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diff --git a/43537-8.txt b/43537-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0a494ec..0000000 --- a/43537-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6473 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hesperothen; Notes from the West, Vol. 1 -(of 2), by W. H. Russell - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Hesperothen; Notes from the West, Vol. 1 (of 2) - A Record of a Ramble in the United States and Canada in - the Spring and Summer of 1881 - -Author: W. H. Russell - -Release Date: August 22, 2013 [EBook #43537] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTES FROM THE WEST *** - - - - -Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - -Transcriber's Note: - - Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have - been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - On page 59, "ever kind" should possibly be "every kind". - - References on pages 157 and 163 to dates in April should perhaps be - to dates in May. - - On page 208, words seem to be missing from the phrase starting - "probably a warrior of renown". - - On page 234, "drave" should possibly be "drove". - - - - - HESPEROTHEN; - NOTES FROM THE WEST: - A RECORD OF A - RAMBLE IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA - IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1881. - - BY - W. H. RUSSELL, LL. D. - BARRISTER-AT-LAW. - - IN TWO VOLUMES. - - VOL. I. - - LONDON: - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, - CROWN BUILDINGS, 188 FLEET STREET. - 1882. - - [All rights reserved.] - - - - - LONDON: - PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, - STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. - - - - - TO - HER GRACE - THE DUCHESS OF SUTHERLAND - (COUNTESS OF CROMARTY), - - THIS RECORD OF THE RECENT VISIT OF THE DUKE OF SUTHERLAND - TO AMERICA, - - IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED - - BY - WILLIAM HOWARD RUSSELL. - - LONDON, Dec. 1881. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -On the 16th of April last, in pursuance of an arrangement to that -effect which was entered into some months earlier with the Duke of -Sutherland,[1] a small party of gentlemen and one lady left Liverpool -in the Cunard Company's steamer "_Gallia_," with the object of making -a tour in the United States. Previous to their departure, Mr. Henry -Crosfield, the Auditor of the London and North-Western Railway -Company, had been in communication with friends in America, and had in -concert with them sketched out a general scheme to enable the visitors -to traverse the Atlantic States, to extend their journey westwards and -to obtain the best possible view of the country in the limited space -of time at their disposal. Although all were "on pleasure bent," -those of the tourists who had interests in railways on this side of -the world were naturally anxious to study the modes of management -which were practised on the principal lines as closely as such a -hurried journey would allow them; but the main object of the -travellers was "to see the States"--to behold with their own eyes the -natural features of the vast continent which is exercising a rapidly -increasing influence on Great Britain and Europe itself, and to view -the manners and customs of the great nation which even in its present -enormous development gives only the indications of a lusty youth, -promising a manhood of irresistible vigour and strength in time to -come if the body politic fulfils its early hope. To be sure, the -inspection could not be very close, minute, or protracted. Shooting -flying is not an art given to all people, and the contemplation of man -at a hotel or in a street, as one looks around in the dining-room or -out of a railway train, does not afford satisfactory foundation for -solid knowledge or comfortable conviction. But we had to do the best -we could. There were for most of us the attractions in the journey -which novelty possesses. There were pleasures in anticipation in the -sight of the wonderful cities which man has made and of the grand -natural spectacles which God has created, and these pleasures were, I -may say now, enjoyed most fully. For my own part, having no railway -interests except those I share with so many others in being carried -safely, swiftly, and cheaply, by the lines to which I entrust myself -for conveyance, and having formerly been in the United States, my -chief desire was to revive, if not the pleasures of memory, at least -the recollections of a country in which I had spent many months of the -deepest interest and excitement, and where I made friends whose -affection and support were of invaluable assistance and comfort to me -when I much needed them at a period of terrible trial. I was also -eager to observe what changes had been effected since the close of the -Civil War, of one great incident of which I had an unfortunate -experience, and to revisit scenes the chief features of which had not -been effaced from my recollection by the lapse of nigh twenty years. -The expedition was undertaken under excellent auspices. From all -quarters of the United States, as soon as our intention was made -known, there had come not only expressions of satisfaction and offers -of assistance, but an actual competition in good offices, and amid the -friendly requests of the great Railway Corporations on the other side -of the Atlantic that the visitors would avail themselves of the -resources of their Companies the only difficulty lay in the choice of -contending routes. Tenders of palace cars and special trains, of -receptions and banquets, poured in on all sides; but the programme for -our journey was drawn up with a due regard to the number of hours at -the disposal of the travellers, and ere they set out from England, the -very day of their return from New York had been determined. - -Having said so much by way of explanation of the motives which led to -the excursion, I feel called upon to account for the appearance of -these pages, because I am aware that there was not in the extent of -our journey nor in the nature of its incidents anything to justify my -rushing into print, especially as several very excellent records of -much more extensive and protracted tours in the Western World have -been recently given to the public. My reasons, or perhaps it would be -as well to write my excuses, for publishing this book are, that I was -asked to do so by friends who were desirous of possessing a memorial -of our rambles. When I left England I had not the least intention of -writing anything for publication, but after I had embarked one of my -companions, with whose wishes I was glad to comply, requested me to -send letters now and then to the _Morning Post_, and some of the -materials in them I shall incorporate in the following pages by the -permission of the proprietors. I do not feel quite satisfied that the -reasons I have given, or the excuses I have made, will be held to -exonerate me from presumption in adding to the well-filled shelves of -American travel when I have nothing new to tell of in the way of -exploration, sporting, or scenery, but one favour I beseech of those -who may be inclined to condemn me for dulness or to censure me for -want of novelty, and that is that they will not attribute my faults to -my fellow-travellers, whose originality, good humour, power of -observation, practical knowledge, and kindness cast over our journey a -charm that cannot be transferred in any degree to the pages which -record its progress, and that they will not ascribe to my companions -any responsibility for the opinions I have had occasion to express, -which are entirely and altogether my own. - - WILLIAM HOWARD RUSSELL. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] The party consisted of the Duke of Sutherland, the Marquis of -Stafford, M.P., Mr. Knowles, M.P., Directors L. & N. W. R., Mr. -Bickersteth, Deputy Chairman L. & N. W. R., Mr. O. L. Stephen, Mr. G. -Crosfield, Directors L. & N. W. R., Mr. H. Crosfield, Auditor L. & N. -W. R., Mr. Neale, Superintendent L. & N. W. R., and Mr. Wright, the -Duke's Private Secretary. Major-General Sir Henry and Lady Green, who -were about to visit Canada, joined the party on the invitation of the -Duke of Sutherland in London, and I embarked on board the "_Gallia_" -at Queenstown, having left London the previous week to see some -members of my family in the County Cork. - - - - -CONTENTS OF VOL. I. - - - CHAPTER I. - - VOYAGE TO NEW YORK. - - Mallow to Queenstown -- The steam tender -- The "_Gallia_" - -- Our fellow-passengers -- The first night at sea -- - Observations -- Marine inquiries -- A brilliant run -- A - little stranger -- Approaches to New York -- Sandy Hook -- - Friends on Shore -- New York interviewers -- First - impressions Page 1 - - - CHAPTER II. - - NEW YORK. - - Friends on shore -- The landing -- First impressions -- - Brevoort House -- The interviewers -- Aspect of the - streets -- 1861 and 1881 -- Cockades and armorial bearings - -- The Union League Club -- The Fire Brigade 18 - - - CHAPTER III. - - DEPARTURE FOR PHILADELPHIA. - - Our Special Train -- On the Rail -- Eye-sores -- The - Quaker City -- The Pennsylvania Railroad -- Reminiscences - -- Excursions -- The New Public Buildings -- Mr. Childs - and "The Ledger" -- Mr. Simon Cameron -- Baltimore -- - Arrival at Washington 51 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - WASHINGTON. - - Heroes New and Old -- The Soldiers' Home -- The White - House -- President Garfield -- His Visitors -- The Capitol - -- Mount Vernon -- Mr. Blaine -- "On to Richmond!" -- - Fitzhugh Lee -- The Capitol, Return -- The Corcoran - Gallery -- Sight-seeing 70 - - - CHAPTER V. - - HARRISBURG -- NEW YORK -- BOSTON -- CANADA. - - Departure from Washington -- Harper's Ferry -- The State - Capital -- Rats on the Rampage -- Pennsylvania Farming 103 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - CANADA. - - Sight-seeing -- The Traffic Strife -- Quebec -- The - Ursulines -- The Electric Light -- The La Chine Rapids -- - Sutherland Emigrants -- Toronto -- Niagara -- The Clifton - House -- The Puff Demons -- "Imperial Cæsar Dead" 132 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - TO THE WEST. - - Buffalo -- Cleveland -- Magnificent Muldoon -- Euclid - Avenue -- Toledo -- Detroit -- Chicago -- Jefferson Davis - -- A Terrible Moment -- Pullman -- Milwaukee 159 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - MINNESOTA. - - The Mississippi -- St. Paul -- Minneapolis -- Le Mars -- - Sioux City -- Life on the Rail -- Muddy Missouri -- Kansas - City -- Old and New Friends 191 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - KANSAS -- COLORADO -- NEW MEXICO. - - Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé Railroad -- Land Grants -- - Farming Statistics -- Immigration and Settling -- Colorado - -- New Mexico -- Santa Fé -- Colossal Hotels -- Archbishop - Lamy -- The Rio Grande 211 - - - - -HESPEROTHEN. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -VOYAGE TO NEW YORK. - - Mallow to Queenstown -- The steam tender -- The "_Gallia_" - -- Our fellow-passengers -- The first night at sea -- - Observations -- Marine inquiries -- A brilliant run -- A - little stranger -- Approaches to New York -- Sandy Hook -- - Friends on shore -- New York interviewers --First - impressions. - - -On Easter Day I was picked up by the mail--the very limited mail-train -at Mallow. There were few passengers in it, some half-dozen Americans -and English, all told, for the "_Gallia_." The Borough, lying snugly -in the wooded valley of the Blackwater, of the "Rakes" (who seem to -have sown their wild oats and cut them and their sticks long ago), did -not contribute so much as one spectator to the little official -group--stationmaster, police, and porters--on the platform; perhaps -the population generally was engulfed in the churches and chapels of -the district; and the half-hour or so which sufficed to reach "the -beautiful city called Cork" was passed in observation of external -objects--the trout-stream; the umbrageous glens; the fields -indifferently cultivated in the rare cases where they are not devoted -to pasturage; the ruined abbey; the ridiculous mock Round Tower; the -Hydropathic Sanitarium; the "Groves of Blarney"--chiefly of that hazy -sort, where familiar scenes are associated with the dim speculation, -"Shall I ever see them again?" which occupies the place of thought in -the mind of people on the eve of a long expedition of this kind. It is -a languid interest. But nevertheless it has its uses, which is more -than can be said of the delay on the Cork platform graciously accorded -to passengers ere the train starts for Queenstown. Every door is fast -shut, and indeed if the observance of the Sabbath were less strict, -there would not be any advantage gained by the hungry traveller, for -there is only a wilderness of small shops, all closed too, in the -dreary street which leads from the station of the Great Midland to the -city, and there is no refreshment-room at the Cork Terminus. The -directors of this well-managed line seek to combine the inculcation of -temperance and the development of habits of meditation over the flight -of time with the exercise of self-denial and patience. They do not -allow the sale of any sort of spirits, unless they be called "port," -"sherry," or "cordial," and they have a little Maine Liquor Law of -their own at the railway stations. But our meditations on the Cork -platform on the vanity of human wishes were at last dispelled by the -ringing of the bell of the train for Queenstown, and in the prescribed -time we were duly delivered over there to the "carboys" and the -general outlawry of the agents of commerce who await the arrival of -passengers for the States--a swarm of ragged boys with newspapers -devoted to politics racy of the soil; vendors of the most primitive -bouquets of heather, hollyhocks, sweet-brier, and the like; merchants -with ragged and rugged sticks offered as genuine shillelaghs; women -with baskets of fruit of suspicious aspect--all urged on the notice of -the public with great clamour of voice. It is a quaint trade; and -wonderful was it to see the number of good Americans who invested in -these memorials, relics of European travel, bearing them on board the -steam tender with grave solicitude. The steam tender aforesaid was -already duly crammed with mail bags, passengers, and a fair proportion -of juvenile Americans revelling in the freedom and perfect -self-control proper to the race, conspicuous among whom was a pretty -little lady of some twelve or thirteen years of age, who had all the -airs and graces of "une demoiselle de la vieille Cour." The "_Gallia_" -had made a quick passage from Liverpool, and had been fuming about the -moorings off Roche's Point since 5.30 A.M. Many of her passengers had -landed and gone, some to church, others to chapel, or to the "grand -cathedral," and some to stroll about the uninviting streets, and these -were now waiting for us in the tender, but the majority of the -voyagers were on board writing letters or abusing the post-office and -the authorities generally which enforced such a waste of the time they -found so heavy on their hands. I found two acquaintances--one indeed -an old friend--among the passengers in the tender, and with them I -divided the cares of looking after my two married daughters who came -"to see me off," thereby obtaining an opportunity for a dash to "see -after" my luggage, for I am too old a traveller to trust to the -assurances of porters--"It's all right, your honour!" In twenty -minutes more the tender, inspected by hundreds of eyes from over the -bulwarks, was alongside the slim vast hull of the great Cunarder. I -looked up as the eyes looked down, and saw most of my party above, and -in a few seconds more was on deck shaking hands with them all round; -finding out my State Room--what a noble appellation for the cubicle, -"that heritage of woe," of which I was lord!--exhibiting the charms -and conveniences of the same to my anxious daughters, who with -feminine enthusiasm declared it was "delightful! so snug!" &c., and -distributing my property in its angles and covert retreats. "All on -board for the shore!" The bell is ringing for the third time! And as -the last adieux are spoken, the last kiss, the last shake of the hand, -given, and the outward and visible signs of friendship or of love are -relegated to tearful eyes and waving kerchiefs, those who are going to -sea think perhaps how pleasant it would be to return to the solid -earth, and those who are bound for road or pavement struggle with the -thought, "I wish I were going too!" Any stick will do to beat a dog! -Any umbrella or hat will do to wave at a friend. And so, at 3.30 that -afternoon, the "_Gallia_" made a graceful curtsy to an incoming wave, -screwed herself out of the roadstead, and turned her stem to the Far -West, towards the sun "which, by the bright track of his fiery car, -gave token of a goodly day to-morrow." How green and fresh seemed the -land where the fields swelled to the edge of the cliffs dotted with -whitewashed cottages! Forward, leaning over forecastle bulwarks, the -poor Irish emigrants and Irish-Americans were watching the coast-lines -and listening to the experts who were pointing out the "Killies" and -"Bailies" which adorned them. But the bell soon sounded again, this -time to prepare for dinner, and in half an hour more, from the -recesses of many cabins the multitude came trooping to the banqueting -hall, which was at the time just gently yielding to the blandishments -of the sea-nymphs to desert the line of strict propriety, and to leave -off doing its level best. The "party" had a table all to itself on the -right of the Saloon, but at the end there were two places left which -we could not occupy, and these were filled by two American gentlemen, -one of whom developed a marked talent for salads and anecdote, and the -other equal gifts in the way of silence. The Cunard cuisine is copious -at all events, and the cellar--albeit vexed by various temperatures -and altitudes--commendable. The show of strength at table was -creditable to our seagoing powers, and our first night with the -expeditionary forces was passed pleasantly in discussing plans and the -like till bed-time, when our grim chamberlain put out our candles, and -left the inmates of the cabins to rest as best they might. On the -second day people began to look more at each other at meal-times--to -take notice, as the nurses say--but a strong easterly breeze -introduced elements of discomfort and unsociability, and impeded -friendly communion even in the smoking-room for a day or two. It was -evident that the majority of the living freight of the "_Gallia_" were -returning to their native land. There is always something or other -cropping up out of the sad sea wave for those who are not absorbed in -their own sufferings from the _mal de mer_; and though I have been -fortunate enough to have escaped the slightest inconvenience in my -marine experiences, I have had that share in the misery of others -which is derived from sympathy. I have sometimes doubted whether -exemption from sea-sickness, in bad weather, is such a boon, till I -duly considered the state of those who were its victims. To be quite -well, and yet to be unable to read or to write--to sit or to stand, or -to lie down--without some sort of tension--is very aggravating. If you -go on deck you are wet by sea or spray, and can do nothing but "hold -on"; and if you go below you are half suffocated by the close air, and -altogether tortured by the cries of distress around you. My cabin was -on the main deck forward--large, airy, and, when the ports were open, -well lighted--and the only inconvenience attendant on the situation -was that it lay some distance from the bath-rooms, which are never -numerous enough for the wants of the passengers even in the most -liberally-appointed steamers. The knowing ones make a rush for the -bath-room steward and inscribe their names at once for their quarter -of an hour as soon as they come on board, and the unfortunates who -neglect that precaution are obliged to take their chance later in the -morning, and sometimes fare but badly. It was my fate once to be a -passenger on board one of the steamers of the Messagéries Impériales -to Marseilles from the East, at the close of the Crimean War. There -was an immense crowd of officers and soldiers on board, and the -weather was very hot, but the only bath-room was closed, and it was -from a conclusive answer to the demands for admission which were made -to the persecuted steward that we learned the reason why--"the bath -was occupied." It contained the body of an officer which had been -embalmed, and which was being taken to France for burial in some -martial cemetery! - -Washington Irving wrote long ago that "the sea is all monotony," -though he claimed leave to correct the expression, and if it were a -monotony of fair winds and smooth water, and eighteen miles an hour, -it would be very tolerable indeed. But surely there is no monotony in -a sea voyage in an Atlantic liner! Look at the different phases of -character exhibited on board day after day! Observe the ups and downs -of its life; watch the microcosm of the crowded deck, where every -chair holds its little Areopagus and pronounces judgment on the world -around it. - -There were brave men among us who resorted to ignoble artifices, and -went by devious ways to their cabins to escape the masked batteries, -and the spectacles and glasses _en barbette_ of the long lines of -cushioned bastions where the enemy were lying in vigilant scrutiny of -every movement. - -And then the Babel of tongues at times--the variety of topics one -hears discussed. Hark to that trumpet tone! It is not Jeremiah warning -the nations to flee from the wrath to come! No! it is merely a gallant -officer of a scientific corps who is expounding to some admiring -Americans a few articles of his faith, and proving that Mr. Gladstone -is the "Man of Sin" specially intended for the destruction of the -British army and Empire. And there, in a cozy nook by the wheel-house, -an earnest Democrat is holding forth to his English auditors on the -evils of democracy as illustrated by the conduct of the Republicans in -the exercise of political power, the manipulation of ballot-boxes and -public bullion; and a sturdy Briton near at hand is enlarging on the -absolute necessity of restoring the worn-out lands of the Eastern -States and Canada to fertility by the use of manures of which he is -the manufacturer. Among the Americans there were not wanting signs and -tokens that the traditions of a great war and the influence of party -politics were as powerful as social distinctions, and their cliques -were as marked as if each represented a different "set" in one of the -old countries. - -There is the unfailing anxiety about the weather--and there are -remarks on its behaviour, past, present, and future, at every meal, -and there must be incessant vigilance respecting the proceedings of -the ship. The 9 o'clock observation is regarded with an interest which -culminates at noon in the proceedings of the officers engaged in -"catching the sun," and then comes the anxious waiting about of the -passengers whilst the calculations are being worked out, till the run -is announced and the result fixed over the companion. In some vessels -a chart is laid out, on which the course of the ship is marked down -daily. I have seen an expression of much comfort diffused over the -countenances of suspicious voyagers by the inspection of the final -remarks which show them "exactly where we are, you know." They are not -quite aware of the tricks of the trade, and it is perhaps just as -well. Then all operations aloft are attractive--taking in sail or -shaking out a reef, or "taking a haul on the weather braces," which -seems necessary when nothing else is to be done--and there is the -wonderful problem to study of why it is that, no matter where you put -yourself away on the deck of a ship, a "hand" comes to you at once to -pull the particular rope you are sitting or standing on, or to -otherwise civilly molest you! All these common interests bind -passengers together. The smoking-room becomes conversational after a -time, and "sets" are enlarged. The energies of life, however, are -concentrated on but a few objects on board ship, and the general -conversation and attitude of the passengers are largely regulated by -the vehicle in which they are borne. And that was the course of life -in the "_Gallia_." A flying-fish, a petrel, a porpoise, the glinting -of a sail, the smoke of a steamer, became a subject for general -conversation, if not an object of universal attraction; and when -porpoises or flying-fish came close in shoals, and the "sails" were -near, and the steamer's number, or better still, her name, could be -read, why, there was quite enough of incident to carry one through the -not very long intervals which divided the times for eating and -drinking. I have not mentioned the gulls, because I think they are -becoming decidedly demoralised and disreputable, and ought not to be -noticed. Instead of getting their subsistence and living cleanly by -honest labour, as decent gulls should do, they have become mere ocean -scavengers, and follow the steamers to and fro across the Atlantic; -some, I dare say, preferring the Cunard, others the Inman; and the -White Star, Guion, &c., lines, probably having clientelles of their -own. It is possible indeed that each vessel has its own _habitués_, -just like a club or a hotel; but this is merely a theory. I am sorry -to say that I have observed a tendency on the part of the solan geese -to be led away to following these wakes, and if that goes on, the -gulls will be driven to farming, for which, in ignorance of the -ruinous nature of the occupation they are indeed showing an increasing -predilection. - -The 19th April was debited with a brilliant run--390 nautical miles in -the 24 hours, equal to 16-3/8 knots per hour!--and there was an -exceeding clangour of tongues at meal-times, attributable, it would -seem, to the "_Gallia_" having screwed her way through the ocean at -such high speed. On such occasions as these the deck-frequenting -passengers are in high spirits--they in some way unconsciously -attribute to themselves a share in the performance. The Auditor drank -his "Dry Monopole"--a good tap was discovered on board--with unusual -relish; nor was he left to do so single-handed. Mr. Bridgeman -developed a salad of great originality and power; the American -Colonel, filled with thoughts too big for utterance, smiled on society -at large. - -By degrees--short and cumulative--acquaintanceship was developing; -familiarity took the place of reserve, and the game of "poker," -inaugurated by some American experts, enlisted its votaries from -expanding circles, and usurped large sections of the saloon tables, -not only by night, but by day. It is a pity that it takes so long to -bring out or up musical talent at sea, for it is often that sweet -voices are heard warbling, deft fingers wake up the notes of the -piano, and histrionic gifts are made manifest, in unexpected quarters, -only a day or two before the end of the voyage; and just as society -begins to enjoy them it is dispersed for ever as though it were an -exploded shell! We had on board senators and judges, and men of -eminence and women of culture, as we began to find out when we were -about to lose them, and day after day jokes became more -interchangeable and transferable, like the quaint conceits in -"drinks," cocktails, and the like, which were sent round from table to -table by the cognoscenti to their friends. One night there came to me, -at dinner-time, a card with a drawing on it of a gentleman running at -full speed from a suspicion of cavalry in the rear, and underneath -were the words "Russell at Bull Run." There was just room enough on -the card to enable me to draw in front of the figure so described a -pair of legs and part of the body of another fugitive, and writing -below the legs "The last man of the Federal army on that occasion," I -returned it to my American friend, and the burst of laughter which -ensued from the company at the table showed that the _réplique_ had -been appreciated. - -And there was a domestic event, soon after our departure, which -excited much interest. A poor woman, who was going out to join her -husband in some distant digging, gave birth to a little girl. Somehow -or other the Auditor became involved in the case, and got up a -subscription for the benefit of the little stranger and its mother, -which compelled him to make many journeys to the steerage, and to make -many acquaintances among the ladies, for which he had a happy knack, -in the interests of charity. A cynical officer of the ship somewhat -damped our benevolence by hinting that "that sort of thing was always -going on," and when he was pressed for information he said that -intending emigrants in the rank of life to which the mother belonged, -frequently deferred their journey to the last moment, when expecting -such events, in anticipation of a subscription from the passengers as -soon as their time had come. Ere we landed the child was baptized in -due form--one of her names being "Gallia"--and a purse of sovereigns -was presented to the grateful mother, who certainly deserved them for -her maternal solicitude and punctuality in such an important -transaction. - -And there was a fair face on which we gazed every day with growing -sadness and sympathy. No one knew anything of the story of the -pensive, melancholy girl whose eyes were often suffused with tears, -but we heard that the heavy but not unbenevolent-looking ecclesiastic -in the garb of a Roman Catholic bishop with whom she was travelling -was taking her to America in order to put her into a convent. It was a -prospect which she certainly seemed to regard with grief and despair, -if one might judge from the expression of her sorrowful countenance -and mournful mien. We could pity, and that was all. - -Smooth seas and favouring breezes prevailed for the greater part of -our course. Early on the morning of the 25th April land was in sight, -and Sandy Hook was visible right ahead before noon. After breakfast -came that mundane solicitude about baggage, luggage, and the like, -which betokens the end of the voyage. The stewards, always prompt, on -board the "_Gallia_," were almost aggressively attentive as though to -reproach us for going on shore from them so soon. - -Outside Sandy Hook we took in a pilot, a grave bearded gentleman in a -black frock coat, tall hat, and satin waistcoat, from one of the -pretty pilot boats, the appearance of which in the distance was -attended with a good deal of anxiety connected with a sum of money in -the lottery, the ownership of which was determined by the figure on -her mainsail. But the news the pilot brought us was startling, and -engrossed every thought for the time. "Lord Beaconsfield is dead!" In -an instant it was known all over the ship. Up to the time of the -"_Gallia_" leaving Queenstown the bulletins had given ground for hope, -indeed almost the assurance, that there was no great reason to fear a -fatal termination to Lord Beaconsfield's illness, and one of us had -received a letter from the best authority, expressing the belief that -the critical period had been passed and that he might be expected to -"pull through all right." The sad intelligence for a while overpowered -all other interests. We had forgotten Europe for eight days, and now -the voice which aroused us announced "Lord Beaconsfield is dead!" The -various objects on the shores we were approaching or passing were for -a time unnoticed. Among our little party were men of different phases -of political feeling, but on one point they were all agreed--that -England had lost a great minister, and the world one of the most -brilliant and original statesmen of the age. Even amongst Americans, -who might not be expected to have much sympathy for the loss of a -statesmen of his Imperial stamp, much regret was expressed for Lord -Beaconsfield's death. "I doubt, sir," said one of them, "if he could -have done it in our country. I guess his novels would have prevented -it, even if he could have got over being a Jew. We cannot run politics -and literature together as you can--that's a fact. The writers who get -places don't amount to much--ministers and consuls, and that sort of -thing, abroad. To succeed they must take to the one line or the -other." - -The Health Officer's boat came alongside with friends at the -Quarantine Ground, and Judge Pierrepoint, formerly United States -Minister at the Court of St. James's, boarded the "_Gallia_" to -welcome the Duke of Sutherland, whose guest he had been at Dunrobin -Castle, and to claim the fulfilment of the Duke's promise given in -London to dine with him in New York. - -In one sense the attachment of Americans to the land of their birth or -adoption is generally intense; our fellow-passengers gazed on the -shore with delight. "You have before you, sir," said a gentleman -alongside, as I leant over the bulwarks, "the most beautiful bay in -the world!" "The most beautiful bay in the world"! I wonder how many -places there are of that description? Several I know of in Ireland and -in Scotland, some in England, a few in the Mediterranean; and others -there are in Indian and Chinese seas, right away to California, north -and south, and east and west, and in all the isles of the ocean. But, -certainly, the approach to the great city enthroned on the Hudson, -with its wide-stretching arms of river and commingling sea, is very -fine, and, although the scenery around it is not of the very highest -order of beauty, New York is grandly placed. - - "Breathes there a man with soul so dead"-- - -Well! though Sir Walter may have put the thought into very exalted -verse, most of us have felt the sensation he describes, and it does -not require a very remarkable or ancient pedigree among the nations -to cause a country to be beloved of its people. Woman, however, was -occupied at that particular moment on board the "_Gallia_" in devising -means to evade the inquisitorial search of the myrmidons of Uncle -Sam's Custom House, and to reduce the amount of her contributions to -the Imperial Exchequer--for a Republic can be Imperial, I presume--to -the lowest possible figure. - -The manners of the Custom House officers were exceedingly bland, and -so were their customs as far as our baggage was concerned, because -they passed it with the greatest readiness on nominal parole, and I -may now declare that there was not in the whole lot a single article -subject to the smallest duty. But there was a fair and charming lady -who was returning with the purchased plunder of, I dare say, the best -milliners and dressmakers in the capitals of Europe, and on these -treasures there would be heavy duty to pay. Feminine sagacity, aided -by masculine depravity, enabled her to achieve a triumph in which most -of the outside accomplices rejoiced exceedingly. "Mrs. A., I see you -have twenty-two packages marked; have you anything to declare?" Mrs. -A. smiled, blushed, and with downcast eyes said, "Yes, sir; I have got -some lace, silk, and other things of the kind in box No. 4." "We will -search box No. 4, if you please, ma'am." The keys were produced, the -articles duly examined and assessed, and the twenty-one unexamined -boxes were marked with the sign of customs emancipation. The box which -was examined contained, as the lady declared subsequently when she got -on shore, the smallest number of articles liable to duty of the whole -number; the others were crammed with them! - -I shall not attempt to describe the approaches to New York and the -various objects on shore--the towering Elevators and the antithetical -beauties of the New Jersey hills; the monumental piles of the mammoth -hotels on Coney Island--"where," whispers my American, "from 50,000 to -60,000 people go for dinner every day during the season. Why, if they -spend but 50 cents each, that's £5,000 to £6,000 a day of your money! -Just see!"--but suppose we have worked up the river, and are sidling -in to our berth through the flotillas of the white-sailed coasters and -the huge walking-beam steamers crowded with people, which impress -new-comers perhaps more than any other novelty. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -NEW YORK. - - Friends on shore -- The landing -- First impressions -- - Brevoort House -- The interviewers -- Aspect of the - streets -- 1861 and 1881 -- Cockades and armorial bearings - -- The Union League Club -- The Fire Brigade. - - -As the "_Gallia_" neared the Cunard wharf a mass of upturned faces was -visible on shore with eyes fixed on the steamer to detect friends. -"There is Jack!" "I see Lucy." "There is Sam!" and so on. And, indeed, -there was "Sam" ready to greet us, and the "_desiderium tam cari -capitis_" was gratified by the appearance of its valued owner. It was -over twenty years ago since I first landed at this very wharf on a -bright March morning in 1861, and there were some men living whom I -longed to see once more, despite the change which had been wrought in -their faith, and the time which had elapsed and separated our lives. -The States were then unconsciously preparing for the tremendous -conflict which burst on the world so suddenly. New York was divided -into two camps, in one of which was concentrated most of the ability, -culture, wealth, and political knowledge of the State, and into that I -was thrown on my arrival. I speedily found out there was another and a -tremendous power which commanded "_les gros bataillons_" arrayed on -the other side. The decks were now soon thronged with visitors and -friends, and passengers mistaken for the Duke enjoyed the -intoxication of a brief ovation till the imposture was discovered. -There was the leave-taking--the civility which costs so little, and is -so agreeable, giving even the misanthrope a kindly impression of human -nature escaping from shipboard--the telling off, with all their bags, -rugs, sticks, dressing-cases, bundles, and umbrellas, of the party to -the quaint old carriages à la Queen Anne's time, and then, scattering -groups of interviewers, we set out for our quarters. Our rooms had -been taken at the Brevoort House, and we were expected with -impatience. The purlieus on the riverside between the landing-place -and the streets in which the fashionable hotels are situated are at -least as bad as those of other great cities; but in New York the -horrors of bad pavements and filthy ways are aggravated by the ribs of -the tram-car ways, which cross the roads in every direction. However, -our first impressions were effaced by the trimness and neatness of the -better parts of the city, the brightness, and even grandeur, of the -Fifth Avenue, and by the wealth and display of Broadway. The -characteristics of hotels on the American system are well known, but -the Brevoort House is not one of these. Instead of a fixed charge per -diem, to include bed and board in all its wonderful profusion of meals -and of dishes, the Brevoort House has a varied tariff for apartments, -and meals _à la carte_. There is an old-fashioned air about the house, -combined with a great degree of comfort and a full attainment of all -the objects which American travellers desire in baths, barber's shop, -reading-room, bar, and the like. An excellent cook and a large and -well-chosen cellar leave little to be desired in the way of eating and -drinking. But as the kitchens are far away and dishes are not cooked -until the order for them is given, the service, although plentifully -armed, is necessarily slow. - -Friends, railway authorities, and representatives of the press -received the travellers on their arrival, and the process of -interviewing commenced at once with great severity. As it would be -inconvenient for all the gentlemen of the press to interview the same -individual at once, a distribution of duties was made, and very soon -after our appearance at the Brevoort House each member of the party -had a little private confidence with the representative of some -leading journal. The peculiar views of the interviewers themselves -were reflected in their reports next day. Some attributed importance -to personal details; others desired to ascertain our political -opinions; some were anxious to be instructed on English social -questions; others were curious to know our views respecting the -municipal government of New York and the condition of the city, -founded on what we gleaned from our inspection of the streets from the -windows of the carriages in which we were carried to the hotel. But as -even in so small a party there was diversity of opinions, the accounts -of the general impressions of the whole body were rather contradictory -and confused. It is a novel experience to English people to be -accosted in the most familiar way by persons whom they have never -seen in their lives, and to be subjected to an examination, even to -minute particulars, respecting their views in relation to all manner -of things, knowing all the while that their answers will be given with -more or less accuracy in print in a few hours. But it is nevertheless -an ordeal to which public men and notabilities in the United States -submit generally without a struggle; and it would be considered a mark -of "aristocratic exclusiveness" if titled people from England refused -to acquiesce in the general custom. - -The effect produced on the party by the first sight of the city was -not agreeable. The unwonted look of the Elevated Railway, of the -forest of crooked telegraph poles, and cobweb-like wires along the -sideways, combined to give an unpleasant sensation to the eye. We had -occasion, subsequently, to recognise the utility of the Elevated -Railway, just as we had to admit the advantages of tramcar railways -for the million; but no device can redeem the ugliness of the one, and -nothing but a fine spirit of self-sacrifice can reconcile a resident -of New York to the devastation caused in the streets, and to the -misery of travelling over the iron ruts which run through most of the -thoroughfares of the city, with the exception of Broadway. It is only -fair to state that the Elevated Railway is not commended by any one -from an æsthetic point of view, and there is a theory afloat that the -telegraph wires will, some fine day, be laid underground; but, all -said and done, there is reason to doubt whether they manage these -things in New York much better than they do in some of the decayed old -capitals of the Eastern World. - -In some respects I found the old parts of New York but little changed -since 1861. The words in which I recorded my first impressions then -would not inaptly describe what one sees, in 1881, on landing at one -of the wharves and driving to the Fifth Avenue, barring the change of -seasons, for there was no snow in April, but the condition of the -streets was accounted for by the late and severe winter, of which the -effects had not yet disappeared. - -I wrote on 16th March, 1861:--"We were rattling over a most abominable -pavement, plunging into mud-holes, squashing through snow-heaps, in -ill-lighted, narrow streets of low, mean-looking, wooden houses, of -which an unusual proportion appeared to be lager-bier saloons, -whisky-shops, oyster-houses, and billiard and smoking establishments. -The crowd on the pavement were very much what a stranger would be -likely to see in a very bad part of London, Antwerp, or Hamburg, with -a dash of the noisy exuberance which proceeds from the high animal -spirits that defy police regulations and are superior to police force, -called 'rowdyism.' The drive was long and tortuous; but by degrees the -character of the thoroughfares and streets improved. At last we turned -into a wide street with very tall houses, alternating with far -humbler erections, blazing with lights, gay with shop-windows, -thronged in spite of the mud with well-dressed people, and pervaded by -strings of omnibuses--Oxford Street was nothing to it for length. At -intervals there towered up a block of brickwork and stucco with long -rows of windows lighted up tier above tier, and a swarming crowd -passing in and out of the portals, which was recognised as the -barrack-like glory of American civilisation--a Broadway monster hotel. -More oyster-shops, lager-bier saloons--concert-rooms of astounding -denominations, with external decorations very much in the style of the -booths at Bartholomew Fair--churches, restaurants, confectioners, -private houses! again another series--they cannot go on expanding for -ever! This is the west-end of London--its Belgravia and Grosvenoria -represented in one long street, with offshoots of inferior dignity at -right angles to it. Some of the houses are handsome, but the greater -number have a compressed, squeezed-up aspect, which arises from the -compulsory narrowness of frontage in proportion to the height of the -building, and all of them are bright and new, as if they were just -finished to order,--a most astonishing proof of the rapid development -of the city. As the hall door is made an important feature in the -residence, the front parlour is generally a narrow, lanky apartment, -struggling for existence between the hall and the partition of the -next house. The outer door, which is always provided with fine carved -panels and mouldings, is of some rich varnished wood, and looks much -better than our painted doors. It is generously thrown open so as to -show an inner door with curtains and plate glass. The windows, which -are double on account of the climate, are frequently of plate glass -also. Some of the doors are on the same level as the street, with a -basement story beneath; others are approached by flights of steps, the -basement for servants having the entrance below the steps, and this, I -believe, is the old Dutch fashion, and the name of 'stoop' is still -retained for it."