In the evening I paid visits to some ladies, and witnessed philosophy and the love of equality put to the severest trial with one of them. She is named Virginia, from Philadelphia; is very young and pretty, was delicately brought up, and appears to have taken refuge here on account of an unhappy attachment. While she was singing and playing very well on the piano forte, she was told that the milking of the cows was her duty, and that they were waiting unmilked. Almost in tears, she betook herself to this servile employment, deprecating the new social system, and its so much prized equality.
After the cows were milked, in doing which the poor girl was trod on by one, and daubed by another, I joined an aquatic party with the young ladies and some young philosophers, in a very good boat upon the inundated meadows of the Wabash. The evening was beautiful moonlight, and the air very mild; the beautiful Miss Virginia forgot her stable sufferings, and regaled us with her sweet voice. Somewhat later we collected together in the house No. 2, appointed for a school-house, where all the young ladies and gentlemen of quality assembled. In spite of the equality so much recommended, this class of persons will not mix with the common sort, and I believe that all the well brought up members are disgusted, and will soon abandon the society. We amused ourselves exceedingly during the whole remainder of the evening, dancing cotillions, reels and waltzes, and with such animation as rendered it quite lively. New figures had been introduced among the cotillions, among which is one called the new social system. Several of the ladies made objections to dancing on Sunday; we thought however, that in this sanctuary of philosophy, such prejudices should be utterly discarded, and our arguments, as well as the inclination of the ladies, gained the victory.
On the 17th April, a violent storm arose, which collected such clouds of dust together that it was hardly possible to remain in the streets, and I remained at home almost all day. I received a visit from a Mr. Von Schott. This person, a Wurtemburger by birth, and brother of lady Von Mareuil, in Washington, has settled himself seven or eight miles from New Harmony, and lives a real hermit’s life, without a servant or assistant of any kind. He was formerly an officer in the Wurtemburg cavalry, took his discharge, and went, from pure enthusiasm, and overwrought fanaticism, to Greece, to defend their rights. As he there discovered himself to be deceived in his anticipations, he returned to his native country, and delivered himself up to religious superstition. To extricate himself, in his opinion, from this world plunged in wretchedness, he accompanied his sister to the United States, came to Indiana, bought a piece of land from Rapp, by whom he asserted he was imposed upon, and had difficulties to undergo, since he knew nothing of agriculture. He lived in this manner in the midst of the forest with a solitary horse. A cruel accident had befallen him the week before, his stable with his trusty horse was burnt. He appeared to be a well-informed man, and spoke well and rationally, only when he touched upon religious topics, his mind appeared to be somewhat deranged. He declared that he supported all possible privations with the greatest patience, only he felt the want of intercourse with a friend in his solitude.
To-day two companies of the New Harmony militia paraded, with drums beating, and exercised morning and afternoon. They were all in uniform, well armed, and presented an imposing front.
I was invited to dinner in the house, No. 4. Some gentlemen had been out hunting, and had brought home a wild turkey, which must be consumed. This turkey formed the whole dinner. Upon the whole I cannot complain either of an overloaded stomach, or a head-ache from the wine affecting it, in any way. The living was frugal in the strictest sense, and in nowise pleased the elegant ladies with whom I dined. In the evening I visited Mr. M‘Clure and Madam Fretageot, living in the same house. She is a Frenchwoman, who formerly kept a boarding-school in Philadelphia, and is called mother by all the young girls here. The handsomest and most polished of the female world here, Miss Lucia Saistare and Miss Virginia, were under her care. The cows were milked this evening when I came in, and therefore we could hear their performance on the piano forte, and their charming voices in peace and quiet. Later in the evening we went to the kitchen of No. 3, where there was a ball. The young ladies of the better class kept themselves in a corner under Madam Fretageot’s protection, and formed a little aristocratical club. To prevent all possible partialities, the gentlemen as well as the ladies, drew numbers for the cotillions, and thus apportioned them equitably. Our young ladies turned up their noses apart at the democratic dancers, who often in this way fell to their lot. Although every one was pleased upon the whole, yet they separated at ten o’clock, as it is necessary to rise early here. I accompanied Madam Fretageot and her two pupils home, and passed some time in conversation with Mr. M‘Clure on his travels in Europe, which were undertaken with mineralogical views. The architect, Mr. Whitwell, besides showed me to-day the plan of this establishment. I admired particularly the judicious and economical arrangements for warming and ventilating the buildings, as well as the kitchens and laundries. It would indeed be a desirable thing could a building on this plan once be completed, and Mr. Owen hopes that the whole of New Harmony will thus be arranged.
