Chapter XIX: Letter XVIII

Passage to Cincinnati--Depression of Trade--Population--Manufactures--Institutions--Banks--Climate-- Temperature--Springs--Quantity of Rain--Thunder--Lightning--Aurora-Borealis--Tornadoes--Earthquakes--The Ohio unusually low in 1819--Meeting of the Citizens of Cincinnati--Notice of three Indian Chiefs on their way for Washington City--Remarks on the Pacific Disposition of Indians, and their motives for wars.

_Cincinnati, (Ohio,) June 26, 1820._

I have come from the Falls of the Ohio to this place, by a steam-boat in twenty-nine hours, the average rate of sailing being about 6¹⁄₄ miles per {211} hour. The downward passage is performed by the same vessel in about fifteen hours, (nearly at the rate of twelve miles an hour.) From this it appears that the current moves at the rate of about 2⁷⁄₈ miles each hour. The late M. Volney[121] estimated the hourly velocity of this river in very low stages of water, at two miles. His result is probably a little more than the mean rate along the whole length of the river. The steam-boat is one built exclusively for the accommodation of passengers. She measures one hundred feet on the keel, twenty-five feet on the beam, and draws only three feet and three inches of water. The cabin is an elegant apartment, forty feet long, and eighteen feet wide. Adjoining to it are eight very neat state rooms. The water wheel is situated in an aperture astern, where it is protected from coming in contact with logs, which are numerous in the river.

Cincinnati suffers much from the decline in business. The town does not now present any thing like the stir that animated it about a year and a half ago. Building is in a great measure suspended, and the city which was lately over crowded with people, has now a considerable number of empty houses. Rents are lowered, and the price of provisions considerably reduced. Many mechanics and labourers find it impossible to procure employment. The same changes have taken place in the other towns of the western country. Numbers of people have deserted them, and commenced farming in the woods. They will there have it in their power to raise produce enough for their families, but, with the present low markets, and the probability of a still greater reduction, they can have no inducement but necessity for cultivating a surplus produce.

{212} In 1819, the Cincinnati Directory, a small book containing a list of the citizens, and many historical particulars, was published. Some extracts from that work will give a condensed view of the present magnitude and business of the place.

The enumeration of houses, made in March, 1819, was as follows:

Of brick and stone, two stories and upwards, 387
Do. Do. of one story, 45
Of wood, two stories and upwards, 615
Do. one story, 843
----
1890

====

Occupied as separate dwelling houses, 1003
Mercantile stores, 95
Groceries, 102
Druggists’ stores, 11
Confectionaries, 4
Auction and commission stores, 5
Printing offices, 5
Book and stationery stores, 4
Places of public worship, 10
Banks, 5
Mechanics’ shops, factories, and mills, 214
Taverns, 17
College, court house, and jail, 3
Warehouses and other buildings, 412
----
Total 1890
====

_Population, as taken in July, 1819_

White males, 5402
White females, 4471
---- 9873
Male persons of colour, 215
Females of colour, 195
---- 410
----
10283
=====

{213} _Manufactures_

Work shops Workmen

Two iron and brass founderies, 132
Blacksmiths, 80 or 90
Tin ware manufactories, 6 32
Copper, Do. 4 14
Nail factories, 2 13
Silver smiths, (watch repairers included,) 9 22
White smiths, 3
Gunsmiths, 2
Fire engine maker, 1 1
Copperplate engraver, 1 1
Gilder, 1 1
Maker of sieves and lattice-work, from wire, 1 1
Cabinet work, 15 84
Coopers, 16 50
Coach and waggon makers, 9 33
Chair makers, 4 31
House carpenters and joiners, from 80 to 100
and employing about 400
Boat builders, employing 60 or 70
Ivory and wood clock factory, 14
Saddle tree makers, 9
A plough maker; pump and block maker; a spinning
wheel factory; a window maker; two turners
of fancy wood-work; and one fanning mill maker.
Shoemakers, 26 116
Tailors, 23 83
Saddlers, 11 32
Tan-yards, 6 25
Tobacconists, 6 70
Bakers, 15 38
Hatters, 5 37
Soap boilers, and tallow chandlers, 7 19
Distilleries, 9 20
Rope-walks, 3 10
Breweries, 2 20
Potteries, 3 14
Stone cutters, 2 15
Brick-yards, 25 200

There are some other manufacturers, mechanics, &c. such as the following, viz. Five book-binders; five painters and glaziers; two brush-makers; one {214} comb-maker; two upholsterers; one bellows-maker; two last-makers; one whip-maker; one hundred bricklayers; thirty plasterers; fifteen stone masons; eighteen milliners; one dyer; ten barbers and hair-dressers; ten street pavers; one burr millstone factory.

