds, which cover, I think he said, 60 acres of ground. He told us the number of bushels of fruit they daily produce in the season; but the number is legion, and I dare not set it down from memory. He showed papa a book he had written about his grapes and strawberries, and is very incredulous as to any in the world being better than his. This led to a discussion upon the relative size of trees and plants on the two sides of the Atlantic; and in speaking of the Indian corn, he tells us he has seen it standing, in Ohio, eighteen feet high, and he says it has been known, in Kentucky, to reach as high as twenty-five feet, and the ear eighteen inches long.
The old gentleman is a diminutive-looking person, with a coat so shabby that one would be tempted to offer him a sixpence if we met him in the streets; indeed a story is told of a stranger, who,going into his garden, and being shown round it by Mr. Longworth, gave him a dollar, which the latter good-humouredly put into his pocket, and it was not till he was asked to go into the house that the stranger discovered him to be the owner.[10]He is, however, delightfully vivacious, and full of agricultural hobbies. His wife is a very pleasing, primitive-looking person. We tasted at their house some of the ham for which this city, called by the wits Porkopolis, is so remarkable. The maple sugar is used in curing it, and improves the flavour very much.
October 28th.—I must bring this letter to a rapid close, for it must be posted a day earlier than we expected. We intend to start in two days for St. Louis, and there I will finish my account of Cincinnati. To-day we have seen a great many schools, which have given us considerable insight into the state of education in America. My nextletter will probably bring us to our most western point, though we have not yet quite settled whether we shall go to the Falls of St. Anthony, or to Chicago. Papa says I must close, and I must obey.