MUSEUM OF FOREIGN LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. APRIL, 1829. From the Monthly Review. LETTERS FROM THE WEST: containing Sketches of Scenery, Manners, and Customs; and Anecdotes connected with the First Settlement of the Western Sections of the United States. By the Hon. Judge Hall. 8vo. pp. 385. London. Colburn. 1828. By the way, it be tokens no trivial difference between the "notions" of the Americans and those of Englishmen, descended though they be from a common stock, that a book of travels should be written and published among the former by a judge! We cannot, for a moment, conceive the idea of Judge Bayley, for instance, taking a trip to Ireland and then writing and giving to the public an account of his tour. Had he done such a thing, the whole bench would be up in arms against him, and sure we are that his charges to juries would scarcely be listen exhausted. But with respect to the Western States, our information is as yet very imperfect. We therefore opened this work with the ardour of a traveller who is entering a country wholly new to him, and though we found in it but a few scenes calculated to repay our curiosity, yet the attraction of novelty deluded us from page to page, in search of something THESE letters, we are told in the preface, better, until we arrived at the conclusion. We were commenced so long ago as the year 1820. cannot say that we were altogether disappointWe suspect that they were concluded not longed, yet we were not on the whole much pleased after that period, which we may call a remote with our judicial guide. one, for a book of travels in America. A few years, however, would make no great difference with us, in a work chiefly occupied with the Western States of that continent, which are very far from being sufficiently known at our side of the Atlantic. Thirty years since they were, for the greater part, covered with prairies and forests, and tenanted only by wild animals. They are now nearly all cleared and cultivated, their rivers are crowded with steam-boats, towns and hamlets are increasing throughout their whole extent, and the toils of commerce and of agricultural industry, have noted to with common decorum. But an occuronly changed the face of the country, but have even mitigated, if not altogether neutralized, the effects of a pestilential climate. In 1794, beasts of prey prowled about these regions without alarm for their safety. In 1810, the state of Ohio numbered a population of nearly two hundred and thirty-one thousand souls. In 1815 that population was more than doubled. Kentucky was explored and planted somewhat earlier, but even in that state, the change from savage to civilized life has been wrought with miraculous rapidity. In short, within the memory of living witnesses, the shores of the Mississippi have been converted into gardens; colleges, factories, and farms abound where but lately it was dangerous to a traveller to make his appearance; and all the signs of animation and enterprise are multiplied in regions where, but a few years ago, nothing was heard save the voices of the lower animals of the creation, and the rushing of the flood or the tempest. We have had almost enough of those States of America which are near the Atlantic-we say almost enough, because we apprehend that Captain Basil Hall will be able to throw a new light upon them, and induce us, by the originality of his observations, the accuracy of his knowledge, and the beauty of his composition, to feel a new interest in a subject apparently Museum.-VOL. XIV. rence of this description makes no impression in America, where the judge of to-day is the soldier or the shopkeeper of to-morrow, and the Term Reports are put by for the newest novel or review. In fact, it appears that these letters were originally written for a periodical magazine, called the Portfolio, published at Philadelphia. Whether the author was a judge at that period, or not, we are without information. That he was not then, at least, much of a judge in matters of literature, his composition affords abundant evidence. It is for ever upon stilts. Common topics are treated in a pompous, grandiloquent style, which altogether robs them of their fair proportions, and of their natural effect. Traces of ability may be discovered now and then, and though, of course, the national vanity of the republican breaks out in every page, we cannot but admire, though we have no reason whatever to envy, the bold and independent tone in which he treats matters of public interest on all occasions. Perhaps the most disagreeable feature in his book is the air of puerile levity which pervades it. Our judge is a man of gallantry; if he cannot enjoy the felicity of conversing with a pair of starry eyes, he consoles himself with dreaming about them, until his rapture becomes quite ludicrous. But No. 82.-2 B "The city lay beneath me, enveloped in smoke-the clang of hammers resounded from its numerous manufactories-the rattling of carriages and the hum of men were heard from its streets-churches, courts, hotels, and markets, and all the pomp and circumstance' of busy life were presented in one panoramic view. Behind me were all the silent, soft attractions of rural sweetness-the ground rising gradually for a considerable distance, and exhibiting country seats, surrounded with cultivated fields, gardens, and orchards. On either hand were the rivers, one dashing over beds of rock, the other sluggishly meandering among the hills; while the lofty eminences beyond them, covered with timber, displayed a rich foliage, decked and shadowed with every tint of the rainbow. Below the town, the Ohio is seen, receiving her tributary streams, and bearing off to the west, burthened with rich freights. The towns of Allegheny on the right hand, and Birmingham on the left-the noble bridges that lead to the city in opposite directions-the arsenal, and the little village of Laurenceville, in the rear, added variety to the scene."