Cincinnati has a city court, occasional sittings of the Supreme and Federal Courts, and a court of common pleas; a museum of natural history; a library; a reading room; a theatre; three newspapers; five banks; an insurance company; three fire engines; a humane society for the resuscitation of persons submersed in water; an agricultural society; two Bible societies; two tract societies, (one of them for distributing Bibles and tracts amongst boatmen on the river;) four Sunday school societies; and three charitable societies. There are twenty-five lawyers and twenty-two doctors in town.

Of four provincial banks in town, the paper of three is reduced to about one-third part of the specie sums on the face of their notes, and the people are making a brisk run on the fourth. This paper shop is not paying in specie, but merely giving _money like its own_. When the barter can be no longer continued, the house must be shut, and the holders of the _pictures_ find them of no value.

The laws of the country, as formerly explained to you, give no redress.

The balance of trade in favour of England and India, together with the exorbitant premiums to be paid in exchanging bad money for specie, or bills of the United States Bank, are quite unfavourable to commerce with foreign countries. The debts due to the merchants of England, and to those in the Eastern States, might give little {215} annoyance, if creditors were indulgent as to the past, and as liberal as usual in future transactions. Property laws give full security in the meantime, and the bankrupt laws of some States form a complete protection against foreign claims. It is only to be feared, that foreign merchants will not be sufficiently accommodating hereafter. The increasing numbers of their agents in the seaports of America, augur no good to enterprizing traders in this part.

The climate of this country, like that of other parts of North America, is subject to extremes of heat and cold. We experience something like the summer of tropical regions; the winter of Russia; the spring of England; and the autumn of Egypt. The range of the thermometer is well exemplified by a compilation from the register kept by Colonel Mansfield, near Cincinnati, for eight years; 1806 and 1813 included.

_Lowest_ _Highest_ _Range_
1806, 9° 94 85°
1807, 11° below zero, 95 106
1808, 4 do. 98 102
1809, 2 do. 94 96
1810, 7 do. 91 98
1811, 8 do. 96 104
1812, 5 do. 96 101
1813, 10 do. 97 107
Mean range nearly 100°.

The greatest range known at Cincinnati is 116°. At Salem, in Massachussets, a range of 100° was long ago deducted from observations.

At Jeffersonville, in Indiana, a range of 96¹⁄₄° appears on the register for six months past. The third column in the following table shows the greatest change of temperature that occurred in each month, between eight o’clock A.M. and two P.M.; a period of six hours.

{216} _Maximum_ _Minimum_ _Range_
January, 50° 2° above zero, 30°
February, 78 4 do. 38
March, 70 23 do. 35
April, 92 20 do. 24
May, 79 50 do. 27
June, 98¹⁄₄ 50 do. 36

As the above observations extend only to a space of six months, no accurate determination can be derived from them. The most prominent occurrence is a transition of 38° in six hours. Dr. Ramsay has observed elsewhere a change of 50°, in the space of fifteen hours. These sudden alterations are disagreeable to the sense of feeling, and injurious to the health.

It is the popular belief that the greatest cold usually occurs about sunrise, and the greatest heat about 3 P.M. The most sudden changes are from cold to heat, the transition from heat to cold not being so instantaneous. Except for the gradual progress of this change, it would be more sensibly felt, and more dangerous.

The absence of figured icicles from the insides of windows was mentioned in a former letter. Up to the present time, I have never seen any of these incrustations in America,--a certain proof of the dryness of the atmosphere during frost. In summer, rains are not frequent, but when they do happen, they generally fall in torrents. They are often attended by easterly winds, and are partially distributed, drenching small tracts of country, and leaving adjoining parts dry. During the summer of 1819, some parts of the country suffered under a severe and long continued drought. The blades of the crops of maize became shrivelled, the grass, and afterwards the weeds withered. Latterly, part of the foliage of the woods was very much dried. {217} Travellers were subjected to some inconvenience for want of water to their horses, as were many families who lived in dry situations. Scarcity of water is a calamity that is much aggravated by a hot climate. In taverns, a bucket filled with this indispensable liquid, stands open to every person who chooses to take up the ladle that floats in it, and drink. In schools, churches, and courts of justice, water is provided.