[2] - -But the progress, which has never been arrested since the period of my -first acquaintance with the Empire City, is attested by statistics; it -has grown, and it is growing steadily in size, population, trade, and -wealth. - -In the evening the Duke and some of the party went to the Madison -Square Theatre to see "Hazel Kirke," which has had a wonderful run: -but, truth to say, I was more struck by the commodiousness and -charming arrangements of the theatre, which are perfect, than by the -situations of the highly strained drama, which was rendered, however, -by a very effective company, and moved many of those near us to tears. - -The day after our arrival (April 26th) the conviction dawned on -certain of us that we must be up and stirring, if certain articles of -baggage were to be rescued from some unknown limbo and restored to our -personal use. (I hope my readers will bear with me if I ask them to -accept a few pages now and then of my diary as the best account I can -offer them of our tour.) The worthy Briton who had borne up manfully -against the unaccustomed trials of sea-sickness, and had valiantly -kept watch and ward over the Duke's baggage and that of his friends on -board ship, had been fairly overwhelmed by the _novitas regni_ on -landing, and he maintained undefeatedly that all the things--his own -certainly--were in the hotel, but "that they would not give them up!" -There was nothing for it but an expedition to the Cunard dock. Lord -Stafford and I drove over to the river side, and there we found the -missing portmanteaux, bags, and bundles, quite safe, in a large shed, -open apparently to all the world, and returning to the Brevoort were -once more entangled in the meshes of many interviewers. - -It needs some reflection to appreciate the great fact called New York; -some previous acquaintance to recognise the prodigious increase, -within the last ten or fifteen years, in all that makes a great city. -The Fifth Avenue has extended its well-ordered rows of stately -mansions and handsome houses almost to the gates of the favourite -recreation ground of fast trotters and well-appointed carriages. The -Central Park is now a beautiful resort, of which any metropolis might -be proud. "O Quirine! Rusticus tuus sumit trechedipna." If my eyes did -not deceive me, I beheld cockades in the hats of honest Republican -"helps," and armorial bearings on the panels of democratic broughams. -Should the enterprise of a gentleman who proposes to collect -particulars of Americans claiming to be sprung from the loins of kings -and emperors, to be published at a price which suggests that he must -believe in the possession of hereditary wealth by his distinguished -subscribers, be successful, imperial and royal honours will be due to -people now content with belonging to "the first families" in the -States. These, however, are but spots on the face of the sun under -which the American "Demos" basks so contentedly, and they may vary in -size and number without affecting the purity and force of the -celestial rays. - -The papers contained elaborate descriptions of the Duke and of his -party from the pens of the interviewers of the day before, which -afforded us considerable amusement. His Grace of course was the -central figure, and, judging from the accounts we read, he must -certainly have assumed a variety of appearances. One paper said: "His -gait is marked by a slight limp: his manner is easy, even careless, -and his movements are noticeable for their restlessness." "Altogether -he is the picture of a well-bred English gentleman, and would never be -suspected of being the possessor of a dozen titles and an income so -vast that he cannot possibly spend it all." Another paper thought he -was "a jolly-looking man. He is above the middle height, of robust -build, and the very picture of a thoroughly happy, healthy, -well-preserved gentleman, still in the prime of life. He wears his -beard, whiskers, and moustache, which are of a bright chestnut-brown, -and as yet barely touched by the silver tint of time." The -appreciations of another reporter were very different. He wrote "the -Duke is a tall gentleman with silvery hair and a grey beard, dressed -in a sack coat and grey trowsers." According to another authority "He -has a look about him which would mark him for a Scotchman. He is tall, -of medium size, with greyish hair and whiskers and a sandy-coloured -moustache. He was dressed in a grey suit and Derby hat." He was -described elsewhere as having "a passion for steam-engines of almost -every kind, although the locomotive and the modern fire-engine are his -favourites." We all came in for our share of fancy sketching and -pen-and-ink drawing, and those who knew themselves best would have -been puzzled to detect the originals. Some of the limners thought us -"fair types of well-to-do, well-fed gentlemen, of the solid build and -florid features which English roast beef produces." Mr. Neale was -declared to have "a more elegant external appearance than the other -members of the party. On the outskirts of his features grow brown -whiskers." We all "talked more affectedly" than the Duke. Mr. Stephen -was complimented with reason on his "magnificent physique." It was -astonishing how "well posted," to use the Transatlantic idiom, the -papers were in Burke and Debrett. They gave full accounts of the ducal -house of Sutherland--of its history and possessions, expatiated on the -grandeurs of Trentham, Stafford House, and Dunrobin, the treasures of -their picture-galleries, the vast acreage of the estates, the richness -of the mines, the wealth of the salmon rivers, deer forests, and -grouse moors, with most un-Republican enthusiasm. - -To millions of Americans the exact status of a Duke is as great a -mystery as the rank of a Jam or of a Thakoor is to the mass of -Englishmen out of India; but millions of Americans had heard of the -Duke of Sutherland. Stafford House is a name familiar to those who -remember the times when "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Mrs. Beecher Stowe, and -the anti-slavery agitation which emanated from Exeter Hall made noise -in the world. Still, the great gulf which the Revolution and the Act -of Independence made between the social systems of the New World and -the Old is only passed by the travelled American, except in rare -instances. The colonel who informed Martin Chuzzlewit that "your -Queen, sir, lives in the Tower of London," was scarcely an -exaggeration of popular American ignorance on such subjects. But, -after all, how many Englishmen are there who could give an exact -account of the working of the Electoral College in the election of one -of the most potential of sovereigns, or who could define the -differences between a Republican and a Democrat? An old lady on board -the "_Gallia_" who insisted that "the Duke of Sutherland was a cousin -of the Queen of England" represents a large number of people who -cannot or do not care to understand the functions and constitution of -what they call "your privileged classes." The authority to whom I -refer above was on her way to her home in the Far West after a tour in -Europe and a visit to Great Britain, and she told her auditory that -"she thought Ireland, at all events, would be a great deal better off -if there were more _dollars_ and less _dukes_ in it," which, seeing -that the Green Isle has only two peers of that rank, argued perhaps -some intolerance on her part towards the ducal aristocracy. A duke who -takes an active interest in the great works of national progress which -Americans exhibit with a just pride to all comers is sure to be -honoured in the Great Republic; and when he examines mechanical -inventions, ascends elevators, descends mines, dips into -graving-docks, investigates factories and workshops, drives an engine, -or goes deeply into the working of a farm or of a fire brigade, he -excites something like enthusiasm, especially if he be discreetly -moved to express his feelings of admiration to those around him. - -It was considered by all the Duke's friends that a banquet at -Delmonico's was obligatory, and to the refined taste and -discrimination, polished by long experience of many capitals, of -"Uncle Sam," to the brilliant originality of Mr. Hurlbut, and to the -sober judgment and critical acumen of Mr. Butler Duncan, with the -proviso that there were "not to be too many dishes," the task of -ordering "a quiet little dinner" at that famous restaurant was -confided. What the notion of the _chef_ as to "much or many, more or -most," under ordinary circumstances, may have been, it would not be -easy to determine, but his inventive genius was confined within the -limits of a moderate _menu_, and the result quite justified the -reputation of the house in regard to _cuisine_ and cellar. Especially -admirable was the arrangement of the table in the cabinet, which was -set forth with exquisite flowers and fine fruit. There is no single -establishment of the kind in Paris, or in any other city, as far as I -know, which can rival Delmonico's new restaurant. It serves the -purpose of Willis's Rooms, the London Tavern, the Albion, the -Freemasons', and similar establishments in London, for public banquets -and breakfasts, civil, military, political, and social; for -anniversary convivialities as well as for little dinners and suppers; -and of the Café Anglais, Bignon's, Voisin's, &c., in Paris. It is -provided with many pretty suites of rooms, and some vast _salons_, -with a very large restaurant _à la carte_. It is a blaze of lights and -mirrors at night, and there is a _cliquetis_ of steel, plate, and -glass, a coming and going of ladies and gentlemen in evening dress, a -constant movement and an animation in the corridors and approaches, -which make one think that, if they be always in force, New York must -be in a state of perpetual festivity and luxurious enjoyment. It -should be remarked that the charges are high in comparison with the -highest standard with which I am acquainted, and that the _habitués_ -should belong to classes to whom money is no object.[3] And yet close -at hand there is much poverty, if not absolute misery. The sewerage of -streets not far off the Fifth Avenue in all its glory was, we were -told, in the worst possible condition, and some of the houses, filled -with squalid people packed as they are in the lowest parts of London, -were pestilential and poisonous. Some people who do not like -Republican Republicanism in power, though they do not object to -Democratic Republicans in office, seem inclined to lay the blame of -bad sewers, bad air, bad pavements, and bad water on the various -Commissioners, the elected of the people, who have charge of such -things in the Empire City. I was especially warned against the water. -It was denounced and charged, in the press, with many serious offences -against the public health and against nose, eye, and palate, and I did -not test the truth of the accusation. - -The Delmonico dinner was but a preparation for a function at the Union -League Club, which was giving a "Ladies' Reception" at the Club-house -in Fifth Avenue, where "all New York was to be present." The boast, or -threat, was scarcely an empty one. As far as the spacious premises -could accommodate New York, its fathers and mothers, indeed its -grandfathers and grandmothers, its uncles and its aunts, they were -there; but the sisters and daughters appeared either to be kept at -home, or to dislike the Union League Club, for there were in the vast -crowd of well-dressed people of both sexes but few young ladies, which -was a bitter disappointment to the gayer of the party; and when one of -them repaired to a supper-table, at which there was a rolling fire of -corks going on, and asked for a glass of champagne to keep up his -spirits, the domestic whom he addressed demanded his wine-ticket, and -he, being destitute of any such document, retired disconsolate and -thirsty. Mr. Hamilton Fish, the President of the Club, and other -members of the Committee did the honours for the Duke, and presented -many ladies and gentlemen in their progress through the Club to him, -and many amiable offers of service and suggestions for the disposal of -our time were tendered, which the time aforesaid would not permit us -to accept. It was trying to wander about long series of rooms upstairs -and downstairs, and to struggle up and down staircases and along -corridors in a throng of strangers; more trying still to be brought up -all standing, and to be made an involuntary enemy to progress by the -ill-timed but well-meant efforts of the Committee of Reception to -introduce eminent citizens or citizenesses to the Duke and his -friends. The walls were hung with paintings lent for the occasion by -members of the Club, and the predominance of the Foreign schools in -the American market was very clearly marked in the names of the -painters and the choice of subjects. There were Meissoniers and Rosa -Bonheurs, and pictures from Brussels, Paris, Dusseldorf, and Munich, -as well as a display of native works, but there were few, if any, -specimens of the divisions of the English school. Mr. Bierstadt told -me subsequently that there was a growing appreciation of the works of -British artists in the States, and that some valuable examples of our -best modern painters had been recently acquired for their galleries by -private collectors. At all events, on the present occasion the best -pictures in the world would literally have gone to the wall, as there -was no chance of seeing them thoroughly, although the rooms were -brilliantly lighted. Mr. J. Milbank is the fortunate owner of De -Neuville's "Reconnaissance," as well as of a good Bonnat and -Bouguereau, and Mr. Sloane lent a Gerome (a Moulvie) and a De -Neuville, Mr. Raynor sent a "Mussulman at Prayer" by Gerome and good -examples of Troyon. Of Corot there were numerous pictures belonging to -different members. Mr. J. C. Runkle was happy in the possession of -Millets, Geromes, Corots, and Troyons, and liberal in lending them. -Detaille's "Halte" (belonging to Mr. C. S. Smith), Meissonier's -"Trumpeter," and many other pictures exhibited by members betokened -the existence of taste and money, and altogether--"glimpsed" as it -was--we saw an excellent selection and had a fair criterion of the -value of New York art interiors. There was a sprinkling of naval and -military United States officers in uniform among the guests, and I -observed that since I was last here an innovation has been made on the -Republican simplicity which affected indifference to ribands and -decorations, and that several of the officers wore emblems of service -on their breasts and in their button-holes--whether authorised by the -State or the tokens of voluntary association, like Freemasons' badges, -&c., I could not ascertain, as I did not like to ask. The Union League -dates from the early period of the Civil War, when, as I remember, -there were two opinions in New York, and it was started by prominent -members of the Republican party to support Mr. Lincoln in the Empire -State and city when he much needed help. The attack on Fort Sumter -gave a powerful impetus to the development of the national sentiment -in favour of union and unity, and the death of Ellsworth and the -defeat of the first Federal army at Bull Run added such an intensity -and coherence to the feeling that the Union League became a power in -the State, equipped regiments, raised funds, and in every way -contributed to the carrying on of the war with spirit, affording by -its action and success a powerful illustration of the vigour with -which voluntary associations can be worked in America. That there was -still in New York a strong party which by no means belonged to the -Union League Club or approved of the principles of the association, -however, we had reason to suspect from the manner in which our -announcement that we were going to the Ladies' Reception there was -received by some of our American acquaintances. At one of the several -clubs of which our party were made honorary members during our stay in -the city, I happened, the same night, to ask a gentleman with whom I -was speaking, "Have you been at the Union League Club Reception?" -"Union League! What on earth would take me or any one there who could -go anywhere else? No, sir! I should be very sorry to meet a friend of -mine inside that sort of place." It was, I suppose, like asking a -member of Brooks's if he went much to the City Conservative, or a -Carlton man if he was going to the Cavendish, but that sort of -knowledge which enables people to avoid social rocks does not come but -by experience. - -Long as the day, and trying as our experiences had been, our labours -were not yet over. The Duke's fame as an amateur of fire-engine work -had been proclaimed and insisted upon in the American papers, and it -would be difficult to say whether an ordinary reader thought the -principal object of his Grace's visit was to buy railway shares or -land, or to put out fires in the United States. If there is any one of -the many things of which Americans are proud, that they take more -pride in than another, it is their Fire Department. And their pride is -not at all diminished by the reflection that fires are perhaps more -frequent and destructive in the United States than in any country in -the world, not even excepting Russia. - -Mr. Butler Duncan had arranged before dinner that we should visit a -fire-station; but it was understood that no warning should be given, -and that we were to take any station near at hand _à l'improviste_. -Accordingly we went from one of the clubs down Fifth Avenue, and -turned up a cross street to a house not distinguishable from those on -either side of it, except by a lamp and the name and number of the -station. On the ringing of a bell the door was opened by a man in a -kind of uniform, and we were shown into a hall occupying the whole of -the ground floor, in the centre of which there was a fire-engine and -tender, and at one side stalls, in which four horses were peaceably -nibbling their fodder by gas-light. The officer in charge summoned his -chief, who came downstairs partly dressed, and who, when made -acquainted with the desires of his visitors, quickly set to work to -carry them out. On his pressing a brass knob in the side of the wall, -we heard the clang of an alarm-bell, and in a second or two, down the -stairs, pell-mell, there came a gang of firemen, who had evidently -been sleeping in their boots and breeches, and who were hastily -buttoning their coats as they descended. In the twinkling of an eye -they were in their places on the fire-engine and the horses trotted -out and placed themselves in position of their own accord, so that by -an electric arrangement the harness was lowered on their backs from -the ceiling, and secured in a moment. The gate in the wall was thrown -open in front to the street, and out dashed the engine ready for work. -All this was exceedingly well done. The Duke was so pleased with it -that the experiment was repeated again, and we retired thanking the -courteous chief of the establishment for the trouble he had taken, and -with the conviction that if they do not always put out fires in New -York, it is not owing to any deficiency in the speed with which the -engines are turned out of the stations, or the efficiency of the Fire -Department. - -_April 27th._--The early morning was devoted to a stroll down Fifth -Avenue and Broadway, and then we returned to the hotel and gave some -time to the consideration of the plans for the journey which was to be -made to the Far West, and to the details of the excursions which had -been arranged before we left England. We had "friends in council," and -it says a good deal for the care and forethought with which the -expedition had been sketched out that but very few alterations, and -those of a trifling character, were necessary in the programme. The -hall of the Brevoort House was still thronged with gentlemen desirous -of interviews with the new-comers, or verifying the descriptions of -them in the newspapers. - -In the forenoon we were conducted to the Elevated Railway, and took -our places in the special train which started from a station in a -cross street close to the Brevoort House, off the Fifth Avenue. I am -not going to be the world's policeman, or to inveigh against a mode of -conveyance which is tolerated by the people most affected by it; but -as I travelled along this extraordinary construction, I could not but -feel, as I inadvertently looked into a long series of private -interiors, through the open windows on a level with me, and beheld the -domestic arrangements of family after family carried out under my -eyes, that I was taking a great liberty with private life. Here, drawn -by an engine which in common with the carriages distilled oil -plentifully on the road below, at a height varying from 20 to 40 -feet, was I being borne along in the middle of streets thronged with -people and filled with vehicles, looking into drawing-rooms or -third-floor windows as I travelled. In a city elongated for miles as -New York is, the convenience, no doubt, is very great; but I fail to -see why the railway should not have been made on the plan of our own -Metropolitan underground system. The speed, in spite of the numerous -stoppages, was very respectable, more than 15 miles an hour; but we -were retarded from time to time by the trains in advance of us. -Wonderful was it to see them gliding round the sharp curves as the -line pursued its sinuous course through the streets like a monster -millipede. At some parts of its career the railway seems to run right -over the pavements, and if the passers-by are not careful, they may -receive some of the _disjecta_ of the carriages on their clothes and -faces; indeed I am not sure that any amount of care would prevent that -sometimes occurring. The remarks which I made to one of the railway -officials respecting the inconvenience to which the railway must -subject the people living in the houses on either side of it, were met -by the statement that "the rents had not diminished." The case of a -householder who brought an action against the Company for damages and -got a verdict in his favour was not regarded with much favour, and -was, I was told, not likely to become a precedent, inasmuch as the -final appeal did not lie with the court in which the judgment had been -entered; and it was the intention of the company to carry the cause -to a higher jurisdiction, where their contention that they had right -to cause inconvenience to the few on account of the benefit of the -many would be accepted, probably, as good morality and law. To my -mind, however, nothing but hard necessity could compel people to live -under such conditions as those to which the inhabitants of the houses -exposed to the nuisance of the Elevated Railway must submit. It is not -alone that they are under incessant inspection of the passengers if -they keep blinds and windows up or open, but that the noise and whirl -must be distracting. A train passes every minute, I was told, during -the hours of business. There are two of these elevated railways, one -going east from the Battery to Harlem, the other west from the same -starting-point to Fifty-Ninth Street. The Metropolitan line starts -from a point near West Broadway to the Central Park. The line on which -we were travelling ultimately struck out for the more open country -till we came to the Harlem river. There we got out and inspected a -very remarkable bridge, with a draw of a most ingenious construction -for the passage of vessels, which will be completed speedily. From the -railway we enjoyed a fine view of the Croton Aqueduct, of which New -York may well be proud, the high bridge by which it is carried across -the Harlem River being an imperial work recalling the grandest -enterprises of the kind of the Roman engineers. There was a good view -of the Central Park and of the country which has been so rapidly -encroached upon by the builders; but there is still a considerable -tract of land occupied by sheds and shanties of a very abject and -miserable aspect, in the possession of squatters who cause much -anxiety to landowners, and are very difficult to dispossess. Whether -they have rights of disturbance or not I cannot say. Probably if they -were to introduce some of the machinery of the law which is considered -peculiarly suited to the wants of Ireland, the New Yorkers might find -it to their advantage. - -On the route to the Harlem River the line rises to a dizzy height, -quite above the tops of houses of three stories. Now that the system -has been adopted, it seems impossible to change it, as these "L -Lines," as they are called, have cost too much money (I think more -than twelve millions sterling) to be abandoned or bought up, and they -are still in course of construction. No amount of utility can -compensate for the intrinsic ugliness of these erections which block -up the vista and darken the streets below; and in winter time, when -New York, groaning under a burden of snow, has to suffer from the -accumulations thrown down by the railway, the inconvenience must be -greatly aggravated. - -When this very interesting excursion was over, the party returned to -the Brevoort House, and after a short interval for repose they were -off again, this time to visit Wall Street, the Chamber of Commerce, -and the Sub-Treasury of the United States. The latter is an -exceedingly fine Doric building of white marble, with a noble rotunda, -supported inside by sixteen Corinthian columns. It stands upon the -site of the Federal Hall, where Washington delivered his first address -as President of the United States. The Duke and his friends were -received here by General ----, and conducted through the various -departments to the strong rooms, in which were deposited, in neat -jackets of canvas, many millions of gold. At the Chamber of Commerce -we found some interesting memorials of the old British occupation, -portraits of governors and generals of the ante-revolutionary period. -The venerable statistician, Mr. Ruggles, gave us much valuable and -elaborate information respecting the enormous development of the trade -of New York, and expatiated on the vast extension of the wheat and -corn-growing power of the United States, and its increasing -exportations to Europe. - -In the evening the Duke and his friends were entertained by the Hon. -Edwards Pierrepoint, where we met a very distinguished party--Mr. -Blaine, Secretary of State, Governor Cornell, Mr. Hamilton Fish, Mr. -Jay, Mr. Low, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Royal Phelps, Mr. Stout, Mr. Potter, -Mr. Choate, Messrs. Beckwith, Mr. Robinson. The honours of the mansion -in Fifth Avenue, which contains many interesting souvenirs of Mr. -Pierrepoint's official career in England, were graciously rendered by -Mrs. Pierrepoint. And later, there was a reception, at which a number -of eminent persons were presented to the Duke. - -I am not sufficiently versed in the details of fire department -management in great cities to offer an opinion on the merits of any -particular system. I have seen many fires in my life, and I can only -suppose that if the present arrangements are nearly perfect in any one -place fires must be regarded as invincible, and fire departments can -only report progress and stay the march of the well-called devouring -element towards universal sway. Alderman Waite was very anxious that -the Duke, as an expert, should have an opportunity of seeing -officially the working of the New York system, and it was arranged -that what was styled another "impromptu" should be made. - -On our way from dinner at Mr. Pierrepoint's to a fire station near our -hotel we had to pass the house in the Fifth Avenue where Mr. Edison's -head-quarters are situated, and the party turned in to pay him a -visit. We found him, a bright-eyed, smooth-faced, broad-browed, almost -boyish-looking man, with a pleasant, gentle manner, literally in a -blaze of his own making, as far as the manifestation of the electric -light was concerned, in a room clear as day, in which Edison lamps -were doing the work of the sun, or of a moon with sunny proclivities. -He turned his lights off and on at discretion. Coal-owners and gas -share proprietors trembled. "But," said Mr. Edison, "there is a great -deal yet to be done." And indeed the world is wide enough for gas and -electric lighting--for old Captain Shandy and the new blue bottle. - -Whilst the Duke and his friends were visiting Mr. Edison there was a -small gathering of gentlemen on their way to the quarters of Engine -Company No. 4 in Eighteenth Street, near Broadway, where we speedily -joined them, and saw a repetition of the business of last night. The -engine was reposing in its bedroom--the horses, near at hand, were at -work in their cribs and mangers. Foreman Shay strikes a gong and -manipulates an electric bell, and down tumbles at once, ready for -work, a gang of firemen from their beds in the room above, and in an -instant lead out the horses, which rush to the shafts, are harnessed -at once by a detachment of the harness, all ready above them hanging -from the roof, by the electric power of the station, and are in -galloping trim in 2 minutes 30 seconds. This was done several times; -the horses seemed to like it more than the firemen. The Alderman and -the Fire Commissioners, and others were much pleased at the expression -of the Duke's satisfaction, and a gentleman whom I regarded with much -interest on account of his title (which I commend to our army -reformers), "Fire Master" Sheldon, was especially gratified. It would -seem as if the title was honorary or undeserved, for there is no -master of fire in New York, as several conflagrations during our stay -in the city proved in a very conclusive manner. But in order to show -how a fire ought to be put out the Duke, instead of going to bed, was -taken off to the corner of Twelfth Street on Fifth Avenue, after the -inspection of the premises, stables, sleeping-rooms, and office. The -Fire Commissioners, marshals, and aldermen trooped in front of us till -we come to the "alarm," which lived in a little pillar-looking box by -the side of the kerbstone. The Duke, properly instructed _ad hoc_, -turned on the alarm, and hey presto!--well, nearly so--the effect of -his operations became manifest. - -Be it noted that our small crowd at the corner of a street close to -the most dignified thoroughfare in New York attracted little or no -notice from the passers-by; but presently there was a thunder of -wheels and hoofs, and a cry of "Hi! hi!" up Fifth Avenue, and vomiting -out sparks of fire, snorting, and curveting, came down the engine of -our friend Captain Shay from Eighteenth Street, No. 14, in 2' 5"; and -in fast succession rushed up engine No. 18, from Tenth, Greenwich -Avenue, in 2' 40"; No. 3 Hook and Ladder, from Thirteenth, near Fourth -Avenue, in 3'; No. 33, from Mercer Street, near Fourth, in 3' 25"; the -Insurance Patrol from Great Tower Street in 4'; and No. 5 Hook and -Ladder Company, from Charles Street, in 4' 25". It was very fine to -see these engines and their attendants as they made night hideous -hastening to the summons, and then ranging up in order to begin, for -which there was happily no need. A strong patrol of police came up at -the double, formed across the road, charged the crowd to keep them -back, and made a resolute demonstration of physical force on the Duke -as he was in the act of examining an engine; but such interludes -speedily lost all interest in the necessity which presented itself for -working out the law of self-preservation, for a special call having -been made for the self-propelling engine, No. 24, from Morton Street, -near Hudson, and in 6' 15" that fearful mechanism made its -appearance--a veritable Stromboli on wheels, and apparently quite wild -with fine spirits, and perfectly unmanageable, for it went rampaging -up and down the Avenue, vomiting fire and sending the spectators -flying for their lives. The hydrant was opened, and the cold water had -a calming effect on No. 24, which began to propel a strong jet of -water down the Avenue, and, after covering itself with glory and some -unwary passers-by with wet, was taken off, and our little party broke -up for the night. - -_April 28th._--Our last day in New York! Our visit to the Empire City -was just long enough to satisfy us that it would need a longer sojourn -than we could afford to enable us to gain even a general idea of its -sights and institutions, and a lifetime to exhaust its hospitality. We -perched for a moment on the rim of the Circean bowl and flew off after -a glance at the surface, not taking even a sip of the contents, unless -the dinner at Mr. Edwards Pierrepoint's pleasant house, the feast of -Spartan simplicity at Delmonico's, where every dish was a culinary -triumph, and the glasses were charged with wines of race, could be -likened to a draught. - -"Surgit amari aliquid de fonte." I wonder who was behind "Box 2174, -Post Office, New York"? Because we all had a circular to-day -containing two printed papers, one entitled "Who is my neighbour?" the -other, "Shall the Victors of Spitzkop fight in vain?" in which -reference was made to that box as the centre of an organisation--based -on the supposition that there is an ever-present feeling of hate to -England in the mind of the American people, which, I believe, is -erroneous--to make a war against Great Britain for the purpose of -assisting the Boers to obtain the restoration of their independence. -The man behind the box, however, stated his case artfully and -forcibly, if not truthfully. He declared that the immediate and -provocative cause of the annexation of the Transvaal was the attempt -of the "Republic" to construct a railway to Delagoa Bay. "Alas, they -did not know the depths of English hate and English greed! First the -English missionary, next the English Consul, and then her hireling -soldiery. This is the policy of England--first lies, next intrigue, -then butchery." There was an appeal to Mr. Gladstone, however, -following one "to the American people," which argued that the man -behind the box had more confidence in the former than in the latter, -though they were reminded and adjured "We have fought for the African! -Let us now fight for the Africander!" and there were model resolutions -to be adopted at imaginary public meetings; the last of all -was--"Resolved: That we advise the English masses to take the -government of their country into their own hands, for their dukes, -their earls, their knights, and their lords and their merchant princes -can only lead them in the future as they are now doing, and have done -in the past, to war, dishonour, desolation, death, debt, misery, and -taxes." The appeal terminated with some doggerel, headed "War Song of -the Africanders." Some one else sent us numbers of a comic -periodical, with a woodcut of our respectable old British Lion, in a -shako and uniform, retreating precipitately from a very bandit-looking -person, with the words, "The British Lion meets a Real Live White -Man!" - -If Americans are subjected in England to the same fire of paper -projectiles that was opened on the Duke and his friends, there is some -reason for their avoiding our country. Circulars we are accustomed to -at home--announcements of alarming sacrifices and reckless sale we can -bear with patience. But here we have ways and means revealed to us of -achieving absolute health, wealth, and happiness--patents and -portents--mechanical inventions certain to "annihilate both time and -space," and make "investors" happy--parents with children to be -adopted--patent safes--veritable El Dorados--mines of gold and -silver--medicines of subtlest power--agricultural implements--chemical -products--hair dyes--new motive forces--astrologers burning to reveal -the secrets of the world of spirits and stars--mediums palpitating -with anxiety for conference and confidence--the Atomic Steam Coal Gas -Reform's disciples insisting on our using their gas "made from refuse -coal-dust and steam" and joining the "National Gas Reform Syndicate." - -Having completed all our baggage arrangements and handed the pile over -to Mr. Trowbridge, the obliging agent of the London and North-Western -Railway, to see safely stowed in the special train at the other side -of the river, we drove down to the wharf, where the steamer -"_Juniata_," chartered by our indefatigable hosts, the Philadelphia -Railway Company, was awaiting us. We embarked, and made an agreeable -excursion up and down the river, inspecting the termini of the -railways and the corn elevators, and passing under the great bridge -which is to connect Brooklyn with the city. The lively aspect of the -waterway, crowded with shipping, and the incessant movement of the -vast ferry-boats and steamers, impressed us greatly. When one thinks -that it is not three centuries ago since Henry (whom the Americans -persist in calling Hendrick) Hudson made his way up the stream and -began the civilising processes on the Red man, which have ended in -their disappearance, New York, with its forest of steeples and -chimneys, and great elevators, is indeed a marvel. At the beginning of -this century its population was very little over 60,000; last year it -was 1,207,000. - -The four Commissioners sent over by Charles II. "to reduce the Colony -into bounds" in 1664, who, August 29, "marched with 300 red-coats to -Manhadoes and took from the Dutch the chief town, then called New -Amsterdam, now New York, and turned out their Governor, with a Silver -Leg, and all the rest but those who acknowledged subjection to the -King of England, suffering them to enjoy their houses and estates as -before," had a very easy task if the old book[4] from which I quote be -correct. "Thirteen days after," continues the writer, "Sir Robert -Carr took the fort and town of Aurania, now called Albany, and twelve -days after that the fort and town of Avasapha, then Delaware Castle, -manned with Dutch and Swedes, so that the English are now masters of -three handsome towns, three strong forts, and a castle, without the -loss of one man." In those days New York was reputed a large place, -"containing five hundred well-built houses of Dutch brick, the meanest -not valued under one hundred pounds--to the landward it is encompassed -with a wall of good thickness, and fortified at the entrance of the -river, so as to command any ship that passeth that way, by a fort -called James Fort." The inhabitants "were supplied with venison and -fowl in the winter and fish in the summer by the Indians at an easie -price, and had a considerable trade for the skins of elkes, deers, -bears, beaver, otter, racoon, and other rich furs." These Indians are -described as well proportioned, swarthy, black-haired, very expert -with their bows and arrows, very serviceable and courteous to the -English, being of a ready wit and very apt to receive instruction from -them, "but there are now but few Indians on the island, being -strangely decreased since the English first settled there, for not -long ago there were six towns full of them which are now reduced to -two villages, the rest being cut off by wars among themselves or some -raging mortal diseases." The question arises, however, how it was that -these wars and diseases did not reduce the numbers of the Indians -before the arrival of the English, and the answer might point to the -theory that the latter had had something to do with the spread of -both. And, indeed, the author soon tells the terrible secret of it -all. "They are very great lovers of strong drink, so that without they -have enough to be drunk they care not to drink at all--if any happen -to be drunk before he has taken his share, which is ordinarily a quart -of brandy, rum, or strong waters, to show their justice they will pour -the rest down his throat, in which debauches they often kill one -another, which the friends of the dead revenge upon the murtherer." He -declares they are descendants of the Jews, and gives some curious -reasons for it. In another place the author says, "Don't abuse them, -but let them have justice and you win them. The worst is that they are -the worse for the Christians, who have propagated their vices and have -given them tradition for ill, and not for good things." Alas, that it -should be so! How little was the pious prayer he offers heard on High! -"I beseech God to incline the hearts of all that come into these parts -to outlive the knowledge of the Natives by a fixed obedience to their -greater knowledge of the will of God, for it were miserable indeed for -us to fall under the just censure of the poor Indian conscience whilst -we make profession of things so far transcending it." What Nemesis has -followed the wrong the English white man rendered to his fellow? None, -I trow. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[2] 'My Diary North and South,' vol. i. p. 17. Bradbury and Evans, -London, 1863. - -[3] At starting, the party formed a common purse, which was placed in -the hands of Mr. Neale, and a most excellent Chancellor of the -Exchequer he proved from our departure to cross the Atlantic till he -left us to return to England. - -[4] "The Present State of His Majesties Isles and Territories in -America, &c. London: Printed by H. Clark, for Dorman Newman, at the -King's Arms, in the Poultry, 1687." - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -DEPARTURE FOR PHILADELPHIA. - - Our Special Train -- On the Rail -- Eye-sores -- The - Quaker City -- The Pennsylvania Railroad -- Reminiscences - -- Excursions -- The New Public Buildings -- Mr. Childs - and "The Ledger" -- Mr. Simon Cameron -- Baltimore -- - Arrival at Washington. - - -At 12.30 we landed at the Pennsylvania Terminus or Depôt, where our -special train was in readiness, consisting of several Pullman -palace-cars and the private car of President Roberts, and a staff of -smart, well-uniformed coloured waiters, and, as we found, with an -ample store of creature comforts. At the Depôt the experts examined -the whole system of transportation of freight, stowage, passenger -traffic, and baggage checking. As far as I could gather from Mr. Neale -and the Directors, who applied their minds to the subject, the -American system of checking luggage offers no advantages which would -recommend its introduction in England, although it may be, and is, no -doubt, exceedingly well suited to the United States, where passengers -may have to travel thousands of miles continuously over different -lines of railway with many breaks. It seemed to our London and -North-Western Directors that English travellers would not put up with -the delays which would be experienced in the transportation of their -baggage from the railway stations to the hotels, under the American -check system, and that they would prefer a short detention when the -train arrived, in order to pick out their own property and carry it -away with them bodily. - -Presidents and vice-presidents of railways in this country are great -powers, and exercise vast influence, if not in the State, at least on -their own lines--aye, and farther too. On one occasion I was informed, -when inquiring into the functions of the several officers of a great -company, that one of them was charged especially with looking after -those interests of the railway which might be affected by -legislation--in other words, that he had to see lest the company -should suffer detriment from the views of persons who might be -returned to positions in which they might carry out theories dangerous -to their monopoly. The distance from New York to Philadelphia is -ninety miles, which, under ordinary circumstances, is traversed in two -hours and a half, or thereabouts; but our special was timed to do it -in considerably less. The train passes right through the streets of -Jersey City, which would be considered a large town in the old -country, and boasts of a population of nearly 90,000. As the bell of -the engine tolled, women and children skipped out of the way or ran -across the line, when they eluded the vigilance of the railway -officials who lowered ingenious barriers as the train approached. But -although they say "practice makes perfect," "killed by the cars" is a -very ordinary head-line in the American newspapers. The country -outside "Jersey City," which is like an ugly continuation of New York, -is flat and uninteresting, but the low land which the railroad -traverses is dotted by factories and industrial establishments of all -kinds. We were soon aware that we were carrying with us the plague of -hideous advertisements plastered upon walls, and even upon the natural -features of the country, which we had observed in the environs of New -York. From imperious commands to "smoke" somebody's "mixture" down to -wheedling supplications to "use" somebody else's "oil," the eye -encountered at every hundred yards on the hoardings, on the sides of -houses, on trees and palings, the mendacious advertisements of quack -doctors and sellers of patent or unpatent nostrums, frequently -illustrated by woodcuts set forth in glaring colours. So close to -Jersey City that we were scarcely aware that it was separated from it -by a few fields, we came to Newark, a great town of brick and wood -houses, chimneys, factories, and churches, containing more than -120,000 people, and as we ran through the streets we got glimpses of -some fine-looking buildings, of which we have nothing more to say. - -Then came Elizabeth City, with many well-to-do houses and country -seats around, and some small mansions with patches of ground, which -would not be quite dignified with the name of "park" in England. "New -Brunswick," a manufacturing town of 20,000 people, thirty-two miles -from New York, was specially commended to our notice on account of -the College called Rutgers', and a few miles farther on we were told -that we were passing Princetown College, which is one of the most -celebrated institutions in the United States. "Trenton," the capital -of New Jersey, is famous for its potteries, but to us it was chiefly -attractive in connection with lunch, and we were whirled past the -State House, the Penitentiary, and Lunatic Asylum at a speed -unfavourable for the calm contemplation of the town which Washington -made historical by the defeat he inflicted on the unfortunate subjects -of the Grand Duke of Hesse, in the pay of King George. The conviction -is growing upon my mind that the party of travellers, of which I have -the honour of being one, is not likely to have much experience of -actual American railway life, or much knowledge of the ordinary -conditions in which people live in the United States. It is neither -our fault nor misfortune that we are so specially well taken care of; -but my recollection of what the traveller had to endure in crowded -railway cars in former days, and in the rush and scuffle at the -_tables d'hôte_ of the hotels, whilst it induces me to congratulate -myself and our friends on our exemption from such trials, is a -satisfactory demonstration that we are not likely to gain much insight -into the manners and customs of those who, like ourselves, are -wandering over the face of the Union. - -Passing a very small Bristol, the train brought us in sight of -Philadelphia, where we were safely handed over to a number of -gentlemen who were awaiting our arrival with most hospitable intent, -and thence we were driven to the Continental Hotel. In the drive -through the streets between the railway terminus and the hotel, our -friends were very much struck by the fine appearance of the town, -which was far superior to New York in the cleanliness of the streets, -and quite rivalled the Empire City in the display in the shop-windows -and the gay appearance of the large establishments in the main -thoroughfares. At the Continental Hotel there was the usual crowd in -the hall, before whom we had to defile on our way to our rooms, after -the necessary process of inscription in the hotel registry. Then after -a short interval for repose we made an excursion through