First impressions of the New World on two travellers from the Old, in the autumn of 1858

by Isabella Strange Trotter

These, to our eyes, seemed large and beautiful vessels; but they were altogether eclipsed and their beauty forgotten, when we found ourselves on board the "Pacific." This vessel was to sail in the evening, and is one of the most splendid steamers on the river; certainly nothing could exceed her comfort, infinitely beyond that of the Newport boat, as the saloon was one long room, unbroken by steam-engine or anything else, to obstruct the view from one end to the other. Brilliant fires were burning in two large open stoves, at equal distances from either end, and little tables were set all down the middle of the room, at which parties of six each could sit and dine comfortably. The vessel was upwards of 300 feet long, the cabin alone being about that length. On each side of the cabin were large, comfortable sleeping berths, and on the deck below, adjoining the servants' room, was a sweet little nursery, containing, besides the beds and usual washing apparatus, four or five pretty little rocking-chairs, for the children. We were shown over the kitchen, and everything looked so complete and comfortable that we longed to go down in her to New Orleans, whither she is bound, and which she will reach in six days. Everything was exquisitely clean, the roof and sides of the cabin being of that beautiful white varnish paint which I have before described, which always looks so pure and lovely. There was not much ornament, but all was in good taste.

On leaving the "Pacific," we drove to the inn at Portland. The Kentuckians are a fine tall race of men; but, tall as they are in general, the landlord, Mr. Jim Porter, surpassed them all in height, standing 7 feet 9 inches without his shoes. This is the same individual of whom Dickens gave an amusing account in his American notes fifteen years ago.

We left Louisville at two o'clock, and came on to Lexington this afternoon. The country is much more like England than anything we have yet seen, being chiefly pasture land. The grass is that known here, and very celebrated as the "blue grass" of Kentucky; though why or wherefore it is so called we cannot discover. It is of prodigiously strong growth, sometimes attaining two feet in height; but it is generally kept low, either by cropping or cutting, and is cut sometimes five times a year. The stock raised upon it is said to be very fine, and the animals are very large and fine looking; but either from the meat not being kept long enough, or from some cause which we cannot assign, the beef, when brought to table, is very inferior to the good roast beef of Old England.

The road from Louisville to this place is pretty throughout, and seemed quite lovely as we approached Frankfort, though it was getting too dark as we passed that town to appreciate its beauties thoroughly. For some miles before reaching it, the road passes through a hilly country, with beautiful rounded knolls at a very short distance. The town is situated on the Kentucky river, the most beautiful, perhaps, in America. In crossing the long bridge, we had a fine view down its steep banks, with the lights of the town close on its margin. The state Capitol which we passed, is close to the railway, and is a marble building, with a handsome portico. We were very sorry not to have stopped to pass to-morrow, Sunday, at this place, but we were anxious to reach Lexington, in order to get our letters. We have no great prospects here, as the hotel, excepting the one at Jefferson City, is the worst we have found in America. We had hardly set foot in it, when General Leslie Combe called upon us, having been on the look-out for our arrival. He claimed cousin-ship, having married a Miss T——, but we must leave it to Uncle Harry to determine to which branch of the T—— family she can claim kindred.

November 15th.—The weather has been unpropitious, and instead of starting to explore the Upper Kentucky, which we had meant to do, we are returning this afternoon to Cincinnati. We have, however, been able to see all the sights here that are worth seeing, besides having been edified yesterday by a nigger sermon, remarkable, even among nigger sermons, for the wonderful stentorian powers of the preacher. The great object of interest here is Ashland, so called from the ash timber with which the place abounds. This was the residence of Henry Clay, the great American statesman. General Combe gave us a letter of introduction to Mr. James B. Clay, his eldest son, who is the present proprietor of the "location." The house is very prettily "fixed up," to use another American phrase; but we were disappointed with the 200 acres of park, which Lord Morpeth, who passed a week at Ashland, is said to extol as being like an English one. We saw nothing, either of the "locust cypress, cedar, and other rare trees, with the rose, the jasmine, and the ivy, clambering about them," which the handbook beautifully describes. The fact is, the Americans, as I have before observed, have not the slightest idea of a garden; and on papa's venturing to insinuate this to Mr. Clay, he admitted it, and ascribed it to its undoubted cause, the expense of labour in this country.

