At a visit which I made to Governor Clinton, in the City Hall, where his office is, I saw in the room of audience several handsome portraits by Sully, Peale, Trumbull, &c. I was most pleased with a full length portrait of the deceased Commodore Perry. This naval hero was represented at the moment of leaving in a small boat his vessel, which had became useless, and going on board of another, in which he gained his splendid victory over the English on Lake Erie. There is also here a full length portrait of General Jackson, and of Generals Brown, Macomb, and Swift, as well as those of Commodores Hull, Decatur, Bainbridge, M‘Donough and Chauncy, and of the former Governor Lewis. There is also a very good portrait of Ex-President Monroe, as well as of several of the earlier Governors of New York, among whom is one of the last Dutch Governors, Peter Stuyvezant, in full armour. In another hall appropriated to the meetings of the corporation, there is a portrait by Trumbull of the great Washington, and opposite to this, a portrait of the elder Governor Clinton, uncle of De Witt Clinton, as well as those of General Hamilton and Chief Justice Jay.
To my great delight I met with my fellow traveller, Mr. Bowdoin; we were much together; in company with him I paid a visit to the English Admiral, Sir Isaac Coffin. He is an American by birth, and although he belongs to the English navy and is a member of parliament, his whole heart still clings to his native country, and he has come hither to see it again before his death.
I was much disappointed at a second visit to the Italian opera. Il barbiere di Seviglia was announced, but on account of the indisposition of the Signorina Garcia, it was not represented. The same folly prevails among the public here, as among the English, to require a repetition of the greater part of the airs, even of the most difficult songs, without regard to the exhaustion of the singer.
I visited again, in company with the Rev. Mr. Schaeffer, the excellent institution, called House of Refuge for juvenile offenders. This institution has increased since last autumn, and now contains ninety-three young persons of both sexes; at present, however, there are only twenty-three of the female sex. Such an institution is certainly worthy of imitation; for children, who are led astray by wrong inclinations, by the wickedness of their parents, and by bad company, are brought back again to the right road, whereas in other countries they are shut up in public prisons with old offenders, and thereby they become still more corrupted. The house intended for the boys was finished, and inhabited by them. They were at this time employed in building another for the girls, parallel with the former. The boys sleep each alone in a cell on a piece of sail cloth, which they spread out and fasten by four pegs. These are long rooms, which serve as school rooms, and are on one side of the building two stories high. The second row is reached by wooden steps, and a gallery runs before the cells of this row. All the boys are employed; either in receiving instruction or in attending to some mechanical business. They are taylors, shoemakers, weavers, joiners, and basket-makers. I saw here a machine to cut out shoe soles and heels. Sharp irons are formed according to the shape, which is designed for the sole or heel; these irons are placed on a pair of wet hides, and brought under an iron press, which is worked like those in the mint. The boys who distinguish themselves by their industry and good behaviour, are placed in the first class, and carry on the left arm a brass plate, with the inscription, first class, as a mark of distinction. Those on the contrary, who have endeavoured to escape, drag a chain with a heavy iron ball. The period of detention in this institution is left to the discretion of the commissioners; they may be detained till their twenty-first year.
In order to show me the boys, the director gave notice with a whistle, upon which they arranged themselves, according to their size. Several large and strong fellows stood on the right wing, among which I saw one of a very good appearance, whom I saw here last year as clerk. His family had confined him here on account of an irresistible propensity to steal, against which, neither exhortation nor severe corporeal punishment availed. I saw two little boys of seven years, on the left wing, who had already begun to steal. The biography of every one is written in a separate book, and a journal afterwards kept of his behaviour, punishments, &c. The director of the house showed me some of these biographies; they are psychologically, exceedingly remarkable. The greater part of the boys had been induced to steal by larger ones, who have been confined on account of this offence in the penitentiary or state prison. The director called the former of these institutions the academy, and the latter the university for thieves. The benefit of this house of refuge is perceived in the clearest manner from these biographies, it is seen of what importance it is to anticipate the development of crime. It is certainly an effective mode of improving the morality of the lower classes. They say that it is more difficult to keep the girls in order, than the boys, and that upon the whole, the former are much worse than the latter. They are generally seduced, when they are but nine or ten years old. When not engaged in receiving instruction, they are employed in female occupations.
After leaving this interesting institution, we repaired to the alms-house on the East river. With the alms-house they have connected the workhouse, in which criminals are confined and employed for the benefit and advantage of the city. The institution was erected at the expense of the city, and consists of three long massive buildings, three stories high, with several side buildings, designed for hospitals, schools, smithshops, &c. The whole is surrounded with a wall, and divisions made in the interior, to separate the paupers from the criminals. The offices and the rooms occupied by the officers, as well as those of the poor, are arranged in the building fronting on the river, the second house also contains rooms for the poor, and workshops, in which those who can yet work, are usefully employed. About twelve hundred helpless poor people and children, among which are many foundlings, are here supported. They inhabit large halls, which, however, have a bad smell, and I missed that cleanliness, which is indispensably necessary in such an establishment. A poor-house, is at best an unpleasant, and when it is not cleanly kept, a disgusting sight. Those who are confined, are criminals of a lower kind, the worst are not confined longer than three years. The men work during the day, either in the fields belonging to the city, or in the public streets. A chain is attached to their leg, and they are under the inspection of appointed sentinels. The women are employed in various manners. A treading-mill was formerly in operation in a side building; but this has not been used for a year, as it was thought injurious to the health of the prisoners. A kind of typhus raged in the prison last year, which carried off numbers of the prisoners. These sleep in separate cells, each of which, is seven feet long, and three feet broad. Each prisoner has here, as in the house of refuge, a piece of sail cloth, spread out on four pegs, on which he sleeps. There is a small grate in each door, which admits the necessary light into the cell. There are sixty cells in one hall, all on one side, in five rows above each other; each row has a small gallery. The hall receives its light from above. A pulpit, opposite the cells, is erected in this hall for worship; the prisoners who are confined during the service, stand behind the grate in their doors, whence they may see the minister. The whole arrangement has, as remarked above, a handsome and open situation; there is a belvidere on the roof of the front house, whence a handsome and extensive prospect may be enjoyed.
On the last day of my stay in New York and in America, I went with Mr. Zimmermann into some stores, and walked in some of the oldest parts of the city. In these parts the streets are crooked, narrow and gloomy, well adapted to retain the yellow fever. In the neighbourhood, however, of the alms-house there is a building three stories high, where the incurable lunatics, supported by the corporation of the city, are received; but the two upper stories are designed to receive, when the yellow fever appears, those who suffer with this dreadful evil, in order to remove, as quickly as possible, the infection from the city. Some old Dutch houses stand in the narrow streets, built by the first settlers, consisting only of a lower story, with the gable-ends towards the street. They are building in Wall street, a new exchange, which, when completed, will be a handsome building. The post-office is already placed in its lower story. Wall street is the street in which the most commercial business is done, and in which most of the banks stand; it is to be regretted that it is one of the ugliest streets in the city.
After having paid some farewell visits, I passed a part of my last evening in America, in a very agreeable manner in the house of Mrs. Bell. It is the most agreeable house for strangers in New York, in which they always meet with a very good reception. I enjoyed also, for several hours, the company of Mr. Bowdoin, and of Colonel Jones, the brother-in-law of Governor Clinton.