the city, and -drove out to the beautiful grounds of Fairmount Park, "the largest in -any city in the world," in which stands all that remains of the -buildings of the Great Exhibition. If I were writing a guide-book I -might give some details, out of many with which our friends favoured -us, respecting the World's Fair and the Quaker City, but I am rather -inclined to make this a narrative of what we did. Marvellous as are -most of the great cities in the States, in relation to their recent -origin and extension, Philadelphia, which has a respectable antiquity, -is entitled to a high place amongst the wondrous works of American -man. In an old book which I came across, describing the colonies and -settlements as they were 200 years ago, an anonymous writer, under the -date of 1682, says:--"Philadelphia, our intended metropolis, is to be -two miles long, and a mile broad. At each end it lies upon a -navigable river. Besides the High Street that runs in the middle from -river to river, and which is 100 feet broad, it has eight streets laid -out to run the same course which are 50 feet broad. Besides Broad -Street, which crosses the town in the middle, which is 100 feet broad, -there are twenty streets that run the same course, also 50 feet broad. -The names of these are to be taken from the things that spontaneously -grow in this country, such as the Vine, the Mulberry, the Chestnut, -Walnut, Filbert, and the like." And there, sure enough, they were -inscribed on the corners of the houses as they are to be seen at this -day. - -At the Continental Hotel, which must be classed among the number, not -very large, of first-class hotels in the Old and New World, we found -the dining saloons, halls, passages, and the street in front -illuminated by the electric light, which will probably come into use -in similar establishments in London in a generation or two; and in the -room in which we dined two electric burners were doing the work which -ten gas chandeliers each with ten burners were wont to do, as was -apparent from their neglected splendour. - -The Pennsylvania Railway authorities, represented by Mr. G. B. -Roberts, Mr. F. Thomson, and others, did all that lay in their power -(and that was great) to enable us to turn our visit to the best -account. But it was trying, after all our efforts, to leave so much -unseen, and yet be obliged to confess that our powers were taxed by -trying to see too much. And the same remarks apply to our journey -throughout, which, as my readers will see if they care to read, was -performed under high pressure almost from the beginning to the end. -There was something more than an exhibition of mere courtesy towards -brother directors in the attention paid by the representatives of the -great American railway company to the party. They had reason to show -attention to Mr. Crosfield, the Auditor, for he had rendered them -substantial service, I was told--and I need not say it was not Mr. -Crosfield who gave me the information--on one occasion, when they were -engaged in a financial operation in London, by testifying to the -satisfactory condition of their affairs and accounts. They got their -money forthwith. Whatever may be the length and capital of other great -railways in the States, our experience, I may say at once, was that in -the excellence of the permanent way and carriages, punctuality and -speed, the Pennsylvania was not excelled, if closely approached, by -any. It is a great corporation. The four general divisions (of which -each is subdivided, to the discomfiture somewhat of students of -time-tables) of the line comprise 1845 miles, and it is stated that -the Company is engaged in extensive absorptions and acquisitions, and -that many little lines will be "bolted," and I hope digested, in due -course. Their capital is too serious and complicated a matter for me -to deal with, but I believe we wise men from the East were convinced -that it is as sound as the ground on which the line runs, though I -shall not forget the look of incredulity with which one of the -gentlemen in the train with us heard the answer to his question -respecting the capital of the London and North-Western. "A hundred -millions! Dollars, of course, you mean?" "No, sir, a hundred millions -sterling." After a while incredulity gave place to respectful -admiration. "Five hundred million dollars. Well! that's a big pile, -I'll allow." The appearance of Philadelphia caused a most agreeable -surprise to the party, and Chestnut Street was voted to excel Broadway -in the elegance and magnificence of the shops, although it cannot -boast--nor, as far as I know, can any city in the world--of such a -colossal store as Stewart's. We especially admired the Park and the -Girard Bridge, one of the grandest and most beautiful in existence; -but the object which challenged the admiration of the visitors more -than anything they had seen so far was the vast pile in which the -public departments are to find their gorgeous home, the effect of -which will, some of us think, be spoiled rather than enhanced by the -portentous clock-tower which is to be raised to a height that shall -dwarf all known steeples, campaniles or towers in the two hemispheres -by many gratifying feet. - -To strangers, interesting and attractive, with many fine buildings and -noble public institutions to show, Philadelphia is connected with the -most important events in the early life of the Republic, and possesses -for an American larger and more numerous souvenirs of the fathers of -the Union and of their labours than any other place on the Continent. -From some points in the park there is a good _coup d'oeil_ to be -obtained of the monuments, churches, and undulating sea of roofs -between the Schuylkill and the Delaware. The Girard Bridge, on the -way, is one of the finest in the world. On every side there was much -to admire, but the sun was blazing and fierce--unusually so--and at -last we sought the shades of the Continental. There was none very soon -after our arrival, for the hotel was, as I have said, illuminated by -electricity. I could not recognise the place in which I had once stood -in a time of wild excitement. "Sumter was to be relieved!" A throng of -men discussing the news that was destined to lead to such stupendous -results, so dense I could not make my way to the office where there -was now only a crowd of some dozen people waiting to see "this Duke -and the Britishers." The clerk, or one of those gentlemen in the -office who control the destinies of travellers and visitors to hotels -in the States, remembered the time well. He had served in a -Pennsylvania regiment (not one of those which went away from McDowell -the morning of Bull Run), and had been lieutenant, if not captain, and -now, like many of his comrades in higher places, he was engaged in -civil pursuits. Many interviews, and to bed. - -_April 29th._--The Duke was carried off at an early hour to begin the -work of the day, into which was to be crammed many inspections and -sights. These tell on the tourists somewhat; for as we are handed -over, day after day, from one important body of ever kind and -indefatigable guides and hosts, we are, of course, paying with our -persons, whereas, for those on whom we descend there is but a few -hours' hard labour, and then comes repose to them and "good-bye" to -us. There is an eminently respectable air about Philadelphia; the -shops in the main streets are attractive and beautiful; the citizens -look prosperous; the vehicles are soberly luxurious, and the horses -sleek. The Auditor, who belongs to the Society of which the founder of -the State and city was the great ornament and chief, finds himself at -home among many "Friends," and albeit they do not generally affect the -attire of the sect, and the broad-brimmed hats, upright collars, -single-breasted coats, and knee-breeches of sober hue, of the men, and -the coal-scuttle bonnets, square, plain collars, and straight-cut -cloth dresses of the women, have given place to garments of modern -fashion, the good people called Quakers still form a numerous and -influential community. We were told, and I believe truly, that there -are more house-proprietors--that is, more people who own the houses -they live in--in the population than in any city of the Union; and I -was struck by the immense number of dwellings of moderate dimensions, -all trim and nice, freshly painted, with flowers in the windows, and -little gardens of which we caught glimpses in our early drives through -the clean, neat, well-ordered streets. There was a lunch or breakfast -at the house of General and President Roberts to fortify the party for -a minute inspection of the terminus of the Pennsylvania Railroad at -Fifteenth and Filbert Street, where all the arrangements for -freighting and unloading the trains and for the great passenger -traffic were explained and closely examined, and then they were -conducted to the Elevated Road, and found a special train of Pullman -palace-cars waiting to convey them to West Philadelphia; and a -distinguished company of railway and other potentialities--Mr. G. A. -Childs; Vice-Presidents Cassatt, Kneass, and Strickland; Mr. Dubarry, -President of the Philadelphia and Erie Company; a number of -directors--Messrs. Morris, Felton, Biddle, Shortridge, Cummins, Welsh, -&c.--of the main line; Mr. Hinckley, President of the Philadelphia, -Wilmington, and Baltimore Company; Mr. Griscom, of the International -Navigation Company; Mr. Drexel, and many others, to do them honour. -The drawing-rooms of the cars were ornamented with bouquets of the -most lovely flowers; it is a never-failing and always welcome -compliment, and Americans rival Parisians in the love, skill, and -taste they display in the arrangement of these floral triumphs. The -party visited Greenwich Point and Girard Point, and I saw with alarm -some stupendous elevators in the distance, for the sun was exceedingly -powerful, and we had already been called upon to witness the storage -of corn _non sine pulvere_, at the terminus, but our kindly guardians -were not imperative, and an outside view was all that was demanded of -us. Passing under the Market Street bridge by the west bank of the -river, and crossing to the east side by the line to the Delaware, we -found a steamer waiting for us, in which we embarked, and were treated -to a very pleasant excursion along the front of the city by water, to -Port Richmond and to the freight station, where more elevators menaced -us, but were appeased by external worship. The railway cognoscenti -declared that all the details of the railroad management, and the -sheds, warehouses, &c., were excellent, and this they did before the -lunch (No. 2) which awaited the party at the offices of the -Pennsylvania Railway in Fourth Street, whereof certain terrapin -arrangements elicited expressions of much approval. After lunch, the -party were led off, with re-invigorated powers, to visit Independence -Hall, calling on Mayor Mr. King, at his office _en route_. Here there -were more introductions, and Mr. Mayor, a bland and genial gentleman, -made pretty little speeches to his visitors--"welcomed them as well on -account of their distinction among the governing influences of their -country, as for their useful mission in effecting an interchange of -ideas in connection with improvements in transportation of products -and diffusion of commerce." (Not a word of protective duties, Mr. -Mayor!) From the Mayor's presence to Independence Hall was but a short -way, and after we had inspected the building and its contents (_vide_ -Guide-Books), we were taken on to "_The Ledger_" Office, which is one -of the sights of Philadelphia, as Mr. Childs is one of the -institutions which his friends would desire to be immortal if that -were possible, and the Duke and his friends were received with much -courtesy by the learned, urbane, and energetic gentleman, who, having -built up a fortune as well as one of the finest newspaper offices in -the world, devotes the former to most worthy and liberal objects, and -directs in the latter a journal of the highest reputation for literary -excellence and political honesty. - -Bibliopolery and bibliomania are rather rampagious in America. Were -not Caxton and Wynkyn de Worde ancestors of English born in America as -well as of English born in England? And who shall say Shakespeare is -not the common property of the Anglo-Saxon race wherever they are -found? As to that "_quae regio in terris_," &c. When I was in New York -the other day, I was shown the outside of a house on the borders of -the Central Park, filling an entire block from Seventieth to -Seventy-first Street, and of the interior I heard such an account from -"Uncle Sam" that I felt burglarious proclivities, which were -restrained possibly by physical feebleness and the chastening -reflection that I could not dispose of my plunder without the -certainty of detection. It was the Lenox Library, containing priceless -early Bibles, Shakespeares, and the like, in addition to treasures of -art and _belles lettres_ of the highest order, guarded by a one-headed -Cerberus who would not let us in when we sought admission later in the -year, for the same reason that London clubs are closed in the autumn. -I dare say I could have obtained admission to the Lenox Hospital close -at hand had I been duly qualified. Here in Philadelphia Mr. Childs has -a library which, _tout vu_, is a credit to his taste and his industry, -and which is rich in the autographic letters of English and American -authors and MSS. In a small pamphletette from Robinson's 'Epitome of -Literature' there is a very pleasant account of some of the treasures -of the collection, and Mr. Childs is as liberal as the day in the -display of them to all who desire to see them. - -From "_The Ledger_" Office _en route_ once more. There was still the -new City Hall to inspect--a day's work in itself. A short drive -brought us to the stupendous mass; Mr. Perkins, President of the -Commission, and Mr. McArthur, the architect, received the Duke and his -friends, and led them over some portion of the vast erection. It would -be impossible, without a series of photographs, to give an idea of the -"New Public Buildings," as they are called, which are described as "an -immense architectural pile," occupying an area of four and a half -acres under one roof, in a square of 428 feet, which with the -projections for convenience and architectural effect are extended on -the flanks to 470 feet from east to west, and 486½ feet from north to -south. It is of the Renaissance, "modified and adapted," as the -architect states, "to the varied and extensive requirements" of the -great American municipality. I am sorry to say that amongst these is -included the necessity for a clock-tower or campanile so out-Heroding -Herod in its enormous altitude and ungainly bulk as to give in the -architectural drawing an idea of comparative meanness to the bold -elevation of the building below. It would seem as if the people of -Philadelphia were bent upon emulating the Tower of Babel, or at all -events of thrusting up towards heaven a shaft of stone which should be -far nearer to it than anything hitherto erected by the hand of man; -for this clock-tower is to be reared to such a height, that the centre -of the clock-face shall be 361 feet above the level of the pavement. -The diameter of the face of the clock is in proportion--20 feet--and -even that will not be too much for time-keeping in such an elevated -position. Those who revel in such details ought really to get the -account of the contractor's work, of the 46,000,000 of bricks, and the -476,000 cubic feet of marble, and of the excavations and tonnage of -iron used up already in this building, which is to contain the city -offices, the law offices of the State, the military headquarters, and -in fact everything State and municipal that requires a local -habitation and a name for administrative and executive purposes. The -reasons for such a creation were well set forth in the oration of Mr. -Benjamin Brewster, on the occasion of the laying of the corner stone -seven years ago. It causes one to think what "posterity" means when it -is used as a phrase to express the people who live after us according -to the orator's position, as we read that amongst those whose names -posterity will not willingly let die are "Rittenhouse and Bush, -Godfrey and Bartram." British posterity very probably would hear of -the extinction of these respected memories without a pang--American -posterity is called upon to keep them alive for ever. But tall -buildings are appropriately inaugurated by tall talk. Penn and -Franklin, it must be admitted, notwithstanding the somewhat narrow -view of the character of the Great Quaker taken by very eminent -historians in this country, were certainly men deserving well of -their fellows, and to be remembered always on the American Continent, -and on those portions of the earth where English is the language and -English ideas are found; but why should the others "be passed down -through time linked with Solon, Lycurgus, Pythagoras, Archimedes, -Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, the crowned monarchs of human -thought"? - -There was still a visit to be paid to the Academy of Fine Arts, and I -can answer for myself at least when I say it was, though it came last, -the most agreeable incident in the long day's work. It is an -institution of which the promoters may boast with every reason, and -which must in time develop the taste and skill of native artists, of -which its walls already exhibit creditable specimens. - -One little incident of the visit was amusing. In one of the rooms, by -way of a surprise to the Duke, and to give a local colour to the place -in his eyes, there was in waiting, amidst a group of lady pupils and -students of the sculpture models, a full-dressed Highlander. He was -all alive, too, and made his bow very nicely, but he was exceedingly -disconcerted when the Duke exclaimed, "He has got on his plaid over -the wrong shoulder." The Highlander, amid the laughter which followed -the remark, merely said in good American, "I'm not a Scotchman nor a -Highlander at all." I believe there are many in the kilted regiments -at home who might make a similar confession. He had been evidently -dressed after a photograph, and the plaid reversed. - -In development of public spirit and wealth, in the beautiful park, the -public buildings, the scientific and literary societies, and -commercial activity, the city possesses an indefeasible title to be -considered the real capital of the State of Pennsylvania. - -_April 30th._--After three separate heads had popped in at my bedroom -this morning and popped back again, seeing that it was "tubbing" time, -at 8 A.M. I bolted the door and proceeded to finish my business. -Desperate attempts to get in--knock! knock! knock! "You can't come in! -I'm undressed!" "Only for a minute!" "I tell you I'm undressed." A -card was pushed under the door. Presently I go to the spot, and find -on the card in pencil, "S. Cameron, Harrisburg, Pa." It was my old -friend, the venerable ex-Senator of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lincoln's first -War Secretary, Simon Cameron! I hurried down-stairs to the office. Mr. -Cameron was not staying in the Hotel. After a time it was ascertained -that he was quartered at the Girard House, nearly opposite, but he was -not in, and I had to go away without seeing him. - -At 10.30 we bade good-bye to Philadelphia and many friends, and -departed in a special train for Baltimore (98 miles) by the -Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railway on our way to -Washington. In Mr. Hinckley, the President of the line, who -accompanied us and told us he was about to be boa-constrictored by the -P. R. R., we found a delightful companion, and a most agreeable guide; -a man of wit and travel, full of observation and anecdote; a -sportsman, a naturalist, as well as a railway president; conversant -with prairie and Indian life, abounding in anecdote concerning beasts, -birds, devil-fish, grizzlies, buffaloes, Red men, as well as the -newest devices and dodges of civilised life in the dreadful forms of -oleomargarine, butterine, glucose, and the like. Just imagine the -atrocity of filling bee-hives with glucose, and selling them as -charged with bee-made honey! Fancy, again, the ingenuity of providing -the industrious little hymenoptera with artificial hives, with cells -and all complete, made out of gutta-percha or papier-mâché, or the -like, so that the bee is free to expend all his energy in storing up -honey at once, and need not bestow a thought upon making wax, or -gathering the materials for it! - -The line of railway to Baltimore passes through a populous, -unattractive country, which seemed exceedingly prosperous. On our way -we passed the oldest city in the State, which, though it bears the -name of Chester, was founded by the Swedes about the time of our Civil -War, shortly before the raising of the standard by Charles I. It is -now remarkable for the ship-building yards of a gentleman of Irish -origin, named Roach, and the Swedes have all vanished. A little -farther on is the Brandywine River, on which, in 1777, was fought the -battle which the Americans have somehow persuaded themselves was a -victory. The stones set up to mark "Mason and Dixon's Line" are near -Newark, close to Maryland, and the special was stopped to enable us to -visit them. Mr. Hinckley told us some very interesting facts connected -with the original survey, the dispute between Lord Baltimore and the -colony of Pennsylvania concerning their boundaries, the verification -of the original survey by the Special Commissioners, and knocked -several ignorant delusions on the head. - -There was but one expression of feeling at our departure--one of -regret; into our short stay in Baltimore, which we reached in a couple -of hours, there was compressed so much cordiality and hospitable -intent that we were beggared even in thanks. There was a drive with -Mayor Latrobe through the city and Druid Park, following an excursion -down the harbour and Fort M'Henry in a steamer, visits to elevators -and wharfs and landing-piers, and lunches without speechmaking, all to -be got through ere the special resumed the run to Washington, of which -the Capitol loomed in sight just as the last rays of the sun shot up -from behind the ridge which I remember white with the tents of the -army of the Union. The long drive to Rigg's House--a magnificent -creation of the last few years--was a succession of surprises; new -streets, splendid mansions, smooth pavements, electric lights, private -carriages, an animated crowd of well-dressed, pleasant-looking people -in Pennsylvania Avenue, reminiscences of Paris and New Vienna all -around us, instead of mud and closed shutters, gloom, and "John -Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave" sounding out of patriotic -cellars, horses tethered to every tree, orderlies galloping, patrols -marching, and the noise of never-ending convoys of warlike stores. It -was indeed a happy change. _Si sic omnia, si sic semper!_ - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -WASHINGTON. - - Heroes New and Old -- The Soldiers' Home -- The White - House -- President Garfield -- His Visitors -- The Capitol - -- Mount Vernon -- Mr. Blaine -- "On to Richmond!" -- - Fitzhugh Lee -- The Capitol, Return -- The Corcoran - Gallery -- Sight-seeing. - - -_May 1st._--Such a May-day as our poets sang of ere there was a change -of style, and of climate too! A local paper remarks that "the -remarkable facility with which an Englishman takes to water under -certain conditions was exhibited by the word 'bath' appended on the -register of the hotel to the name of every gentleman of the party;" -but it was not quite so easy to obtain the thing as to write the word. -However, everything comes to him who knows how to wait, and we were -all provided at last. By some mischance it was ordered that we should -have a private room (No. 32), instead of breakfasting in the common -room, which was large and airy, and our "aristocratic exclusiveness," -which was quite involuntary, was punished by immurement in an -_inferno_ which daylight could not reach, and which was perforce -illuminated by gas. It was "_ad suffocandum_," as Dr. Syntax would -say, hot and stuffy. There was a great clangour of church bells after -breakfast. The air was resonant with invitations, and we had choice of -many places and forms of worship. The Church of the Epiphany in our -street was near at hand, and those who attended there found a large -congregation, an excellent preacher, and a well-ordered service. Mr. -Victor Drummond gave the Duke and myself lunch at his lodgings, where -we met Lord G. Montagu and Mr. De Bunsen, of the Legation, and as we -walked to the house I had ample opportunities, though I still know the -names of my friends, of lamenting the effects of the "_longa oblivio_" -of which Juvenal writes, for the changes which have been made in the -city have obliterated most of the landmarks, and time has done the -rest. I could not identify "Jost's," where I lived for so many weeks -between the rout of Bull Run and the winter of McClellan's -preparations in 1861, nor quite satisfy myself as to the precise house -"in Seventeenth Street, at the corner of I," where so many anxious -days and nights were passed during "the Mason and Slidell" -_pourparlers_, and where "the Bold Buccaneers" were wont to meet. -There were new squares and streets in the way, and, moreover, there -were statues to heroes whose lights were then hidden under a bushel. -In addition to the colossal statue of Washington, by Clark Mills, at -the crossing of the Pennsylvania and New Hampshire Avenues, there are -the equestrian statue (heroic) of General Scott, by H. Brown, at the -crossing of Massachusetts and Rhode Island Avenues; Balls' enormous -and "characteristic" statue of Lincoln (paid for by negro -subscription) in Lincoln Park; an equestrian statue of Nathaniel -Greene, the revolutionary general; one of General Rawlins (to me an -unknown quantity--ignoramus that I am!). To these (most of them -"_buccæ bene notæ oppido_") must be added a statue of Admiral -Farragut, very like, but complicated by a ridiculous telescope; a fine -statue on horseback of General Thomas, one of the best of the Federal -generals (_pace_ General Grant and General Badeau); another of General -McPherson, who fell at Atalanta, and the Naval Monument, near the -Capitol, to the sailors who were killed in the Civil War. These were -all Federal heroes, and Washington is a Federal capital. I could not -but think how near it was, for the time at least, being a Confederate -capital after that memorable July day in 1861, when in despair Mr. -Lincoln crossed the Potomac to visit the only fortified port which lay -between Washington and the victorious but inept Southerners at -Manassas, and found the defenders in flagrant disobedience to orders. -But that time is as dead and gone as the period of the Wars of the -Roses, albeit the evil that men do lives after them, and the Southern -fire blazes no longer--it burns all the same. - -Later in the day the Attorney-General, Mr. MacVeagh, drove the Duke -and myself out to the Soldiers' Home, which gave me another -opportunity for meditations, with which I shall not weary my readers. -The drive revealed new improvements and grand efforts on the part of -"the city of magnificent distances" to come to terms with its outlying -boundaries. How pure the air, how bright the sky, how fair the scene! -The wide expanse of roofs, the still waves of the ordered house-tops, -above which rose the rocky steeples, the colossal mass of the Capitol -on the Virginian shore, the rolling wooded heights of Arlington, the -Potomac shining like a sinuous belt of burnished gold in the setting -sun! It seemed so peaceful and so secure. And yet we are climbing to -"the Soldiers' Home," the outcome of one of the most sanguinary wars -of modern times, of which in one sense this District of Columbia was -the cause and end. It consists of a number of detached buildings of -stone or marble, on a high plateau broken into wooded dells and -undulating gently towards the south and west, where the ground dips so -as to give a fine view of the city some three miles away. The Home -stands in a large enclosed park (500 acres), and there is plenty of -land beside for the soldiers to cultivate for the benefit of the -institution. In these grounds there is a pleasant detached house, -which is set apart for the use of the President _pro tem._, when the -heat renders Washington more than usually abominable in summer time, -and Mr. MacVeagh said he thought it very possible the President would -move out as soon as he could. Mr. Lincoln was very fond of his -_villeggiatura_ here. As it was Sunday there was no work going on, -and, moreover, it was not easy, we found, for even an Attorney-General -of the Republic and a Minister of State to get in through the closed -gates, so the Duke got out of the phaeton which Mr. MacVeagh's fast -trotters had whirled up the steep at a creditable rate, and sought to -repeat the miracle of Samson at Gaza, but we managed to dispense with -it. Probably it was because of the day of rest so many old men were -crawling about the avenues smoking pipes, and looking very unhappy, I -thought. It struck me that there were many small and weak-looking -veterans among them--dwindled by the fatigues of war and lapse of -years--not such "stalwarts" as I remembered to have seen encamped at -Arlington yonder. There were men of all nations amongst them--many -Irish and Germans--and foreigners from all the corners of the earth; -but Northern American officers say, one and all, that the Americans -_pur sang_ bore the brunt of the fighting. Their uniform is neither -neat nor becoming; though neither the "Invalos" nor the Chelsea -Pensioners have much to boast of in their apparel, they have the -advantage of the U.S. veteran. The Duke was received at the central -building by the Commandant, to whom he was presented by the -Attorney-General, and we were shown over the library, sleeping-wards, -dining-rooms, &c., which have a strong family likeness all over the -world. A glance at the bookshelves enabled me to come to the -gratifying conclusion, and the English litterateur ought to take -comfort from the fact, that English literature solaces the leisure of -the American veteran very largely. The "_genius loci_" seems to be a -rather deplumed and demoralised-looking eagle, in a cage on the ground -outside the central building. I was reminded, as I surveyed his -"cadaverous aspect and battered beak," of Audubon's ineffectual -protest against the adoption of the bird as the symbol of the -Republic. I believe the "_aquila chrysaëtos_," the Golden Eagle, is -not known in America. The eagle which our cousins have taken up with -(though it has not two heads, is not black, and does not wear a crown) -is but a poor bald-headed falcon, of uncleanly habits and sordid -appetites, not very much given to use claws or beak against a vigorous -enemy--so, at least, wrote the naturalist--therefore very -inappropriate as the type of a brave, generous, and bellicose people. -As we turned citywards, the beauty of the landscape was glorified by -one of the sunsets which rival the most brilliant phenomena of the -kind in India after the monsoons, and Washington, bathed in purple, -looked every inch an empire city. The Duke and some others of the -party dined with Sir Edward Thornton in the evening, where we spent a -very pleasant time, and heard many interesting things about Washington -and its society. - -_May 2nd._--This was indeed a busy day, in which were to be -concentrated, we found, many incidents not included in the -"programme." Early in the morning, that is, soon after breakfast, -amidst much bustle and business carried on in the presence of many -visitors--for we were obliged to make the most of our short stay in -Washington--the Duke received a message from the Secretary of State, -that the President of the United States would receive the party at the -White House, and that Mr. Blaine--having courteously sent his son to -act as our guide--would be in waiting to introduce them. And so about -10 o'clock we strolled out of the hotel and walked up the avenue -which leads by the Treasury Buildings to the residence of the chief -magistrate of the Great Republic. It is somewhat singular that books -of travel do not deal a little more with the really fine city which -Washington of late years has become--a capital worthy of so vast an -empire. On our way we had occasion to admire the grand frontage of the -National Buildings, which rise up close to the Presidential mansion, -and which cause the rather homely proportions of the latter to come -out in greater relief. There is an absence of state and of any -pretence of it in the approaches to the White House; no sentries, not -even a policeman on duty, and the only sign that it is not a private -citizen's residence about it are the open door and the appearance of -many persons passing unconcernedly in and out. A domestic in black -received the party at the entrance hall, and ushered them into a -waiting-room furnished in quiet and unobtrusive colours, without any -pretension to much decoration; and soon afterwards Mr. Blaine made his -appearance and led us into what is called the Blue Room, where we were -engaged for some moments in conversation with him. We were reminded -that the Executive Mansion was burned down by the British in 1814; but -it was quickly rebuilt, and was occupied four years afterwards. It is -not to be expected that with the modest appointments accorded to the -Presidential office there should be any great display of pictures or -of objects of art, but there were some exceedingly interesting Louis -Quinze and Quatorze clocks and _ameublements_ in the apartments, and -Mr. Blaine gave us several interesting particulars respecting their -acquisition, of which I have no memoranda. In fact, we were all too -much occupied with the expectation of the entrance of the President to -pay much attention to details. Presently our urbane guide left the -room, and returned in a moment followed by Mr. Garfield.[5] "In -appearance the President is striking, of erect, soldierly bearing, -above the middle height--in fact, very nearly six feet high--with -broad shoulders, and powerful, muscular, well-set frame. His head is -large, with a fine frontal development; eyes bright and penetrating, -of a mild and kindly expression; the mouth firm, and the jaw, as well -as contour can be traced beneath the full rich brown beard shaded with -grey, indicative of resolution and strength." In his manner the -President was exceedingly affable--courteous and simple--without any -of that ceremonious stiffness which is sometimes to be found amongst -Americans in official life, and his greeting to the strangers was most -kindly, as if he were welcoming friends whom he had known. He engaged -the Duke in conversation for a short time, all of the party having -been presented in turn, and then he addressed a few remarks to each of -them, principally about travelling in the States and the difference -that might be observed in the railway conveyances in this country and -our own. It is a custom for an American, when you are introduced to -him, to repeat your name, which strikes English people, but which, on -reflection, I think is eminently utilitarian. For example Mr. -Bickersteth is introduced. The President says: "Mr. Bickersteth, sir, -I am happy to know you!" We all know what a melancholy jumble is -frequently made of names in introductions; but the person whose name -may be mispronounced has, on the American principle, an immediate -opportunity of correcting any mistake, and of saying: "My name is not -Bickerstaff, it is Bickersteth"; and so on, as the case may be. When I -was presented to the President he said: "I think we have met before, -long ago. You brought us, Mr. Russell, the worst news that ever could -be heard by a people; but I do not suppose that you were much more -pleased with it than we were," or words to that effect. I said: "I -assure you, Mr. President, that no one was ever more unwilling than I -was to take such a ride and to bring back such news. I would much -rather have had a victory and a rest at the end of the day." "Well," -he said, smiling, "we learnt our lesson, and I am sure that we were -very much the better for all you told us, though we did not quite -relish it at the time." As there were, at the Presidential hours of -reception, many people waiting for their turn, the interview was a -short one. These calls on the President must be a great, if a -necessary tax upon his time. In the grand parlour, called the East -Room, which is open from an early hour in the morning until three -o'clock, there is generally a gathering of some sort or other, and the -Blue, Red, and Green Rooms are also appropriated to the purposes of -audience, the private rooms of the President and his family being of -restricted number and size on the second floor. The day that we called -there was a delegation of one-armed and one-legged veterans with a -petition demanding that in Federal appointments preference should be -given to discharged soldiers and sailors; and the President seems to -have craftily met the requisition by declaring that he was heartily in -sympathy with them; that he would, so far as he was concerned, see -that preference should always be given to such disabled veterans, -there being equal competency among the candidates, which, as the -petitioners certainly had lost a leg or an arm each, might, _cæteris -paribus_, be held as hard to be established. Then there were all kinds -of senators, big and little (if there be such a thing as a little -senator), newspaper editors, city delegates urging the promotion of -particular men to different appointments, and mere idlers, who, having -nothing else to do, turned in and wanted to have a talk with the -President. - -From the White House we were driven to the Capitol, which has -undergone great improvement since the time of the War. A little more, -however, remains to be done in the substitution of the real for the -sham; but it would be difficult perhaps to effect that completely. The -general effect of the building, which is exceedingly fine--though I -doubt if it can be fairly said to be "the most magnificent public -edifice in the world"--reminds one strongly of St. Peter's. It towers -above all the city, and can be seen from an immense distance. The -western front is perhaps the weakest portion of the building. In the -decorations of the interior there is much to be desired; and I hope it -is not offensive to say that the colossal statue of Washington on the -Esplanade in front of the central portico strikes me as being -pretentious rather than grand. There is a fine bronze door, cast at -Munich, commemorating the discovery of America by Columbus; but the -panels in the Rotunda, which have been painted by American artists, -are surely not in the best style of American art. It is not -remarkable, considering what the history of art is in England, that -the best works about the Capitol should have been executed by -foreigners, or at least by men with foreign names; but Crawford's -statue of Liberty on the ball over the Capitol is worthy of praise, -and is undoubtedly American. The Hall of Representatives is a fine -apartment with very little ornamentation. There is a portrait of -Washington, as a matter of course, and another of Lafayette, and there -are two good pictures by Bierstadt in panels on the wall. At the time -of our visit there was what they call "nothing" going on in the Senate -Chamber. The senators, each at his little desk, were mostly engaged in -writing notes or reading newspapers. In the chair sat Mr. Arthur, the -Vice-President, a massive man in the prime of life, with a large -round head and face, whose look gave one the impression that he might -be a person of great common sense without any pronounced ability or -character, his expression, perhaps, being that of benevolent sagacious -repose. But there seemed to us a good deal going on, because a -gentleman was engaged in denouncing in a highly excited manner some -other gentleman for his conduct in reference to a proposition before -the House, that had been occupying them for many days. "He has been -perorating," said one of our friends, "for the last hour, and will go -on for another hour, good. That is Dawes." I do not wish to be in the -least disrespectful to Mr. Dawes, and I doubt not that if I had had -the advantage of hearing him from the beginning, I should have been -carried away by his argument, but under the circumstances his -vehemence seemed uncalled for. At 1 o'clock we drove down to the Navy -Yard and embarked on board the United States steamer "_Despatch_," a -large party having been invited by Secretary Blaine to accompany the -Duke for an excursion to Mount Vernon--the British Minister, Sir -Edward Thornton, Lady Thornton, and his daughters; Mr. Victor -Drummond, Mr. De Bunsen, and the members of the Legation; the -representatives of France, Turkey, and Spain; Sherman, the General at -the head of the army (looking as if he were quite ready to make -another march into Georgia), his wife and daughter. General Sheridan, -who had been summoned on business to Washington, and Colonel M. -Sheridan were also of the party; and all the principal members, -official and non-official, of Washington society, among whom must not -be forgotten Mr. Corcoran, Mrs. Wadsworth, and Miss Eustis; the -Attorney-General, Mr. MacVeagh, and many others. Nor must I omit my -old friend and captor Admiral Porter, who took me in gentle fashion -and carried me on board the "_Powhattan_," in 1861, as I was running -the blockade of Pensecola from Mobile. The excellent band of the -United States Marines received the Duke with the air of "Hail to the -Chief"; and off Alexandria a salute of nineteen guns from the shore -battery was repeated from the "_Portsmouth_" corvette, and the crew of -the "_Saratoga_," lying close at hand, saluted as the "_Despatch_" -steamed by. Awnings were spread from one end of the deck to the other, -and, as the party found out, there was an excellent lunch prepared in -the saloons below. The day was warm, the weather delightful, and the -company included all that was distinguished and sociable in the -society of Washington--foreign ministers, and _attachés_, and most of -the gentlemen in office, many senators and a number of agreeable -ladies. It had been bruited that there was considerable irritation in -Washington society because the incoming powers, represented by their -wives, had introduced new rules of etiquette with respect to calls and -such like important duties of life; but certainly less pretentious -leaders of fashion never were than those who were good enough to join -the little expedition to Mount Vernon. - -There is among the American officers of both services a _camaraderie_ -which is not always exhibited in our own. There may be official -jealousies between the Secretary of State of the Navy and the -Secretary of State of the Army, and the respective heads of these -departments, though I am not aware that there are any; but I was -struck by the terms of good-fellowship on which a man occupying the -high position of General Sherman appeared to be with the young -officers of the United States steamer on board which we were carried -to the scene of our entertainment, and the latter had all the -frankness and cordiality which the sea service somehow seems to -inspire. They exhibited the action of the machine gun for the -visitors, and I learned that the result of the experiments made by the -Navy on the merits of various systems did not lead them to the -conclusion at which our own people had arrived, and that the -Nordenfeldt was not thought so well of by them as it is by us. Senator -Burnside talked of his experiences at Versailles in the Franco-German -war, where I encountered him engaged upon a mysterious philanthropic -mission having relation, I believe, to the liberation of friends from -Paris, and to the larger object of bringing about terms of peace -between the belligerents--a kindly, large-minded man, to whom fortune -was not favourable when he was summoned to command the armies of the -Republic at a period when success would have made him unquestionably -the foremost citizen and soldier of the United States. The same -anomaly exists in the administration of the army as is found in -England. The present Secretary of State for War, Mr. Lincoln, son of -the President, is a very young man, and has no military experience. -Nevertheless he has very considerable power, and while we were in the -United States he thought nothing of summoning General McDowell from -San Francisco or General Sheridan from Chicago to consult with them, -which was complimentary, if rather troublesome; but he is said to be -possessed of great business capacity and of sound common sense, and to -take the advice of his military counsellors with facility. - -It is about an hour by a quick steamer from the Navy Yard to Mount -Vernon, and a little after 2 o'clock the steam launches, which were in -waiting, were busily engaged in transferring the guests from the -man-of-war to the landing-place below the wooded heights on which -stands the American Mecca, Mount Vernon. The ascent to the house is -rather sharp, and I presume it has been the object of the committee -who have charge of the place to meddle with its natural features as -little as possible. Mount Vernon House, familiar to so many thousands -of Americans, remains as it was, so far as the lapse of time will -permit it to do so, at the time of Washington's death. The wings to -the centre of the house, which is built of wood, were contributed by -him; and, but for the relics inside--the key of the Bastille presented -by Lafayette to the President, and a few articles belonging to -him--there would be little to see, unless the visitor is enabled to -throw into the contemplation of the objects around him something of -the admiration and hero-worship with which the name of "the Father of -his Country--first in peace, first in war, and first in the affections -of his people"--inspires the American. - -The excellent band of the Marines was playing under the trees on the -plateau, and the strains of "God Save the Queen" greeted the English -visitors as they gained the portico. If the shadow of the departed -hero could but have emerged from the tomb, close at hand, in which his -remains repose, it would have been astonished perhaps at the change in -costume, and in appearance, of the ladies and gentlemen, from that -which had been familiar to Washington on earth. For the great citizen -was by no means indifferent to the outward forms. Black silk -stockings, knee-breeches, ruffles, and sword would in his mind have -been the necessary attire and adjuncts of the heads of the army and -navy, and of the ministers and others who were now walking about in -pot-hats, morning jackets, and frock coats. As to the ladies, it is -not too much to say that Mrs. Martha Washington would have probably -disapproved of their pretty Parisian costumes so much that she would -have sent out some of her black menials, whom we shall not call -slaves, to request their removal from the premises. The ladies of -America, however, have a right to claim position in Mount Vernon, for -it was their "association" which raised the money with which the -demesne and the house were purchased, in order to be handed over by -them to the nation. Our own interest in the spot is derived from the -English origin of the great man who lived there; and we are not -altogether quite cut off from it even in name, because that is derived -from the stout old Admiral Vernon, in remembrance of whom Laurence -Washington, who fought under him against the Spaniards, named the -place. - -It was five o'clock ere we embarked on board the "_Despatch_" for the -Navy Yard, after three hours of very pleasant pilgrimage and prattle -at "the Mount," and we ran up the river to our destination in less -than an hour, passing on our way the "_Portsmouth_" and "_Saratoga_," -which saluted the steamer. - -The Duke and some of the party dined with Mr. Blaine, the Secretary of -State, where we met General Garfield. It is rare to meet the President -at dinner in Washington, as it is not considered etiquette for him to -dine out. To do honour to the occasion, the Duke wore his Garter star, -and Sir Edward Thornton the riband of the Bath. The only other person -who had any decoration was General Sherman, who wore a small badge at -his button-hole. I believe that Congress authorised the wearing of -distinctions conferred for military and naval services on the -fortunate leaders of the Federal armies and fleets after the war. - -The President's manner was singularly easy, natural, and frank. With -his Secretary of State he appeared to be on terms of great friendship; -and by the latter he is evidently regarded with admiration and -affection. He was desirous of learning the impressions produced by his -short visit on the mind of the Duke, rather than of leading the -conversation; but farther on he became much interested in a -discussion respecting recent English novelists. Mr. Black would have -been gratified could he have heard the praise bestowed by General -Garfield upon his descriptions of natural scenery, of the sea-coast, -and of the islands of the West of Scotland, which, said he, "have -filled me with a desire that I hope some day to be able to gratify--to -visit the scenes he has described." And, having mentioned several -writers, especially George Eliot, in reply to a remark that it was -wonderful he could have found time to have read so many works of -fiction, he said laughingly, "Well, I don't suppose I shall have much -time now, or for some years to come; but I am glad to say I have not -always been so busy;" and then he quoted a little bit of Horace, to -which I think he is rather addicted, inasmuch as he certainly again -popped in a quotation. Mrs. Garfield appeared to be an admirable -President's wife--calm and simple, with unaffected manners and quiet -dignity; and Mrs. Blaine was one of the most charming and lively of -hostesses, so that our evening passed very agreeably. When the -President and Mrs. Garfield retired, a few of the guests lingered on, -listening to the interesting conversation of some gentlemen who -remained for an hour longer and gave us many new views of American -politics and life. - -_May 3rd._--We are going to Richmond to-day. In the first or original -"programme" (a word which is spelt by Americans without the final -"me," and, as it strikes me, correctly, if "telegram" be proper) the -excursion on which the party started at 9 A.M. this morning was not -included. However they were impressed with some of the reasons which -were suggested for devoting one day to a Southern City which has -especial claims to the consideration of Englishmen in the antecedents -of the State of which it is the capital. At the outset of the war, the -name became the watchword of the North, "On to Richmond!" was the cry. -How it rung in one's ears in Washington that fervent summer of 1861! -How it met the eye in broad type at the head of every leading article! -It was as the "_à Berlin!