Domestic Manners Of The Americans - free ebook by Frances Milton Trollope

Domestic Manners of the Americans

First published in 1832...

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CHAPTER I

Entrance of the Mississippi—Balize On the 4th of November, 1827, I sailed from London, accompanied by my son and two daughters; and after a favourable, though somewhat tedious voyage, arrived on Christmas-day at the mouth of the Mississippi. The first indication of our approach to land was the appearance of this mighty river pouring forth its muddy mass of waters, and mingling with the deep blue of the Mexican Gulf. The shores of this river are so utterly flat, that no object upon them is percep

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CHAPTER II

New Orleans—Society—Creoles and Quadroons Voyage up the Mississippi On first touching the soil of a new land, of a new continent, of a new world, it is impossible not to feel considerable excitement and deep interest in almost every object that meets us. New Orleans presents very little that can gratify the eye of taste, but nevertheless there is much of novelty and interest for a newly arrived European. The large proportion of blacks seen in the streets, all labour being performed by them; the

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CHAPTER III

Company on board the Steam Boat—Scenery of the Mississippi—Crocodiles—Arrival at Memphis—Nashoba The weather was warm and bright, and we found the guard of the boat, as they call the gallery that runs round the cabins, a very agreeable station; here we all sat as long as light lasted, and sometimes wrapped in our shawls, we enjoyed the clear bright beauty of American moonlight long after every passenger but ourselves had retired. We had a full complement of passengers on board. The deck, as is u

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CHAPTER IV

Departure from Memphis—Ohio River Louisville—Cincinnati On the 1st of February, 1828, we embarked on board the Criterion, and once more began to float on the “father of waters,” as the poor banished Indians were wont to call the Mississippi. The company on board was wonderfully like what we had met in coming from New Orleans; I think they must have all been first cousins; and what was singular, they too had all arrived at high rank in the army. For many a wearisome mile above the Wolf River the

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CHAPTER V

Cincinnati—Forest Farm—Mr. Bullock Though I do not quite sympathise with those who consider Cincinnati as one of the wonders of the earth, I certainly think it a city of extraordinary size and importance, when it is remembered that thirty years ago the aboriginal forest occupied the ground where it stands; and every month appears to extend its limits and its wealth. Some of the native political economists assert that this rapid conversion of a bear-brake into a prosperous city, is the result of

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CHAPTER VI

Servants—Society—Evening Parties The greatest difficulty in organising a family establishment in Ohio, is getting servants, or, as it is there called, “getting help,” for it is more than petty treason to the Republic, to call a free citizen a servant . The whole class of young women, whose bread depends upon their labour, are taught to believe that the most abject poverty is preferable to domestic service. Hundreds of half-naked girls work in the paper-mills, or in any other manufactory, for les

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CHAPTER VII

Market—Museum—Picture Gallery—Academy of Fine Arts Drawing School—Phrenological Society—Miss Wright’s Lecture. Perhaps the most advantageous feature in Cincinnati is its market, which, for excellence, abundance, and cheapness, can hardly, I should think, be surpassed in any part of the world, if I except the luxury of fruits, which are very inferior to any I have seen in Europe. There are no butchers, fishmongers, or indeed any shops for eatables, except bakeries, as they are called, in the town

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CHAPTER VIII

Absence of public and private Amusement—Churches and Chapels—Influence of the Clergy—A Revival I never saw any people who appeared to live so much without amusement as the Cincinnatians. Billiards are forbidden by law, so are cards. To sell a pack of cards in Ohio subjects the seller to a penalty of fifty dollars. They have no public balls, excepting, I think, six, during the Christmas holidays. They have no concerts. They have no dinner parties. They have a theatre, which is, in fact, the only

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CHAPTER IX

Schools—Climate—Water Melons—Fourth of July—Storms—Pigs—Moving Houses—Mr. Flint—Literature Cincinnati contains many schools, but of their rank or merit I had very little opportunity of judging; the only one which I visited was kept by Dr. Lock, a gentleman who appears to have liberal and enlarged opinions on the subject of female education. Should his system produce practical results proportionably excellent, the ladies of Cincinnati will probably some years hence be much improved in their power

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CHAPTER X

Removal to the country—Walk in the forest—Equality At length my wish of obtaining a house in the country was gratified. A very pretty cottage, the residence of a gentleman who was removing into town, for the convenience of his business as a lawyer, was to let, and I immediately secured it. It was situated in a little village about a mile and a half from the town, close to the foot of the hills formerly mentioned as the northern boundary of it. We found ourselves much more comfortable here than i

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CHAPTER XI

Religion I had often heard it observed before I visited America, that one of the great blessings of its constitution was the absence of a national religion, the country being thus exonerated from all obligation of supporting the clergy; those only contributing to do so whose principles led them to it. My residence in the country has shewn me that a religious tyranny may be exerted very effectually without the aid of the government, in a way much more oppressive than the paying of tithe, and with