-pp. 22, 23. The smoke of Leeds or Manchester is a pure atmosphere, compared with the masses of soot sent forth by the Pittsburgh coal. Even the snow that falls there is said to be tinged with it! The principal manufactures of this town consist of iron and glass ware. It is the principal place of deposit for goods destined for the western country. It is moreover a port of entry, a distinction which seems to have occasionally puzzled the Italian custom-house officers, if we are to believe an anecdote related by Mr. Clay, on the floor of Congress: "To illustrate the commercial habits and enterprise of the American people, (he said) he would relate an anecdote of a vessel, built, and cleared out at Pittsburgh for Leghorn. When she arrived at her place of destination, the master presented his papers to the customhouse officer, who would not credit them, and said to him, "Sir, your papers are forged; there is not such a port as Pittsburgh in the world; your vessel must be confiscated." The trembling captain laid before the officer the map of the United States-directing him to the gulf of Mexico-pointed out the mouth of the Mississippi-led him a thousand miles up it to the mouth of the Ohio, and thence another thousand up to Pittsburgh. "There, Sir, is the port whence my vessel cleared out." The astonished officer, before he had seen the map would as readily have believed that this vessel had been navigated from the moon.' 36, 37. -PP Descending the Ohio in a keel boat, our learned judge visited Wheeling, the future rival of Pittsburgh; and Marietta, beautifully situated at the mouth of the Muskingum river. The French gave to the Ohio the title of La Belle rivière. "Its current is always graceful and its shore every where romantic." There is much sameness in the character of the scenery; but that sameness is, in itself delightful, as it consists in the recurrence of noble traits, which are too pleasing ever to be viewed with indifference." The author here gets upon his Pegasus, and not content with comparing the scenery of the Ohio to the features of a beautiful woman, whose attractions arise rather from gracefulness than variety, he sings, rather than writes, in the following strain: "The Ohio has not the sprightly, fanciful wildness of the Niagara, the St. Lawrence, or the Susquehanna, whose impetuous torrents, rushing over beds of rocks, or dashing against the jutting cliffs, arrest the ear by their murmurs, and delight the eye with their eccentric Neither is it like the Hudson, wanderings. margined at one spot by the meadow and the village, and overhung at another by threatening precipices and stupendous mountains. I: has a wild, solemn, silent sweetness, peculiar to itself. The noble stream, clear, smooth, and unruffled, swept onward with regular majestic force. Continually changing its course, as it rolls from vale to vale, it always winds with dignity, and avoiding those acute angles, which are observable in less powerful streams, sweeps round in graceful bends, as if disdaining the opposition to which nature forces it to submit. On each side rise the romantic hills, piled on each other to a tremendous height; and between them, are deep, abrupt, silent glens, which at a distance seem inaccessible to the human foot; while the whole is covered with timber of a gigantic size, and a luxuriant foliage of the deepest hues. Throughout this scene there is a pleasing solitariness, that speaks peace to the mind, and invites the fancy to soar abroad, among the tranquil haunts of meditation. Sometimes the splashing of the oar is heard, and the boatman's song awakens the surrounding echoes; but the most usual music is that of the native songsters, whose melody steals pleasingly on the ear, with every modulation, at all hours, and in every change of situation."-pp. 82, 83. The author, on passing Blannerhasset's island, takes occasion to allude to the conspiracy of Burr, which was supposed to have been principally concocted there. This is one of the few mysteries which are to be found in American history. It made a great noise at the time, but in its consequences was most insignificant. Colonel Burr was distinguished for his talents and attainments. His manners were polished, his address insinuating, his eloquence graceful and seductive. He was a candidate for the presidential chair with Jefferson, and lost his election only by a single vote. He was the rival of Hamilton, whom he killed in a duel. After this unfortunate catastrophe, he resigned his public employments, and became restless, as some supposed, from remorse of con C. science; as others imagined from the impulses of a wild ambition. He collected together a number of men, provided them with arms and munitions of war, but was arrested in his career before he was enabled to carry his designs, whatever they were, into execution. It was thought by some persons that he meant to invade Mexico, to declare it independent of Spain, and place himself upon the throne. Others, with more probability, believed that his great object was to separate the western states of America from the Union. He found an enthusiastic adherent in Mr. Blannerhasset, an Irish gentleman of fortune, who gave his name to the island in question. Blannerhasset was devoted to science. He had retired to this island in the Ohio that he might be far away from the world, and employ all his time in intellectual and agricultural pursuits. He was fond of chemistry, and a passionate lover of music. He had the good fortune to be married to a lovely and accomplished