_" of the Paris mob in 1870. For a time it -seemed as though the answer might be given by the sound of the enemy's -guns at Baltimore, Philadelphia or New York. From Washington to -Richmond is only 116 miles. The road was barred for four years by the -genius of Lee, the skill of his generals, and the fiery valour of the -South. It would perhaps be ungenerous and unjust to say that the -ineptitude of the North entered for something into the estimate of the -causes which impeded the march of the Federal armies till Grant -"whittled away" the life of his opponents. My friends had none of -these recollection to distract their minds from the contemplation of -the present. - -And this is Washington? How strange it all seems to one like myself, -whose latest memories of the city which has expanded into such placid -beauty teem with vision of vast camps--the march of serried -battalions--the roll of artillery--the circumstance and pride, -without the pomp, of war--the passion and fury of civil strife--the -agony of a nation--to see it now staid and stately and calm as some -lake which rests in the embrace of the mountain shores after the -subsidence of the storm! Down Pennsylvania Avenue I have seen in full -flow a river of sparkling bayonet waves, and have heard the refrain of -"John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave" pealing from myriads -of lips, where now the bourgeois 'bus rolls over the asphalte, and the -greatest excitement is a pair of fast trotters behind the vehicle of -some well-to-do legislator on his way to or from the Capitol. There -was a special train at "the Depôt" at 10 o'clock A.M.--palace -cars--our ever-obliging, smiling, active attendants--the usual -official courtesies--giant bouquets on the tables, and all the luxury -of the road which Presidents and directors' friends enjoy in the -Republic of Railroads. The old Long Bridge over which I rode the night -of Bull Bun, bringing the news of the defeat to Lord Lyons at the -British Legation, has been removed, and the Baltimore and Potomac -Railway is carried across the Potomac on a more recent structure -rejoicing in the old name. How could I expect my companions to be much -interested in "Alexandria," once so conspicuous in the history of the -Civil War, when I found an American gentleman beside me quite ignorant -of the fate of "Ellsworth," the protomartyr of the Union? - -In travelling from Washington to Richmond, and in passing through part -of Maryland, the visitors were struck by the dilapidated appearance of -the large farmhouses, mostly built of wood, to many of which there -were attached curtilages, where the slaves were formerly penned in at -night; and it was observed that the fences were very ragged, that the -fields were left full of stumps of trees, and that the careful -cultivation which had struck our eyes in the more northern States was -wanting. One gentleman told us that the railway, passing through the -worst and most neglected portion of the country, did not form a -favourable platform from which to judge of the general condition of -the State. But it is, I believe, undeniable that the soil has been -very much exhausted on the Atlantic side in Virginia and in Maryland -by the constant succession of crops of tobacco, and that it is -necessary to use manure, not sparingly, in order to farm the land with -advantage. The country by the right bank of the river seems very much -as it was at the period of the war or before it--rugged, unkempt--with -patches of forest and low swampy land, perforated by sullen lagoons -and marshy streams. - -At a station near Quantico Creek General Fitzhugh Lee, nephew of the -great Confederate leader, the daring chief of the Confederate cavalry -after the death of "Jeb" (J. E. B.) Stewart in battle, joined our -party; a soldierly-looking man, broad-browed, bright and keen-eyed, of -immense breadth of chest, thick throated, large limbed, with a -resemblance to Pelissier in his best days, to which, no doubt, a -massive moustache and a heavy _barbe d'Afrique_ somewhat contribute. -He is now settled as a farmer on the banks of the Potomac, in a -region every foot of which reeks with the memories of the four years' -war. He lives on his estate and cultivates it with profit, and he -draws, moreover, a rich harvest, at the time of the shad fishing, from -the river, where his nets sweep in occasionally 60,000 or even 80,000 -of these much-prized fish at a haul! Fitzhugh Lee told the Duke that -he fully and entirely accepted the situation: he acknowledged the -Union, and he would not, if he could, go back to the old order of -things. Nay, more, he declared that the Virginians round about him -were of the same way of thinking. Labour was to be had when needed. -The negroes tilled the fields for wages, and the hirer had no further -care about them when their work was done. Contrast that with his -trouble with his biped property! The ladies of his house had to look -after the women in travail. The negroes, when sick, were thrown on the -hands of the master. When worn out with work or stricken by illness, -the coloured people became burdens on the farm; and any one who has a -breeding establishment for cattle or horses knows what infinity of -demands on purse and patience the accidents and maladies to which all -living things are exposed produce. Into Quantico Creek flows the -stream of Bull Run, and away on our right was fought the first of the -three battles which make the name renowned in the annals of the war. -General Fitzhugh Lee did not dwell on the first defeat of the Federals -with any relish either, but he could not forget all that happened on -that memorable 3rd of July, 1861, any more than he could forget the -long years of incessant combat of which it was the precursor, and when -our train approached Fredericksburg, the scene of Burnside's disaster, -and he was warmed up by the interest and interrogatories of his -companions to recall the episodes of the three days' sanguinary -fighting, the fire was kindled within him, and the burly Virginian -farmer, standing beside the Duke on the carriage platform, described -the position and the movements of the two great armies as if he were -still engaged in it. Without any vaunting, the Southern leader spoke -of his experiences in the war, and those who heard him recollected -with feelings not easy to analyse that but a few hours before they had -been listening with equal interest to General Sheridan, the antagonist -of the gallant gentleman who was now talking to them and describing -some of their cavalry engagements. He pointed out Maree's Hill, and -the slopes on which the Irish Brigade lay in long rows of dead and -dying at the close of Meagher's desperate assault, the site whence Lee -surveyed and directed the action, the hills on which the Confederates -were entrenched, the plains over which Burnside's column advanced and -deployed under the Confederate fire, and the cardinal mistake of the -Federal leader in attacking the left instead of the exposed right of -the Southern army. "I have often spoken about it to Burnside since. He -and I are very good friends now. I have often fought the battle over -with him, and told him his best chance would have been against our -right, which he could have got at by crossing the river lower down -than he did." It was but the day before we had been chatting with the -Federal general, now a senator of the United States, at Washington, -and as genial and lusty[6] as he was when he came to the German -headquarters at Versailles on the chivalrous if somewhat Quixotic -enterprise of saving Paris from the last necessities of defeat. - -There was a body of Virginian gentlemen at the Richmond station, which -is some way from the town, to welcome the Duke, and carriages were -awaiting the train. After the usual introductions our guides, -philosophers, and friends drove us round and did the honours of their -capital with much kindness and courtesy. The weather was disagreeable, -but it was certainly exceptional--there was a grey sunless sky; bitter -blasts swept the dusty roads, raising clouds of fiery red sand from -the brickfield soil on which the city is built, and quite destroying -previous impressions of the climate of Virginia. At Richmond itself -there is not very much to be seen by an unsympathetic stranger, but -for Americans of every stripe of political opinion the scene of such -important events must be intensely interesting. We found the traces of -the works thrown around the Confederate capital had nearly -disappeared. A remnant of some of the earthworks may still be seen up -the river, and in the Cemetery, marked by a pyramid of stone, lie Jeb -Stewart and many a valiant comrade. The cemeteries, which form a -melancholy addition to the interesting spots around the Virginian -capital, are filled with the remains of the victims of that long and -deadly struggle. Petersburg, from which Lee, after his brilliant and -skilful defence, was obliged to fall back to the Court-House of -Appomatox, where he surrendered, was too far for us to visit, but we -saw much that was of interest in our hurried drive--the house in which -ex-President Davis lived, the church in which he was at prayers when -the news of Lee's abandonment of Petersburg was brought to him, the -Tredegar Foundry where the Confederate guns were made, the Capitol -which resounded to the ardent declamation of the statesmen who made -Virginia illustrious, and to the eloquence of those who shared her -evil fortunes. We saw the abodes of despairing or hopeful multitudes, -of the sickness unto death, and of the death which is a release, the -ruinous brick walls of Libby Prison, the Hospital, and we thought that -it would be just as well to level the ugly piles to the ground. Later -in the day we met one who had charge of the Federal prisoners, of whom -some 75,000, he told us, had been under his care, a grave and -courteous man, deeply imbued with the teaching of the fathers of the -Constitution, who as a Judge believed that Heaven, in siding with _les -gros bataillons_, had not done justice to a holy cause, and he made a -remark which illustrated, I think, the spirit of many of those who -accept the actual results of the contest as inevitable if not -equitable. "At the outset of the war," he said, "all the prisoners -were either Yankees or Irish; at the end of it the great proportion -of the prisoners were Dutchmen--Germans, who could not understand a -word of English, and who had come to fight for pay." The Irish ceased -to enlist as soon as the Federal Government let loose and enlisted the -negroes, and the war, he explained, was carried on by the foreign -immigration from Europe. The Judge, indeed, held that if the North and -the South had been left to fight it out the latter must have won. But -what avail these speculations now? Let the dead bury their dead, and -let the victors suffer the living to dwell in peace. Here are men, -Southerners and Northerners, living in the same land, who have stood -face to face in battle, and would live all the better if the sleeping -dogs of war were let lie in peace. We were shown on our way to -Richmond the humble shanty in which Stonewall Jackson breathed his -last, and in the grounds of the Capitol itself the statue raised by -admiring strangers to the memory of the Virginian Havelock--and it -cannot be held, I think, that such a memorial as the latter can be -classed with the celebration of the defeats of the Southern armies by -permanent military organisations. He would be a very thin-skinned and -ridiculous sort of Briton who took umbrage at the forthcoming festival -at Yorktown which is to commemorate the surrender of Cornwallis to -Rochambeau and Washington; but the Americans would have good reason to -be moved to anger if we in England were to appoint a day for the -glorification of the capture and destruction of Washington in the last -war, an act of which none of us feel very proud, and of which most -Englishmen are utterly ignorant, even though they may have heard of -New Orleans, Lundy's Lane, and Plattsburg. - -The State Capitol is said to be an imitation of the square house at -Nismes. It stands in a fine situation in a park which is decorated -with statues and planted with trees, peopled by beautiful grey -squirrels--evidently the pets of the people. Its principal treasure is -the statue of Washington, by Houdon; but there is a dishevelled-looking -Library of 40,000 volumes, amongst which are some valuable works -connected with the early history of the colony. In front of the -Capitol there is another statue of Washington, equestrian and -colossal, surrounded by statues of Henry, Jefferson, Marshall, Mason, -Nelson, and Lewis; and there is also a fine statue of Henry Clay in -the grounds; but I think we strangers regarded with a deeper interest, -derived from the recollection of more recent exploits, the statue of -Stonewall Jackson, erected by subscriptions raised in England to the -memory of one of the most single-minded and gallant soldiers who ever -fought for a lost cause. - -The manufacture of tobacco still flourishes in the capital of -Virginia. We were conducted to two of the largest establishments, -where we were shown, with great courtesy by the managers and owners, -the processes by which the most celebrated preparations for smoking -and chewing are turned out from beginning to end; but I observed -that--whether to prevent idle strangers from gratifying their -curiosity, or an unauthorised investigation of trade secrets--we were -always personally introduced by our guides, and that the doors of the -factories were closed. The most interesting part of the interior was a -long room, in which was a crowd of coloured people, men, women, and -children, sorting tobacco, rolling up the leaves, and manipulating it -for the various preparations which it undergoes in the presses and in -the addition of saccharine matter, and the like, before it is packed -up or cut for use. A happier looking people could not be seen, and at -times their feelings of contentment burst out into song. They all -joined, singing in chorus, with a great sweetness, some of the -extraordinary melodies--half comic, half religious--of which we had a -good experience subsequently. - -Colonel Carrington, the proprietor of Ballard House, the principal -Richmond Hotel, had sent a telegram before we started to request the -Duke to postpone his visit for a week, as there was a Medical -Conference being held, and all the hotels were filled, his own -included, at the time. But our arrangements had been made, and it was -not possible to alter them. What would become of our "programme"? -Colonel Carrington did his best to accommodate the party, but the -Medical Conference was in the ascendant. It was amusing to read in a -Washington paper that the Duke had "expressed a desire to partake of a -real old Virginia dinner," and that Colonel Carrington had gratified -him to his heart's desire, so that "his Grace declared it was the best -meal he had had since he landed." This announcement was made under -capital letters: "The Duke's Dinner. He Gets A Square Meal In -Richmond." It was late at night when we reached Washington. -Notwithstanding the exceedingly unpleasant day the visit was -exceedingly interesting, and I was more than ever content that I had -persuaded my friends to visit the place which was once the centre of -political life to the Southern Confederacy. - -_May 4th_ was devoted to an inspection of various objects of interest. -It was our last day in Washington, and many visits had to be paid and -cards left, for in no country in the world are the obligations of -courtesy connected with card-leaving more rigidly exacted than in the -United States; and perhaps there are no people usually so negligent in -such matters as our own countrymen, unless they are connected with -diplomacy. English travellers--at least if we are to judge from recent -books--seldom come to a capital which is in every way worthy of -inspection. In the two latest and best books of travel there is no -mention of it at all. It is now incomparably the most beautiful city -in the Union; the broad streets, asphalted, or well paved, lined with -trees, no longer strike right and left into illimitable distances of -unoccupied space, but present long rows of well-built houses. - -At the time of the advance of the Federals the feeling of Washington -was unmistakably Confederate, or "Secesh," as it was called in those -days. I scarcely knew a man of any prominence there who was not -opposed to the policy of the Government and Mr. Lincoln; always -excepting, of course, the senators and the Congress-men then sitting -at the Capitol, though even amongst them there were dissidents, for -Breckenridge and his friends had not yet left Washington. There were -suspects whom it was desirable to intimidate, or necessary to molest; -and amongst these were Mr. Corcoran, who is regarded with respect by -all who know him, and who now occupies the highest position in the -estimation of the society of the city, to which he has been a large -benefactor. The Corcoran Gallery owes its origin and its maintenance -to his taste, wealth, and public spirit; and the visit which was paid -to it to-day was well rewarded by the inspection of a number of very -fine paintings and statues of very high order. - -Amongst the survivors of the time, now so far back, of my long -residence at Washington, I was glad to find General Emory and his -wife. One of the earliest explorers of the territories acquired from -Mexico at the outset of the war, he commanded the 6th Cavalry, which -was quartered at Washington on ground which is at present covered with -fine houses. After a distinguished career in the campaign he became -Governor of New Orleans, where he re-established confidence and did -much to abate the bitter feelings which had been aroused by the acts -of his predecessors in the minds of the inhabitants. Of the officers -of that gallant corps, after whom I enquired, there were none left -that I knew; and the same answer was made to each name I uttered. -"What has become of W----?" "Oh! dead long ago." "What of L----?" "He -is dead, too." "What of K----?" "Oh; poor fellow, he died not very -long ago;" and so on. "The Commodore," our neighbour, witty, shrewd, -quaint, and the embodiment of kindly fun and satire, he too is gone! -It is the penalty of living to lose one's friends. The feelings which -were aroused by these memories were not diminished by a visit to Brady -the photographer, who displayed whole albums filled with likenesses of -deceased friends, and worse still, with photographs--alas! no longer -likenesses--of men and women taken twenty years ago, now offering -painful contrasts to their recognisable semblances in the life and -flesh. - -Another old friend, General Hazen, called on us to-day. General Hazen -visited the headquarters of the German army during the siege of Paris, -and was for some time in residence at Versailles, where I often had -the pleasure of meeting him, and he subsequently made an extensive -tour over Europe, with the view of examining the military -establishments of the Great Powers, of which he recorded the results -in a very useful volume. He is now in charge of the Meteorological -Department, to which the Duke paid a visit in the afternoon; and the -mechanism and arrangement of the extensive system of observations for -national purposes conducted under his care were shown and explained to -us by the officers of the department in the most painstaking manner. - -And then there was the Smithsonian to be visited, where the rooms -seemed to me haunted by the shade of the dear Professor Henry who was -wont to accompany me through the galleries in times past, explaining -the mysteries of the contents of the institution over which he -presided with such care, knowledge, and judgment, with that gentle and -persuasive inductiveness which we recognise in the style of Professor -Owen. - -The Patent Office, which would repay a week's careful study, was -hurriedly inspected, and the Post Office and Agricultural Department -shared the same fate. Everywhere we had to acknowledge the extreme -courtesy of the officials of the national establishments in the United -States. - -In a restaurant in Pennsylvania Avenue, where, in the midst of all -these multifarious labours, we took refuge for a moment, to eat an -oyster, there was lying on the table a dish of frogs' legs about the -size of those of a chicken, neatly garnished with green leaves, -beneath a block of ice. The Duke asked the attendant whether they were -really good to eat. "I believe you!" he replies. "For myself I cannot -bear poultry, but I can always eat those. And now look!" said he, "I -will show you a curious thing. You would think that these legs have no -life in them. But just watch." He took up a pinch of salt from a -cellar near at hand and sprinkled it on the legs, which immediately -were agitated with convulsive twitches, amounting in several instances -to vigorous kicks. I felt as surprised as Galvani was when he touched -the leg of the frog with his scalpel. Apropos of this _plat_ I may -mention that subsequently we overcame our repugnance so far as to -order a dish, and found it very excellent indeed, and whenever the -delicacy was obtainable it became quite a usual portion of our more -sumptuous entertainments. But for my part I considered it very like -flavourless but tender chicken. Once, indeed, long ago, I had had an -involuntary experience of the taste, for, walking one morning with a -southern planter by the side of a shallow ditch bordering his -sugar-cane field, I saw an enormous thing about the size of the top of -a man's hat, struggling in the mud, upon which one of the black -attendants precipitated himself, and seizing it, he mounted the bank -with a frog the size of a good fowl in his hand. "What on earth is -that for?" "Oh, it is most excellent eating," said my friend. "I would -die of starvation," exclaimed I, "before I would touch a morsel of -it." At lunch that day there was put upon the table a spatch-cock -fowl, which my host asked me to try. "What do you think of it?" "It is -excellent." "That," he said, "is a part of the frog you despised so -much this morning." - -The Attorney-General, Mr. MacVeagh, assembled a party to meet the Duke -at dinner; and our last night, which was passed at his hospitable -mansion, was the pleasantest we had in Washington. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[5] It is under the impression of the sad event which has caused the -world to take such a profound interest in the President's life that I -transcribe the record of the moment. - -[6] General Burnside, I regret to see, died since our return to -England. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -HARRISBURG--NEW YORK--BOSTON--CANADA. - - Departure from Washington -- Harper's Ferry -- The State - Capital -- Rats on the Rampage -- Pennsylvania Farming. - - -Next day (May 5th), at 10 o'clock, we left by the Baltimore and Ohio -Railroad, sorry we had not more time to enjoy the hospitalities of our -friends, and to see more of the interesting people and scenes with -which we made such a short acquaintance; but, indeed, the number of -attractions presented for the time that we had at our disposal was -quite embarrassing enough, and whilst we were at Washington the party, -broken up in detachments under the care of various friends, lost no -time, but went to racecourses, galleries, and national institutions, -crossed the Potomac to the heights of Arlington, and visited the -cemeteries where tens of thousands of stone memorials, placed, as the -dead men beneath them once stood, in orderly array, attest the -severity of the tremendous conflict in which the first shots were -fired, not very far from the spot, more than twenty years ago. It is -said that there are about 15,000 bodies buried in one enclosure; even -in death the white and the black are divided--the former are buried -near Arlington House, the coloured men's remains lie half a mile or -more away. Another cemetery, containing 5400 soldier's bodies, is near -the Soldiers' Home. These and many other places were visited; but we -must leave Washington at last, and were carried at express speed to -the Shenandoah Junction. We are on our way to Harrisburg. Fortunately -the day is bright and clear, and the sun not too warm, so that we can -enjoy the charming scenery through which the railway passes, and we -are interested in observing that the canal, in spite of the -competition of the iron road, still keeps up navigation, and that -strings of gaily-painted barges with the national flag are passing to -and fro close at hand. The course of the Potomac, to which we now and -then come near, is marked by the wooded heights which once formed the -skirmish-ground of two great armies. It would not have been safe at -one time for a man to have shown his head above the cutting of the -canal, or to have ridden by the river-banks, for in all probability a -Secesh bullet would have found him out or dismounted him, as there was -fighting-ground all about; and the peaceful scene seemed strange to me -when I contrasted it with the sight it presented as I saw it after the -battle in which Senator Baker was killed and many Union men with him, -and great gloom reigned at Washington--when General McClennan led all -the troops that could be spared, who were pouring out in a long column -on this road, and the country-side was alive with armed men in order -to counteract the menaced invasion of Maryland. At the Shenandoah -Junction, six miles west of Harper's Ferry, we halted for a while. It -seemed to me as if it had not quite recovered from the ravages of war, -and Harper's Ferry appeared as if the storm of battle that had passed -over it--taken and retaken as it was so many times--had left an -indelible mark of wreck and ruin about it. Nothing, however, can -destroy the charm of the scenery of the beautiful valley in which the -Potomac and the Shenandoah meet. We got out on the platform and walked -a little way to look at the ruin of the Arsenal which was occupied by -John Brown when he led his forlorn hope, "shouting the battle-cry of -freedom," little deeming that the hills and valleys would re-echo with -the hymn-song which so often heralded the Federal soldiers on their -march to battle, to defeat or victory. - -As we stood on the bridge surveying the scene, a decrepit and not very -cleanly-looking old man, who was regaling himself with a use of -tobacco of which the issues were visible around him, came up to have a -look at the strangers. He knew every inch of the place; had been here -all during the war. Sometimes the Secesh had it, and then the -Federalists would drive them out; then the Confeds would take it, and -so on. "There was pretty considerable fighting all round. See them -hills? That one there had a Federal fort on top of it; that other one -the Confeds used to hold." Why, he remembered old John Brown's scare -as if it was yesterday. "Yes, sir! But they hanged him pretty smart! -He and his people could make no fight of it when Uncle Sam's reg'lars -came up." And in front of us were the walls of the burned armoury of -the Government, and the name of the United States officer in command -still visible over the doorway--the gaunt ruin, roofless, windowless, -of a time which seemed so remote and which was not a generation gone -by. - -After our short stay there we went on to Hagerstown, where Colonel -Kennedy, the President, and Judge Watts, one of the Directors, of the -Cumberland Valley Railroad, joined us, after a divergence to the -junction of the two rivers to get a sight of the country. - -The Cumberland Valley is one of the most fruitful tracts in the United -States. It presented in its substantial farmhouses, clean well-tilled -fields and kempt fences, strong contrast to the untidy-looking farms -in Maryland and Virginia on the road to Richmond; we heard that the -soil had somewhat suffered from incessant cropping, and that the -competition of the Western States is causing the cultivation of corn -to be neglected. The towns appeared to be numerous and thriving, and -the people well-to-do. It had been arranged that we should pay a visit -on our way to a very interesting establishment, as it proved, at Fort -Carlisle, and I give elsewhere a detailed account of what we saw in -connection with a subject which appears to me to be of great, if -somewhat sentimental, interest--the condition and future of the Indian -race. The Duke's address to the Red children seemed to give them -great satisfaction, and he said with truth that nothing we had seen -since we had arrived in the United States interested us so much as the -establishment where they were the objects of a philanthropic -experiment, to which every one all over the world will, I am sure, -wish success. - -It was evening when the train reached the end of our day's journey, -and the party drove in a shower of rain to their quarters at the -hotel. - -Harrisburg has apparently seen its best days without having ever -witnessed very good ones, but our means of judging were meagre indeed. -The weather was bad, and our visit was very brief. It must be -understood that I write of places as I see or find them, and the -contrast between Philadelphia and the capital of the State of -Pennsylvania, as we beheld it in the drive from the station to our -hotel, was very marked in favour of the former. The shops in the main -street belonged to the old country rather than to the new, and there -was an aspect of "want of flourishing," as a friend said, which was -not in keeping with the surroundings. And yet when John Harris, after -his rescue from the Indians who were about to torture him and did not, -though they did not foresee that they were about to be disposed of -without torture, founded the city, less than a hundred years ago, on -the banks of the Susquehanna, he had a very fine eye for a situation, -and had fair grounds for thinking he had done a very good thing. But -why was it made the State capital in 1812? Surely Philadelphia even -then deserved the honour. We were told we should have put up at the -Lochiel House (something to do with Simon Cameron who lives here, I -suppose), but we did not, and that which was selected for the party -was not of the first or second class. The sewers of the city were -open, or only partially covered. The rats which played about in view -of our sitting-room window were of a size of which Harrisburg may be -justly proud, and I observed from the windows of the hotel many fine -animals come up to take the air and see what was going on, with the -style of well-to-do citizens, meaning no harm and fearing none. They -were, perhaps, a little too numerous for the comfort of nervous -people, though I will not aver that there is not plenty for them to -do. The market-place across the way was ancient and dilapidated, or, -as it was of wood, delignified. - -It was not till a year before the Civil War Harrisburg received a -charter, and at the moment of our visit the population did not number -80,000. A State House and Library, a State Arsenal, a State Lunatic -Asylum, a County Prison, Opera houses, Masonic Hall, churches, Harris -Park and Cemetery, and great ironworks, all unvisited, but duly -enumerated by citizens zealous of the honour of their city, haunted -conscientious tourists as things which ought to be seen, but they were -not in the programme--we could not find them in the bond--and so they -were taken for granted; not so the substantial interviews which had to -be attended to, and the arrangements for visiting the Baldwin Iron -and Steel Works, and Colonel Long's farm at Middleton, which were to -be taken on our way to New York. - -On the 6th we left Harrisburg, at 9 o'clock in the morning, for New -York, visiting the famous Iron Works on our way, and halting at -Middleton to inspect the farm of Colonel Long, which is one of the -sights of the country, and which all the agriculturalists of the party -declared was an exceedingly well-managed display of agricultural -skill; an admirable exhibition of what may be done in the States to -emulate the best establishments of the old country. The produce of the -farm was pronounced to be excellent, the fields clean and well -apportioned, beautiful pasture for stock, and fine arable for various -crops, but the result of conversation with Colonel Long led some of -the party to the conclusion that a farmer with good land in England -can, at present prices, hold his own with any farmer in the Eastern -States. The most interesting fact connected with the investigation was -the discovery that the cultivation of tobacco is making great way in -Pennsylvania, and that wheat has been abundant in consequence of the -impossibility of competing with the West. Heavy manuring is requisite; -nevertheless large tracts of Pennsylvania are passing under -cultivation for tobacco-growing, and are stated to produce a weed -almost equal to the best Maryland or Virginia. - -But the coal and iron and the manufactures of this favoured region -must ensure it a long continuance of the extraordinary prosperity -which was visible on all sides, if the asses in their fatness do not -kick over the traces. For many miles of the country over which we -travelled yesterday the storm of war had rolled heavily, and every -town near at hand had some record of suffering or lucky escape from -Lee's invading host. The Confederates had come within six miles of -Harrisburg. Martinsburg, Frederic--in fact, every town near at hand -had felt the hand of the South at its throat, till at Gettysburg the -blow was struck which paralysed it for ever. At Carlisle one of our -friends mentioned incidentally that his house had been "shelled by -that confounded Fitzhugh Lee"--our travelling companion of a few days -before. There were strong expressions uttered by others concerning the -partition of Virginia and the State debt, but these were mysteries to -us, and all we could see was that, in spite of past sufferings, there -was now a vigorous, healthy, wealthy life in the land, of which the -signs and tokens were visible as far as the eye could reach in our -long day's travel. Our railway directors studied maps and asked -questions and made notes indefatigably, and they no doubt comprehended -the connections and arms of the railroads which were spread over the -country--a mighty range, and all _with_ a plan--but I cannot pretend -to share any of their knowledge, and can only say that we had a very -pleasant, if somewhat warm, journey to New York, which we reached at -4.30 o'clock. Here we found a new wonder awaiting us in the aspect of -the Falls River boat, on which we embarked for Boston at one of the -piers on the North River. It was the happy idea of Mr. Crosfield that -we ought to leave the iron road for a few hours and take to the -water, and for it and much besides the members of the party were -indebted to him. The service of the steamboat line is admirable. To -begin with, the steamers (of which there are two, the "_Bristol_" and -"_Providence_") are floating palaces for King Populus, of such vast -dimensions that we could scarcely "take in" all at once that in which -we were to make our voyage as it lay at the pier; its bright white -side towering far above the roof of the wharf shed, with tiers of -windows lighted up as if _en fête_, like an old three-decker at the -least. Our surprise did not diminish when we got on board and found -ourselves in a vast sort of gilt and painted courtyard, surrounded by -galleries with many hundreds of passengers--a band playing, electric -lights, a book-stall, newspapers, a restaurant, hairdresser's -establishment, boot-cleaning corner, bar and liquor saloon, hot baths, -cold baths--I should not like to say what that marine monster did -_not_ contain. There were waiters in neat, clean dresses, in swarms, -and clerks and officers of the service in much gold lace and brass -buttons--formidable as admirals, and civil as dancing-masters. The -sleeping-saloons were perfectly arranged; and when the dinner or -supper bell rang, and the streams of people were set in motion, it was -if some small city was on the tramp. The great creature was moving! Up -went the vast walking-beam on high, with the polished piston smoothly -gliding from its case, and then, trembling in every airy plank to the -beat of the mighty paddles, the steamer backed off into the stream, -and with that indescribable tumult of creaks, squeaks, rattles and -clatters, which may be taken as the breathing of this sort of thing, -set off on its way rejoicing as a giant to run its course, and far -better able to do it. There was light enough for us to see the city of -New York, and the forest of steeples and towers above the serried -lines of illimitable roofs, the fringe of masts and chimneys on one -side, and the interesting islands where the Law, Medicine, and Charity -have their palaces--Penitentiaries, Hospitals, Asylums, Nurseries, -Refuges--and where Crime, Smallpox, Typhus, Idiotcy, and incurable -Disease hold their separate courts in granite cells, and the Brooklyn -shore, as the steamer threaded her way through the ruck of tugs, -flats, coasters, ferry-boats, and steamers, big and little, to the -great boil of waters well-named Hell Gate, in Long Island Sound--a -veritable Maelstrom, which the engineers are blasting, boring, and -blowing up and down as hard as they can. As we bore down the adverse -fury of the swirling tideway with our irresistible wheels, the mighty -vessel trembled with the strain, but we prevailed, and went through -the Gate past the dredges, which were shovelling up the rocks from the -bottom, and had time to enjoy the scenery of Long Island glorified by -a fine sunset, ere darkness shut out all but the lights on shore, and -those which marked out what to seek and avoid for the toiler on the -seas. The course of the steamer for the greater part of the night lay -in tranquil waters, for Long Island was on our right, and on our left -was the shore of Connecticut; but after midnight I awoke, and had no -doubt as to what the wild waves were saying, and looking out of my -window saw a confused sea, to the lively forces of which our steamer -was making unmistakable submission. A less confidence-inspiring craft -for rough weather than our palace I thought I never had been in, and I -was not dissatisfied when the trial of her powers was at an end, and -the tyranny of the seas was overpast as we approached Newport and got -under the shelter of Martha's Vineyard at some early hour in the -morning. Says I to a nautical gentleman on the staff of the noble -ship, "Would she cross the Atlantic, do you think?" "Certainly," quoth -he, "if it wasn't bad weather." "Well! but how would she do in a -gale?" "It would just be as well not to try, but if we could keep her -head right to it there would not be much harm--no forcing, though--no, -sir!" At Newport there was a great exodus of passengers and baggage -about 3 o'clock, and some two hours later the steamer, passing up -Narraganset Bay, arrived at Fall River, where we landed, and took our -places in a train of the Old Colony Railroad for Boston. Fall River, -which one might take to be a cascading stream, turned out to be an -enormous manufacturing town of some 50,000 people, all factories, -chimneys, and storehouses, and what we saw of Massachusetts as we ran -through it gave us a higher idea of its commercial activity and -manufacturing industry than of its natural advantages. I cannot say -how many towns of note we skirted or ran through in our two hours' -journey--glimpses of magazines, stores, warehouses, smoke-stacks, -staring placards at intervals here and there, were all we knew of -them; but the land did not seem rich nor the scenery attractive, and -yet there are good crops to be had, and fruit is abundant and -excellent. There is a long hard winter and an ardent summer here, and -some of the weaker vessels among the Pilgrim Fathers (and mothers) -must have often wished themselves back in the clammy East Countree on -the German Ocean, or in their foster-mother Holland, when, like so -many Calibans (for conscience' sake), they were persecuted by Indians, -Witches, Quakers, and the climate, in the days before they were strong -enough to persecute in their turn, and so reconcile themselves to -atmospheric vicissitudes. Among our fellow-passengers in the -"_Gallia_" was Mr. Washburn, ex-Governor of the State, and one of a -very eminent band of brothers who have risen to deserved distinction -in America, and to his kind offices were the Duke of Sutherland and -his friends indebted for the graceful _empressement_ of the leading -men of Boston to do the honours of their city. On our arrival at the -terminus we found every preparation had been made for our reception, -and several gentlemen were in attendance to meet the Duke on the -platform. Well-appointed carriages whirled the party off to one of the -finest hotels in the world--"The Brunswick"--and not only that, but -one of the most comfortable. How these old names hold! It is a long -time since "Braunschweig" had aught to do with the "old Colony"--some -time since the House of Hanover (from which we parted company in 1866) -has had any relation to Massachusetts. There may be some good reason -for the appellation of our excellent hostelry--it is quite enough to -say it could not be sweeter or neater with any other name, and it made -us reflect with some feelings of humiliation on the sort of -accommodation an American would find in a large town in England till -the recent improvements in the establishments which have chiefly -sprung out of the enterprises of the great railways. The British -colours floated above the building beside the Stars and Stripes--a -compliment which was very much appreciated; and the good Bostonians -allowed us fair time for breakfast and a little unpacking and settling -down before they came to take the party in charge and show them over -their noble city. Mr. Rice, formerly Governor of the State, Mr. Fitz, -President of the Board of Trade, Mr. Beard, Collector of the Port, -Alderman O'Brien, came as a committee to tender us all the civilities, -and many more than we could accept, and had a programme, which even -their kindness could not render of easy accomplishment, for the -disposal of our time. First there was a long drive through the -principal quarters of the town--innumerable phoenixes in marble, -granite, iron, and brick, reared out of the ashes of the Great Fire -nine years ago--Sears, Brewer, Franklin, Rialto, Cathedral and other -Buildings, and monumental insurance offices and stores. Then there is -a stately quarter built on land where was once water--on an artificial -foundation made by filling up part of a