Fast day is an observance that has descended from the pilgrims, and is kept with a decent solemnity. The governors appoint one day in the year, in all the New England states, for ‘fasting, humiliation, and prayer;’ there is little business transacted, and the people generally attend in the churches, which are called more generally, from an old dislike to Episcopacy, meeting-houses. Thanksgiving is also a day appointed by the same authorities, and the intent of the edict or proclamation is carried into full effect by the disposition of the people. It is always appointed in the fallor autumn, after the harvests, when the garners are full; and poor indeed is the inmate of the hovel that has not on that day plenty and luxury on his board. The preparations for thanksgiving continue several days, and for many more the prepared viands are not exhausted. It is the day for family meetings, and it is then that members of the same family often come hundreds of miles to meet again, to renew the bands of affinity and affection under the paternal roof. It is at this feast that the simplicity and patriarchal character of a New England grandsire is pre-eminent.
Before and after thanksgiving, there are held all over the country ‘shooting matches,’ which are announced by printed placards, headed ‘sportsmen attend,’ and which set forth that geese, turkeys, and fowls, will be set up for marksmen. They are shot at, generally after they are killed, with rifles, at certain distances, and rates are paid for every shot. If they are hit, the marksman has the game. These sports are commonly held in some retired spot, or at some deserted house, by which there is little passing, and where a day or two is spent as in an encampment. A bear or deer is sometimes shot at in the same way.
Autumn also brings other holiday observances, one of which is ‘husking,’ when the men of a neighborhood meet to husk the Indian corn of one of the number, that is, to separate it from the sheaf. A good supper, and sometimes a dance, ensues. The females have also similar meetings, called ‘quilting bees,’ when many assemble to work for one, in padding or quilting bed coverings or comforters. Militia musters or reviews collect many people, but they are happily growing out of date; they generally display the most repulsive traits of the New England character. An ordination of a clergyman over a society discloses better characteristics. It is a time when every house in the society is invitingly open, when the master generally ‘provides’ for more guests than he has the good fortune to secure; and when he may be seen forestalling his neighbors, by asking visiters to dine, before they arrive at the church. Persons of all creeds and conditions are pressed, nothing loath, to the feasts that smoke upon a hundred tables.
Ploughing matches and cattle shows are held only in autumn; they attract many people, and give a favorable impulse to the interests of agriculture. The celebration of the fourth of July, or, as it is called, Independence, is not peculiar to New England; it is the great national holiday, honored by salutes of cannon, fireworks, processions, addresses, dinners, in all cities, and in the most secluded corners of the republic.
In the middle states there is little general or peculiar character. In Pennsylvania, society takes a tone from the Friends, particularly in Philadelphia and some other towns; in the interior, German influence is equally perceptible. New York has the air and character of all great commercial cities. One abominable custom deserves to be mentioned with reprobation. Swine are by law permitted to range at large, and these quadruped scavengers are, of course, intolerable nuisances. Philadelphia and Baltimore seem to have escaped, in some measure, from the moral evils which appear almost inseparable from great cities. In these places, the manner of life is far more quiet and domestic than in New York, and in the former city the arts and sciences meet with a more assiduous cultivation. The Wistar parties of this city, assemblies held at gentlemen’s houses, where the conversationis chiefly on literary and scientific subjects, are much praised by intelligent strangers.[90]
The amusements of the middle states are more various than the other sections of the country. As the three largest cities in the union are distant one from the other but about a hundred miles, there are of course greater facilities and encouragement for scenic exhibitions; and the theatres, especially in New York, are much attended. The actors are generally English, and the best English performers often come over for a season. There is a French opera company, also, who at times perform in the cities, where they give general pleasure, and a splendid opera house has been recently erected in New York. In the latter city, there are several expensive public gardens, in which a great variety of costly fireworks, shows, and amusements, are offered in the warm seasons; when lighted up at night, they are very brilliant, and they attract crowds of people. There are many small gardens, where refreshments are sold; and in Philadelphia the number of these is considerable, though some of them contain little else than a few alcoves, covered with creeping plants.
Horse racing, which in New England is almost unknown, is more honored in the middle states; and some of the matches on Long Island and in Dutchess county, have been attended by vast crowds of people. Boat races also are sometimes held in the calm waters about New York.
Skating is practised with great animation, and thousands of people collect on the Delaware, at Philadelphia, when the stream is frozen. An ox, on such occasions, has sometimes been roasted on the ice, near the Mariners’ hotel, which is the hull of a large vessel, moored in the river. Skating is very general amusement in the northern parts of the United States, and there are few boys who have not a pair of skates. Coasting is another winter pastime, in which, as in many other games, the labor seems to be at least equal to the pleasure. When the snow covers the earth, a troop of joyous boys assemble on the top of a long and steep hill, and each one sitting upon a little sled, gives it an impulse which carries him to the bottomwith accelerating velocity, and far into the plain below. The motion is sometimes so swift that it is like the sweep of an eagle. In the cities, fatal accidents occur in following this amusement, and there are generally penalties imposed by law for pursuing it there.
The coasting is performed, however, in the country, upon a grander scale; the great ox sled, or sledge, is carried up with commendable perseverance and toil, and so covered with youth of both sexes, that little of the timber appears. When fitted, it is launched; but when adrift it is more difficult to be guided than the single sledge, and the whole freight is sometimes turned topsy turvy into a snow bank half way down the hill. This, however, seems to increase the enjoyment. This practice of coasting is even more common in New England than in the middle states.
There are some traits of character which run through the southern states, modified by a variety of circumstances, but most obviously and generally by the system of domestic slavery. The character of Virginia and South Carolina is perhaps, in many respects, superior to that of the Southern states, yet the principal characteristics are common to all. In Virginia, many of the old English modes of life are retained, and the domains of the landed proprietors have the extent of English baronies. Attachment to home, family connections, and profuse hospitality, eminently distinguish this high-minded and honorable class.