woman, who presented him with seve ral children. No expense was spared by him in improving and beautifying his island residence. His intimacy with Burr involved him in the confederacy of which that person was the chieftain; the island was the great scene of their operations; here the men were assembled and their arms concealed; and here, ultimately, they were arrested or dispersed, and the leaders overwhelmed in ruin. The importunate inquisitiveness of the Americans, has often been railed at by European travellers. We think it, therefore, no more than an act of justice, to allow our author to defend his countrymen from this imputation. "With regard to the want of affability alleged by foreigners, I can say, with sincerity, that I have travelled from the St. Lawrence to the Potomac, and from the shores of the Atlantic to those of the Mississippi, without observing it. I have never proposed a civil question to an American without receiving a civil answer; and I have seldom entered his dwelling without partaking of its hospitality. I have more than once, in consequence of accidents to which all travellers are liable, been thrown upon the kindness of strangers; yet never did I know my countrymen deny the sacred claims of a stranger in distress. At their taverns, or their private houses, a man of decent appearance and civil deportment will always be kindly and respectfully received. So long as he behaves like a gentleman, he will receive the treatment due to his character; his privacy will not be interrupted, his feelings hurt, or his peace disturbed. Whatever he asks for in a civil manner, will be furnished him, if possible; but if it cannot be procured, he must take what he can get without complaining; for the moment he abuses the country, complains of his fare, or attempts in any manner to coerce or criminate those around him, he excites a spirit which it is much more easy to arouse than to allay."-pp. 113, 114. We ourselves have often fallen into the ge. neral fashion of abusing the Americans, on account of their national vanity. We ought, however, to have reflected, that Englishinen are quite as open to ridicule upon this point as any nation under Heaven. Our learned tour ist is somewhat severe upon us on this point; nevertheless it is but justice to hear him. "If a foreigner, in passing through our country, grasps at every occasion to make invidious comparisons, sneering at its population, manners, and institutions and extolling those of his own native land, nothing is said of national vanity. When it was determined in England to tear the striped bunting' from the mast-heads of our fir-built frigates,' and to 'sweep the Yankee cock-boats from the ocean,' no national vanity was displayed at all; when the Edinburgh Review tells us that England is the bulwark of religion, the arbiter of the fates of kingdoms, the last refuge of freedom, there is no national vanity in the business-not a spice. But if a plain backwoodsman ventures to praise his own country, because he finds all his wants supplied, and his rights defended, while he is not pestered with tax-gatherers and excisemen, is not devoured by fox-hunting priests, pensioners, and paupers, sees no dragoons galloping about his cottage, and is allowed to vote for whom he pleases to represent him-all of which he has good reason to believe is ordered differently in another country-this is a 'disgusting display of national vanity.' If he ventures to exhibit a shattered limb, or a breast covered with scars, and to tell that he received these honourable marks in defence of his native land, on an occasion when the best troops in the world' fled before the valour of undisciplined freemen, led by a Jackson or a Brown, this is very disgusting. "The fact is, that English travellers, and English people in general, who come among us, forget that the rest of the world are not as credulous and gullible as themselves; and are continually attempting to impose fictions upon us, which we refuse to credit. They seem not to be aware, that we are a reading people, and would convince us that they are a wise, valiant, and virtuous people, beloved and respected by all the world, while we are an ignorant, idle set of boobies, for whom nobody cares a farthing. They tell us how happy and comfortable lorn, forsaken, miserable set we are, who have every body is in England, and what a poor, forhad the misfortune to be born in a new country, and never saw a king, a lord, or a hangman. One of them told me that he had never heard of the battle of New Orleans, until he came to America several years after it was fought, and that the British nation had hardly ever heard of the war with America. Now, when we refuse to credit these things, and flatly deny them as we often do, we are set down as a conceited, vain people, who presume to think for ourselves, and to believe that we know something, when a parting renegade or a venal reviewer shall pronounce us fools. John Bull forgets that his own vanity is a source of merriment with the rest of the world."