The older settlers of this country affirm, that the quantity of water issuing from springs is greatly augmented, by clearing away the timber from the adjoining lands. From the number and the respectability of the persons agreeing in this particular, the fact seems to be established. This is not, however, to be explained simply by evaporation from the earth, as that evaporation would be promoted by clearing away the woods, which exposes the surface of the ground to the rays of the sun. In this way the soil would absorb a less supply for springs than if it were shaded by trees. It would seem probable, that the moisture intercepted by trees in the shape of rain, dew, snow, and hoar-frost, which is evaporated before reaching the ground, and the water withdrawn from the earth by the organs of trees, are together greater than the additional evaporation from the surface that is induced by removing the trees.

In January last, the rain at Jeffersonville measured 3¹⁄₂ inches; in February 5³⁄₄; in March 3¹⁄₄; in April 2¹⁄₂; and in May, three inches; making an aggregate of eighteen inches in five months, a quantity that is probably a little greater than the mean for any long series of years.

Thunder occurs frequently; sometimes the peals are tremendous, and almost incessant. They are generally accompanied with showers of rain, so copious {218} as to cover flat ground with a sheet of water, and the declivities with a broad stream. Many of the best houses are furnished with rods for conducting the lightning. Judging from notices of accidents from the electric fluid in the newspapers, I am not led to believe that they are much more numerous than in Britain. Although trees are bad conductors of electricity, they are frequently struck, and it seems probable that the great abundance of lofty trees lessens considerably the danger to buildings. An old gentleman, a man of observation, told me that he never knew of a decayed tree that had been struck with lightning. This information is the more worthy of observation, as great quantities of withered trees are found amongst the woods, and as the greater part of the lands of the western country are cleared by deadening the timber, and allowing it to stand till it is easily burnt, or falls by decay. Another person, who is well acquainted with the habits of the Indians, informed me, that during thunder storms, these people take shelter under beech trees, in preference to other kinds of timber. Some comparative experiments on the conducting properties of leaves, bark, and timber, are necessary before the propriety of this practice can be established.

It would be difficult to form a conception of any thing in meteorology, more sublime than the aerial lightning of this climate. In dark nights the phenomenon is highly entertaining to every spectator to whom the appearance is new. The vivid flashes seem to emanate from a point, and diverge from thence in every possible direction. The eye has scarcely time to trace the progress of these coruscations, which seem to sweep round half the expanse of the heavens almost in an instant, and to irradiate {219} the margins of the blackest clouds with a transitory blaze.

I have never seen the aurora borealis in America. Two instances of its appearing in 1814 are mentioned in the Picture of Cincinnati, which are supposed to be the only unequivocal ones observed since the settlement of the western country. This meteor is more frequently seen by the people of the northern States.

The most prominent characteristics of the climate of this country are, the superior transparency of the air in clear weather; the frequency of a light yellow, but translucent tinge that is strongest at the horizon, and fainter upwards, where it is blended with a sky of a fine light blue, at the height of a few degrees. The number of foggy days is small,[122] and the appearance of clouds, previous to rain, sudden. Indeed, on several occasions, I have observed a clear atmosphere transformed into one abounding with dark clouds and rain, in the space of an hour. Changes of this kind are no doubt produced by sudden transitions of temperature.

Severe gales of wind do not appear prevalent in western America, if the two last winters can be admitted as sufficient examples, as these seasons were much less stormy than those of Scotland. But it is necessary to make an exception of the tornadoes, which occasionally blow down houses, lay waste fields, and open avenues through the woods. One of these tempests destroyed some {220} buildings at Cincinnati, on the 28th of May, 1809. It was preceded by a wind from the south, and a higher current blowing from the west, and was understood to commence in the State of Tennessee. It crossed the Allegany mountains “and made its exit from the continent” on the same day.[123]