On the following day I received a visit from one of the German patriots who had entered the society, of the name of Schmidt, who wished to have been considered as first lieutenant in the Prussian artillery, at Erfurt. He appeared to have engaged in one of the political conspiracies there, and to have deserted. Mr. Owen brought him from England last autumn as a servant. He was now a member of the society, and had charge of the cattle. His fine visions of freedom seemed to be very much lowered, for he presented himself to me, and his father to Mr. Huygens, to be employed as servants.
Towards evening, an Englishman, a friend of Mr. Owen, Mr. Applegarth, arrived, who had presided over the school in New Lanark, and was to organize one here in all probability. After dinner I went to walk with him in the vineyard and woods. We conversed much concerning the new system, and the consequences which he had reason to expect would result, &c. and we discovered amongst other things, that Mr. Owen must have conceived the rough features of his general system from considering forced services or statutory labour; for the labour imposed upon persons for which they receive no compensation, would apply and operate much more upon them for their lodging, clothing, food, the education and care of their children, &c. so that they would consider their labour in the light of a corvée. We observed several labourers employed in loading bricks upon a cart, and they performed this so tedious and disagreeable task, as a statutory labour imposed on them by circumstances, and this observation led us to the above reflection. I afterwards visited Mr. M‘Clure, and entertained myself for an hour with the instructive conversation of this interesting old gentleman. Madam Fretageot, who appears to have considerable influence over Mr. M‘Clure, took an animated share in our discourse. In the evening there was a ball in the large assembly room, at which most of the members were present. It lasted only until ten o’clock, in dancing cotillions, and closed with a grand promenade, as before described. There was a particular place marked off by benches for the children to dance in, in the centre of the hall, where they could gambol about without running between the legs of the grown persons.
On the 19th of April, a steam-boat came down the Wabash, bound for Louisville on the Ohio. It stopt opposite Harmony, and sent a boat through the overflow of water to receive passengers. I was at first disposed to embrace the opportunity of leaving this place, but as I heard that the boat was none of the best, I determined rather to remain and go by land to Mount Vernon, to wait for a better steam-boat there. We took a walk to the community, No. 3. The work on the house had made but little progress; we found but one workman there, and he was sleeping quite at his ease. This circumstance recalled the observation before mentioned, concerning gratis-labour, to my mind. We advanced beyond into the woods, commencing behind No. 3: there was still little verdure to be seen.
On the succeeding day, I intended to leave New Harmony early; but as it was impossible to procure a carriage, I was obliged to content myself. I walked to the community No. 2, or Macluria, and farther into the woods. They were employed in hewing down trees to build log houses. The wood used in the brick and frame houses here is of the tulip tree, which is abundant, worked easily, and lasts long. After dinner I walked with Mr. Owen and Madam Fretageot, to community No. 3. There a new vegetable garden was opened; farther on they were employed in preparing a field in which Indian corn was to be sown. This answers the best purpose here, as the soil is too rich for wheat; the stalks grow too long, the heads contain too few grains, and the stalks on account of their length soon break down, so that the crop is not very productive. The chief complaint here is on account of the too great luxuriancy of the soil. The trees are all very large, shoot up quickly to a great height, but have so few, and such weak roots, that they are easily prostrated by a violent storm; they also rot very easily, and I met with a great number of hollow trees, in proportion. I saw them sow maize or Indian corn, for the first time. There were furrows drawn diagonally across the field with the plough, each at a distance of two feet from the other; then other furrows at the same distance apart, at right angles with the first. A person goes behind the plough with a bag of corn, and in each crossing of the furrows he drops six grains. Another person with a shovel follows, and covers these grains with earth. When the young plants are half a foot high, they are ploughed between and the earth thrown up on both sides of the plants; and when they are two feet high this operation is repeated, to give them more firmness and to destroy the weeds. There is a want of experienced farmers here; the furrows were badly made, and the whole was attended to rather too much en amateur.
After we returned to Madam Fretageot’s, Mr. Owen showed me two interesting objects of his invention; one of them consisted of cubes of different sizes, representing the different classes of the British population in the year 1811, and showed what a powerful burden rested on the labouring class, and how desirable an equal division of property would be in that kingdom. The other was a plate, according to which, as Mr. Owen asserted, each child could be shown his capabilities, and upon which, after a mature self-examination, he can himself discover what progress he has made. The plate has this superscription: scale of human faculties and qualities at birth. It has ten scales with the following titles: from the left to the right, self-attachment; affections; judgment; imagination; memory; reflection; perception; excitability; courage; strength. Each scale is divided into one hundred parts, which are marked from five to five. A slide that can be moved up or down, shows the measure of the qualities therein specified each one possesses, or believes himself to possess.