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CHAPTER XII

Peasantry, compared to that of England—Early marriages—Charity—Independence and equality—Cottage prayer-meeting Mohawk, as our little village was called, gave us an excellent opportunity of comparing the peasants of the United States with those of England, and of judging the average degree of comfort enjoyed by each. I believe Ohio gives as fair a specimen as any part of the union; if they have the roughness and inconveniences of a new state to contend with, they have higher wages and cheaper pr

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CHAPTER XIII

Theatre—Fine Arts—Delicacy—Shaking Quakers—Big-Bone Lick—Visit of the President The theatre at Cincinnati is small, and not very brilliant in decoration, but in the absence of every other amusement our young men frequently attended it, and in the bright clear nights of autumn and winter, the mile and a half of distance was not enough to prevent the less enterprising members of the family from sometimes accompanying them. The great inducement to this was the excellent acting of Mr. and Mrs. Alexa

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CHAPTER XIV

American Spring—Controversy between Messrs. Owen and Cambell—Public ball—Separation of the sexes—American freedom—Execution The American spring is by no means so agreeable as the American autumn; both move with faultering step, and slow; but this lingering pace, which is delicious in autumn, is most tormenting in the spring. In the one case you are about to part with a friend, who is becoming more gentle and agreeable at every step, and such steps can hardly be made too slowly; but in the other

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CHAPTER XV

Camp-Meeting It was in the course of this summer that I found the opportunity I had long wished for, of attending a camp-meeting, and I gladly accepted the invitation of an English lady and gentleman to accompany them in their carriage to the spot where it is held; this was in a wild district on the confines of Indiana. The prospect of passing a night in the back woods of Indiana was by no means agreeable, but I screwed my courage to the proper pitch, and set forth determined to see with my own

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CHAPTER XVI

Danger of rural excursions—Sickness It is by no means easy to enjoy the beauties of American scenery in the west, even when you are in a neighbourhood that affords much to admire; at least, in doing so, you run considerable risk of injuring your health. Nothing is considered more dangerous than exposure to midday heat, except exposure to evening damp; and the twilight is so short, that if you set out on an expedition when the fervid heat subsides, you can hardly get half a mile before “sun down,

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CHAPTER XVII

Departure from Cincinnati—Society on board the Steam-boat—Arrival at Wheeling—Bel Esprit We quitted Cincinnati the beginning of March, 1830, and I believe there was not one of our party who did not experience a sensation of pleasure in leaving it. We had seen again and again all the queer varieties of it’s little world; had amused ourselves with it’s consequence, it’s taste, and it’s ton, till they had ceased to be amusing. Not a hill was left unclimbed, nor a forest path unexplored; and, with t

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CHAPTER XVIII

Departure for the mountains in the Stage—Scenery of the Alleghany—Haggerstown The weather was bleak and disagreeable during the two days we were obliged to remain at Wheeling. I had got heartily tired of my gifted friend; we had walked up every side of the rugged hill, and I set off on my journey towards the mountains with more pleasure than is generally felt in quitting a pillow before daylight, for a cold corner in a rumbling stage-coach. This was the first time we had got into an American sta

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CHAPTER XIX

Baltimore—Catholic Cathedral—St. Mary’s—College Sermons—Infant School As we advanced towards Baltimore the look of cultivation increased, the fences wore an air of greater neatness, the houses began to look like the abodes of competence and comfort, and we were consoled for the loss of the beautiful mountains by knowing that we were approaching the Atlantic. From the time of quitting the Ohio river, though, unquestionably, it merits its title of “the beautiful,” especially when compared with the

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CHAPTER XX

Voyage to Washington—Capitol—City of Washington—Congress—Indians—Funeral of a Member of Congress By far the shortest route to Washington, both as to distance and time, is by land; but I much wished to see the celebrated Chesapeak bay, and it was therefore decided that we should take our passage in the steam-boat. It is indeed a beautiful little voyage, and well worth the time it costs; but as to the beauty of the bay, it must, I think, be felt only by sailors. It is, I doubt not, a fine shelter

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CHAPTER XXI

Stonington—Great Falls of the Potomac The greatest pleasure I had promised myself in visiting Washington was the seeing a very old friend, who had left England many years ago, and married in America; she was now a widow, and, as I believed, settled in Washington. I soon had the mortification of finding that she was not in the city; but ere long I learnt that her residence was not more than ten miles from it. We speedily met, and it was settled that we should pass the summer with her in Maryland,

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CHAPTER XXII

Small Landed Proprietors—Slavery I now, for the first time since I crossed the mountains, found myself sufficiently at leisure to look deliberately round, and mark the different aspects of men and things in a region which, though bearing the same name, and calling itself the same land, was, in many respects, as different from the one I had left, as Amsterdam from St. Petersburg. There every man was straining, and struggling, and striving for himself (heaven knows!) Here every white man was waite