-pp. 120-122. We willingly subjoin the character which the author gives of the hospitality of his countrymen. "During my jaunt, I have entered freely the meanest habitations, and conversed familiarly with the most indigent of the people; but never have I received a rude nor an indecorous reply. When I approached the door of the rudest hut, I was invited to enter, a seat was handed me, and if the family was eating, I was pressed to partake of their meal. However homely their fare might be, they neither seemed ashamed to offer nor unwilling to share it. At the little cabins along the river, we paid reasonable prices for bread, butter, milk, and other articles, which we purchased; but they seldom charged for what we ate in their houses; and when I penetrated a little farther into the country, among the respectable farmers, they seemed offended at being offered money for what we procured from them. "Returning from one of these excursions, I was overtaken by the night, and found my path obstructed by a deep inlet from the river, which being choked with logs and brush, could not be crossed by swimming. Observing a house on the opposite side, I called for assistance. A half naked, ill-looking fellow came down, and after dragging a canoe round from the river with some trouble, ferried me over, and I followed him to his habitation, near to which our boat was moored for the night. His cabin was of the meanest kind, consisting of a single apartment, constructed of logs, which contained a family of seven or eight souls, and every thing seemed to designate him as a new and unthrifty settler. After drinking a bowl of milk, which I really called for by way of excuse for paying him a little more for his trouble, I asked to know his charge for ferrying me over the water, to which he good humouredly replied, that he never took money for helping a traveller on his way.' Then let me pay you for your milk. I never sell milk.' But,' said I, urging him, I would rather pay you, I have money enough.'Well,' said he, I have milk enough, so we're even; I have as good a right to give you milk, as you have to give me money."-pp. 123, 124. It is a curious inconsistency in the character of the Americans, that although their country, their institutions, and even their habits are all new, and though that novelty and their expected future grandeur of their nation form their principal boast and pride, yet there are no people on earth who are more attached than they to the symbols and associations of antiquity. This weakness, if such it ought to be called, is remarkably apparent in the names which they have bestowed on several of their new towns-names which contrast so strangely with the Indian barbaric nomenclature of their rivers. Thus we have at the mouth of the Great Hockhocking river the town of Troy, and at the distance of twenty-five miles on the banks of the same classic stream, we enter the gates of Athens. We may pass from thence to Rome, to Carthage, and even to Jerusalem, without any great trouble or delay; if we have any predilection for Russian names, we may gratify it by a visit to Petersburgh, or Siberia, or Kamtschatka; if we desire to renew our affection for Austria, a short journey will take us to Vienna; and without making a voyage to India, we may enjoy all the beauties of Calcutta and New Hindostan. Here also we may find a Goshen without making a pilgrimage to Palestine! motion. They seldom appear to have local attachments; at least those amongst them who have not acquired fortunes, or to whose interests it is not essential to remain in a particular district, think nothing of moving away hundreds or thousands of miles. Of this emigrant disposition, which most probably will not cease until the whole continent shall be peopled, our author relates a striking in stance: "Just below the village of Guyundat,(what a classic name!) we overtook one of those rude skiffs which frequently convey emigrants to the west. This was a small flat-bottomed boat, of the simplest construction, about twelve feet long, with high sides and a roof. As I was looking out for a friend, who in a moment of whim had embarked by himself, a few days before me, in a frail tenement' like the one in sight, I took our small boat and rowed towards it, but was not a little surprised on approaching it, to discover, instead of a young gentleman, a grey-headed man, and as grey headed a woman, tugging deliberately at the oars. This primitive couple looked as if they might have been pulling together down the stream of life for half a century, without having been tired of each other's company; for while their oars preserved a regular cadence, they were chatting sociably together, and they smiled as they invited me into their skiff. I confess I was astonished; for, much as I had seen of the carelessness with which my countrymen undertake toilsome journeys, and the alacrity with which they change their habitations, I was not prepared to behold without surprise old age and enterprise travelling together: and when I learned that this ancient couple were seeking a new home, I anticipated a tale of banishment and sorrow. The days of their pilgrimage had not been few and evil. Neither of them could have seen fewer than sixty years, and both were withered, wrinkled, and apparently decrepit; but they were sprightly and social, and spoke of clearing new lands in the wilderness, with a confidence which evinced nothing of the feebleness or indecision of old age. In answer to my inquiries, as to the reasons which had suggested a change of residence, the old man observed, in a careless, offhand sort of way, Why, Sir, our boys are all married, and gone off, and bustling about for themselves; and our neighbours, a good many of 'em's gone out back, and so the old woman and me felt sort o' lonesome, and thought we'd go too, and try our luck.' "But, my friend, it's rather late in the day for you to become a wanderer.' Tut, man,' said he, 'better late than never-there's luck in leisure, as the saying is, -and may be the old woman and me'll have as good luck as any of theme "—pp. 138140. Judge Hall excuses himself, after quitting Cincinnati, from saying any thing about that town, as his whole time had been taken up while there in paying his addresses to a young lady, a companion of his dancing days! We suppose we must accept his apology, particularly Another characteristic of the Americans, as his worship seems to have made up his mind which however may be more easily accounted