I now take leave of the Western country of the United States; and although the reader may perhaps be enabled to gather from the foregoing observations sufficient whereon to judge for himself, yet it may be proper to sum up that which I have to say upon it; and it may be done in a few words:—First addressing all those who are possessed of capital, I will state, that if they are content to undergo for their own lives many difficulties, and to make a certain sacrifice of many of the little comforts they can possess and have been used to enjoy at a moderate cost in England, they may then for a trifling sum establish their posterity upon a good estate in America, which hereafter may place them in affluence; and this may be accomplished at a distance far short of the Prairies of Illinois;—but let them be again reminded [159] that it must be done at some risk, much trouble, and a certain sacrifice of many of their own comforts: so much for those who look forward. As to immediate prospects, taking the different ranks, professions, and businesses in turn, I must first assure the gentleman and the idle man that they have no business in any part of the territory. The farmer who has been accustomed to the regular markets, the constant labourers, and the comforts of an English hearth, will here find the reverse of all these and more; not so bad perhaps in the country nearest to the eastern cities as in the west, where labour to manage more than a small portion of his land is not to be had; and if it could, there is either no market, or it is so distant that the small price he can obtain for his grain renders it little worth growing; whilst this very distance from market which thus acts against him, also renders the price of all groceries at least double that which it is in the Eastern States.[57] For professional men I saw no opening, unless it may be for dissenting teachers in religion.—There are many young physicians spread about the country who keep taverns for their support; as to lawyers, there are enough for the population. [160] For manufacturers there may perhaps be found some employ: but it is principally the young poor man who can turn his hand to anything—the stout agricultural labourer, for whom this country is at present calculated; here such men may, with reasonable labour and activity, in a short time realise a little property, and after living in comparative plenty and comfort, leave their families to enjoy the same with independence. It is emphatically the country for the poor man; but he must not go thither, as many have done, expecting no difficulties to be encountered, no privations to be endured; nor must he be disheartened at finding a cool reception, and work not immediately offered on his arrival at the Eastern ports;—he must push forward westward without idly stopping to spend his money and waste his time; work his way if money runs short (he may at all places get food at least for his services,) until he arrives at a place where hands are wanted and good wages are offered for them; he has then a fair and near prospect of comfort, taking care only to be industrious, frugal, and especially to avoid habits of drinking, a vice the most difficult to withstand where the spirits of the country are to be obtained for half a crown the gallon.
There are people with us in England who object [161] to giving the poor man any facility of emigration, and who are disposed to condemn prospects held out to him of improving his present condition by a change of country; I shall not stop to argue with such narrow policy and truly anti-christian reasoners more than to say, that I will leave them to point out, for I cannot, even in a political point of view, any loss to a country arising from the emigration of a redundant population.
A WINTER AT PHILADELPHIA
Though a winter passage across the Atlantic may be quick it is almost always unpleasant; this thought, aided by a wish to see a little more of the climate and people ere I should bid to both farewell, determined me to stay till spring. The following notes and reflections are the fruit of the protracted residence, and they are presented to the reader nearly as they stand in my journal: in their nature they must be desultory, and by essaying to render them more connected, the little interest they may possess might be made yet less.
December 6th. A beautiful day, even warm, as indeed the mid-day has hitherto been, yet the [162] thermometer in an east room window opened at early morning stood at 33°.
Rode with D***** to the view on the Schuylkil called the "Flat Rock." On the way called at Mr. Fletcher's screw factory,—Mr. F. took pains to explain to us the machinery, though after all we best understood the result; one of the machines cut the iron rod into proper lengths and turned out seven screws complete per minute; with only the attendance of a boy, it forms thirty-five gross per day. Two miles more partly along the bank of the river, and amongst its beautiful scenery, brought us to the Flat Rock, and we crossed by an inclosed wood bridge. One of the dams which have been already mentioned is here formed, and there is a canal on one side with locks for the passage of vessels;—the broad cascade of the silvery waters sparkling in the sun over the dam, and the high, broken, and wooded banks of the river, presented a scene, even without the aid of foliage, enchanting. We returned by the old Lancaster road, making a pleasant ride of about twenty miles. In the evening called with D**** on Mr. H. This gentleman's life affords an instance of successful industry, by no means uncommon in this country of enterprise and speculation; it is also interwoven with some extraordinary incidents. At setting out in life's [163] career he and a brother laid out their several portions in goods such as they judged best for the market, and with them sailed for this country: the venture proved fortunate; the goods were quickly sold to great profit, and his brother again set sail for England to purchase more with the produce. But here a cruel disappointment awaited Mr. H., for his relative instead of pursuing the intentions of his voyage, engaged on his arrival in Europe in other speculations, lost the whole of the money, and his anxious partner in America, when riches seemed already to be within his grasp, received notice of his brother's misconduct, and found himself suddenly reduced to his last shilling, in a foreign land, and without a friend! Young and active, however, his mind bore up against poverty, and, though at the age now of three and twenty, he took the resolution to bind himself apprentice to a trade of which he already knew a little; at this he served his time; by steadiness and application perfected himself in the business; then set up for himself in prosperous times, and rapidly made a handsome income, which he now comfortably enjoys. Let us here venture reverentially to trace the moral justice of Providence in the life of the brother, who, though enterprising and at one period apparently prosperous, was reduced by successive losses;—[164] was taken by the French and imprisoned for several years;—being at length set at liberty he got together sufficient money to freight a vessel at one of the southern ports of that country, but which in coming round from thence for England was lost; and himself also soon after perished at sea.
9th. Just returned from a shooting excursion in Jersey. We saw pheasants, partridges, and rabbits, but few of any of these were shot: the American pheasant seems half grouse, the partridge half quail, and the rabbit half hare.[58] Buffon and the Abbè Raynal[59] have both remarked that the animals of this continent are larger than those of Europe, but the fox, pheasant, partridge and woodcock are all certainly much smaller.—The Jersey horses are excellent hacknies, for a pair of them drew us in a lumbering vehicle eight miles with ease in about an hour along a heavy sandy road.
We have been told there are no taxes in America, or that they are few and light; I insert therefore a copy of a tax paper handed to me by a gentleman of Philadelphia.