Although earthquakes have been frequently felt in the United States, the injury done by them has either been local, or of little consequence. On the 16th of December, 1811, a concussion at Cincinnati threw down some chimney tops, opened room doors that were shut by a falling latch, and caused the furniture to shake. During the year 1812, two considerable shocks, and many lesser vibrations were observed.[124] It appeared that the centre from which the convulsions proceeded, was in the neighbourhood of New Madrid, which lies on the bank of the Mississippi, about seventy miles below the mouth of the Ohio.[125] At that place a dreadful commotion prevailed in December, 1812. The trees beat upon one another, and were either twisted or broken. The site of the town subsided about eight feet. Many acres of land sunk, and were overflowed by the river, and the water rushed in torrents from crevices opened in the land. Boats were sunk, and, (as if the order of nature had been inverted) sunk logs of timber were raised from the bottom in such quantities that almost covered the surface of the river. Slight vibrations, at intervals of a few days, continue to the present time. Many of the people deserted their possessions, and retired to the Missouri, where lands were granted to them by Congress. The inhabitants who remained, and others who have since joined the {221} settlement, are now so accustomed to the tremor, that they talk of it with little or no concern.

Last summer (1819) was unusually dry. The Ohio was not navigable for steam-boats, subsequent to the middle of April, and there was no flood till February last. West India produce, viz. coffee and sugar, became scarce, and sold at more than twice the common price. Many of the people in this land of plenty, seemed to look forward to a privation of these articles, as to an approaching famine--_Apropos_ of coffee, as I have heard that the grocers of your country are not allowed to sell burnt beans as a substitute, it is fortunate for the revenue, that the Atlantic is always _navigable_.

Since coming here, a numerous meeting of citizens was held, to take into consideration the case of a Judge who occupied another public situation at the time of his being placed on the bench. Appointments of this kind are contrary to the constitution.

Three Indians, the chief, the counsellor, and the warrior of the Osage nation,[126] on their way for the city of Washington, halted here for a day. At the request of an hospitable gentleman in town, they dined at his house. I had there an opportunity of having some conversation with them, through the medium of their interpreter. Two of them are men of large stature, and possess an unaffected dignity of deportment, which, perhaps, might not be improved by any thing like the adulation of European courtiers. They are cleanly in their persons, and their skin is of a light copper colour. At table they acquitted themselves with much ease and propriety. After dinner they severally sat to an artist, who drew their portraits. During {222} this process, they kept themselves immovable as statues, and were highly pleased with the imitative art. The terrestrial globe was exhibited to them, and briefly explained; as was also the hypothesis of a hollow sphere, lately suggested by Captain Symmes of this place.[127] After a short deliberation, the chief replied: “We are willing to believe all that you have told us, but white men know these things best.” Their answers to questions were always direct, concise, and calculated to avoid giving offence. The principal peculiarity of their conduct was an eagerness to examine the interior of the house. In this they were even indulged without attendance. Their business at the seat of government, is to effect an arrangement for obtaining the means of improvement in the arts of civilized life; and to represent a grievance occasioned by the government of the United States, having purchased the lands of a neighbouring tribe, which now encroach on the hunting grounds of the Osage nation. The chiefs say, that they have 1800 warriors, and are able to destroy the tribes which have come into their country; but that they are unwilling to go to war.

Despotic governments, wherever they are, might stand reproved by the humanity of the aboriginal chiefs of America; and every people who are oppressed by the rapacity of privileged orders, may derive valuable instruction from the independent men of the forests, whose high spirit does not submit to be enslaved or taxed. Wars against people of this character present few allurements to the ambitious, and still fewer to avaricious men. The pacific policy of the Indians may, perhaps, be discredited, on account of the sanguinary wars that have thinned the ranks of numerous tribes, and annihilated many others. But it must be admitted, that this depopulation {223} has been accelerated, if not entirely produced, by Europeans, who took possession of the country by force, driving tribes into the territories of other nations. A migration cannot be tolerated to any great extent, where the people depend on hunting and fishing for their subsistence. Hence, the object of Indian warfare has been extirpation. The practice of leaguing with one tribe in fighting against another, has been a powerful cause of mutual destruction. The presents given by Europeans in these cases, and the promises made, could never have been inducements to wars purely Indian. Add to this, the havock introduced by the small-pox, and the use of spiritous liquors. We are almost totally unacquainted with the remote history of the American tribes. The great magnitude of their remaining works, prove that the population has once been comparatively numerous. This fact is in some measure corroborated by the great number of nations existing at the time of the first invasion of white people. It follows, that the wars that occurred during the accumulation of these people, have probably been less frequent, or less destructive than those which have latterly exterminated a large portion of the race.