shallow arm of the harbour -called Back Bay. One peculiarity about the city is the localisation of -trades and professions. If I had not seen their names on the brightest -brass plates in the clearest of engraving, I could not have believed -there were so many doctors and surgeons in any one city in the world. -Surely they must practise on one another? They were in rows up and -down long streets. And yet the citizens and citizenesses did not look -unhealthy--rather otherwise--and the younger people mounted on street -skates were portentously active on the pavements--pretty well-dressed -little ladies doing the _pas des patineurs_ with all their might, and -sweeping resistlessly over the flags on their way from school. I am -not going to describe Boston. There is a refrain in my ears, "All this -was built since the fire!" I can only say the fire was a great -regenerator. I could understand why Boston people are proud of their -work, and I could look up at Bunker Hill without any sense of shame, -as I beheld such a wonderful display of energy and progress in the -fair city, with its monuments, statues, parks, public buildings, -churches, and on the sea furrowed by keels and studded with sunny -canvas. We were taken out on that same sea. The Collector, Mr. Beard, -one of the most courteous of men, had the Government Revenue Cruiser -prepared for a cruise in the harbour, and we examined the Navy Yard, -the wharves, and the extension works, the forts, &c., with an interest -which was enhanced by the intelligent explanations of our guides, -varied with little discussions about Free Trade and Protection, the -future of Boston, projected improvements, and general conversation, -till it was time to return to land and finish with an inspection of -more "objects" on shore. And then, to end the work of the day, there -was an "informal dinner" at the Brunswick, to which the Duke and his -friends were bidden without yea or nay--"it was quite informal." I -presume that means, in Boston, an elaborate banquet. We were told, -however, that it merely meant that we were to dress as we pleased, and -that there were to be no set speeches. Alderman O'Brien presided; -Governor Rice, Mr. Beard, Mr. Choate, President of the Old Colony -Railroad, Genl. Wilson, President of the New York and North-Eastern -Railroad, Mr. E. C. Fitz, Mr. Sears, Mr. Spaulding, Mr. Phillips, -Aldermen Whitten, Haldemann, Slade, Curtis, Frost, Caldwell, &c., were -our hosts, and our party was sandwiched pleasantly between our -American friends--all _point de vice_--evening dress--flowers in -buttonholes, flowers on the table, but "no formality." And then, just -by way of an exception, Alderman O'Brien to do honour to the occasion, -with a facility which showed that he had not lost the _potestas -loquendi_ attributed to his race, made an "informal" speech in -proposing "informally" the health of the Duke, who made an informal -reply, and from that time till the company broke up, towards midnight, -there was a succession of toasts, speeches, speeches and toasts, till -every man had had his turn at one and the other, and informality could -do no more with a very pleasant evening. There was a good deal of -railway talk, in which prophecy was not neglected. It so happened that -among the guests or hosts was a gentleman whom I had met at the St. -Patrick's dinner, New York, in 1861, and we had an agreeable -conversation respecting the events of that time. I could not help -thinking how very much changed was the tone in which slavery was -discussed then from that in which it is now mentioned. On that -occasion the American gentleman (one of the first men in New York, and -by no means Irish except in name and descent) inveighed against Boston -with something like ferocity. He declared that Mr. George Thompson, -who had lectured on slavery long ago, was the most diabolical -scoundrel who ever trod the earth, that the people of Boston ought to -have hanged or burned him and Garrison and his accomplices in 1835, as -the authors of the fearful war which was inevitable--the sure -precursor of the disruption of the Union--for which Boston, -represented by Mr. Sumner, was responsible, and he indignantly -denounced the Bostonians--they who had fattened on the slave-trade and -on the South--for their anti-slavery proclivities. There are not many -who hold such opinions now. Bristol and Liverpool forget they ever -made money out of "black ivory," and Boston has an equal right to take -its share of the waters of Lethe. And so to bed. - -_May 8th._--By the kindness of Mr. Sears, seats were obtained for the -whole party at the morning service in Trinity Church, a vast and -highly ornate structure, of fine proportions externally, alight with -gilding, profuse in mosaic, lavish in stained glass, and exquisite -woodwork inside; a very noble temple, in good truth, if somewhat -theatrical in effect, Romish, or more correctly Byzantine, producing -the same sort of feeling that a Russian or Greek Church does on -strangers not to the manner born; but still grand, rich, and -luxurious. And the congregation, which filled every part of the sacred -edifice, was suitable unto it. It was obviously composed of the great -ones of the city--the cream of the Episcopalian flock--satined, -silked, fine feathered, Paris bonneted, sleek hatted, glisteningly -black, delicately perfumed--a very goodly company. The musical part of -the service was evidently what might be called a feature of the -attractions, though they be considered to culminate in the person of -the pastor of the fold. The organ, an instrument of extraordinary -size, power, and richness, was moved by skilful fingers to interpret -passages which led one to imagine that the selector had acted on John -Wesley's advice, "not to let the Evil one have all the good music to -himself," and that he had invaded the repertoires of secular enjoyment -in that way, and the choir delivered psalm and hymn with an artistic -finish which at once gave rise to suspicions that it was not "wild -warbling nature all beyond the reach of art." "Professional," I asked -on a proper opportunity; "is it not?" "Not all; the tenor and the bass -are, I think, and one or two others, perhaps." Well, the harmony was -full and fine, and I preferred it to the unassisted efforts in that -matter of rural religionists. It is mainly to the impetus of the -personal character of the Rev. Phillips Brooks that the erection of -this magnificent edifice and the maintenance of the service in such -Christian state are due. The Book of Common Prayer was used with -trifling variations--some small sacrifices to prudery or decency, or -whatever words you will array them in; but to me the most interesting -portion of the service was the part in it of the pastor--a man of -great corpulence and stature, with a massive head cast in a mould to -match, and features with a resemblance to those of Sydney Smith, or -perhaps more nearly those of Charles James Fox. He was attired in -black silk gown and bands, but did not, I think, show any academic -badge. The sermon, which had for its text "Bow down the heavens, O -Lord! touch the mountains, and they shall smoke!" delivered with -extraordinary rapidity--sometimes, in fact, approaching to the verge -of jumble--flowed on in a stream of language, often beautiful and -occasionally grand, with a great clatter of metaphor, and a rolling -noise of poetical images of a very pleasing character, for a long -half-hour or more, without causing any desire for the preacher to -desist; and indeed the ingenuity with which he illustrated and dragged -in his unpromising text occasioned a series of intellectual shocks. -The influence of Mr. Brooks must be, I think, as beneficial as it is -powerful, and he has at all events given the world a splendid -demonstration of what can be done by the voluntary principle in a -wealthy democracy. It was not to his detriment, in the eyes of his -stern Republican flock, that, on the occasion of a recent visit to -Europe, he was received with favour in high places; or that "Your -Queen Victoria had him to stay with her at Windsor Palace." - -I was doomed to a great disappointment to-day after our return from -church. A little excursion had been planned for the party by Mr. Sears -to visit Harvard University and a pilgrimage to Longfellow, at -Cambridge, and I was up in my room waiting for a summons to join the -party, when it was said by some one he believed I had gone out, or -would not go, and so they drove out without me, and I "was left -lamenting." Had I been a revengeful person, I might have taken -pleasure in the thought that they had an utterly abominable drive, for -there was a bitter wind and clouds of the finest and most choking -dust, but I was very sorry indeed. The "old man eloquent" was -delighted to welcome the Duke, whom, as a boy, he remembered well at -the time of his lengthened visit to England, when he was a frequent -and honoured guest at Stafford House, where he was held in great -esteem by the gracious lady who presided. He was courteous to all the -other visitors; but they did not place a heavy tax on his patience, -for they had to go over Harvard, where they were received by some of -the authorities and conducted over the University, and then the -inevitable drive through the city had to be accomplished. As for me, -despite the dust and wind, I walked through some of the staid, -discreet, and sombre streets and squares of opulent merchantdom, all -very quiet and decorous, with fair faces at the windows, and groups of -prettily dressed children in the balconies, and went to the Somerset -Club and to the Union Club, which had extended their courtesies to the -strangers, and left cards. I had the fortune to foregather for a while -with Mr. L. Curtis, an old acquaintance of the time of the Prussian -occupation of Versailles, when his venerable father--a veteran of the -United States navy--and family, were caught there by the flood of -invaders, as they were about to escape from Paris. We had an early -dinner, and then had to prepare for another flitting, about which some -of us were much exercised, for it was to take us back to New York -again! I must confess to a sense of shame at such a hurried visit to -the "hubbiest" of American cities. The excuse was, that there was an -imperious desire on the part of our directors to see the Hudson River -Line, and Albany, the capital of the State of New York, and so at 10 -P.M. we were "all on board" and rattling in a Wagner palace-car over -rather a rough line down South; needless to say, we did not see much -of the country, though it was not easy to sleep, owing to the -jumpiness of the carriages. - -_May 9th._--Next morning before 6 o'clock, after a journey of 230 -miles, we were delivered on the platform of the station in New York. -All our roads lead to it apparently! We walked through the silent -streets to Sherwood House, in Fifth Avenue, where a welcome and -excellent breakfast had been ordered. The arrangements, the air, and -the perfect repose of the place produced a most agreeable impression. -The landlord informed us that it was almost exclusively frequented as -a family hotel, and that when the New York season was over he closed -his doors, shut up his windows, and went off for his holiday. At 9.30 -A.M. we were on our way to Albany accompanied by Mr. Vanderbilt, -junior, and several of the directors of the New York Central and -Hudson River Railroad Company. Americans are justly proud of the -Hudson; it delights the eye of every traveller, and in some respects, -particularly in the beauty of the autumn foliage, it excels the most -famous rivers of Europe. All the more ought they to wage war against -the disgusting outrages on the face of nature which are permitted to -disfigure its banks. The very stones prate of the whereabouts of some -loathsome quack or some ludicrous nostrum, and aggravating repetitions -of the same names and specifics, painted in staring colours, mile -after mile, force the philanthropic traveller to sigh for a measure of -dynamite, and to thirst for the ruin of the miscreants who so disturb -his peace. The Hudson river-side close to the capital is not very -inviting; the works of the Elevated Railway, which is preparing for a -tremendous spring over its Harlem tributary, do not appeal to one's -sense of the beautiful; and a squatter population in what one of my -friends called "very squattery shanties" does not prepare the -traveller for the long stretch of _maisons de plaisance_, country -houses, airy villages, and flourishing townlets which greet his eye as -the train speeds in close to the edge of the left, or east, bank. The -sheer, precipitous downfall of rock, at the opposite side, called the -Palisades, soon comes in view. It may be dimly thought out that the -appearance of the trap rock, which is ranged in perpendicular columns, -suggested the name. The formation continues for nearly twenty miles, -at an elevation of from 200 to 300 feet, and the summit is fringed -with trees. Needless to say, with such a city as New York below, and -with densely populated banks above, the broad sweeps of the beautiful -Hudson displayed an infinity of navigating craft--steamers, ships, -trim coasters, fishing-boats, net-poles and buoys near the banks -marked the haunts of the much-prized and inexhaustible shad. - -There is much of the interest of American history connected with the -Hudson, and there is the wider interest of all English-speaking races -attached to it by the associations with the scenery of Washington -Irving and his charming creations. An Englishman can forgive the death -of André for the sake of Sunnyside and Tarrytown. We pass the Convent -of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, who would have been roused out -pretty quickly by the Pilgrim Fathers and their children--the wide -expanse of the Tappan Zee, where Henry Hudson's galliots found great -comfort and much astonished the Red-man--"Sing Sing"; the vast state -prison, connected in my mind with a joke, too good to be lost, of the -time of the (United States) civil war. It was made _à propos_ of a -certain Prince of Salm-Salm, who came to offer his sword to the -Federal Government at Washington. His title puzzled Mr. Seward. -"Psalm-Psalm!" he exclaimed. "Where on earth does _he_ come from, I -wonder." "Very probably from 'Sing Sing,'" replied the person whom he -addressed. But the gallant German Prince, it needs not to be said, was -a soldier of unblemished name and honour. - -The Croton Aqueduct, at the other side, which supplies New York, forty -miles away, with water, commences at the lake some miles higher up -than the station, and we were obliged to hear that the quality of its -water was not strained, and that it needed boiling; but that may be a -calumny, and I do not think any of us made even one trial to disprove -the fact. The scenery beyond Peekskill, at the stretch of river called -the Highlands, made me make a mental vow, which will, I fear, never be -kept, that I would return and vegetate in one of the hotels of which -we caught glimpses in the trees on the slopes of the mountains, which -in grand and varied outlines tower over the stream. - -Probably since its creation, in no two hundred and seventy years which -have rolled over the world has a greater change been effected in the -condition of a country than that which has taken place on the banks of -the Hudson since the intrepid and unfortunate Englishman from whom it -derives its name explored its waters and anchored opposite Pigskill. -"This is a very good land to fall in with, a pleasant land to see," he -says, under the date of September 2nd, 1609, "the waters abound with -salmons, mullets and rayes, very great. The people of the country came -aboard of us, seeming very glad of our coming, and brought green -tobacco and gave us of it for knives and beads. They go in loose -deer-skins, well dressed, and mantles of feathers, skins and divers -sort of good furs. They have yellow copper, and use red copper tobacco -pipes." And when his men landed he says they found "great store of -men, women and children, and good oysters, grapes and pumpkins, beaver -and other skins." Then out of the grossness of the time and of the -race the Whites wrought the great wrong which, ever continuing, has -marked the course of civilisation on their side and of degradation on -that of the Red men. Captain Waymouth, who had been on the coast four -or five years before, kidnapped natives as a matter of course. -Verazzano, the Italian, who really discovered the Hudson eighty-five -years before "Hendrick" entered it, had also kidnapped natives, but -Hudson's men made them drunk, and the memory of the carouse is still -perpetuated, they say, in the word Manhattan.[7] On the shores of this -river, now so populous with many towns and villages and joyous country -seats, there is not a trace of the Red man, and at West Point there is -the great Military Academy for the education of officers whose -principal military service will probably consist in the extermination -of the few Red men left within the borders of the Great Republic, -thousands of miles to the west. - -There was but a glimpse of West Point as the train flew past. Places -less known to fame, or to us, were seen and carried off down the river -ere we could well learn their names and the number of the population; -but Newburgh fixed itself on my notes, and Poughkeepsie on my memory; -for I saw on the platform of the last-named station the wisest-looking -woman I ever beheld. I was informed she was a famous Professor at -Vassar College, where young ladies are fitted to be the mothers of -heroes by a long course of study--a prodigy of learning, and -especially versed in dangerous isms and ologies--so men told me. She -had curls, steel-like and lustrous, "an eye like Mars to threaten and -command," scarce adumbrated by the light-blue glasses of a pair of -spectacles, a Roman nose, and straight-cut lips, and wore a severely -classical garment which seemed to have been cut out of Minerva's -peplum, and as she moved I expected to hear the clatter of armour -beneath her surcoat of lutestring. And yet she was single! - -But there is Albany at last--Queen of the Hudson--gazing up admiringly -on its crowning glory, the Capitol, and there we prepare to descend, -as we are expected to get out for a short visit. Governor Cornell and -some of the State and Municipal authorities were waiting on the -platform to receive the Duke of Sutherland, and carriages were drawn -up outside for the party, in which we were speedily whisked through -the streets of the ancient Capital of the State of New York, up to its -principal pride and ornament. We were led by Governor Cornell over the -Capitol, containing within its walls all the departments and offices -of state, executive and administrative, of the State of New York. I -was, I confess, struck with astonishment at the enormous size, the -vast pretensions, and the profuse expenditure evinced by the work on -the unfinished building, which must be more regarded as a monument of -liberal outlay than as an exhibition of perfect taste. I was not, -however, filled with the burning indignation which animates the -diatribes of a recent writer in the 'North American Review.' "Every -patriotic son of the Empire State," says the reviewer, "should go on -an expiatory pilgrimage, and pass penitential hours in gazing upon the -immeasurable iniquities of the Capitol. Whenever I have the pleasure -of strolling about beautiful Albany, I am drawn to that accursed and -shameful heap of spoil as irresistibly as a floating spar is drawn to -a dirty iceberg. Two millions were shot into the cellar, and its -ultimate cost can only be conjectured. The mere interest of the money -wasted on this unspeakable pile of stone, which it will require two -thousand tons of coal a year to keep warm, would give the city of New -York clean streets for ever." Still, it is grandiose in its way, rich -in decoration, and will probably be commodious. - -The State Capital has for some time been rather notorious in the -matter of corruption. Let me not be misunderstood. I do not aver that -the bankers, gentry, merchants, and people of New York State _en bloc_ -are corrupt. But it is quite certain that there has been for years -established a caucus of wire-pullers at Albany, who influence or -profess to influence the votes of the legislature or members of the -legislature by the use of money. The community of the Empire City, at -the time of our visit, was distracted by the contentions of rival -parties, which it would be almost impious in me to attempt to analyse, -but as far as we could judge from the accounts in the papers the newly -elected mayor, Mr. Grace, a young Irishman who had acquired a -considerable fortune in South America, was conducting an arduous -investigation into abuses in the matter of street cleaning, police -work, and public contracts generally, which had grown up under his -predecessors, from which good results were expected by one set of -critics, and nothing but evil by an opposite party. "The Augean -stable," shouted some, "was to be cleansed out thoroughly." "This," -said others, "is but a desperate rush of a new set of people on the -public purse." Above these cries was to be heard the muttering of the -thunderstorm which was so soon to burst over the whole of the -Union--the great Roscoe Conkling and Platt controversy. - -The train had travelled over the 143 miles of rail at a rate of 35 -miles an hour, and we had yet a long way to go before we reached -Montreal, and so we were obliged to return to the station, where -Governor Cornell, and the courteous gentlemen who had assisted him in -entertaining the visitors, took their leave, and at 2.30 our journey -was resumed towards the Canadian frontier. The pleasure with which we -might have gazed on the delightful scenery through which the railroad -runs, skirting Lake Champlain, and the interest we felt in the scenes -which Cooper's novels had made familiar, were marred by the sultry -heat. We were in a furnace--a heat-wave in which we were like to -drown. The air was thunderous, but the thunder came not. "Pity 'tis, -and pity 'tis 'tis true" that in such a condition of body no scenery -can wean a man from the contemplation of his suffering--for "who can -bear a fire in his hand by thinking of the frosty Caucasus?"--or -looking at the green mountains of Vermont, or the slopes of the -Adirondacks? I was not treated with even moderate civility when I -tried to get up a little enthusiasm about Fort Ticonderaga, and the -name of Plattsburg produced no impression on the perspiring pilgrims; -but, truth to tell, perhaps there were few among us who had ever heard -of Sir G. Prevost's defeat, and of the signal victory of the -Americans; for, as a rule, we are not accurately instructed in the -history of our reverses. And yet the region around was almost as rich -in historic memories of the great struggle between the French and the -English, and their Continental auxiliaries--between French Indians and -English Indians--between the English and the Americans in the two -wars--as it was in natural beauty. But we did wake up a little, for -the approach of evening had wasted the sultry fires of the day, when, -shortly after leaving Rouse's Point, we heard a ringing cheer, and an -attempt at "God Save the Queen," and, looking out, saw a small crowd, -and two British ensigns waving welcome. We were in the Dominion of -Canada. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[7] "Where they got drunk." - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -CANADA. - - Montreal -- Quebec -- Niagara -- Toronto. - - -Although the hotels we had visited had prepared us for a good deal of -magnificence in upholstery, the rooms of the Windsor at Montreal -fairly astonished us. There is nothing in the hotel way in London -comparable to the house, except perhaps the Grand at Charing Cross, -and if adjectives must be used, I could say the Windsor was the -grander of the two. Our rooms were almost too beautiful. The Duke's -room was robed in purple satin. Lord Stafford was lodged in a bridal -suite, decked in Star of India blue satin, with doves and cupids all -over the apartments generally. My bedroom was an arrangement in -delicately flowered amber satin. I hope Montreal will live up to the -Windsor Hotel. - -How miserably small this world is becoming. "Ruling the roast" in the -banqueting rooms of the hotel was O'Hara, haply descendant of a kingly -race (for, as O'Connell declared long ago, "most of the descendants of -Irish kings are engaged on the coal quay; and when they're not there, -they generally don't make so much"), but certainly for years the -trusted aide-de-camp in personal service to Archbishop Whately and to -Lord Strathnairn; at least, if he was not, I am not to blame for this -averment. - -_May 10th._--At 11 o'clock, Mr. Hickson, Manager of the Trunk Railway, -the Mayor of Montreal, and many irresistible citizens, came to the -hotel, and carried off the Duke and some of his friends in carriages -to visit the Victoria Bridge, and other objects of attraction; among -which, of course, was the hill above the city, whence a very fine view -can be obtained in good weather. But this day was not one favourable -to sight-seeing. It rained in torrents in the early morning, and there -was, moreover, an exceedingly dense mist. Some of us were a little -indisposed. Perhaps the incessant motion by rail and by wheel, and the -agitated existence which it had been our lot to lead since our -arrival, had something to do with it; so it was that several of the -party preferred to remain in the seclusion of their rooms till -lunch-time and later, when they were tempted to try the St. James's -Club, of which they had been made honorary members. - -Ay de mi! How many years is it since I resigned myself doubtingly, but -as it seemed necessarily, to the acceptance of Free Trade as the one -thing in economics needful for the world. And now I am in a dominion -where the doctrine is regarded as a melancholy heresy, and its -professors as all but----. "But for protection, Sir," shouted out a -vigorous Scotchman, full of figures and faith, "I tell you there would -have been no manufactures in Canada; and more, there would have been -no population to work our fields! In protection lies our only chance -of successful struggle with the States." "Don't go away with that -ideey!" exclaims another Scotch philosopher. "I can show you to a -dee-monstration that Canady wad bee in a far finer pos-eeshun but for -protection, than she has at this pree-sent." Between Canada and the -United States there must always be, in all probability, a keen -competition in bidding for the traffic of the great quantities of -produce which pass down from the upper lakes to the sea. It was -natural that we should hear a good deal about a question of very great -importance to the well-being of both countries--the water -communications from the North-west. There has been a discussion going -on, too, respecting the possibility of sending cargoes down the lakes -without transhipment, and so out to sea and to Europe; but it is -found, practically, that the cargo must be transhipped. The question -arises where that operation is best performed. The Welland Canal -Company is, at the present moment, about being enlarged; but the -shipbuilders on the upper lakes are enlarging their ships too, so that -the lakes are covered with craft which could not enter the canal. -Grain is carried to Buffalo and the Erie Canal in very large ships -which cannot navigate the Welland; and the extra expense of -transhipping from these large bottoms is more than compensated by the -farming of the grain and other advantages at Buffalo. The Canadian -Government have reduced their tolls, and have exhibited an anxiety -which is too well justified for their share of the trade. When they -ask, however, for the fulfilment of the Treaty of Washington, by which -they are entitled to "the freedom of the canals of the United States," -they are met with the mocking rejoinder that the United States -Government has no power to make the State of New York respect Federal -treaties, and that they cannot compel any State in the Union to open -its waterways free to foreigners. The solution of many of the -contentions between Americans and Canadians, however, may possibly -prove to be found in the Mississippi, where barges now are finding -their way down to New Orleans, at an average in nine days, loaded with -corn, which can be brought from St. Louis for 6 cents, while it costs -22 cents and upwards to carry corn from Chicago to New York. The -people of Chicago start at once to open a canal from Rock Island on -the Mississippi to Hennepin on the river Illinois; and no doubt each -move on one side will be met by a counter-move on the other, and the -rivalry between Canada and the United States will be repeated and -accentuated in the efforts of the great cities like Buffalo, -Cleveland, Toledo, Chicago, St. Louis, &c., south of the lakes, to -secure as much as possible of the carrying trade, the through traffic, -and the consequent profits. I escaped eventually from the _clangor -virorum_, and had a stroll through the town with Lord Stafford, in the -course of which I dropped in on my old quarters at the "St. -Lawrence," where the host Hogan, racy of the soil, and full of sport, -made me doubt if twenty years could have passed since Augustus Anson -and I had been his guests. He was charged with reminiscences, and -among them recent memories, solidified in photographs, of an excursion -for fishing and other purposes, in which Lord "Bewfore"--who was, I -believe, his Grace of Beaufort--was introduced. If any one needs a -good introduction to fish and hunt in Montreal, I recommend Mr. Hogan -with modest confidence. - -After an early dinner, we drove to the quay, where the steamer -"_Montreal_" was prepared for all comers, and after some delay, made -up her (or its) mind to start for Quebec. It is a mistake to go down -the river at this time of year in the hope of enjoying the scenery. -Darkness set in on the river very soon after we embarked, and there -were no sights on shore to look at. Now and then the local authorities -pointed out to us sites of towns, and occasionally through the trees -we caught a glimmer of fire, where little circles of bright light -dotted the clouds, and indicated the hamlets. On board the steamer -there was a senator of a very pronounced national colour, or stripe, -or school, whatever the term may be, who considered that the politics -of the world revolved round the narrow area in which, according to -him, Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Parnell were contending for mastery; and it -was not difficult to discover on which side he thought right, if not -might, was placed. As he was speaking, there came from the depths -between decks a strain of high-pitched speech in French, interrupted -by shouts of laughter, and descending the companion to ascertain the -cause, I perceived an Indian--charged, I am sorry to say, with the -fire-water of the pale-faces--haranguing the passengers on the -miseries and misfortunes of his race with great volubility--nay, -eloquence. Whenever he made a good hit the Canadians laughed, but when -one of the ship's officers seized the orator by the arm and led him -away, it was plain the white man had the best of the argument. Poor -wretch! Demosthenes could not save Athens from the Macedonian. - -By selecting the night steamer from Montreal to Quebec, however, we -succeeded in preventing an undue strain on our faculties in the way of -admiring scenery. What sights we escaped! what objects we shunned! All -night through there were stoppages at unknown stations. The people -trooped in and trooped out, and doors were banged on board. To sleep -was not facile. And so it was that it was not with clear, composed -minds we awoke on the morning of May 11th, just as the bluffs of -Quebec were looming in the distance, and in an hour more were -preparing to grapple with the wharf under the Citadel, where the -Governor-General was already visible waiting, with a moderate cortege, -to receive his uncle. There was something else waiting for us too! -Scarcely had we got into the open carriages ere a deluge of rain--just -as if the St. Lawrence was tumbling out of the skies--began to fall, -and, as the ascent to the Citadel is at an angle of 45 degrees or -thereabouts, it was not possible to evade the tornado by rapid -driving. So we climbed the hill in a waterspout, and were right glad -to get under the shelter of the hospitable roof of the Queen's Legate -in her good Dominion of Canada. The fires in our rooms were felt to be -needed even this 11th of May. - -The Citadel is now but an historic site, and has no potency as a -fortified place, but Lord Lorne has done much to make the quarters a -little better than the rough barrack they formerly were and to improve -the accommodation. The apartments are comfortable, absolutely -luxurious in their fittings compared with the style of former days, -and there are evidences of refined taste in the reception-rooms, which -remind one of the illustrious lady whose temporary absence when we -were in Canada was much regretted, and whose presence when she returns -will be hailed with delight. - -When I was last here, Quebec had all the appearance of a large -garrison town. It was a time of trouble. I think two battalions of -Guards, a couple of regiments of foot, and a strong force of artillery -were quartered in and about the city, and the citadel and forts were -militarily occupied. The cities of Canada were filled with refugees -from the northern States, valiant men and fair women, soldiers like -Magruder, and gentlemen like Corbin, whose souls were with the South. -They were waiting for the hour of vengeance and victory, for a change -in the tide; and they raged exceedingly against the Federals, and -reviled Lincoln and Seward and all their ways with the animosity which -is engendered by civil war. Americans in Canada spoke more bitter -things of the American Government in our common English tongue at that -time than were ever perhaps said or written by any people in the -world. Now all is changed; the refugees have disappeared, not a single -red-coat is to be seen. I am told that there is much to regret in the -policy which has handed over the defences of Canada so entirely to the -Canadians, and that no one is pleased, but of this I know nothing. The -only people who are said to be happy at the withdrawal of the English -are the young Canadian gentlemen of French race, who thought that the -red-coats were in too much favour at balls and parties, and who are -not sorry to be rid of such formidable rivals. But there is a very -large and well-appointed force in the Dominion--Canada has an army of -her own to be proud of. The Canadian artillery whom I saw could not be -distinguished without a very close inspection from the Royal -Artillery, and a more serviceable, soldierly-looking detachment than -that which presented arms to the Governor-General as he passed to-day, -and which paraded on the ground of the Citadel later on, I never -beheld. In the forenoon the Duke went out with the Governor to visit -the Lieutenant-Governor, M. Robitaille, and when the rain ceased I -went down, literally down--and rambled about the old city, which -seemed more French and less English than ever. There was a dinner -party in the evening, at which the Lieutenant-Governor, the members of -the Dominion Government, and as many as the table could hold of -distinguished persons and their wives who were in Quebec, were -present. And then came a reception, at which as many as could possibly -be got into the rather limited suite of rooms came to pay their -respects to his Excellency and to see the Duke. - -On the 12th we paid an exceedingly interesting visit to the Ursuline -Convent. Those who have friends and relatives within the walls are -only permitted access to them when the Governor-General or some high -dignitary, such as the Lieutenant-Governor, inspects the -establishment. In one of the spacious rooms were arrayed the good -sisters and the pupils, dressed in charming simplicity, all in virgin -white, with bouquets of rare flowers. A young lady delivered an -address of welcome to Lord Lorne and to the Duke, which was in very -good taste, although it was not unstudied eloquence; and in spite of -the natural nervousness of a young girl on such an occasion, every -word of the oration was uttered with becoming emphasis, and -accompanied by gestures which were easy and graceful. When the address -had been delivered, there was a little song of welcome and "God Save -the Queen," very prettily sung, and the girls presented bouquets to -the strange visitors, and a few words were spoken by the -Governor-General and by the Duke in acknowledgment; then, escorted by -the sisters and the clergy, the party went over the convent. The skull -of Montcalm is the sacred relic of the Ursulines, and is more -reverenced by the good priests, I think, than any living head. The -Latin epitaph (the work of the Academy, I believe) is very fine. There -are many people living under the shadow of the citadel who take -greater pride in the victory of the Chevalier de Lévis over General -Murray, which is commemorated by the Napoleon statue on the plains -where Montcalm was defeated by Wolfe, than they do in the triumph of -the latter. Why should it not be so? Blood will ever be thicker than -water, and that is a fact to be remembered in Quebec as well as in -other places. - -After an agreeable hour or two with the devoted ladies who were to be -shut in within the walls without seeing a soul except their pupils and -the clergy who attend the convent, until the next visit of a -Governor-General, we departed, and walked down to the river, where we -embarked on board the "_Druid_" for the Falls of Montmorency, the -Harbour Works, the Graving Docks, and the Princess Louise Embankment, -as to which I have no novel observation to offer, although my -note-book is full of facts and figures connected with Quebec, -beginning with Montcalm and Wolfe, and its improvements, ending with -the new docks. One thing I may remark, that "the Gibraltar of -America" seems to rely on moral force for its defence, so far as -artillery goes, for the armament of the works is by no means suitable -to modern warfare. - -There is still a fine mediæval Catholic "old France" air about Quebec -which makes it as refreshing to come upon (not to the nose always), -after a string of American cities, as a good old picture is among a -gallery of Dusseldorf paintings. - -The exceeding heat of the last few days had caused our excellent -friend Mr. Knowles great inconvenience (and his friends had shared it -with him), but the unpleasant conviction was gradually growing -stronger in our minds that it would not be prudent for him to -undertake the rapid and protracted journey on which we were about to -engage. When he arrived in Quebec he had come to the same conclusion, -and to our great sorrow, we felt obliged to admit that he was adopting -the wisest course in taking his passage in one of the fine steamers of -the Allan Line, direct from the St. Lawrence to Liverpool. He arranged -accordingly to sail on the Saturday--the day after we left Quebec. -Among the causes for regret at quitting this interesting city, none -was felt more than the necessity for saying adieu to one whose close -observation, sound judgment, and practical knowledge had rendered his -companionship so useful, just as his amiable qualities had made him a -most agreeable fellow-traveller. Our party was doomed to suffer still -another reduction. Lord Stafford felt that the pressure of his -Parliamentary duties, at a time when most important measures were -under discussion, would force him to return to London without visiting -the Western States. - -At 4 o'clock the Governor-General, attended by Colonel de Winton and -others of his personal suite, came to the station with his uncle and -the party who were bound for Montreal. The kindness of the General -Manager of the Pennsylvania Railway, Mr. Thompson, had followed us -into Canada, and the President's car, with special carriages, was -awaiting us at Quebec. And so we glided out of the station, amidst the -cheers of the small crowd of friends, and the waving handkerchiefs of -the ladies who had been good enough to see us off, and the fire of -fog-signals in lieu of artillery. We were bound to assist at a -function that evening, and the special train was tolerably well filled -by members of the Legislature and of the Council, and many others who -were going to witness the first trial of the electric light under the -auspices of the Canadian Electric Light Company, at the depot of the -Q. M. O. & O. Railway at Hochelaga. The Premier, Mr. Chapleau, the -Provincial Secretary, Mr. Paquet, and other ministers were in the -train. The Duke, to do honour to the occasion, and to get a little -fresh air and keep his hand in perhaps, drove the engine from Quebec -to Three Rivers, a distance of seventy-eight miles, which, according -to the Montreal papers, is the first occasion upon which a Duke drove -a train in the Dominion, and probably will be the last. - -It certainly was not owing to slow driving that we were late, but it -so happened that instead of arriving at 9 P.M. we did not reach -Hochelaga until 10 o'clock, and then it was to find a great and rather -a noisy if good-humoured crowd assembled, and the banquet, which -afforded the occasion for the display of the electric light, laid out -in the hall of the station. Three large tables were already occupied, -and the impatience visible on the faces of the company was, according -to one of my friends, very much intensified by the effect of the white -light, which cast deep shadows over their hungry looks. But not only -was there supper to be eaten, but speeches to be made. The Mayor was -irresistible. He got the Duke on his legs, although the latter -candidly told the company that he would rather drive an engine through -a deep drift of snow than make a speech. There were very telling -orations in French and English, and Mr. Chapleau made an excellent -address, and there were French-Canadian glees and choruses by the -company. Not to be wondered at was it if after such a long day and -night we all retired with alacrity to seek rest in our quarters at the -comfortable and magnificent hotel Windsor, to which we were once more -assigned. - -_Saturday, 14th._--We were roused up soon after 6 o'clock in the -morning, for we had to take the early train to La Chine in order to -"enjoy" the descent of the famous "rapids" in the steamer which makes -the run down to the city. It was a lovely morning, and we had a -delightful run up the left bank, and charming views of Montreal and -the "Victoria Bridge." There is nothing in America finer than this -Canadian town and its grand frontage of masonry extending for miles -along the shores of the lake, the varied architecture of its noble -buildings, and the wooded heights dotted with fair villas. We got on -board our steamer and shot "the Rapids" as thousands do every year. It -was one sensation more. The water was a little too high, however, to -give us an idea of all its terrors. Very exciting were the -preparations for the committal of the craft, which began to show signs -of friskiness as we approached the shoot, to the tyranny of the -waters. Steering gear was prepared, extra tackles put on the -apparatus, the helm was called on to aid the wheel, four men threw -themselves on spoke and rope, and we left off talking about the price -of corn and the possible cost per bushel at Liverpool and cognate -matters, as we felt the river had got hold of us, and as we looked -down from the deck on the boiling swirl and seething eddies which -heralded our coming to the broken water. "And the boldest held his -breath for a time" as the boat took her header. If anything were to -give way?