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CHAPTER XXIII

Fruits and Flowers of Maryland and Virginia—Copper-head Snake—Insects—Elections Our summer in Maryland, (1830), was delightful. The thermometer stood at 94, but the heat was by no means so oppressive as what we had felt in the West. In no part of North America are the natural productions of the soil more various, or more beautiful. Strawberries of the richest flavour sprung beneath our feet; and when these past away, every grove, every lane, every field looked like a cherry orchard, offering an

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CHAPTER XXIV

Journey to Philadelphia—Chesapeak and Delaware Canal—City of Philadelphia—Miss Wright’s Lecture In the latter part of August, 1830, we paid a visit to Philadelphia, and, notwithstanding the season, we were so fortunate as to have both bright and temperate weather for the expedition. The road from Washington to Baltimore, which was our first day’s journey, is interesting in summer from the variety of luxuriance of the foliage which borders great parts of it. We passed the night at Baltimore, and

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CHAPTER XXV

Washington Square—American Beauty—Gallery of Fine Arts—Antiques—Theatres—Museum Our mornings were spent, as all travellers’ mornings must be, in asking questions, and in seeing all that the answers told us it was necessary to see. Perhaps this can be done in no city with more facility than in Philadelphia; you have nothing to do but to walk up one straight street, and down another, till all the parallelograms have been threaded. In doing this you will see many things worth looking at. The United

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CHAPTER XXVI

Quakers—Presbyterians—Itinerant Methodist Preacher—Market—Influence of females in society I had never chanced, among all my wanderings, to enter a Quaker Meeting-house; and as I thought I could no where make my first visit better than at Philadelphia, I went under the protection of a Quaker lady to the principal orthodox meeting of the city. The building is large, but perfectly without ornament; the men and women are separated by a rail which divides it into two equal parts; the meeting was very

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CHAPTER XXVII

Return to Stonington—Thunderstorm—Emigrants—Illness—Alexandria A fortnight passed rapidly away in this great city, and, doubtless, there was still much left unseen when we quitted it, according to previous arrangement, to return to our friends in Maryland. We came back by a different route, going by land from Newcastle to French Town, instead of passing by the canal. We reached Baltimore in the middle of the night, but finished our repose on board the steam-boat, and started for Washington at fi

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CHAPTER XXVIII

American Cooking—Evening Parties—Dress—Sleighing—Money-getting Habits—Tax-Gatherer’s Notice—Indian Summer—Anecdote of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar In relating all I know of America, I surely must not omit so important a feature as the cooking. There are sundry anomalies in the mode of serving even a first-rate table; but as these are altogether matters of custom, they by no means indicate either indifference or neglect in this important business; and whether castors are placed on the table or on the

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CHAPTER XXIX

Literature—Extracts—Fine Arts—Education The character of the American literature is, generally speaking, pretty justly appreciated in Europe. The immense exhalation of periodical trash, which penetrates into every cot and corner of the country, and which is greedily sucked in by all ranks, is unquestionably one great cause of its inferiority. Where newspapers are the principal vehicles of the wit and wisdom of a people, the higher graces of composition can hardly be looked for. That there are ma

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CHAPTER XXX

Journey to New York—Delaware River—Stagecoach—City of New York—Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies—Theatres—Public Garden—Churches—Morris Canal—Fashions—Carriages At length, in spite of the lingering pace necessarily attending consultations, and arrangements across the Atlantic, our plans were finally settled; the coming spring was to show us New York, and Niagara, and the early summer was to convey us home. No sooner did the letter arrive which decided this, than we began our preparations for

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CHAPTER XXXI

Reception of Captain Basil Hall’s Book in the United States Having now arrived nearly at the end of our travels, I am induced, ere I conclude, again to mention what I consider as one of the most remarkable traits in the national character of the Americans; namely, their exquisite sensitiveness and soreness respecting everything said or written concerning them. Of this, perhaps, the most remarkable example I can give, is the effect produced on nearly every class of readers by the appearance of Ca

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CHAPTER XXXII

Journey to Niagara—Hudson—West Point—Hyde Park—Albany—Yankees—Trenton Falls—Rochester—Genesee Falls—Lockport How quickly weeks glide away in such a city as New York, especially when you reckon among your friends some of the most agreeable people in either hemisphere. But we had still a long journey before us, and one of the wonders of the world was to be seen. On the 30th of May we set off for Niagara. I had heard so much of the surpassing beauty of the North River, that I expected to be disappo

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CHAPTER XXXIII

Niagara—Arrival at Forsythes—First sight of the Falls—Goat Island—The Rapids—Buffalo—Lake Erie—Canandaigna—Stage-coach adventures At length we reached Niagara. It was the brightest day that June could give; and almost any day would have seemed bright that brought me to the object, which for years, I had languished to look upon. We did not hear the sound of the Falls till very near the hotel, which overhangs them; as you enter the door you see behind the hall an open space surrounded by galleries

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