on the subject. "I would not," he adds, în the for than that just noticed, is their facility of loco-pride of his chivalry, "give one merry glance of mountain maid,' for the plaudits of the lite- gions above them. It is flat, the soil deep, black and fertile. Here and there are seen small ranges of hills; the river bottoms exhibit appearances of annual inundations, and the cane, of which cattle are so fond, abounds, or rather did abound, for by this time we suppose it is all destroyed. In these rich bottoms flourish peccans, catalpas, and sycamores, and extensive groves of cotton-wood. This tree is large and extremely tall, resembling in foliage and general appearance the Lombardy poplar. The peccan is like the hickory, to which it is supposed to be related; it yields fine rich nuts, of which large quantities are every year exported. The catalpa is remarkable for its gracefulness and the beauty of its flowers. Grape vines, with stems of considerable thickness, are sometimes seen climbing up the branches of the loftiest trees; and upon the top of all is per grows naturally upon the ground; but the berry which contains the seed is so viscous, that it adheres to the feet of birds, who take it, from tree to tree, and thus form an aerial plantation of their own. Deer, turkeys, paroquets, and wild cats enliven the scene. Of the extent of our learned author's acquaintance with law, we have no means of fur-ceived, occasionally, the misletoe. This plant nishing an opinion; this, however, we can plainly see, that his knowledge of modern languages must be very limited indeed, since he appears to have been unable to discover the origin of the word chute, a name which the Indians apply to the falls of the Ohio. "It may puzzle you," he says, as much as it has puzzled me; but it is the very identical word used by most of the writers on this subject. Whether it be a Greek, an Indian, or a Kentucky phrase, I cannot inform you. I have sought its derivation in all the languages with which I am conversant, without effect." We suspect that all the languages" with which his honour is conversant, are limited to that in which he writes, for the best guess he makes at the derivation of this hard word is, that it must come from shoot, because "it is applied to channels through which a boat may be said to shoot with the swiftness of an arrow !" Our judge would be a capital commentator on Homer. Before he commences his critical labours, however, he will excuse us, we hope, for recommending him to look into his French Dictionary. The descent of a boat through one of these chutes would be, we apprehend, a more formidable affair than a search after the derivation of their name. "As you approach the head of the rapids, the mighty stream rolls on in a smooth unbroken sheet, increasing in velocity as you advance. The business of preparation creates a sense of impending danger: the pilot, stationed on the deck, assumes command: a firm and skilful helmsman guides the boat; the oars, strongly manned, are vigorously plied to give the vessel a momentum greater than that of the current, without which the helm would be inefficient. The utmost silence prevails among the crew; but the ear is stunned with the sound of rushing waters: and the sight of waves dashing, and foaming, and whirling among the rocks and eddies below, is grand and fearful. The boat advances with inconceivable rapidity to the head of the channel-'takes the Chute-and seems no longer manageable among the angry currents, whose foam dashes upon her deck, but in a few moments she emerges from their power, and rides again in serene waters."-pp. 185, 186. Below the falls of the Ohio, the face of the country differs essentially from that of the re As a singular proof of the close connexion which subsists between mechanical and moral improvement, we may mention the happy reformation which has taken place, not only in the vicinity of Shawnee, but along the whole of the banks of the Ohio. That town which occupies a beautiful level plain on the western bank of the Ohio, stands at a distance of about one thousand miles from Pittsburgh, and eleven hundred from New Orleans, by water. As recently as the year 1808, there was not a house on this plain. It was only laid out in town lots, by an act of Congress, in 1814, and even now it has no more than one hundred houses, of which the greater number are of frame or log. Being subject, from the lowness of its situation, to annual inundation, and infested with a race of musquitoes the most venomous perhaps, in the world, Shawnee was, for some years, rather a post for banditti, than a settlement for emigrants. Before the establishment of steamboats on the Ohio, its commerce which was even then very extensive, was chiefly carried on by means of barges, which required many hands to navigate them. 66 Each barge carried from thirty to forty boatmen, and a number of these boats frequently sailed in company. The arrival of such a squadron at a small town was the certain forerunner of riot. The boatmen, proverbially lawless and dissolute, were often more numerous than the citizens, and indulged, without restraint, in every species of debauchery, outrage, and mischief. Wherever vice exists will be found many to abet and to take advantage of its excesses; and these towns were filled with the wretched ministers of crime. Sometimes the citizens roused to indignation, attempted to enforce the laws; but the attempt was regarded as a declaration of war, which arrayed the offenders and their allies in hostility; the inhabitants were obliged to unite in the defence of each other, and the contest usually terminated in the success of that party which had least to lose, and were most prodigal of life and careless of consequences."-p. 229. |