--if the men at the helm did something they ought not to do? -A Thames canoe-man who has braved Boulter's Lock in its fury has been -moved just as we were--all but the market women, who went on -knitting, and the priest, who never raised his eyes from his -"Hours"--and the navigating _habitués_. And there, as with all the -power of steam and science we were battling with the evil power of the -river, there shot out from the shore a tiny craft with a single Indian -sitting bolt upright and keeping his course with his paddles through -the tortured flood. "Does he mean to commit suicide?" "Not he. He's -going to the other side, I guess. These Injuns don't drown easy." I -would not have taken his place for all the silver sculls that ever -were won, nor would I advise any winner of them to essay the same. In -five minutes it was all over--that is, the worst part of the Rapids. -It was rather annoying to be told that there has been no loss of life -in the many years the "shooting" of them has been going on. We got -back to the town in time for breakfast at the hotel, and then there -was a good deal to be done before our departure for Toronto. An -excursion about Montreal, "over the hills and far away," engaged the -attention and the time of most of my friends for the day; but I -remained in all the forenoon, and only went out for an hour before -dinner "to take a last fond look" at the well-remembered scene of the -hospitalities and repose I enjoyed in the winter of 1861 in the house -of the kindest and best of hosts. - - "I cannot but remember such things were - That were most precious to me." - -Yes! "And there's rosemary--that's for remembrance." The travellers -come back delighted with their excursion--to dine early, and start in -the special train at dusk, attended by many friends. But the programme -must be attended to. - -In Canada, where the Scotch form a great and influential part of the -most thriving community, the Duke of Sutherland was, of course, -received with enthusiasm, and the interest in his visit was not -diminished by the fact that he is uncle to a Governor who, succeeding -one of the ablest and most popular administrators that ever crossed -the seas, has managed to wear the mantle of his predecessor with -dignity and grace, and to secure an extraordinary measure of respect -and goodwill from all classes of the Queen's subjects in this vast -Dominion. There are villages peopled by the descendants of the -Sutherland immigrants, who thought it a hard fate to be deported from -their bleak hills and watery glens. Their fathers lived long enough to -recognise with gratitude the benefits of the policy which they -resented so bitterly; and the descendants of these Sutherland men are -now prosperous and happy, a credit to the old country and to the clan. - -_Sunday, 15th._--We awoke from our repose in the train at a siding -near Prescott in the early morning--looked out, and, lo, there was -Lake Ontario clouded in the rain-sweep and all the landscape shrouded -with mist. Presently, at 7.30, the steamer comes up, glistening with -wet, and waddles to the wharf. It had been arranged that we were to go -from Prescott to Kingston by the Lake and then take the train on to -Toronto, and we went aboard accordingly, and found places reserved and -every preparation made for us; but the fog was thickening, and as it -was possible that the steamer might not start, or if she started at -all that she might be brought up all standing in the Lake by reason of -the weather, we resolved to go on by train. At 9.30 A.M. the special -started, and ran all day without any incident worthy of notice. Stay, -ungrateful that I am! Is it possible to forget the surprise at the -Coburg Station, where the Grand Trunk Railway Company, to break our -journey, had prepared a banquet, set forth with flowers and served by -the nicest people possible? Somehow or other our day was a _coup -manqué_, and we hustled through the country in a vacuous way, with an -outlook of scraggy pine woods and ragged clearings with black -fang-like stumps in the midst, and towns innominate. The rain never -ceased, and at 6 o'clock, when we arrived at Toronto and took shelter -in the Queen's Hotel, where Captain Geddes, aide-de-camp to the -Lieutenant-Governor, the Mayor, Mr. McMurrich, and Alderman Walker saw -the Duke and made arrangements for the morrow, it was falling in -torrents; but Toronto seen under the most disadvantageous -circumstances was voted to be very surprising, for my friends had -heard so much of the immobility if not backsliding of Canada, that -they were not prepared for such very fine buildings and such a great -array of wharves and quays on the lake, and the great fleet of craft -alongside them. The hotel, too, was in very good keeping with all the -surroundings. Still we were not happy. Those Montreal people had -disturbed the minds of some of my companions with statistics bearing -on the price of wheat, and the Auditor and others were busy working -away turning cents into halfpence and pounds into bushels, and -calculating whether wheat could ever be sold at Liverpool for 32_s._ -6_d._ a quarter. - -We were all pretty fresh after a good night's rest, when we were -summoned to breakfast, and after that I had a visit from a soldier -whom I parted with on the plateau of Sebastopol, where he fought and -bled, and, wounded as he was, remained to the end, till his regiment -(the 30th) left, now a pensioner, and not in very good case in -Toronto. It is strange enough that there is no race, so far as I know, -in the world which is held in the least by the ties of fosterage but -one--the Irish--and even with them the relations of that sort are -relaxing rapidly. - -The Mayor and his friends came early and carried off the travellers to -do all of Toronto that might be in the time. Some day, surely, this -"place of meeting," which is, I believe, the meaning of the name, must -be of greater importance than it is now, rapid as has been its growth, -and great as is its present prosperity. Twice ruined by American -invaders--they are very handy there across Lake Ontario--Toronto has -increased in all the elements of wealth and consequence by springs -and bounds, and since 1861, when I was there, its population has -doubled (it numbers now 82,000 souls), and it is increasing still very -rapidly. The University is worthy of a great nation--a noble Norman -pile with good endowments and admirable professors, beautifully -situated. I regretted much that I had not an opportunity, owing to the -shortness of our visit, of seeing the venerable ex-President, Dr. -McCaul, whose edition of Horace caused me infinite wailing in the time -of Consul Plancus when I was at school, and who is still in perfect -mental vigour. - -After a visit to the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Beverly Robinson, the -Mayor, Mr. Walker, Mr. Swinyard, Alderman Denison, &c., conducted the -Duke and his party through the city, and showed them the Normal -College, the Wellesley Schools, where the Duke got a half-holiday for -the children, having put it to their own votes whether they would take -it or not, and Osgoode Hall, where Chief Justice Spragge received -them. It was only possible to skim the surface of the sights, and the -perverse weather made even that slight performance unsatisfactory. -President Wilson was disappointed that the visitors could not (I -should have said rather that there would have been no use in their -doing it under the circumstances) climb the University Tower, from -which there is a beautiful prospect in fine weather. There was a -lunch, and it was all the more agreeable that there were no toasts or -speeches, at Government House, where the Lieutenant-Governor and Mrs. -Robinson had a large party to meet the Duke. The Lieutenant-Governor -is full of confidence in the future of his beautiful Province--all it -needs is to be better known to respectable emigrants. There is an -almost neglected island, "Manitoulin," under his sway, about which we -heard many good things, that ought to be an agricultural Paradise. It -is admitted to be cold, and to be badly off for communication with the -rest of the world in winter time. There are many parts of the States -quite as cold and as remote, and not so fertile, to which emigrants -resort in swarms. Nothing is done to direct the stream to Canada. But -we must be off. The "Buckingham"--the Pullman Palace--the Great -Western official carriage, the Pennsylvania drawing-room carriage and -baggage waggon, and Conductor Blount are waiting for us at the Great -Western Station, and at 2 o'clock we resume our journey, and away by -Hamilton and past the New Welland we speed, in weather which -effectually prevents our seeing anything an inch beyond the panes of -glass in the windows, and which gives the idea that Niagara is unduly -extending its area. - -The rain was still heavy and incessant when the party arrived at -Niagara, but they were all bent on making the best of it, and some of -them walked from the station at the Falls. They trudged manfully -through mud and water along the road right up to the verge of the -whirling clouds of steam-like vapour which were drifting over the -Canadian side, by the edge of the gruesome gorge through which the -St. Lawrence[8] runs at full speed, as if terrified by its tremendous -jump, to escape into placid Ontario, and, to the immense wonder of a -solitary spectator, went past the hotel. "Well," quoth he, when it -went forth that "the Duke, Lord Stafford, and others were walking," -"that's ree-markable! The Duke walking in the rain! I guess he don't -mind being wet"--which was a fact. - -Well! Niagara has disappointed no one, for a wonder! I have seen -people who were quite displeased with the Falls at first, because they -failed to grasp the magnitude of what they came to look at. And it -must be owned the circumstances under which we beheld it were not -exhilarating. Church has painted the scene; gifted beings may pour out -their souls in a great cascade of words to express what they think -ought to be felt by "a properly prehensile intelligence" at the sight, -but no one can describe it. - -I should have thought it was scarcely within the reach of the power of -man to render this stupendous spectacle so irritating to the eye. But -on the American side they have succeeded in making Niagara nearly -hideous with smoke-stacks, factory chimneys, staring advertisements, -and the _affiches_ of quack doctors painted on the rocks. Down by the -edge of the water they have put a thing with blue, red, and white -bands, like an enormous humming-top, and the banks of the river are -disfigured by shoots of rubbish of all sorts, débris and timber, and, -terrible to relate, streams of black oozy tarry matter discharged from -the gasworks! - -On Friday, 13th May, the landlord of the Clifton House was notified of -the coming of the party. His house was closed, awaiting the opening -day, but Mr. Cotham, scorning the word "impossible," and trenching on -the reservations of the Sabbath, set to work, telegraphed to New York -for waiters, cooks, and domestics, and papered, painted, and fixed up -and dusted so energetically, that when the starving travellers were -delivered at his house, they found the interior as dry, warm, and -comfortable as if they had been lodged--I had nearly in my Chauvinism -written in any English--but will stay in any good hotel at the height -of the season. There was a splendid--that is the word--stove in the -hall. It was called "The Crowning Glory," and it looked so bright and -cheerful, and threw out such a pleasant glow, that it gained instant -favour, and its fellows are now warming up English and Scotch -interiors. Even the "Museum," inevitable adjunct of such scenes as -Niagara, was open, and the good lady was quite ready to sell any -number of photographs, fossils, feathers, Indian nick-nacks, warm -purse belts, mocassins, and the like, but generally the establishments -on the British side looked dank and mouldy. We went to bed, to the -thunder of the waters and to the clatter of all the window-shutters, -in the hope of a fine day to-morrow--and awoke to find it was not -realised. - -_May 17th._--"Twenty golden years ago"--not that they, or any of them, -brought gold to me--since I stood on the esplanade at Clifton House -with Augustus Anson, who was fresh from the sunny South and -Washington, and another Britisher on his travels! There were few -visitors then, for it was winter time. The river, struggling with the -bonds of frost, cleft its way between snow-covered banks, bearing -triumphantly through the narrowed channel floes of ice which were -churned into creamy waves and foam in the wild leap into the gulf, -which now was hidden by dense clouds of vapour and drifting rain and -fog--cold, raw--and I thought it was incomparably the grandest and the -"purest" sight that human eye could see. Above a bright blue sky. -Below all the landscape was clad in white--trees, and fields, and -house-tops--no other colour anywhere visible save the green of the -rushing river, almost of emerald hue, and the stark peaks of the reefs -of rocks. Somehow the spectacle was not so striking now. There was -only one colour, lead, everywhere, except the Humming-top and the -blackened ruins of a factory over on the American side. Stay! What is -that rising out of the broken water? I fixed my glass on it, and by -all that is horrible I made out a monster advertisement of a quack -medicine painted in gigantic letters many feet in height on a huge -frame of wood above the Falls. The monster seized the moment when an -ice bridge had formed from the shore to one of the rocky islands, and -had sent his emissaries across to erect the hideous thing, and when -the ice was swept away it was out of the power of anything but -artillery to reach it. How delighted I should have been to have opened -fire on the outrage! - -Lord Dufferin made an effort to secure the Canadian side as public -property when he was Governor-General, and the American Government had -or has a Commission to the same end on their side, so that in the -fulness of time the profanation of one of the most magnificent and -awful of Nature's works may be averted, but I own that there are grave -reasons to dread the worst. The factory is to be rebuilt at once in -red brick! The gasworks are to be enlarged. The harpies are sharpening -their beaks and claws. They will fight to the death for their -"rights." It is a case for an æsthetic despotism to deal with; but -where is that blessing to be looked for now? - -Every one went out and had a nibble of a look at the Falls early in -the morning. After breakfast the Duke and the other visitors, clad in -waterproofs, which soon glistened like coats of black mail, set out on -their excursion, and we saw them in half an hour afterwards, when they -had crossed the Suspension Bridge to the American side, descending to -the edge of the basin by the snow boulders which had not yet yielded -to the sunshine. I believe that every one of the party enjoyed his -sight-seeing most thoroughly, each in his own way. There was, perhaps, -a general impression among the serious-minded and practical that -Niagara was having too much of its own way, and that it ought to be -turned to better account as a reserve of force. The ultimate destiny -of that great power may be safely predicted. Niagara will turn -machinery. - -After mid-day Lord Stafford, Mr. Wright, and myself drove from the -hotel to do the sights. It is an aggravating function. There never was -such a nest of harpies as is nurtured here. Talk of a Swiss valley, or -Savoy, or the Lakes, or Killarney, of any place infested by the -creatures who live on travellers' blood--roll them into one gigantic -fee-devouring giant, with the hands and heads of Briareus, it would -not be "a circumstance" to Niagara. Every step is marked by demands -for dollars and cents. There must be some authority for these -payments, but somehow it strikes one that Niagara, which is doing its -part--the chief certainly in the play--derives no benefit from its -performance, and that a set of impostors are turning its waters into -silver and gold. I have no patience with such imposts. I swear, and -eke I pay. American side, Canadian side, Goat Island, Burning -Well--they are all the same, "Dollars and cents." How near death one -may be when he is in a passion! I was walking over a bridge made of -planks, from one island to another, on our way from the Burning -Well--my foot slipped, and I shot off the plank on my back--No! not -into the water, but on a bed of sedge.--There was no one near me. I -had just crossed a similar bridge, where a similar accident would have -sent me into a rush of water, wherein a few gasps and cries would have -been all that could have preceded the death of the strongest swimmer -in his agony. But that is a detail. There were at dinner some very -clever gentlemen, whose conversation and ideas proved that -go-ahead-ishness is not exclusively an American attribute. One of them -destroyed Manitoulin, my Island of the Blest with a few contemptuous -criticisms. It was, he declared, "a very one-horse sort of place," but -he knew of an immense tract to be had almost for a song, where there -were homes for thousands, all bound to prosper, &c. And then we heard -a development of interesting theories of what might be done with -Niagara as a motive force in the way of working spindles, machinery, -electric lighting, irrigating, something like M. Victor Hugo's notion, -in 'L'Homme qui Rit,' of setting the tides to work on the coast of -France. All the while there was Niagara thundering away, never minding -the theories, and bent on the practical business of escaping into the -sea. - -After an animated attack on Montcalm by some of the party, who had -been reading up a guide-book in their rain-bound leisure, for allowing -his English prisoners to be massacred (_vide_ Fenimore Cooper), we -broke up for the night. Next morning (April 18th) our party had to -lament another departure. Mr. Knowles sailed last Saturday from -Quebec, and now Lord Stafford retraces his steps to the Citadel, and -thence goes homeward by way of New York, and we lose one of the best -companions in the world. He bade us good-bye, and went off by the -10.30 A.M. train eastward, and half an hour later we drove over the -Suspension Bridge to the station on the American side. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[8] "This great river, the St. Lawrence, has received different names -in different parts of its course. Between Lakes Superior and Huron it -is called the St. Mary, between Lakes Huron and Erie the St. Clair and -Detroit, between Lake Erie and Ontario the Niagara, between Lake -Ontario and the sea the St. Lawrence."--Keith Johnston, Lovell's -Gazetteer, Bevan's 'Modern Geography Manual,' Murray, &c. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -TO THE WEST. - - Buffalo -- Cleveland -- Magnificent Muldoon -- Euclid - Avenue -- Toledo -- Detroit -- Chicago -- Jefferson Davis - -- A Terrible Moment -- Pullman -- Milwaukee -- St. Paul - -- Minneapolis -- Le Mars -- Sioux City -- Kansas City -- - The Parting. - - -Although there is now only one attendant with the party--the -omniscient Edward--the baggage-master does his work so well, the -conductor of the train is so active, and the service so perfect, that -there is never any hitch about luggage arriving or leaving. Every one -is sure to find his property in his room, and to find it at the -station in time. - -The line of the New York Central Railroad was in very good order, and -our special, preceded by the "Pony" engine of Mr. Burrows, the -Superintendent of the Division, on which the Duke, Lady Green, and I -travelled for a time, arrived at Buffalo at half-past 12 o'clock. -Between Magna and a station named Tonawanda, I think, which is more -than eleven miles, the "Pony" trotted us over the line in ten minutes. -I cannot do justice to the kindness of all the gentlemen, representing -the New York Central and Hudson Railway, and the Lake Shore and -Michigan Railway, who accompanied us, because I do not recollect -their names; but they were so anxious that we should see everything -they considered worthy of notice, that no sooner had the train arrived -at the Buffalo station than we were driven off in four carriages, -under the control of Mr. Caldwell, who was described as General -Manager of the Red River Transportation Company, to visit the streets, -avenues, and manufactories, which are the main attractions, and could -do no more than look at the lunch which was laid out for us in the -Central Dining Rooms. I say "us"; but I am bound to admit that the -charms of Buffalo did not tempt some of the party to go out. A stove -factory exhibited so many excellent contrivances, that the Duke gave -an order for some of the sort we saw at Clifton House, which rejoice, -as I have said, in the name of "Crowning Glory," and other members of -the party followed his example. The Roscoe, Conkling and Platt storm -was now raging furiously. One would have thought the Union was in the -death-throes. Wherever men met it was the main topic of conversation, -the papers teemed with articles and telegrams, and we were constantly -asked what we thought about it, and we as constantly declined to say -we thought at all. Whilst Mr. Bickersteth and I sat reading the papers -in the palace car, awaiting the Duke, a smart lad came in on us _sans -cérémonie_, and introduced himself as the representative of a Buffalo -paper. He hungered exceedingly for the Duke, but meantime fell upon -us; and next day I was astonished to find I had declared "Roscoe was -undoubtedly a statesman, but he had gone beyond his boundary." Poor -Mr. Bickersteth fared worse, for he was accused of want of "respect -for American reporters," as the following report of the conversation -with him will show: - -_Reporter._--"Mr. Bickersteth, will you please give me your full name -and special title?" - -_Mr. B._--"I do not know that I am obliged to." - -_Reporter._--"Of course not. Just as you feel about it." - -_Mr. B._--"Well" (putting a third eye on the interrogator), "you -American reporters are devilishly fresh, you know." (Buffalo paper.) - -Our friends escaped the inquisitor. At 3 o'clock they returned to the -Buffalo station, and we continued our career by the Lake Shore Railway -to Cleveland. A new set of acquaintances, guardians, officials, and -friends in the form of directors, railway engineers, and local -authorities accompanied the Duke. Dinner was served in one of the -carriages as we travelled. The little side-tables between the centre -thoroughfare accommodate two persons very comfortably, and the manner -in which the coloured waiters attended was irreproachable. - -At 6 o'clock we reached Cleveland, and the Duke and his party were -undignified enough to walk to Kennard House, instead of taking the -carriages which were in readiness for us. One disadvantage of dining -in the train was experienced when we arrived at the hotel. There was -nothing to do; so the Duke and I took a stroll down the main street, -and were surprised to find one side of it lighted by electricity, and -to see several large shops illuminated on the Brush system in the same -way. On our return to the hotel, a gentleman in the hall suggested -that we should go and see an exhibition of sparring by "Muldoon--the -most magnificent specimen of humanity ever born of woman!" and not -wishing to lose such a chance, and animated moreover by the promise -that we should see Muldoon go through his famous performances as a -"Classical Athlete," we set out under the guidance of a coloured -domestic of the hotel to the scene of these enjoyments, the rooms of a -gymnasium, which proved to be up a long flight of stairs, in a dingy -house, in a back street. Our dark guide, who was sent in advance to -secure places, met us on the steps with the news that "Muldoon" had -gone, but that we might see the gymnasium if we pleased. Without our -"Classical Athlete" there was no attraction for us, and we turned to -go home; but, passing by the entrance to a building with an -illuminated announcement that it was the "Theatre Comique," and -assured by our _valet de place_ that it was "a very nice place," we -turned in, passed a bar, paid fifty cents, or two shillings, for a -private box, and were conducted over a shaky floor behind the scenes -to our _loge_, from which we surveyed such an audience as one might -find in a "penny gaff" nearer home. Our attendant, on leaving, advised -us to bolt the door inside. The reason for the precaution was soon -evident, for the ladies whose presence was not needed on the stage at -the time, in pursuance, it would seem, of the recognised custom at -the Theatre Comique, came thundering at the door, and were only -appeased by economical libations of beer--and so we escaped to Kennard -House, and to bed. - -Early in the forenoon (April 19th), before we had well done breakfast, -the Mayor, Mr. Herrick, Messrs. Mason, Stone, Wade, Colonel Wilson, -and a goodly company of Cleveland citizens of repute, called on the -Duke to take him and those of the party who were so minded to visit -the oil-works, elevators, and the city generally, to drive up Euclid -Avenue, and inspect one or two of the fine houses of which they were -with reason proud. The Mayor had evidently something on his mind--he -had the air of a man with a care of State affecting him--and after a -time the truth was known. His Worship, or His Honour, was as well -informed as a Sous-Préfet or a Commissaire of Bureau III.--a very -Howard Vincent--and he had heard of our visit to the theatre, and was -anxious to explain that it was not one of the regular orthodox Temples -of Thespis; that, in fact, it was a blot on the purity of Cleveland, -and on the powers of the executive. But "the Forest City," as -Cleveland is termed, can tolerate a great deal of imputation, and yet -lift up its head proudly as a beautiful and almost unique creation of -the American genius--the fairy who turns turnips into coaches and -four, mice into _valets de place_, and dreary marshes into the sites -of noble towns, replete with all the developments of the most refined -civilisation (in which, however, I do not include our magnificent -muscular Classical but Christian athlete Muldoon and the reprobate -theatre we had visited). - -The Cleveland papers were not all very civil--some of them, indeed, -were not only uncivil, but untruthful in their accounts of the Duke's -party. There were "imaginary conversations" reported, that in all but -wit and interest would have done credit to Walter Savage Landor. - -At the beginning of this century there were but a few wooden houses to -justify the selection of the site of a city laid out in 1794. Fifty -years ago there were 1000 souls in Cleveland. But the Canal opened to -it the fountains of life, and there are now about 170,000 people in -this handsome, well-to-do city. - -I hope that other people bear the souvenirs of their disasters in -characters of paint, brass, and iron, in monuments of stone and the -_ære perennius_ records of history, as well as the normal Briton, who -is met in the United States with "_Io triumphes_" over his race in all -kinds of metals and forms. I turned me out of Kennard Hotel, and found -myself in a fine square, surrounded by shops and important edifices, -and, gravitating towards a statue, I was obliged to recognise the -effigies of Commodore Perry, who swept Lake Erie as clear of King -George's flotilla as erst did Van Tromp "_balaye_" the Channel of the -ships of the Stuart. Then I recoiled against a cannon, and was brought -up all standing by the inscription which recorded another disaster of -my countrymen. Finally I wandered off into Euclid Avenue to recover my -peace of mind, only wondering whether Frenchmen in England are so -heavenly minded under the infliction of innumerable Waterloo and -Wellington squares, streets, places, and bridges, and if Russians feel -as little the wrongs of Boulevards Sébastopol in Paris, and cannon -plantations in every town in England. Now, Euclid Avenue is a street -without parallel as far as I know. It is not quite a street, but it is -not easy to draw a line between a street and an avenue. The American -Euclid drew his line straight enough for more miles than I could go, -and then he built on either side spruce, trim villas of very various -architecture, shapes, and sizes, each in its plot of ground, with -lawns, trees, and gardens, often open and unfenced to the roadway, -which is lined with trees in a grand boulevard--a kind of Clapham or -Balham frontage, with ideas taken from the Avenue de l'Impératrice, or -the suburbs of Versailles--any way, the people who lived in these -abodes were well lodged, and must have a fair share of the world's -goods. They ought to be very good people, too. Wherever I looked there -were church steeples pointing with their silent fingers to heaven. -There are, I am told, nearly one hundred churches--to be -guide-bookishly accurate, ninety-six--in Cleveland, and, as extremes -touch, the Methodists and Presbyterians affect the Gothic style as -well as the Episcopalians and Roman Catholics. On hearsay mainly, but -in some measure on the evidence of eyesight, I aver that the city -literally abounds in edifices of beauty devoted to the highest objects -of education, science, learning, and charity. I felt, as I walked -along the Avenue of Euclid, and beheld so many evidences of enterprise -and prosperity, that (if I could do it in the dark) I ought to go and -put a wreath at the foot of Commodore Perry's statue. What would it -all have been, had the General in the red coat and the old Commodore -on the other side had the best of it? Did any of the people in the -nice houses think that an elderly gentleman who was dawdling under the -shade of their beautiful trees was rather anxious that he should not -be recognised as a compatriot of the degenerate descendants of their -common ancestors who failed to prove that they were the better for not -having been transplanted? I suppose not, but I was not in the least -ashamed, somehow. I walked on mile after mile admiring the scene, and -not the less interested in it because it so happened that I seemed to -have hit off the witching hour of day when school-mistresses yawn and -schools give up their young ladies to dinner, for I encountered -processions of young ladies with books and bags, and nods and becks -and wreathed smiles for their fellows, some of whom, mounted on their -irresistible wheel skates, more terrible than Boadicea in her chariot, -swept me off into the road as clean as the great Perry did the -Britishers. If ever I see a large American box with "Miss S. Spriggs, -Cleveland, Ohio," on it outside any hotel in the world, I shall stand -on guard till I see the owner. "Sally! I say, Sally Spriggs! If I -don't tell Mrs. Minerva I saw you blow a kiss at that ma-an" (I beg -leave to say, alas! I was not the man) "I hope I shan't get my tea." -The name was not Spriggs. But that is a detail. I only know that -"Sally" was a charming person of some fifteen years of age, and that -her vindictive friend, a year younger perhaps, was quite fascinating -enough, should she ask grace of me, to induce me to spare Cleveland -and all its oil-works if ever I lead a victorious army there to -overthrow Perry and carry off those guns. Whatever its early or -ultimate results may be, the United States system developes or creates -an exquisite abandon and naturalness among the girls and women which -they do not share with the men but in a matrimonial way, when they -keep their full share all the same. Euclid Avenue must have an end, -but I did not find it. - -My mayor-ridden or driven friends, much pleased with what they had -seen, had reached their hotel before I did, and were singing, -metaphorically, their "_chanson de départ_" for Toledo. As I was busy -packing, "Miss Keerin," the _châtelaine_ of the castle, or at least -the chieftainess of the female helpdom, looked in upon me--a fine -handsome young woman of a Hiberno-Celtic order of beauty, who told me -she was Cleveland born, but that her father and mother were -"Irish--poor people," driven into exile by the Saxons who came over -with Hengist and Horsa. Miss Keerin belonged to the old faith, and -there was a touch of Torquemada in the turn of her pretty mouth as she -informed me "that she, and every maid in the house, was a good Roman -Catholic." So I made my bow in spirit to Mr. MacClosky, the -proprietor, and Miss Keerin, the mistress of the maids, for their -devotion to the Church. - -_May 20th._--There is one mystery which never can be revealed to me--I -have no brains for it. In vain has it been explained to me by some of -the clearest-headed men in the world; in vain have they in a kindly, -compassionate way, with maps and time-tables, shown me why it was -desirable, if not necessary or inevitable, that we should halt at -Toledo on this blessed 20th of May and put up at Boody House! I admit -it was in the programme. I have no objection to Toledo in the -abstract, nor to Boody House in the concrete, but the value or nature -of the reasons which dictated the Toledo turn-out must be beyond my -ken for ever. I admit it is on the Maurice river, that it is a port -for Erie navigation, that it "handles" grain largely, that thirty -years ago the population was not 4000, and that to-day it is more than -50,000, that it is the converging point of thirteen railways, and that -the Union depot is an immense, if not, in the words of the guide-book, -"an imposing structure," but I am still as puzzled as I was when I -entered the portals of Boody House why we ever "lay," as the soldiers -say, in that place, considering the violent hurry we were in. One -thing I can answer for--if there be a place more unlike another place -than Toledo in Ohio is to Toledo in Spain, I have yet to travel for -it, and I shall be obliged to any one to tell me where it is, and this -I say after having seen the two Syracuses and the three Romes. - -The preparations made in the various towns for the reception of the -party conferred upon it something of an embarrassing character. But, -as they were all in honour of the Duke, the humbler members of the -party do not consider that they are involved in the ceremonies which -await the train on arrival and departure, to signify the high sense -that is entertained of the visit, and the desire upon the part of the -principal inhabitants to do justice to it. It would be unjust to -Toledo not to admit it has great attractions to any student of the -American railway system, arising from the number of railways which -start thence to most points of the compass. The reception committee, -consisting of Mr. Bodmin, Mr. King, Mr. Williams, and Mr. Wells, aided -by the Mayor, Mr. Romeis, appointed by the Produce Exchange, were in -waiting on our arrival. Again dismay was carried into the hearts of -the weaker vessels by hearing the word "Elevators"; but the gentlemen -were kinder in their deeds than in their words, and only some of the -particular points of interest in what is called the "middle ground" -were displayed to those members of the party who did not make the best -of their way to Boody House. - -In the evening we went to the theatre, and were interested in a drama -with the title of "One hundred Wives," which had nothing whatever to -do with the play--a piece written for the purpose of bringing into -contempt the practices of the Saints in Utah, full of local incidents -and acted with very considerable spirit. The sentiment of the audience -was shown most unmistakably in the vigorous and sustained applause -which greeted any situation or sentiment in which the Mormon leaders -and their teachings were held up to contempt and hatred, and the -curtain came down, amidst loud cheering, on a fine situation, in which -half-a-dozen soldiers, in the uniform of the United States infantry, -appeared to execute justice and to establish the predominance of the -United States Constitution in the land of the Saints. - -There was some friction connected with the arrangements for our -journey from Toledo to Detroit this morning. The general manager of -the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway was anxious that our -train should run over his line instead of the Canada Southern, but Mr. -Snow, passenger agent, who had come from Buffalo, applied to the -customs authorities to pass the Fontaine engine across the border, in -order to take the Duke over the other line. Our train consisted of -what they call the combination baggage and smoking car, the Pullman -hotel car Buckingham, a Pullman saloon belonging to the Pennsylvania -Railway, and there was, moreover, the carriage of the general manager -of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, the whole drawn by -the Fontaine engine, which is a production of the mechanical genius -and intelligence of a gentleman of that name in the Southern States. -We were bound by schedule to go forty-five miles an hour, and Mr. -Fontaine explained the mechanism and the advantages which he claimed -for his engine to the party. The Duke got upon the engine with him -and proceeded out of the station, with a confidence which it turned -out was quite justified, although I admit some persons, not quite so -experienced, were rather uneasy at the experiment. We should have gone -to pieces in very good company, and there would not have been wanting -representatives of the Press, of the Detroit and Toledo papers, to -have shared or to have recorded the ruin. The Duke drove the engine to -the great satisfaction of the engineer, Mr. Fontaine. Mr. Cornelius -Vanderbilt, informed of the proceedings, sent a telegram to know how -the party were getting on just as we were leaving Toledo. At 2 o'clock -we arrived safely in Detroit, where the mayor and several railway -officials, Ex-senator Baldwin, Mr. Lord, and others were waiting to -accompany the Duke and his friends in the "_Truant_" steam-yacht, -belonging to Mr. Macmillan, in which we took a cruise upon the -beautiful river that separates Canada from the United States. - -There can be no comparison between the activity and commercial -development of towns on the American and on the Canadian side of the -great lakes, although Montreal prospers and Toronto has increased -greatly in importance and in wealth, but still the credit and -resources of the Dominion are more than respectable, and Canadian -firms are extending their business in the United States very -remarkably and rapidly. In the course of a charming excursion we had -occasion to contrast the aspect of the American city with Canadian -Windsor, just opposite; the towering elevators, lofty church steeples, -smoking factory chimneys, crowded quays, piers, and stores, and the -suburbs bright with gay villas, were in strong opposition to the air -of rather amateur repose on the British side, which was only -remarkable for an enormous whisky distillery vomiting masses of smoke -into the sky. But on the American side we were somewhat comforted, -whether our solace was derived from sound bases or not, by seeing that -Canadian banks and insurance offices were installed in handsome -well-appointed offices. Detroit proved a most agreeable surprise to -us; there was a pleasant air about it, and an unassuming perkiness -very agreeable. - -It is the fashion to consider Canada as the Sleepy Hollow of the -American continent; but if the giant Progress who is going to devour -the East, and who is feeding it meanwhile to make it fat and plump, -does not advance with leaps and bounds north of the St. Lawrence (as -he does down south), his march is assured and his footsteps are on -solid ground. - -"Lands divided by a narrow strait abhor each other," sang Cowper. The -St. Lawrence (Detroit River) is deep, full, and strong at the town--a -very potent stream, but it is not quite broad enough. Windsor was a -favourite retreat for Secesh enemies in the Civil War. Detroit is not -quite innocent of Fenian enterprise. Windsor, too, makes bad but cheap -whiskey--Detroit has a protective tariff, and so there is some little -bickering and occasionally a threat of "eating up" the Canadians. - -There are, perhaps, many more Englishmen prejudiced and unfair towards -things and persons American than there are Americans perverse in their -opinions regarding the Old World and their British ancestors, and the -Americans are I think remarkable for their abstinence from allusions -to the great Civil War in ordinary conversation, nor do they obtrude -their party views generally on strangers. A pompous gentleman, a -harmless little Dogberry enough, who held civic office at Detroit, -considered it right to express some strong opinions about the Battle -of Bull Run, at which he had not been. I have remarked that -expressions of political feeling relative to the great conflict of -1861-5 were most forcible in the mouths of men who had not ventured -their legs, heads, or bodies in the fray, and of such was our -bourgeois Boanerges. He was desirous of astonishing the Duke by -exhibiting "our society" and "our young ladies," of whom he talked as -if they were his private property. Judging by what we saw, Detroit may -be proud with reason and without the help of the Mayor, of both, but -he probably did not mean what he said and meant to be patronising -only. The gentlemen of Detroit were most courteous and agreeable, and -full of the desire to please and to show their city, without missing -one feature of it, but our programme did not permit us to dally on the -way, and we had to continue our journey to Chicago in the afternoon, -resign the pleasure of Russell House and reject the blandishments of -our kindly conductors. Throughout the whole of our tour the only -offensive remark concerning the only lady of our party appeared in a -Detroit paper, and I am bound to say no one expressed greater disgust -and indignation at the attack, which was after all only some coarse -criticism on a travelling costume, than the American gentlemen who -spoke of it. We dined at the Russell House and drove to the Michigan -Central railroad station after midnight, having been ten hours in -Detroit. - -There had been lately a general revision of the programme, but, after -all, Chicago was not so much out. The first idea was to arrive on the -20th: we actually arrived on the 21st, and that before 6 o'clock in -the morning. - -_May 21st._--The special train scrambled into the Chicago terminus, or -depot (which has not yet done Phoenix from its ruination in the -great fire) at some unpleasantly early hour this morning. (We have -been subjected to three, if not four, distinct alterations in -time-keeping as we travelled west. New York time rules up to the State -borders; Columbia time regulates watches and clocks till Chicago is -reached, and then westward the time changes again.) - -The cars underwent the shocks that railway flesh is heir to at shunting -time, till it was necessary to get up and go forth. Whilst the baggage -was being taken out of the train, the Duke and I set out to find our -way to the hotel. The ancient landmarks, however, such as I remembered -them, had been ruthlessly swept away by the great fire; but it is not -easy for a man to lose himself in an American city, where the streets -are at right angles to each other, cutting the buildings into -rectangular blocks. And so we wandered on through the crowds of early -workmen and people going to their various places of business in -straight lines, and saw street life in the morning--coffee-stands and -shops in full play, crowds round the barbers' doors and saloons, and -coloured men and women--a large element--shuffling to and fro along to -the scene of their labours. Vast piles of masonry now tower above the -broad thoroughfares, bearing the usual striking and disfiguring -notices which the traders stick up to "differentiate" their -establishments--very wonderful indeed when one reflected that they had -all been raised on the area of the recent conflagration, one of the -greatest the world has ever seen. Over a large proportion of the shops -German names were inscribed; here and there over the cellars figured -the styles and titles of Chinese washermen; and small establishments -where groceries and drinks and the feebler kinds of commerce were -carried on, displayed Hibernian patronymics. - -Noble edifices, public and private, challenged admiration from time to -time, especially the Post Office and Custom House; and as I read the -inscription on the monument to "G. B. Armstrong, a native of Co. -Antrim, Ireland, the founder of the Railway Mail Service," I could not -but wonder what he could have founded had he remained at home. - -Our walk through the streets to the Grand Pacific Hotel gave us the -idea that the authorities did not turn much of their attention to -sanitary measures. - -There is reason to be proud of the activity and energy which came -forth to reconstruct the city out of the ashes on grander lines than -ever. But, oh! the filth of the streets! refuse in masses by the -kerbstones, orange and apple peels, pea-nuts, oyster shells, feathers, -paper, mud, dirt, on the flags. As such a state of things was felt to -be a slur on the administration, it was explained to us that it was, -to say the least, unusual, and it is only fair to say that it was -accounted for in some measure by the exceedingly severe and protracted -winter which filled the streets with snow, and only ended before our -arrival. Five thousand men and more had been employed in clearing away -the mess and slush; but they had not by any means done the work. The -Mayor, Mr. Harrison, was, as we had occasion to perceive, a man of -great energy, and he was grappling with the dirt and with official -abuses in public administration and elsewhere very vigorously. If he -comes out of the struggle with success and unbegrimed, Chicago and he -may be proud of each other, and I heartily wish him a safe -deliverance. - -The Grand Pacific Hotel was involved in the common ruin ere it was -completed; but it is now ready for any possible demand on its space -and resources. - -A little incident of the following morning afforded an illustration of -the conditions under which the Venice of the West has grown up. Soon -after breakfast Mr. Drake, the landlord, sent up word that General -Jefferson Davis was below, and would be glad to pay his respects to -the Duke of Sutherland, if his grace would receive him. He had only -arrived that morning from New Orleans, which he had left on Monday -evening. Nine hundred miles is a long way for an old man to travel at -a stretch, but he did not complain of fatigue, and he was going on to -Montreal, where he had business that night. The ex-President of the -Confederate States--the man who was pronounced by Mr. Gladstone to -have "made a nation"--was seated in the crowded hall smoking a cigar -alongside of General Wright, who had fought against him on the Federal -side, but who had not forgotten the old days when he and Jefferson -Davis were cadets together. He is now grey, almost white-headed, -wearing a closely-cut beard and moustaches, his features thinner and -sharper than of yore, but his eye is as bright and as clear as ever. -But it struck me that he had what is called "aged" very much within -the last few years, and his step had lost a great deal of the springy -lightness which distinguished his walk at the time of the Great War. -He sat with the Duke of Sutherland for some time, talking of railway -travelling and the improvements in it and other matters in the States; -and mentioned with regret that he had been informed of a serious -accident to Mr. Benjamin, of whom he spoke in high praise. "The last -time I was in Chicago," he said, "I was in command of the post we had -here, and the Indians disputed our right to cross the river. That was -fifty years ago." How history makes itself in the Western World! This -day they are going to place a memorial on the site of the block-house -which then contained the little frontier garrison that Jeff Davis -commanded, and whose control the red man refused to accept! When he -went away every one of the party--and there were some among them who -certainly had no sympathy with the lost cause he had championed so -valiantly, and to which he still adheres with indomitable courage and -affection--expressed the admiration which was inspired by his dignity -and charming manner. _Diis placuit_, &c. A little later the Duke, Sir -H. Green, Mr. Stephens, and Mr. Wright visited General Sheridan, and -were presented to the members of the Head-Quarters Staff of the -immense region over which his command is exercised, and amongst them -General Forsyth, who had been in India at the time of the Prince of -Wales's visit, and was known to the Duke of Sutherland. General -Sheridan promised us every assistance we would require, and held out -great temptations to the sporting weaknesses of the travellers could -they but stay a little longer; nay, more, he sorely tried the -domesticity of Sir H. Green by telling him of an expedition which is -to come off on Indian territory never yet trodden by the white man's -foot or seen by white man's eye; but a programme is a Procrustean bed -which men make for themselves, and these joys had to be foregone like -many another by reason of previous engagements. The Duke and most of -the party were borne off to visit the slaughter and packing-houses, -and so we missed the speeches and the parade which celebrated the -erection of a memorial of Fort Dearborn, the frontier post, just fifty -years ago, of the United States on Lake Michigan. - -_Armor porcosque cano!