From Ashland we went to what is really a Kentucky sight, the Fair Ground. On an eminence at about a mile from the town, surrounded by beautiful green pastures, there stands a large amphitheatre, capable of holding conveniently 12,000 spectators. In the centre is a large grass area, where the annual cattle show is held, and when filled it must be a remarkable sight. From this we went to the Cemetery, which, like all others in this country, is neatly laid out, and kept in very good order. The grave-stones and monuments are invariably of beautiful white marble, with the single exception of a very lofty monument which is being raised to the memory of Mr. Clay. It is not yet finished, but to judge either from what has been accomplished, or from a drawing papa saw of it on a large scale, in a shop window, it is not likely to prove pretty, and the yellowish stone of which it is being built, contrasts badly with the white marble about it.

We went next to see a very large pen, in which there were about forty negroes for sale; they had within the last few days, sold about 100, who had travelled by railway chained together. Those we saw, were divided into groups, and we went through a variety of rooms in which they were domiciled, and were allowed to converse freely with them all. This is one of the largest slave markets in the United States, and is the great place from which the South is supplied. There are, in this place, five of these pens where slaves are kept on sale, and, judging from this one, they are very clean and comfortable. But these pens give one a much more revolting idea of the institution than seeing the slaves in regular service. There was one family of a man and his wife and four little children, the price of "the lot" being $3500, or 700l. sterling, but neither the man nor the woman seemed to care much whether they were sold together or not. There was one poor girl of eighteen, with a little child of nine weeks old, who was sold, and she was to set off to-night with her baby, for a place in the State. The slave-dealer himself was a civil, well-spoken man, at least to us, and spoke quite freely of his calling, but we thought he spoke harshly to the poor negroes, especially to the man with the wife and four children. It appears he had bought the man separately from the woman and children, in order to bring them together, but the man had attempted to run away, and told us in excuse he did not like leaving his clothes behind him; whereupon papa asked him if he cared more for his clothes than his wife, and gave him a lecture on his domestic duties. The dealer said they sometimes are much distressed when separated from their wives, or husband and children, but that it was an exception when this was so. One can hardly credit this, but so far as it is true it is one of the worst features of slavery that it can thus deaden all natural feelings of affection. We have spoken a good deal to the slaves here, and they seem anxious to obtain their freedom. The brother of one of the waiters at our hotel had twice been swindled by his master of the money he had saved to purchase his freedom. I spoke to the housemaid at our hotel, also a slave, who shuddered with horror when she described the miseries occasioned by the separation of relations. She had been sold several times, and was separated from her husband by being sold away from him. She said the poor negroes are generally taken out of their beds in the middle of the night, when sold to the slave-dealers, as there is a sense of shame about transacting this trade in the day-time. From what the slaves told us, they are, no doubt, frequently treated with great severity by the masters, though not always, as they sometimes fall into the hands of kind people; but though they may have been many years in one family, they never know from hour to hour what may be their fate, as the usual cause for parting with slaves is, the master falling into difficulties, when he sells them to raise money, or to pay his debts. The waiter told us, he would rather starve as a freeman than remain a slave, and said this with much feeling and energy.