_ Of the slaughter-yards and packing-houses of -Messrs. Armour and Co., five miles from Chicago, I need not say much, -for they have been described in every detail of killing, scalding, -skinning, cutting, and preserving, by many visitors. The sight and the -smell were too much for some of the weaker vessels, and they returned -to the special train by which they had journeyed to the yards, whilst -the others supped full of horrors and statistics. And how these -statistics did rain upon us! Millions of pounds weight, millions of -dollars, millions of cubic feet--figures in millions and tens of -millions everywhere--everything the biggest, the tallest, the deepest, -the broadest in the world. What human brain could bear the weight of -that multiplication table gone mad? Fortunately it is all down in -little books neatly tabulated. I confess the greatest wonder to me was -not that so many living things should be slaughtered, and that so much -food should be grown and garnered and carried, but that there were -over the world so many millions of devouring creatures having stomachs -for them all. - -I have called Chicago the Venice of the American lakes, or something -of the kind. In one respect indeed it excels the Queen of the -Adriatic--the odours of the canal-like river to which it owes so much -of its extraordinary prosperity. But these odours are to be deodorised -some day, and the energies which have raised a city up twice in little -more than a generation from ashes and muddy waters, will no doubt -accomplish greater works than that. - -The mayor (twice elected to that high office), Mr. Harrison, took the -Duke out to see the "Crib," as it is termed, whence the waters of the -lake are conducted by two iron tunnels, two miles long, to supply the -city. On our way he stopped his carriage in an obscure and ill-looking -quarter to show us the working of the ingenious system by which 400 -police are supposed to be enabled to do the work usually allotted to -1000 men in other cities. Against a dead wall there was affixed a -wooden box about 3 ft. square. The mayor took a key out of his pocket -and opened it. The key was at once fixed in the lock and could not be -removed till the patrol came from the station. This station was a mile -and a quarter away. Then the mayor pulled down a small lever inside -the box and gave the signal for the patrol to come up at once. Whilst -we were waiting he showed us the telephone apparatus by which detailed -information can be given to the police of what is required in cases of -burglary, assault, fire, &c., and explained that keys similar to those -he used are given to trustworthy householders who desire them, so that -in case of need they can summon the police at once, and as these keys -are numbered and cannot be withdrawn from the lock there is no risk of -practical joking, and offenders are heavily fined. In 2½ minutes there -came tearing along the street at full speed, driven by a policeman, a -light cart with two horses, with two of the force in the vehicle. -Inside were stretchers and appliances for removing prisoners, and, -that the alarm might not be fruitless, the mayor directed the police -to pick up a "drunky" whom we had passed on the way, amusing a group -of children by his innocent but ill-regulated gambols. A little crowd -assembled round the mayor and the strangers as he explained the -devices by which the authorities battled with the crime and excesses -of the hybrid population of the city, and I was amused by the -expression of disgust on the faces of some of them at the laudations -his honour bestowed on the ingenuity and effectiveness of the means he -was developing to restrain the lawless desire of gain or the love of a -free fight which distinguish some of the citizens. - -The proprietor of the grand hotel in which we lodged displayed an -amount of energy in directing our movements, for which we were -scarcely prepared. He was evidently master in his own house, and in -America a man who can keep an hotel is able to do anything, and is -certainly a peer of any duke in the world. After dinner, wishing to go -to a theatre, a request was made at the bar to procure places. And as -we humbly walked off to the place of entertainment, the hotel -proprietor accompanied us, and we were joined on our way by an -agreeable young gentleman who had introduced himself to us in the -early part of the day as Chairman of the Committee of Reception of the -Press. I had certain uneasy suspicions that there was going to be some -kind of show made of the unostentatious, quiet gentleman who was -sauntering along, smoking his cigar, side by side with the spirited -hotel-keeper. These were not appeased when, on entering the theatre, I -perceived unmistakable officials, managers, box-keepers, and the like, -drawn up in the manner of a deputation. It was half an hour behind -time, but the play had not yet commenced--they were waiting for the -Duke. As he passed along by the pit tier to the stage-box reserved for -his use, every eye was directed upon him; and when he entered--awful -moment--the orchestra struck up, amidst applause from the gallery and -thumping of umbrellas and sticks, and clapping of hands, "God Save the -Queen." What it was expected his Grace should do I know not. It was -exceedingly embarrassing, and all we could do was to sit tight and -take no notice. No doubt it was intended as a compliment, and very -kindly meant, but it was most trying, and only the hotel proprietor -and the Chairman of the Reception Committee of the Press were at all -at their ease at that moment. The play proved an exceedingly -interesting national piece; not very probable in all the incidents, -but still giving a very fair idea of the general attitude of the -American mind in its relation to Mormonism, and tending to bring into -deserved contempt the disciples and practices of that most outrageous -creed. - -_May 22nd._--The 'Chicago Times' of Saturday contained the greater -part of the revised New Testament, telegraphed from New York. The -'Chicago Tribune' of Sunday (to-day) presents its readers with the -whole of the Revised Testament, complete from beginning to end. - -We had a very pleasant dinner, at which General Sheridan, General -M'Dowell, and General Forsyth assisted. It was a relief to get away -for a little from grain averages and railway statistics, but these are -rare escapades from the study of material interests. The subsidence of -the mass of combatants which the Civil War summoned to the field north -and south from civil life into the ordinary pursuits of citizens was -one of the most wonderful phenomena of the contest. I find my old -friends have beaten their swords into all kinds of peaceful -implements. One day General McClellan writes to me from a railway -office in New Jersey to say he is on the eve of a voyage to Europe. -Now I get a letter from "Bangs and Kirkland, attorneys-at-law, 142, La -Salle St., Chicago," dated May 9th, which puzzled me a little till I -read the text and the well-known signature of "Joseph Kirkland," -recalling the old days of the army and head-quarters of the Potomac in -1861, and remembered the martial major who was my frequent companion -in excursions about the camps around Washington. - -_May 23rd._--The Duke and most of the party started at 8.30 to inspect -the Pullman car factory. The town is called Hyde Park, South Chicago, -Calumet, Grand Crossing, and Kensington--and lies upon the outside of -the great city, nine miles distant. Nine months ago, according to a -Chicago paper, there was not a single trace of an industrial -habitation upon the spot, and for five months of the subsequent time -there was one of the most severe winters on record; but in April the -largest engine in the world, as we were told, was started as the -central motive power of one of the most extensive manufacturing -schemes of the world. The Corliss Centennial Exhibition engine, which -was built at a cost of 25,000_l._, was set to work with its 24,000 -horse-power, to give life to the machinery which had been erected by -the enterprise of Colonel Pullman; and since that time a city of -freight shops, hammer shops, equipment buildings, lumber store-houses, -foundries, brickworks, with railway tracks to connect them, -gas-houses, artesian wells, and wide and long ranges of streets round -the central depôt, have sprung up in Pullman; and locomotive works are -also busy in connection with the rolling-mills and iron-dale mills -which are connected with the town of Pullman by water, rail, and -waggon roads. The sentiment of wonder is taxed when one visits this -great American enterprise. It is said that before the year is over ten -thousand people will be comfortably housed and living in this city, -the work of a few weeks. No wonder that the Chicago people are -enthusiastic about their city, though they are apt to be somewhat -tiresome in the details which they give of its greatness. "I have -sometimes tried," said one of them, "when I was travelling about, to -invent some fabulous story to relate about Chicago; but when I woke up -in the morning I always found that the progress made had exceeded the -wildest fabrication I could think of." Twenty-five cars a day will be -turned out when the works are in full swing. The most interesting -operation, perhaps, was the manufacture of the paper wheels intended -to take the place of iron in all railway, and which are already used -by the Pullman cars. The paper is made of wood, which is cut on the -shores of Lake Michigan, is brought to the works, reduced to pulp, and -under hydraulic pressure is made as hard as granite, and perfectly -impenetrable by air or water. It is sheathed with a steel band, which -holds it like a vice, and it is cheaper and more lasting than iron. - -The thermometer at 88 degrees in the shade, and the temperometer -higher still. For there are thorns in the flesh, and trials, small -though they be, to vex the spirit. Some there are who can endure -interviewing without wincing, others who laugh at evil or good -reports; but there are people who fret and fume at obstinate -inquisition, and who are indignant at misrepresentation. These latter -should stay at home. If one of these writes a letter marked "private" -to the editor of a newspaper, he may be vexed if he sees it in print, -with the word "private" omitted. It must be admitted that the -peculiarities which invited comment in times past have nearly -disappeared--I mean manners and customs connected with tobacco and its -uses. Not only that--the burning curiosity which proved so troublesome -to thin-skinned strangers appears to have been slaked by copious -indulgence. Americans no longer care to know, or at least, disdain to -ask, "Well, sir; and what do you think of our country?" They feel that -they have a country which travellers must recognise as one of the -first in the world. However, I think an American is not always -pleased when an Englishman, tired out, perhaps, by the strain which a -continual demand upon his power of expressing surprise involves, -meekly intimates that there is something of the same sort to be seen -in the Old Country. The other day, when we were taken out on the lake -at Chicago, and asked to admire the water, which was not particularly -clear, I remarked that the water supply of London, with its three -millions and a half of people, and no lake at all, was rather -creditable. The worthy Mayor was at once antagonistic. "Where do you -get your water?" "From the various water companies--the New River, the -Chelsea," &c. The Mayor next day, at a public meeting, congratulated -the people of Chicago that they were not supplied with such water as -London had to put up with, "where," he said, "I am told it comes from -Chelsea, which is one of the filthiest places in the world." - -By this time the whole party has got into working order; Lady Green, -as a soldier's wife, sets an excellent example of punctuality and -ready-packed-up-edness, no matter how early the start may be. It is a -large party, but, by reason of its discipline, very easy to move. And -so, notwithstanding the work in the early morning nine miles away, we -were all ready at the terminus of the Shore Line by noon to strike out -for the West by the rail which runs by Lake Michigan, halting first at -Milwaukee, eighty miles away. - -The Americans have many things to be grateful for on the vast -continent of which they own so goodly a share, especially the natural -facilities which they possess for turning the development of their -energies to account; and among these, next, perhaps, to the navigable -rivers opening up the length and breadth of the States to the sea, is -the series of lakes stretching from the Atlantic to the central -mountain ridges, affording the most admirable intercommunication -between the great cities which are growing up on their shores and the -corn-growing and stock-producing regions which extend far away on -either side of them. - -Perchance farther out from the shore, under the influence of a -brighter sky, they may be blue, but certainly the waves that broke on -the beach were muddy and the river flowing into the lake at Milwaukee, -which is visible from the train, is exceedingly filthy. Only -comparisons are odious, I would say that it looked as vile as that at -Chicago. It needs a strong sense of the picturesque and beautiful to -tolerate the waters of the Venetian canals in summer time, but here, -without any compensation, there are the odours and the nastiness which -one would more willingly encounter in paying homage to the Queen of -the Adriatic in July or August. - -On the lake were many sailing vessels with snowy cotton canvas, the -intermediate belt of land being thickly populated, rich, well -cultivated, and prettily wooded. Now and then a huge steamer came in -view, vomiting masses of smoke, too common a disfigurement of these -pure skies, for neither on shore nor on the river do they burn it. -Chicago is almost as black and smoky as Birmingham. Racine seemed to -have its full share of prosperity and manufacturing industry, but -Milwaukee, which we reached at 2.20 P.M., added one to the many -surprises which our party encountered in the United States. Mr. W. -Mitchell, who came from Aberdeen some forty odd years ago, one of the -chief men of the place, in company with other gentlemen, met the Duke -of Sutherland, and drove us through the city. It contrasted very -favourably in the cleanliness of the streets and the general -appearance of unadulterated well-doing of the population with -Chicago--a crowning glory to Mr. Mitchell, and those like him who -remember the town as a toddling, wee hamlet, and see it now -flourishing and opulent, with its 50,000 inhabitants. - -Like many other places in this vast region, the site of Milwaukee owes -its discovery to one of the band of French missionaries, who, with -devotion and courage never surpassed even by the chivalrous explorers -who cast such a glory over the flag of France for nearly two -centuries, made their way amongst hostile Indians, carrying the Cross -in their hands, through forest, prairie, and mountain, descended -rivers and navigated lakes, in the futile attempt to civilise and -Christianise the Red Man. The Indians used the indent in the shore -where Milwaukee stands as the centre of their permanent settlements. -They were established there when the first traders came, and La -Framboise, who left some record of his adventures amongst them, began -his intercourse in the way which has signalised the early relations of -the white to the red man but too often. Nevertheless, the whites and -Indians got on exceedingly well for many years. The former were -French, or French half-breeds. The French generally agree better with -the natives than the British and British-Americans. In 1820, however, -a man named Juneau was the only white settler, and it was not till -1831 that he obtained a grant from the Indians of the whole of the -ground on which Milwaukee now stands. Two gentlemen named Kilbourn and -Walker (names perpetuated in the city) settled and established -commercial relations with the people and traders of the outlying -regions. As an American writer says,--"The town, which has sprung up -like Jonah's gourd, grew up partly on a sand-hill and partly in a -mud-hole, one being cut down to fill the other up, because men found -they could accumulate wealth there." Chicago, down south, had started -in formidable competition, but Milwaukee was not to be beaten. It -built its quays and store-houses, and projects its piers and jetties, -harbour of refuge and docks. You look round and find it hard to -believe that not half a century ago the site of this city was -described as "an utter wilderness, a howling, untutored, worthless -stretch of forest and prairie." Elevators tower aloft; the marsh has -been drained, and is now a maze of canals and slips. The buildings in -the city are in strong contrast, in the air of propriety and exquisite -cleanliness, to the river on which it is built. This appears much due -to the material--a light-coloured brick--largely used in the houses. -There is a coquetry in the local architecture. The genius of the -American architect in woodwork is varied. It deals in pinnacles, -gables, verandahs, porticoes, eaves, and quaintly coloured fronts; and -where the proprietor has not indulged in brick or stone, he has -availed himself of paint, generally blue or slate colour, to decorate -the exterior. The number of detached residences, standing in their own -grounds amidst garden-plots and plantations, suggests wealth and -comfort. The trees of the forest have been spared, and if the axe has -been applied it has been wielded with judgment. - -Milwaukee is famous for its beer. More than half a million barrels -were made and sold the year before last, and still the trade is -growing. There appear to be Germans enough to have stomach for it all -in the city and the district round about. A Teutonic soil with a top -dressing of Scotch may be said to constitute the stratum of the -organic formation of the people of Milwaukee. - -After a visit to the Soldiers' Home, an asylum for veterans of the -militia and volunteers of Ohio and neighbouring States--a very -interesting establishment two miles from the city--and a look at Mr. -Mitchell's well-ordered, luxurious residence on the outskirts, -Panklinton House received us, and at 10 p.m. we continued our course -westwards towards St. Paul, travelling all night, and sleeping most -comfortably in the Pullman car. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -MINNESOTA. - - The Mississippi -- St. Paul -- Minneapolis -- Le Mars -- - Sioux City -- Life on the Rail -- Muddy Missouri -- Kansas - City -- Old and New Friends. - - -_May 24th._--At 6 A.M. we were aroused from our slumbers by the -rattling of the train over the Mississippi bridge near La Crosse, 195 -miles from Milwaukee, which is on the east bank of the river. - -All next day through a country of great fertility, with many orchards, -green pasturage, and fields of wheat and maize, and we were fain to -believe that night had hid at least an equal richness from our view. - -On the highway of the Central Illinois Railway there is an enormous -extent of the richest soil. One may pass miles and miles, day after -day, I am told, over prairie land covered with rich grass and -vegetation. An emigrant with a strong arm, a strong head, and a little -money, pushing far afield out of the beaten track, can still, it is -said, secure in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, land which -in a few years will yield a rich return for his investment and his -labour. But it is not, from all I could hear, quite a paradise to live -in, nor will the emigrant, at least at the outset, complain of the -roses lying too thickly under him. There are broken men here as well -as in other parts of the world, but they are "lazy, ne'er-do-weels; -they drink and smoke and pass their lives in front of the bar-rooms, -liquor saloons, and gambling shops." Some of them deny that the -description applies to them; they attribute their ill-fortune to -natural causes--to the terrible winters which seem to destroy all -life, at times covering the country with snow, which melting, swells -the rivers, which sweep over the fields, depositing a thick mud on the -surface or carrying away the crops. As to the existence of a winter of -great intensity and duration there can be no dispute; but neither man -nor cattle succumb to its effects. On all sides, however, we were -assured that the cold is not comparable to that which we experience in -England, unless there is a strong wind which causes evaporation. How -the emigrant can support these long and dreary winters in his log -shanty, where fuel is not too plentiful, I am at a loss to understand, -unless it be indeed true that the cold, no matter what the thermometer -shows, is not so cold as it is in Europe. But, without jesting, there -is concurrent testimony from settlers with whom we spoke, that they -can go about without inconvenience when the thermometer marks twenty -or thirty degrees of frost; and the same fact is reported in Manitoba -of Western Canada. It is, they say, the dryness of the air which -mitigates the severity of the cold. - -The names of places in Wisconsin are often of French or Indian origin, -smacking of the old days of exploration and the chase--Prairie du -Chien, Portage, Tomah, &c. We did not see much of the country between -Milwaukee and La Crosse, but now we roused ourselves to make amends -for our forced neglect by diligent observation from the windows. - -The iron horse has borne the travellers nearly 200 miles without a -check, over canals, rivers, and rich fat lands, and we are now -entering on a picturesque region. For many a long mile we ran by the -side of the Father of Waters, which hereabouts has traits reminding -one of the Rhine, doubled or trebled in breadth, it is true; its broad -and turbid waters, now several feet above its ordinary level, are -confined by high wooded banks and sharp bluffs. Winona, rich in -timber-rafts and many masts--a little inland river port, with a show -of steeples and public buildings, won our regards for a moment, and -farther on the Mississippi opened out into a grand sheet called, I -think, Lake Pepin. At the summit of the bluffs the great prairie lands -begin, and after a run beneath these finely contoured natural -battlements of two and a half hours along the bank of the stream, the -line of cliff seemed to recede and open up, and we caught a glimpse of -the green headlands, flattening out into rolling treeless -plains--"There is the Prairie"! The River Division of the Chicago, -Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway over which we travelled has not always -to congratulate itself on its vicinity to the river, nor to think its -lot has been cast in pleasant places. The great inundation in which -the Mississippi and Missouri did so much mischief left plentiful and -numerous traces of its power along our route. At 9 A.M. we crossed -the river by a fine bridge to the left bank. In half an hour more the -steeples, chimneys, and elevators of St. Paul, 409 miles from Chicago, -were in sight, and at 10 A.M. the special stopped at the platform, -where General Sibley, whilom governor and almost the father of the -country hereabouts, the mayor elect, and a deputation, were waiting to -receive the Duke, to whom they were introduced by Mr. Merrill, the -manager of the railroad. - -We were always "taken charge of" by somebody or other--at least we -were told so in the newspapers--but our friends do their spiriting so -gently that we are not aware of the surveillance. At St. Paul the -party was "in charge" of the Chamber of Commerce. - -General Sibley, Mr. Rice, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Clarke, Mr. Noyes, and -Messrs. Drake were so anxious to show us over the town that we were at -once embarked in carriages and driven through the very wonderful and -interesting streets of this creation, away to Dayton's Bluff, over the -river, from which there is a very fine view up and down of the city -and the valley. Nothing can give one a more vivid impression of the -vast progress in the West, that has been made in countries which were -once in the hands of the Red Indian, than to go as we did in company -with an original settler like General Sibley and hear his stories; to -see the lines of commodious and elegant villas standing in -well-planted grounds, with greenhouses, conservatories, and gardens in -long procession, and in the usual rectangular formation of American -suburbs, and to hear that but a few short years ago sanguinary -encounters were taking place between red men and white, close at hand. -He told us of the terrible incursion of Indians under Little Crow in -1862, by which this State and Dacotah were plunged in mourning, and of -the brilliant little campaign in which he destroyed the invaders and -broke their power for ever, and it was difficult to imagine that such -deeds as he described had been perpetrated not many marches distant by -such enemies only nineteen years ago. St. Paul is not to be described -in a few lines, and as we listened to General Sibley's account of its -rise, and looked at its streets, and shops, and public buildings, it -was only the material evidence before our eyes which enabled us to -grasp the fact of such a wondrous growth; and the population is said -to be nearly 60,000, and to be fast increasing. The capital of -Minnesota spreads itself out on both sides of the Mississippi, which -is here 2200 miles from its mouths below New Orleans. The principal -buildings are on the left bank. The people, without being troublesome -or pressing, were interested on the new arrivals, and more than one -British flag was visible in the street. The streets were exceedingly -dusty, which is not an uncommon circumstance in American towns, and is -not to be wondered at either, and I think we were all very glad to -reach the Metropolitan Hotel for a little rest and a bath before lunch -at 11 o'clock. There was yet much to be done, as we had to visit -Minneapolis, 10 miles distant, driving by Summit and University -Avenues. - -Minneapolis would well deserve a separate chapter to itself if I could -give it. It is a "twin city," for St. Anthony is linked to it, and it -boasts a university, an opera-house, an academy of music, fine public -buildings, an Athenæum, a public library, many churches, and the broad -streets are lined with shade-giving trees and fine shops and houses; -and yet it was as late as 1837 that the United States obtained by -treaty from the Sioux the right of settling in the country at all; and -the city of St. Paul is partly built on the piece of land which was -obtained by a Canadian named Pierre Parent in the same year, and which -he sold for 16_l._! And now the hum of life, the thunder of machinery, -the smoke of factories, fill the valley. The Mississippi groans under -the masses of timber and innumerable keels. How much to admire! what -energy! what enterprise! But how nature suffered from it all! The -Falls of St. Anthony turned into the overflow of a canal lock! The -great river converted into a sewer laden with manure and sawdust! The -lovely landscape defaced by hideous mills, elevators, factories! How -the poets should rage, and the plutocrats rejoice! - -An hour had been spent in the drive round the city, an hour and a half -more in the excursion by road to the rival greatness of Minneapolis, -another hour was devoted to taking a leisurely view of the Falls of -St. Anthony (which were artificial and disappointing), and an -inspection of Mr. Washburn's great mills worked by the captive river. - -On our way back the party made a halt to take a glance at Minnehaha, -the "laughing water" (Oh, Mr. Longfellow! How could you?)--a pretty -little cascade enough as we saw it--in a deep wooded dell, about half -the height of the Fall at Powerscourt; beset, too, with photographers -and harpies. Still, we did our duty. The Auditor and others descended -to the bed of the rivulet, crossed it, and walked round behind the -Falls in due course, and struggled up to the top triumphant. Then we -went back by a different route to Minneapolis, feeling we had well -filled up a very hot, dusty, and profitable day of honest labour, with -many a pleasant incident to boot. - -In addition to the trade, commerce, and agricultural riches of -Minnesota there is yet very good sporting to be found, and those among -us who were given that way were much exercised by the accounts we -heard of good shooting not far distant, and of unrivalled fishing--of -woods filled with deer, of prairies swarming with "chickens," of -rivers and lakes boiling with trout! However, one of the gentlemen -with us goes away every year to Canada for his fishing, so it must be -better there than in Minnesota. The cold in winter is admitted to be -intense, but the people are healthy, and there are several resorts for -invalids in much favour in the State. There is a considerable State -debt, respecting which we heard and read discussions in which the word -"repudiation" was mentioned but generally repudiated. After all it is -only about 1,600,000_l._ for city, town, county, school, district, and -State. These, however, are very risky subjects for those who are not -well acquainted with every detail to dwell upon, and as far as I could -learn the development of the State up to the present time may be taken -as a measure of its future progress. Governor Sibley told me he -recollected the time when the population was only 6000--he puts it -down at 1,000,000 to-day. - -_May 25th._--We were, I find it recorded in my diary, up and "packed" -at 7 o'clock and had an early, breakfast. "The party started from St. -Paul at 8 A.M., and made a desperate attempt to leave Mr. Close, who -was our very arch guide, and one of its members behind, but it was -ignominiously defeated and the train brought to a standstill at five -miles out from the city, where it had to wait till our special engine -and car completed the journey and filled up the establishment." It was -in this wise. I wanted to buy a candlestick, for in most American -hotels there is only gaslight or petroleum lamps in the bedrooms, and -Mr. Close, who had come to St. Paul to conduct us over his farm, set -out with me to find an ironmonger's shop. "Don't lose your way," said -the good-natured landlord as we left the hotel. No danger of that! Was -I not in the hands of a local expert? We turned into a shop, where the -gentleman behind the counter let us have the run of the establishment -till I found what I wanted, 10 cents = 5_d._, so Protection does not -render tin candlesticks very expensive, any way. And then we sauntered -to the station. A number of people were coming up from it as though -they had been looking at something. We walked down to the platform -and inquired for the special. The porter, pointing with his finger to -a bridge far away across the river down below, said slowly, "I guess -she'll be about there. She went off five minutes ago." Mr. Close -tackled the occasion at once--the station master was hunted down, the -telegraph set to work, an engine and a carriage were prepared, and -amid much objurgation from our friends, connected with imaginary -dangers from collision, &c., we were delivered over to the conductors, -who had never missed us, or thought we were in the train. - -The district from St. Paul towards Council Bluffs, traversed by the -train in which we were journeying to-day, presents every temptation to -the agriculturist, but on looking at the map which showed the squares -of land belonging to the railway and those at the disposal of the -State, we had occasion to ascertain that all the plots (the 620-acre -squares adjacent to the line) were disposed of, or only to be had at a -very considerable increase on the normal rates. I cannot tell how many -small settlements we passed on our way till we halted at the station -where Messrs. Close have been carrying on for some time their farming -operations. The general character of the country was that of an -undulating plain covered invariably with thick, coarse grass and -seamed with deep watercourses, which in England, indeed, would be -called rivers, by the sides of which grew trees and dense vegetation. -The houses and stations were of wood, and I do not think that I saw a -stone or brick building for many miles. - -One of the objects of the detour made north-westwards from Chicago to -St. Paul was to pass through Iowa and Wisconsin, and to gratify the -desire expressed by the Duke as well to see a country of such great -natural fertility and resources, as the process of turning the virgin -soil. An opportunity of doing this was to be afforded to us by the -Messrs. Close, well-known on the river in times gone by as -accomplished oarsmen, who now own large farms in the West. They have -in their own occupancy a tract of 42,000 acres, which they intend to -divide into farms and on it to build about one hundred houses for -their tenants and found a colony, which has indeed been for some time -in progress. The party got out near the station of Sibley on the St. -Paul and Omaha Railway, where the train stopped, and drove to one of -the farms, Le Mars, twenty-five miles from Sioux City, which was -inspected with great interest by the Duke and his agricultural -friends, as the plough was then turning soil that never had yet been -touched by the hand of man. The figures furnished by Messrs. Close -show good results; they are quite willing to welcome any gentleman -desirous to try his fortune out West as a tenant, on conditions which -they will communicate, the general principle being that the tenant and -the landowner should be in co-partnership, the returns of the -occupant's farming to be divided in certain proportions between him -and the owners, until such time as the former becomes absolute -proprietor. There are several gentlemen already engaged in this way, -and we heard of persons coming from districts in Ireland, Scotland, -or England, who had associated together for mutual help and support, -and of those it was said that fair success was so far crowning their -struggle. For struggle it is, even under most favourable -circumstances. At first the conditions of life are hard; what would be -considered at home privations, in the matter of food, drink, and -living, by the class furnishing these emigrants, has to be endured or -the fight must be given up; and it is not until after some years that -a little ease can be indulged in, the comforts and the necessaries of -life secured, and the tension of constant effort to make even virgin -soil yield adequate resources be unknown. Here, as elsewhere, capital -is needed. The possession of it ensures a good start, a patient -toleration of present mischiefs with the assurance of a better time to -come. - -After the inspection of part of the farm, the Duke and his friends -returned to the train and continued their journey. In traversing the -immense expanse of prairie-land which lies between the boundary of -Minnesota and Sioux City, the traveller is struck by the paucity of -houses. The Sioux City and St. Paul Railway has, however, a great -future before it. If the statement of Mr. J. H. Drake, land -commissioner at St. Paul, Minnesota, be true, and I see no reason to -doubt it, a million acres of unsurpassed farming and stock lands are -at the disposal of the "wide, wide world," if it has money in its -pockets, with the certainty of a magnificent fortune out of that -investment. The system of location of lands is very well known, and -any one who wishes to gain full information respecting it cannot do -better than procure one of the maps which the St. Paul and Sioux City -Railway will send with pleasure, and which exhibits the lots in the -possession of the State, and those which the Company have disposed of, -or hold over for purchase, numbered. The districts are laid out in -squares of 640 acres (5200 square feet to the front); but arrangements -can be made by which 40 acres of land can be purchased. Each block -alternates with a block of the same size belonging to the State. The -shaded squares on the map indicate that they are the property of the -Company. Each shaded block is numbered; and the intending purchaser -has only to fix upon the line in which it is situated and give the -number, and he will procure all the particulars respecting it. But I -fear that if it be adjacent to the railway, he will find he has been -forestalled, for the land-speculators have been very active, and in -Minnesota good prospects are not often to be had at a low price. - -A number of ponds, attaining in some places the dimensions of lakes of -very considerable size, and worthy of the names they bear, were -visible from the railway; one indeed--Heron lake--resembling an inland -sea. It is 326 miles, by the Iowa division of the Illinois Central -Railway, from Dubuque to Sioux City on the Missouri; all along the -Sioux City and St. Paul Railway, the Black Hills branch to Woodstock, -the Sioux Falls branch to Valley Springs, and the Rock River branch -there are blocks of 640 acres belonging to the Company, apparently -well watered if they be like those through which we passed, abounding -in rich grasses and wide-spreading meadows; so that if there be not -some reason at work, in climate or the like, which prevents an -accumulation of settlers, I cannot see why Jackson county, Wattowa, -Nobles, Ocecola, Lyon, and other counties, should not be densely -settled, at no distant period, by a thriving agricultural and pastoral -community. - -I confess my head could not hold the statistics which were driven into -it only to come out again. It is 117 miles to St. James, and we took -about four hours to do the distance, so that the speed left nothing to -be complained of. But all the time of our journey, the kind gentlemen -who accompanied us poured out information in a copious stream -respecting the value of the lands, the fortunes of lots, and the -particulars as to the little towns we passed through. Notable was it, -however, that at the smallest of these there was sure to be a -school-house and some place of worship, whatever the sect might be. -But the names, I confess, left few memories behind them: Kasota -junction, Mankalto, Christal, all become mixed up with Madelia and St. -James when I try to recollect them. - -We reached Sioux City at 9.20, continuing our journey all night, and -slept in the train, which travelled pretty smoothly. - -The easy natural way in which we all "turn in" now at the end of the -day would make one suppose it was almost our normal state of life. In -fact it is a cruise on wheels, a yachting excursion on iron waves -rolling over the land, and this is becoming more lively as we approach -the Missouri. There is a cloudy lining to the brightness of the -prospect hereabouts. The rivers have been playing havoc, and we are -obliged to read in the papers of great mischief by flood and storm, of -cyclones and fires, damage to crops and property, and loss of life. -Other things we read too. "Right Royally Received! Handsomely -Entertained! They Express Admiration of the Wonderful Development and -Beautiful Scenery. They Still Think Their System of Railway Management -the Best. The Ducal Party Dine!" The climate must have a strange -effect on us all. The Duke is a veritable Proteus in dress and looks. -Sir H. Green is a man so various that he seems to be "Not one but all -mankind's epitome." Mr. Stephen glides steadily through the columns of -description with a fair share of commendation and uniformity. I have -suddenly become bald, Mr. Neale is a universal favourite, though there -is some tendency to resent his reluctance to admit the American system -is better than the L. & N. W. R. Mr. Bickersteth and the Auditor and -Mr. G. Crosfield are subjected to much modification of description. -Crockett has whole paragraphs of apocryphal matter all to himself, but -our conductors and drivers are uniformly mentioned in terms of -respectful admiration in the local journal. - -One paper under the heading of "Cousin George, With Other -Distinguished Members of The Foreign Branch of Our Family," gives an -account of the party which is certainly minute enough, for the -writer, having described the Duke's appearance and dress, observes -that "on the little finger of his right hand was a seal ring worn -smooth;" but perhaps the description would have been more caustic had -not the Chronicler or Dispatcher been propitiated by the admission -"that the palace-car was exceedingly elegant, and that nothing like it -existed on any of the roads in England." - -The interviewers in the Western cities were not as numerous as they -were at New York, but there was still a fair demand for information -respecting the object of the Duke's visit. It is strange that America, -which floods Europe with travellers and sightseers, should be -represented in the press at home by gentlemen who want to know why a -party of English people have come to the United States. Their -descriptions of our _personnel_, if sometimes flattering, were, as I -have said, variable, and the Duke of Sutherland has been represented -as "a merry little man," "a tall, grave, serious gentleman," "of -aristocratic mien and attire," "of plain aspect and unpretending -dress," "with a limp," and with "a swift, strong stride," &c. Most of -us were subjected to observations, generally in a kindly spirit, even -in the case of the person to whom the papers still attach the -_soubriquet_ of "Bull Run Russell" (myself to wit), which was given to -me because, twenty years ago, I had the misfortune of being obliged to -write an account of a strategic movement of the Federal army, from the -advance upon Richmond back upon the Potomac, in which I was involved. - -_May 26th._--At 10 in the morning we found ourselves at the great -Depôt between Council Bluffs and Omaha, where a long delay ensued, -whilst arrangements were being made to defeat the attempt of the river -Missouri to obstruct us, by effecting a detour of some seventy miles -to Creston, whence we were to work over the damaged rails to Kansas -City, where we intended to arrive and to sleep at 9.30 P.M. I do not -think I should like to creep along an inundated line, with the -Missouri close at my flank, every day in the week, but it was very -interesting for once in a way, and the engineer was especially -commended for his skill in driving us over such an exciting railroad. - -The recent inundation in the West, of which we had heard in the -Eastern States, had done fully as much mischief as was reported. -Looking from the station, mud and slime, trunks of trees, and debris -of all kinds, as far as the eye could reach, told of the ruinous -extent of the overflow. For more than 200 miles the railway had -suffered severely; in some places the "track" had been completely -submerged or destroyed. But the gentlemen who had charge of our -movements were not to be beaten by even Missouri in full flood, and -arrangements were made for the train to circumvent the enemy by a wide -sweep round its flank to a point of junction of the line with the -railroad to Kansas City. The detour enabled us to see a country of -extraordinary fertility, but the liability to such floods must -seriously interfere with its attractions as a permanent residence or -for profitable farming. The train reached Creston at 12.30, and -continued its course immediately, running over a line which had been -hastily repaired, and was by no means pleasant to travel over for long -intervals. At 3.15 we were at Bolcklow--ninety-four miles from Kansas -City--and in an hour and three-quarters came out upon the great river -Missouri at a "cut-off" where it was flowing in a stream of liquid mud -three miles broad, carrying with it branches, trees, fences, straw, -and corn. It was indeed very gingerly work to drive the engine, which -at times threatened to slide from under us into the stream, and the -boldest held his breadth for a time, when, coming to a very bad bit, -and looking out ahead, we saw the engineers anxiously consulting with -the directors of the train, and felt the labouring of the engine as it -rose up and down over the uneven line. Unless I had witnesses to -corroborate my statement I should be loth to aver that on several -occasions the rails have sunk so much that when the train was passing -over them the end of one carriage was tilted up at a considerable -angle to the roof of that which followed it! Winthrop Junction is -forty-eight miles from Kansas City, but we did not arrive there until -6.30, having been all that time getting over the ground from Bolcklow. -Thenceforth the anxieties of the journey became aggravated instead of -lessened; the line was worse and worse, and the interest deepened low -or rose high as the engineer, failing to surmount a sharp rise up to -the level of the line, over a sort of hole into which we had fallen, -reversed the engine, then put on steam, and with a great struggle -succeeded in getting into position again. It is quite as well our -friends of the London and North-Western had this little experience of -western travel ere they left. This was to be the last night that we -were all to consort together, for the party was now about to break up -into two divisions; Messrs. Crosfield, Bickersteth, and Neale -returning to New York on their way home, the Duke, Sir H. and Lady -Green, Mr. Stephen, Mr. Wright and I going on to San Francisco; and at -dinner in the train, in the middle of the contending emotions which -were occasioned by the conditions under which we were continuing our -course to the West, the Auditor made a feeling little speech which -touched the heart and gained the assent of the company, and healths -were proposed. - -"Coates's House," Kansas City, on which we descended late at night, is -not exactly the hotel a fastidious or exacting person would select as -an abiding place if he had one experience of it. Moreover, there was a -convention at Coates's House. We have been much exercised by -"Conventions," dropping upon them at unexpected times and -places--"Conventions" of doctors, of druggists, of railway conductors; -and these being in possession, and masters of the situation, were -always the most favoured guests. A stranger accustomed to have his own -way in his inn, and to have his orders attended to with dispatch, -might perhaps have his temper ruffled by the divine calm of the -coloured citizens who officiated as helps, or by the haughty composure -of the landlord, probably a warrior of renown, and assuredly a -"colonel," at the very least who did not complaints or importunities. -Quoth British railway director to mine host at the office:--"There is -no looking-glass in my bedroom, and I can't find any basin and ewer." -To whom the lord of Coates's House:--"Well, I've done the best I can -for you! There are ladies sleeping on the floor! And if you don't like -what you get here, there are other hotels in Kansas City, and you can -go to them if you please." Director collapsed. But he appeared clothed -and in his right mind in the morning, and I do not think the Colonel -meant to be at all uncivil. Perhaps a party of ten coming in after -hours, each demanding a separate bedroom, is considered as a -disturbing and aggressive element, to be promptly sat upon and -repressed. Next morning we were all up and downstairs betimes. An -ample breakfast was well served by white women, aided by "darkies," in -the public room, and then came the leave-taking with Mr. Bickersteth, -Mr. Crosfield and Mr. Neale, the friends and companions with whom we -had been living and travelling day and night, since the 23rd April, in -harmony, which was not marred for an instant even when there were -discussions concerning the programme, or small conflicts of wishes. -The regret of which the outward and visible sign was only a deal of -hand-shaking and simply expressed good wishes, based on the harmony of -our mutual relations, was sincere. We saw our friends off on their -journey to New York, and bade good-bye to Mr. Whelpley our conductor, -Mr. Whitfield the baggage-master, who had been with us all along, and -to the steward and excellent _valetaille_ of the train, to whose care -we were very deeply indebted for our comfort. - -We were now transferred to the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé Railroad -Company. Mr. White, representative of it, who took charge of the Duke -and his party, was certainly an admirable selection in all respects, -as we had every reason to acknowledge every day and night of the many -weeks we were so fortunate as to enjoy his society and profit by his -quiet thoughtfulness. Mr. White is one of those Americans--the modern -types in all his good qualities of Juvenal's Greek--whom no one, after -a short experience of the versatility of their talents--quick, -sagacious, bold yet cautious, with a keen eye for character and much -quiet humour, full of decision and resource--would be surprised to -hear of as candidates for the highest office. He brought with him -Mayor Anderson, a railway official who had wide experience of -campaigning in the Civil War, and who carried about in his person a -leaden memento of battle, which had no effect on his animal spirits, -or, I am glad to add, his bodily health; Mr. Jerome, an officer of the -Chicago Railway; and Mr. Townsend, correspondent of the _Field_, to -the readers of which he is known, under the name of "St. Kames," as -the author of lively papers. We left Kansas City at 11.30, in a -complete little special train consisting of two luggage and two saloon -and sleeping cars, simply perfection in finish, elegance, and internal -arrangements, with kitchen, cooking apparatus, dining and sitting -saloon, harmonium, tables covered with bouquets of choice flowers, -thanks to Mr. Pullman. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -KANSAS--COLORADO--NEW MEXICO. - - Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé Railroad -- Land Grants -- - Farming Statistics -- Immigration and Settling -- Colorado - -- New Mexico -- Santa Fé -- Colossal Hotels -- Archbishop - Lamy -- The Rio Grande. - - -We have now taken a new point of departure. In a few minutes we are in -the State of Kansas (in which Kansas City is _not_, it is in Missouri) -and the western world lies before us. We have crossed the great river -by a bridge 1387 ft. long, which cost 200,000_l._ - -Kansas has now been opened up, as it is called. The Atchison, Topeka, -and Santa Fé Railway, incorporated in 1863, is one of the most -important trunk railways of the American continent. It now extends, -with its branches, over 1700 miles; but although it was authorised as -a railway in the year I have mentioned, the line from Topeka westward -was not commenced till 1869; and it was not till 1871 that -communication was completed to Newton, and a branch made to Wichita. -In the following year the line was completed between Atchison and -Topeka; and in 1875 and 1876 between Topeka and Kansas City, with an -extension westward to Pueblo in Colorado, increasing the mileage to -820. And now it has spanned rivers, tunnelled mountains, and crossed -deserts to Florida Pass in New Mexico, where it "connects" with the -Southern Pacific Railway and completes the communication with San -Francisco. The Company are still developing and pushing out their -lines. The Santa Fé Railroad is striking out for Albuquerque, New -Mexico, to make a short route to San Francisco. Another line is being -made to Guaymas, on the Gulf of California; and another to the city of -Mexico itself. And when all these are completed the boast of the -Handbook of the Company will be justified, and the Atchison, Topeka, -and Santa Fé will be the longest railway in the world under one -management. It will have every reasonable chance of being also the -main continental route to China, Japan, Australia, and South America, -tapping a large share of the passenger traffic to India, and leading -across the American Continent streams of voyagers and tourists. When -the Guaymas line is finished there will be a saving of not less than -1400 miles over the San Francisco route between New York and -Australia; and Japan and China will be brought nearer by 800 and 1000 -miles respectively. - -Now it does not, I think, fall within the scope of such a book as -this, which is intended to be a record of what a certain number of -people did in a short tour in the United States, rather than a work of -reference for emigrants, or repository of investigation, to offer any -opinion which might mislead those who are looking towards the western -world for their future homes and for the scene of their labours in -search of competence or fortune; but from what I was told I think it -may be taken as true that the railway company I have named has acted -with a liberality, in regard to the settlers in the State of Kansas, -which, if it has brought in return profits to them, must be admitted -to have entitled them to the praise of liberal and intelligent -dealing. When misfortune came upon the State, and the frontier -settlers needed help, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé Railway gave -it them, and carried them away from the scene of the failure, or -granted them terms for the repayment of the obligations they incurred -if they were willing to stay upon the farms. The Company have given -fair warning to all comers that they do not encourage them to rush off -to what is called the "Far West," and to wander about in the -wilderness in the hope that they will find quails and manna already -cooked and tumbling from the skies. They say that they do not advise -any person to come to Kansas to start farming unless he has capital -enough to run it for a year. By Act of Congress, in 1863, 3,000,000 -acres of land were granted to the Company in alternate sections, -between Cottonwood and the border of Kansas on the west, extending -twenty miles each side on the line as far as Kinsley, where the -breadth narrows to ten miles at each side. Government in these Western -States, in the case of grants like this, is authorised by Congress to -retain the alternative sections of one square mile, equal to 640 -acres, which are retained for homestead and pre-emption; and at the -time at which I am writing all the even-numbered sections which are -thus belonging to the Government are occupied by settlers as far west -as Spearville, and the sections with odd numbers within ten and twenty -miles of the railway, belonging to the Railway Company, have now been -largely appropriated, about one-third having been sold to actual -settlers. But the Company state that it is almost impossible now to -find any vacant land over one mile from a neighbour's house, or over -three miles from a school-house east of Spearville, except in the -strip of sandhills lying on the south side of the Arkansas Railway. In -many of the counties, the country is thickly settled and improved, and -has an appearance of having been farmed for a quarter of a century -instead of a few years. - -It would probably be unjust to suppose that the praise and -recommendation of the gentlemen connected with the great lines are -much, if at all, influenced by the consideration of their own -interests as officers or shareholders; and therefore I may take it for -granted that the assertion, that "no matter what the speciality of the -farmer may be, he will find soil and climate in the sections of the -Company to suit him," is justified. Along by Cottonwood, and the -eastern half of the Marion county, the high rolling prairie, covered -with sweet nutritious grass, broken at short intervals by numerous -valleys of corn, a quarter of a mile to a mile wide, through which -flow perennial streams fed by hundreds of living springs, and fringed -with timber, is peculiarly adapted to cattle-raising and dairying as -a speciality, and the soil and climate are favourable to general -farming. Between Florence and the Great Bend is described as the -finest portion of Kansas. The county is gently rolling, in rich fields -of which nearly every acre can be tilled, with deep upland soil and -dark sandy loam underlaid with a porous marl, almost equal in -fertility and affording a perfect and natural drainage. It is almost -ridiculous to enumerate the crops which can be grown, according to my -authority in this district--corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, flax, -buckwheat, tobacco, Irish and sweet potatoes, sorghum, castor-beans, -broom-corn, rice-corn, millet, clover, timothy, peanuts, silkworms, -apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, grapes, and all kinds of -vegetables. - -There was in 1879, and a part of last year, a terrible drought in the -western portion of the State, and Mr. Bennyworth, seeing that wheat -could not be grown in consequence, planted 600 acres of sugar-cane, -and was rewarded for his intelligence and enterprise by a crop of -which the sugar and syrup are equal to the best of Louisiana--10 tons -to the acre, every ton producing 80 lbs. of sugar and 2 gallons of -syrup, the average yield of the acre being 800 lbs. of sugar, at 10c., -and 20 gallons of syrup. Value of the crop $75 to $80 per acre, or -from 15_l._ to 16_l._, which is, they say, a clear profit of 8_l._ an -acre. The United States at present pays about 20,000,000_l._ to -foreign countries for sugar; and if this new industry succeeds, a -large outflow of money will be cut off and turned westwards into the -pockets of the Kansas farmer. Dhoura, or Egyptian corn, is being also -cultivated with success, and is pronounced very excellent food for -hogs, cattle, and horses, giving the stock-raiser of the West cheap -food for his cattle, and, in conjunction with the buffalo-grass, -enabling him to fatten them at the smallest possible rate. - -In South Central Kansas, forest trees are rapidly growing up; for it -would seem that before the country was settled trees were not found at -all, except by the banks of the streams. Between the Great Bend and -Dodge City the country has the same deep, rich, well-drained soil, but -it presents a great change in the climate and the grasses, the latter -being principally the buffalo-grass, instead of the tall blue-stained -grass of the country farther east. As we go westward from the Great -Bend, there is a higher elevation, a drier atmosphere and a smaller -rainfall, and a different system of cropping is required. Winter wheat -is dangerous to meddle with, because there may be a short rainfall, -which happens once every five years, and then failure is certain; but -broom-corn can get on in dry weather, and the sugar-cane has never -failed. The manufacture of sugar at Larned in Pawnee County is -declared to have been so successful that sugar-growing and making give -every promise of being the coming industry in South-western Kansas; -and in the same district, sheep-raising has made marked progress. But -it is admitted that the result was very much in consequence of the -failure of the wheat-crop. Capital is required here for growing -wheat, broom-corn, or sugar, or breeding sheep or cattle. West of -Dodge City the Company admit that there is only grazing to be had, -except along the valley of the Arkansas river, where irrigation is -being carried on with successful results in fitting the soil to raise -vegetables for the markets in Colorado and New Mexico. It must be -remembered that the average elevation of the great region which is -traversed by the rail is about 200 feet above the level of the sea; -and although I will not go so far as to believe that chills and -fevers, asthma, consumption, and pulmonary diseases do not exist, or -are relieved and cured by the air, I think there is ground for -accepting the statement that the climate is generally healthy. - -I cannot offer any opinion on the great question of water supply, but -the Railway Company aver that the eastern half of their grant is well -watered by running streams, and that though in the western half there -are longer intervals between the watercourses, ample supplies of this -great necessary can be obtained at a depth of 15 to 50 feet below the -surface, and it is only on the summit of the high divides that greater -depth must be reached before water is struck. The employment of -windmills is becoming pretty general. - -Now as to the rainfall. Over such a large extent of territory, it is -not to be wondered at that there should be a considerable difference -in the averages. The Eastern Belt of Kansas has an average rainfall -of 33 inches, the Centre Belt 25 inches, and the Western Belt 20 -inches; the sufficiency of this rainfall depends upon the nature of -the soil, a fact to be remembered and taken much to heart by every man -who goes out to Kansas with a view to settling there, and his family. -There is almost a menace in the words in which they are told by the -local authorities, that deep ploughing, repeated harrowing, and -frequent rolling are required for success, and that no State requires -so high a standard of intelligence as Kansas. Slipshod farming is not -profitable anywhere, least of all in Kansas; my friends of the -Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé Railway admit that there are people -who, returning to the east, denounce the climate and the country which -they could not understand or work; but take heart at the thought that -they are the shiftless who are weeded out, and that pluck and -intelligence are attracted and will prosper on a soil peculiarly -suited for them. - -Kansas was organised as a territory in 1854. It then contained 8000 -people. In January 1861 it was admitted into the Union as a State, but -the population at that time was not 110,000 souls. In the Civil War -party spirit ran high, and the struggle between the Federals and -Confederates was protracted and fierce. But the majority of the -emigrants were the hardy and adventurous people of the North and -North-west States, and these, notwithstanding the vicinity of the -great slave States and their consequent influence, established their -ascendency, and amongst the most valiant soldiers of the Union were -the men of Kansas regiments, of whom it is said that 61 per cent. fell -in battle. - -On the establishment of the Federal Government, the increase of Kansas -was rapid, and the development of the State in the last fifteen years -is said to be unparalleled in the history of these lands of wondrous -growth and progress, even when compared with the most rapid extension -of the most prosperous of its western neighbours. The population -increased from 136,000 in 1865, to 997,000 last year. Taxable property -in the same time increased from $36,000,000 to $160,000,000; the -taxation for State purposes from $217,000 to $884,000. The taxes which -were $1 60c. in 1865, were not 89c. last year. The State debts had -increased from $456,000 to $1,182,000; but the amount per head had -fallen from $3 35c. to $1 18c. The assessed value of the State is 50 -per cent. less than the real value. The total number of acres in the -State was given at 52,000,000 some odd thousands; but there is a -remarkable fact to be noticed, that of these only 22,000,000 and some -odd thousands are returned as taxable. The wealth of the State per -head is given at the very respectable figure of $323, which may be -taken to be about 65_l._; and the total value of farm products in 1879 -was $81,000,000. There were 5000 school-houses; 7000 teachers in the -State; the invested school fund amounted to $1,684,000, and the annual -school fund to $303,000; and the estimated value of all unsold school -lands to $13,000,000. - -We are threatened over in the East with an extraordinary rush of -cattle across the Atlantic, and from Kansas will come, should that -menace be realised, which I do not believe, a very large share of the -contribution to our food resources. The corn crop of the State yielded -over 100,000,000 bushels in one year; but it is not so much what the -value of that crop is, as the amount of cattle, sheep, pigs and horses -it would feed, that the Kansas people consider. In 1880, however, the -returns did not quite alarm one, although the increase in stock in -fifteen years was very remarkable. There were 1,116,000 cattle; -1,282,000 pigs; 427,000 sheep; 368,000 horses, and 59,000 mules. The -total value of the stock was estimated at something over -12,000,000_l._ Note, however, that there has been a failure in the -grass crops of Mexico and Colorado, and that vast flocks of sheep were -driven perforce from those regions into Western Kansas. I have heard -from a good authority that it has been found that herds of cattle -absolutely deteriorate the grass instead of enriching it, which is a -phenomenon that requires explanation. With respect to sheep there -appears to be more certainty. In some districts a threefold increase -has taken place in the quantity of stock in one year. Generally, as to -prices, there is but an increase of 5 per cent. over the cost of -necessary articles in the East, in the large Kansas stores. - -While the increase in the population of the United States for the last -ten years has been about 1,000,000 per annum, the increase in that of -Kansas has been 100,000 annually, or one-tenth of the entire increase -of the forty-seven States and Territories of the Union. It is believed -that when the next census is taken nine years hence, Kansas will be in -the position of the fourth or fifth of the States in population and -productiveness--yesterday an infant, to-day a giant. However, the -giant is exposed to many sorts of trouble as he is attaining his -development. - -I fear to weary my readers more with figures, but any one who is -interested in the actual condition of Kansas, and desirous of -investigating the statistics connected with it, will have no -difficulty in obtaining full information by applying to the Land -Commissioner at Topeka, or to any officer of the United States -Government connected with the land. - -In order that emigrants may test with their own eyes as far as -possible the reality of the statements made respecting these lands, -tickets are issued, good for forty days, which may be obtained at all -the railway offices in the United States. The holder must go in five -days to the Arkansas Valley, and return from it in the same time, so -that he will have thirty days to examine the country between -Cottonwood and Dodge City; and if a purchase of 160 acres be made from -the Company, the amount of the fare will be refunded, and half the -fare if the emigrant buys eighty acres. Now as to the people who -should come. The artisan looking for employment, the young man who -desires to be a clerk, the farmer who has no capital, the man who -wants to be rich in a few years without hard work--these are not -wanted; there is no hope for them; nor is there for the man who has -made a failure wherever he has tried to succeed; nor the agriculturist -who sets out with a great stock of machinery under a heavy mortgage. -But men and women who expect to meet drawbacks, and who are not -discouraged, and not afraid to work; who know how to economise, and -possess intelligence, judgment, and enterprise--these, and plenty of -them, are wanted. So are people of capital. What is called a gritty -farmer may start in a small way with 200_l._, but to give him a fair -chance he ought to have at least double the money. A man with 1000_l._ -can secure--mind, _non mea sermo_--a fine farm in South Central Kansas -in a well-settled community, near schools and churches; put one-third -of his capital into stock, and nothing short of mismanagement can -prevent the realisation of 33 per cent. from his stock investment. The -people who have got all these good things, moral and material, to -start with, may do very well in other places. The remark upon that is, -that they must succeed in Kansas. - -I have seen too many evidences of wealth, natural and acquired, to -doubt of the greatness of the future which is opening in the Far West -to the citizens of the Republic; but I also have witnessed, even from -the windows of a railway train, sufficient to make me aware of the -great struggles which must be made by pioneers, and by the early -colonists and settlers in these distant regions, before the -conditions of civilised life be fulfilled. There can be no question of -the severity and length of the winters, but then we were told on all -sides, with a concurrent testimony that could not be disputed or -doubted, that the exceeding dryness of the climate renders the most -excessive cold of very much less actual consequence to the sufferer -than it would be in a country where there is moisture in the air. In -fact in these Prairie regions, when the thermometer is perhaps 15° or -20° below freezing point, the cold is not so severely felt as with us -when it is only 2° or 3° below 32°. - -The existence of insect plagues--bugs and beetles of all kinds, or at -least many destructive species--the prevalence of drought, violent -tornados, the sudden rising of great rivers, forest and grass fires, -all and each present elements of insecurity for the harvest. It would -seem that one of the most serious mischiefs which the early settler -has to encounter--I do not speak of the Indians, who are only to be -found in certain districts far away from the region of which I am -writing--is the insufficiency of the capital with which most of them -begin life. They think that when they have got a square of land they -have an assured subsistence, but when they come to break it up and to -procure seed and agricultural implements, in a country where labour is -scarcely to be had even on exorbitant terms, they find that their -little capital with which they commenced--the greater part of which -was probably absorbed in the erection of the humble dwelling in which -they are content to live at the beginning--is quite insufficient to -meet their needs and to enable them to tide over the interval between -their establishment on the land and the time when any reward can be -reaped for their labour. They and their families must live; food must -be bought; and so it is that among these outlying settlements there is -one sure harvest to be reaped--that is, the gain of the money-lender, -I will not say usurer, who advances on the security of the land sums -for which he charges 10, 15 or 20 per cent. interest. Formerly the -struggle was not so severe as it is now, because the land was more -accessible, and speculators, whose operations have attracted -unfavourable comment, had not come into possession; but now it will be -very hard indeed to obtain at moderate rates any land on the great -lines of railway of a superior quality, except at a high price; and -the settler is obliged to go far afield, and to strike out into the -country which has not been appropriated by the land-shark. - -It would be unsatisfactory to rely on statements, often interested, -which one hears respecting the resources of the country; and it was -not to be expected that the opportunity of influencing one who might -direct a considerable amount of emigration and of money into these -parts, would be lost by active-minded gentlemen who are interested in -the land. But making allowance for all exaggerations, and trusting to -the evidence of one's senses, I could not but believe that a young man -with 500_l._ at his command, clear of all deductions, with -determination to get on, a little practical knowledge of agriculture, -and absolute self-control to resist the temptations of prairie life, -would be master of an assured competence in four or five years, unless -he were exceedingly unfortunate or subject to some of the vicissitudes -of which I have spoken. - -A man can buy outright in Kansas a farm for a year's rent of one in -the East, and in less than ten years he can make a good living for -himself and family. It is amusing almost to be assured that if he has -a wife she should come with him, "because her husband is a landed -proprietor, and she will find the social distinctions which in the -East are drawn between the family of the landowner and those of the -mere renter." They may think that the society they have left is -different from that which they will find out in the West, but if they -come they will discover as many families of refinement and education -among the Kansas farmers as in any part of the States. - -The terms of sale are different. First, there is No. 1, or eleven -years' credit, with 7 per cent. interest. Let us take a farm of 160 -acres, at $5 per acre, bought on the 1st of April, 1882. The first -payment of one-tenth of the principal and 7 per cent. interest on the -remainder, in all $130 40c., must be made at the time of -purchase--that is 26_l._ In April the following year the payment is -only the 7 per cent. interest, and the same for the second year, -namely, $50 40c. for each year. On the third year one-tenth of the -principal, with 7 per cent. on the balance, amounting to $124 80c., -and so on each succeeding year, so that in 1893 the man would become -the owner of his plot of 160 acres, for which he would have paid $800 -principal and $352 80c. interest--total, $1152 80c., or 225_l._ In the -six years' credit, or No. 2 term, the first payment is made, at date -of purchase, of one-sixth principal and 7 per cent.; the second payment -is interest only; and in the subsequent year one-sixth of the sum and -7 per cent. interest, and so on; but the Company will give a discount -from the appraised prices of 20 per cent. under these circumstances. -On two years' credit they allow 30 per cent., the payments being three -in number; the first, a third of the principal at the time of -purchase, with 10 per cent. interest on the balance, and that balance -being paid in two annual instalments. So with the same farm under this -system, on term No. 3, the farmer will pay $560 for securing 160 acres -of land, and $56 interest, or $616 altogether--about 123_l._ Where the -whole amount of the purchase money is paid down a discount of 33-1/3 -per cent. is made, so that one can become the owner of 160 acres for -$533 33c.; or, if payments are made in advance of maturity, and deed -taken up, purchasers on long credit will be allowed a liberal -discount. There were still about 1,105,000 acres of land to be let, -varying in price from $4 an acre in Sedgewick County, to $1 50c. in -Stafford, Pawnee, &c. - -Droughty Kansas, as it is called, was smitten severely last year, but -it is hoped that at least twenty will elapse before the State is -afflicted by a similar visitation; and the rain-belt is said to be -travelling westward in the past twenty-five years, each increase of -acreage cultivated adding to the moisture store, and the capacity of -the soil increasing the evaporation. - -Travellers like ourselves must depend greatly upon hearsay for any -information that we can derive respecting the resources of the country -through which we are going. - -There are few buildings which would be considered of a permanent -character visible from the railway train at the stations. They are -generally built for the accommodation of some small town close at -hand. Wood, generally to be found in the West before the prairie lands -are reached, furnishes the material of which most public edifices and -private habitations are constructed; and invariably there is to be -seen, wherever a dozen such houses are placed together, one structure, -generally the most important of all--the school; and a church and a -printing office. These are great agencies. Nothing has perhaps done -more to develop the energy of the American people than the amount of -general intelligence which has been diffused by the State from the -very outset of the Republic by the system of Common Schools, which -dates far back, long previous to the successful assertion of their -independence by the colonists, and which was grafted upon the -institutions of the country. - -The line of rail regulates its course by the windings of the Kansas -River for nearly 200 miles, and as we journeyed on the dim outlines of -the Rocky Mountains could be discerned, and they gradually -strengthened and grew high and broad as we sped westwards. Towns of -which we had never heard rose up imposingly on the plain. Lawrence and -Topeka, capital of the State (60 miles from Kansas City), and smaller -settlements in a wonderful country. "What have these people done," -exclaimed one of my companions, "that God should be so good to them?" -And that was said more than once, I think, and would be felt far -oftener by distressed agriculturists if they could see the country. -All day long we ran through this land of fatness, conversing with our -new companions, whom we found very intelligent and agreeable. There -was a fresh "crew" on board our ship, but we found no reason to regret -the change, loth as we had been to part with our late attendants. The -sun set over the western slopes, night fell--our companions retired to -their own carriages, and after a talk over our new experiences we -followed their example. - -_May 28th._--The "track" was not always in good order, and the car was -"agitated" pretty violently at times, for we were going at a very fair -speed over exceedingly sharp curves; in fact, no waggon on the English -principle could be expected to remain on the rail at all; and so I had -occasion ever and anon to peep out at the stars, for I was shut in and -curtained closely in my Pullman, and observed that the country had -subsided into a dead waste, treeless, and apparently houseless, -through which flowed a broad river, bank-full, and almost on a level -with the rail. The line struck the Arkansas at Nickerson, and never -left it for hundreds of miles. I awoke at dawn from a troublous sleep, -and looked out on the outer world from my secluded couch--on a world -so utterly unlike that through which we had passed yesterday, that it -was scarcely possible to imagine that we had only travelled through -the darkness of one night at the rate of twenty-five miles an hour in -the same land. The border line had been passed at "Serjeants," 10 -miles east, and we were now in Colorado. - -Colorado is a vast square, extending from 25° to 35° west longitude, -from 37° to 41° of latitude from Washington. It is bounded by New -Mexico on the south, Kansas and Nebraska on the east, Wyoming -Territory on the north, and Utah on the west. The great mass of the -population is concentrated about the middle of the State, at Denver, -Leadville, and on the course of the rivers adjacent to the principal -mining districts. On the west towards Utah an enormous extent of -country is occupied by Indian reservations, and there are also -mountain ranges and vast plateaus which, as yet, are unsettled and -almost uninhabited. - -By the side of the rail there spread away to the horizon a plain -apparently as flat as the sea itself, but the course and current of -the river on our left showed that there was a steady rise to the west; -the Arkansas has a fall of 7 feet in the mile, so that we mount -westward at that rate till we reach the summit of the great upheaval -of the Rockies, the existence of which would not otherwise be -cognizable. The plain is covered with tufted grass, the soil is thin -and sandy. At long intervals a small wooden shanty. Now and then a -roof visible above the level of the plain, covering an excavated -dwelling--the solitary window just even with the ground, the doorway -buried in a covered way, and the early inhabitant pretty sure to have -his or her head thereat to inspect the passing train. Prairie dogs -popped up their inquisitive faces. Turkey buzzards soared over the -carcases of cattle killed on the line, the number of which must be -pretty large, if all the skeletons by the way belonged to the -category. - -As morning broke the greatness of the change became more marked. -Farewell to fat corn-fields and undulating plains, beseamed with -tree-embowered, deeply set, and muddy rivers, to frequent villages and -Kansas towns, to the cheerful aspect of labour and its rich rewards, -to the rows of tender green maize, the expanses of wheat, the herds of -cattle, belly-deep in the meadows, the black swine wallowing in the -ponds! I do not say "farewell" regretfully, but use the word to -express a complete departure from the scene of yesterday. By the -margin of the river belts of cotton-wood trees lent shade as the day -wore on to herds of wild-looking cattle, and presently vast flocks of -sheep and lambs appeared on the plain, and droves of horses, the -mares with foals at their feet, tended by mounted men, accompanied by -slim wiry greyhounds. These belonged to the marshes, which became more -frequent as we progressed westward. The character of the soil -gradually improved; patches of flowers, purple, blue, and yellow, gave -brightness to the colouring of the prairie grass, but it is not easy -to identify species from the windows of a railway carriage. Here -Pawnees and Apaches hunted the buffaloes, which not long ago literally -blackened the meadows. Soon after 8 A.M. the train stopped at -Granada--three or four scattered detached houses--a "store," "a -drover's home," a ticket-office; the Duke and some others got out "to -change the air," and to talk to some workmen who were digging a deep -well for engine supply. - -More life perhaps, and greater show of cattle and horses--interesting -too in what there was to see, for it was of novel aspect; toiling over -the track parallel to the railway, tilt-covered carts, one or two, or -three perhaps, of emigrants making westwards "_immer und immer_"; -groups of tents where the wayfarers halted; the usual outcome of women -and children gazing at the special; tall, long-haired, wild-looking -men tending their herds, riding lasso in hand after the wild colts -scampering in the distance, for we are now in New Mexico. - -If a Boer in a trance were taken up by the breeches and dropped -hereabouts, he would surely begin to look about for his house! It is -the Transvaal all over--the Drakensberg, with patches of snow here and -there on the peaks near at hand. The land does not flow with milk or -water, but there is coal in the hills, and there is wealth of sheep, -horses, and herds. The "burro" or donkey, which plays such an -important part in the domestic economy of the Mexican, abounded; -explorers' covered carts, termed "desert schooners," with white tilt -roofs, were seen on the plain. - -A little before noon the train reached La Junta (the -junction)--pronounced by the natives "Le Hunter." Mount Fisher on one -side, the Spanish Peak on the other, towered higher and higher. At -last, beyond Starkville, we reached the summit pass of the Rocky -range, here 9000 feet high. It needed two engines to haul the train up -the summit, which is perforated by a tunnel 1700 feet long. I am not -sure that the Sömmering or the Bhoreghaut presented greater -engineering difficulties. We got out to walk across the hill--not a -mile--and were well rewarded for the slight exertion, for there is a -grand panoramic view from the top, and we rejoined the train at the -foot laden with wild flowers and delighted with the scenery. Our -American friends told us not to hurry, as the air was so rarefied it -might affect us; but I do not think any of the party were -inconvenienced by the climb or descent. Lady Green was the first -Englishwoman who ever crossed the summit. There are not, we were -told, more than half-a-dozen American or other ladies who have ever -been over it. - -A little further west we crossed towards evening the frontier of New -Mexico. We whistled rejoicingly along cañons, slid down by the sides -of tremendous ravines, and sidled into the lower regions, where the -train found rest in a siding for the night at Las Vegas ("the -meadows"). - -_May 29th._--The ship of the desert was under weigh soon after 6 A.M., -and the promises made that early risers would be rewarded by fine -scenery were amply fulfilled. We were still making our way by wide, -sweeping curves downwards to the hilly plains of New Mexico--a novel -flora and a complete change of forestry--scarce a house visible, -stations at long intervals, sage bush, juniper, and firs, the river -courses marked by belts of cotton-wood trees. - -At last we reached Santa Fé--a very pleasant break, indeed, but short, -alas! at this ancient city--the oldest now existing on this North -American Continent--100 years older than Boston--hubbiest and most -rejuvenated of the work of civilised hands! The cupolas of the -cathedral, of the hospital, and of the old church of San Miguel, were -visible some time before the adobe houses of the "city" came in view. -The builders put Santa Fé in a hollow for the sake of the little -stream. Colonel Hatch and his staff, who were waiting to receive the -Duke in full uniform, entered the saloon and introduced his adjutant, -Captain Lord, Major Lee, of the Quartermaster-General's Department, -Captain Woodruff, &c. What a charming change it was to meet agreeable, -well-informed gentlemen who never once mentioned "dollars," or told us -what any one was worth, or the number of bushels of wheat and other -stuffs which were raised per acre, and who had no elevators to show! -Carriages were waiting. Colonel Hatch drove the Duke of Sutherland -"behind" a capital pair of fast trotters. Lady Green and Sir H. Green, -accompanied by Major Lee, were in a carriage and pair; Mr. Stephen, -Mr. Wright and I were assigned to Captain Woodruff; Edward was on the -box; our chariot wheels drave heavily; but the spirited little horses -spun us rapidly through the streets of the town, into what would be -called in India "the cantonment"--the Head-Quarters of the district of -New Mexico. Within a large quadrangle, fenced in by a neat white -paling, facing two sides of the square, are placed the detached houses -of the officers, each with its little garden and trellised verandah in -front, and a small space in the rear; the barracks and hospital, very -neat outside, and no doubt equally proper interiorly--efforts at -gardening and flowers commendable. In the centre the tall pole bearing -"Old Glory" (the Stars and Stripes) aloft to the admiring skies, a -Parrot gun for signals, and military properties generally. Some -soldiers of the 9th Cavalry and 15th Infantry were lounging about, but -the Command is scattered at Fort Union, Fort Bayard, Fort Wingate -(13th Infantry), Fort Lewis, Pagosa Springs, Fort Craig, Ojo -Caliente, Fort Stanton, Fort Bliss (Texas), Fort Cummings, and Fort -Seldon. Just before we arrived a column had marched off to strengthen -the frontier posts, 200 miles away, where the Ute Indians were -menacing the poor whites with war--one of those troubles which appear -to be the greatest blot on the capacity of the United States -Government in its civil administration. The streets are narrow, the -houses of abode two storeys high, with flat earth roofs, but there is -a plaza with some trees, in which there was a small crowd listening to -the strains of the excellent band of the 9th Cavalry--a penny theatre, -drinking saloons, bars, &c., and a large hotel is being built on a -scale which argues a robust faith in the future of Santa Fé. From the -mounds on which Fort Marcy stood in the time of the war, we looked -down on the flat roofs of the town and wondered how the people were -fed, for of cornfields or of green there was no trace; but we were -told that there is a good deal of trade in the place, and that it was -not as bad as it looked. Thence the Cathedral--to be the _magnum opus_ -of the good Archbishop. The lofty walls of cut stone and pillared -doorways and windows are rising--let us hope rapidly and surely--round -the original adobe of the simple edifice, which was built by the -Spaniards in the usual cruciform shape more than two centuries ago. -Some veiled and black-robed sisters of charity were praying before the -Virgin in the transept; curiosity to see the strangers prevailed for a -moment, and for a moment only. Criticism must be mute before the -pious intent with which the intrepid missionaries decorated with -images and pictures the altar and the lateral chapels. If any one as -he stood thought of the peril which attended the steps of these good -men, and then felt inclined to scoff at the rude art of the Christian -symbols he saw around him, I should not feel proud of his -companionship. We went on to the Church of San Miguel, an adobe block, -dating from 1572, in the time of the Marquis of Penuelo, but renovated -after two fires, the last about 200 years ago. The stalwart sacristan -who received us, a full-blooded Canadian, was a famous base ball -player. He showed the little there was to be seen with care and -courtesy--no doubt "_pius miles, fortis sacerdos_." A large Hospital, -due to the devotion of one nun, who collected and worked year after -year among the faithful, was pointed out to us. But we had yet to pay -our respects to the venerated and venerable Archbishop. Our carriages -stopped at the door of a modest house--the visitors were conducted -through an open courtyard in the Spanish fashion, with a fountain -sparkling in the centre, to the Archbishop's reception-room, a quietly -furnished apartment, with religious paintings and pictures on the -walls, bookcases well-filled with patristic theology, history, &c. -Presently the Archbishop entered--a tall man of commanding presence -and benevolent aspect, dressed in the purple of his rank, with perfect -manners and the pleasantest possible expression in his keen yet gentle -eyes. Over seventy years of age, he is still the boldest and most -untiring of horsemen, and, unarmed and unescorted, he travels from one -end of New Mexico to Texas and California without any fear of what -man, red or white, can do unto him. It is forty years since Archbishop -Lamy left the shores of France for America, and for thirty years he -has devoted himself to the spiritual welfare and temporal progress of -the people of his enormous diocese. By all classes and all -denominations he is held in honour, and when the Pope sent him the -archbishop's _pallium_ some years back, the procession was headed by -two Jews! a singular token of tolerance on both sides, which might be -commended to the notice of religious Germans and Russians. The -Archbishop led us to his ample and well-stocked garden, an oasis in -the adobe wilderness; to his fish-ponds, where trout and fish unknown -to us rose to take food from his hand, all the time chatting so easily -and answering questions so kindly that every one felt sorry when it -was time to go. If all we were told be true, the field of the -Archbishop's labours yields many tares and thistles. Monte is a -powerful rival; faro has many votaries; the only two houses of -pretension in Santa Fé belong to priests of these _cultes_. High and -low, rich and poor, gamble as the business of life. The ladies, once -freed from duennadom by marriage, cause great uneasiness to their -father confessors. Several of the younger women, with fine eyes and -teeth and raven tresses, were pretty, but we did not see any who -looked like a lady; the old ones were fat and exceedingly unlovely. -The Mexican men and women were dark as Indians--dusky as Lola--and -easily recognisable from Americans by their affectation of gay colours -in dress. Colonel Hatch and his officers bade good-bye at the station. -General Sheridan had telegraphed that the party would arrive last -night, and a little ball had been arranged in our honour, but all we -could do now was to thank our friends for their good intentions and -drink to their long life and preservation from the Indians and other -evils, and at four o'clock the train moved out and left the capital of -New Mexico to its own devices. The good prelate sent the Duke a -present of Mexican wine, which disappeared between the house and the -railway. I hope it disagreed with the rogues who drank it, but that is -a detail. The Indians--a race called Pueblos--about here are quiet, -civilised after a fashion and a bad one. There is a large settlement -some miles farther on than Santa Fé where the train halted, and we -were surrounded by red men eager for tobacco, women, and children, -with turquoises to sell--keen-eyed, white-teethed, with masses of -straight, coarse black hair, cut straight off the forehead, worn by -the men in clubs behind, and by the women in unkempt locks. The women -had their legs swathed from the knee down in thick folds of cotton -cloth, and wore a sort of kilt, with red and black blankets on their -shoulders. The men wore deerskin leggings and castaway European -clothing; none were armed but one, who had an old musket. I committed -a penal offence unwittingly by giving one of them a small glass of -whisky. Alas! How long was it before our kind Christian friends -discovered that the firewater of the palefaces was not an "agency" for -good? How long ere the Wilfrid Lawsons of Washington decreed that -temperance for red men should be enforced by law? The train sped on, -the broad dry bed of the tributary of the Rio Grande del Norte close -at hand. Ere sunset we had struck the great but unprofitable river -itself. As the train steamed along through the waste, "It's exactly -like Sibi," said one. "It's Beloochistan," says another. "No," argued -a fellow, "It's like Egypt about Abul-Simnel." Any way, an Indian -Caractacus might well wonder why Hidalgo of Spain or Yankee of New -England should envy him his barren, fata-morgana-haunted desert, -fenced in by mountain ridges tier upon tier. "By thunder! they'll get -$100,000,000 of gold out of that mountain before they be done with it. -There is a company forming to make a dam that will cost $500,000 to -scoop it out." And the untutored Indian, anxious for a 10c. piece, -knew not that more wealth than Cortez, or Pizarro, Drake, or Raleigh, -ever dreamt of lay close at hand! The Duke, who had what the Americans -call "quite a good time of it" on the engine, with a London and -North-Western driver, was struck with the stress of work put on the -locomotive. It was to run from Kansas City to Deming--1140 miles--it -is not often an English engine has to do more than 200 miles without -an overhaul and rest. There were two engineers and two firemen for all -the journey, and they were to return from Deming as soon as needed. -"Ten o'clock! Arthur, make up the beds--good night, everyone!" Rattle, -rattle, all night--onwards under the bright stars through the desert -till morning. - - -END OF VOL. I. - - -LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STREET -AND CHARING CROSS. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hesperothen; Notes from the West, Vol. -1 (of 2), by W. H. 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