Cincinnati, Nov. 15th, 9 P.M.—We arrived here again this evening at about seven o'clock. The road, the whole way from Lexington, 100 miles, is very pretty, following the course of the Licking for a long way, with high steep banks on both sides, sometimes rising into high hills, but opening occasionally into wide valleys, with distant views of great beauty. In many places the trees here have still their red, or rather brown leaves, which formed a strange contrast with the thick snow covering their branches and the ground beneath. The snow storm last night, of which we had but the tail at Lexington, was very heavy further north, and the snow on the ground lighted up by the moon, enabled us to see and enjoy the beauty of the scenery as we approached Covington, at which place we embarked on board the steamboat to cross the Ohio. I omitted, when we were here before, to mention that in our Sunday walk at Covington, when we first crossed over to Kentucky, we witnessed on the banks of the river a baptism by immersion, though the attending crowd was so large that we could not distinctly see what was going on. We are told, that on these occasions, the minister takes the candidate for baptism so far into the river, that they are frequently drowned. I forget if I mentioned before that Covington is built immediately opposite Cincinnati, at the junction of the Ohio and the Licking, which is here a considerable river, about 100 yards wide, and navigable for steamboats sixty miles further up. The streets of Covington are all laid out in a direct line with the corresponding streets in Cincinnati, and as the streets on both sides mount up the hills on which the towns are built, the effect is very pretty, especially at night, when the line of lamps, interrupted only by the river, appears of immense length. When the river is frozen over, the streets of the two cities may be said to form but one, as carts and carriages can then pass uninterruptedly from the streets of Cincinnati, to those on the opposite side, and vice versâ. This snow storm, which has made us beat a rapid retreat from the cold and draughty hotels in Kentucky, makes us feel very glad to be back in this comfortable hotel.

Pittsburgh, Nov. 17th.—Lord Radstock made his appearance at Cincinnati yesterday, having come from Louisville in a steamer. The day was very bright and beautiful, though intensely cold; and as papa was very anxious to show Lord Radstock the view of Clifton from the heights above, we hired a carriage and went there. We were, however, somewhat disappointed, for the trees were entirely stripped of the beautiful foliage which clothed them when we saw them three weeks ago, and were laden with snow, with which the ground also was deeply covered; and although the effect was still pretty, this gave a harshness to the scene, the details being brought out too much in relief. The same cause detracted, no doubt, from the beauty of the scenery we passed through to day on our way here, and greatly spoilt the appearance of the hills which surround Pittsburgh.

But I must not anticipate a description of our journey here, but first tell you of our further proceedings at Cincinnati. Lord Radstock is much interested in reformatories and houses of refuge, and we were glad to visit with him the one situated at about three miles from the town, the exterior only of which we had seen in our drive with Mr. Anderson. The building is very large and capacious, having cost 2700l. It is capable of holding 200 boys and 80 girls, and the complement of boys is generally filled up; but there are seldom above 60 girls. The whole establishment seems admirably conducted. The boys and girls are kept apart, and each one has a very nice, clean bed-room, arranged in prison fashion, and opening on to long galleries; but with nothing to give the idea of a cell, so perfectly light and airy is each room. There is an hospital for the boys and one for the girls, large and well ventilated rooms; that of the girls is beautifully cheerful, with six or eight nice clean beds; but it says a good deal for the attention paid to their health, that out of the whole number of boys and girls, there was only one boy on the sick list, and he did not appear to have much amiss with him. This is somewhat surprising, as the rooms in which they work are heated by warm water, to a temperature which we should have thought must be very prejudicial to their health, but with this exception, they have every advantage. A large playground, a very large chapel, where they meet for prayers and reading the Bible, the boys below, and the girls in a gallery, and large airy schoolrooms. The children are admitted from the age of 7 up to 16, and the boys are usually kept till 21, and the girls till they are 18. The girls are taught needlework and household work, or rather are employed in this way, independently of two hours and a half daily instruction in the school, and the boys are brought up to a variety of trades, either as tailors, shoemakers, workers of various articles in wire, or the like. The proceeds of their work go in part to pay the expenses of the establishment, but the cost is, with this small exception, defrayed by the town, and amounts to about 20l. annually for each boy. These poor children are generally sent there by the magistrates on conviction of some crime or misdemeanour, but are often sent by parents when they have troublesome or refractory children, and the result is, in most cases, very satisfactory. They all seemed very happy, and the whole had much more the appearance of a large school, than of anything partaking of the character of a prison. Having called in the afternoon and taken leave of the Longworths, Andersons, and others, who had shown us so much kindness when we were last here, we started at half-past ten at night for this place.