FOOTNOTES:

[121] Constantin François Chasseboeuf Volney, _View of the Climate and Soil of the United States of America_, translated from the French (London, 1804). Volney (1759-1820) was a journalist, scholar, and statesman, who wrote on a great variety of subjects. He spent four years in America (1795-1799), and intended to publish a criticism of American institutions, but was dissuaded, it is said, by his friendship for Franklin. After his return to France, he was made a member of the Academy in 1813, and a peer by Louis XVIII in 1814.--ED.

[122] Dr. Drake has shown that the mean number of cloudy days in the year, was 104.33 for a space of six years; and that the mean term of variable days for the same period, was 82.16 days. Consequently, nearly half the time must have been clear weather.--_Picture of Cincinnati_, p. 103.--FLINT.

[123] See Dr. Drake’s _Picture of Cincinnati_.--FLINT.

[124] Ibid.--FLINT.

[125] For the early history of New Madrid, see Cuming’s _Tour_, volume iv of our series, note 185.--ED.

[126] For the Osage Indians, see Bradbury’s _Travels_, volume v of our series, note 22.--ED.

[127] John Cleves Symmes (1780-1829), soldier and scientific speculator, was a nephew of the pioneer promoter of the same name. His much-ridiculed theory of the earth as a hollow sphere, was elaborated in his volume, _Theory of Concentric Spheres, demonstrating that the Earth is Hollow_ (Cincinnati, 1826).--ED.

{224} LETTER XIX

Descend the Ohio from Cincinnati to Madison--Notices of a Scotch Settlement--Excess of Male Population--Roads--Harvest--Crops--Orchards--Timber--Elections-- Methodist Camp Meeting.

_Jeffersonville, (Indiana,)
August 8, 1820._

On the day succeeding the date of my last, I descended the river to Madison, a new town on the Indiana side of the river.[128]

About twelve miles north-east of Madison, and extending from thence eastward, is a new settlement, consisting chiefly of Scots, who amount to thirty-three families. The land which they have fixed on seems to be of the second rate quality. It is uneven, and intermixed with many deep ravines; in most of which the water is now dried up. The greatest natural disadvantage of this situation is, the difficulty of having roads over ground so much broken; but the industry displayed by the settlers may remedy this before the present generation passeth away. In the above enumeration of Scots, I used the term families for want of a better; but it deserves notice, that two of these establishments consist of two young men each, and one of them of three. Amongst the bachelor cultivators I recognised one of the passengers who came over with me in the ship Glenthorn. Another of them was lately a journeyman tailor in Edinburgh. He has thrown aside the tools of his former business, and taken up, in their stead, a more formidable {225} weapon. I had an opportunity of conversing with five of these people. The supposed horrors of a back-woods life, aggravated by a state of celibacy, has by no means shed a gloom over their countenances. Whatever their privations may be in the mean time, they have at least a reasonable prospect of having them speedily removed. The lands which they improve are their own. Whether they continue to cultivate or to sell them, their capital will increase: and even in the event of their taking wives, the probability of their children becoming paupers must be greatly lessened, in consequence of their emigrating to America. The excessive emigration of the men occasions a considerable paucity of females in all new settlements. While at Pittsburg, I saw a young widower with two infant children on his way for the military lands, in the State of Illinois. Some one hinted to him, that to marry again would be a prudential step on his part. He gave his assent to the truth of the remark, but expressed some doubts of his finding a wife where he was going. “I have lately been in that country,” continued he, “and I believe that the girls there are _all married up_.” During the early stages of the settlement of the colonies, the excess of male population must have been thought a great inconvenience. It is on record that the settlers of Virginia procured ladies from England in exchange for tobacco. The necessity of importations of this kind has been long ago removed, in that State; and the two sexes are now nearly equal in point of numbers, although not quite equally distributed over the country. Before dropping this digression on celibacy, I must mention my conviction that a very great proportion of Scotsmen remain bachelors in America. This is not asserted as a fact that applies to every part of the country, but in {226} so far as my observation has gone, I state it with much confidence. Whether we are less ardent in the pursuit than other people, or whether we are more under the influence of the prudential principle,--or whether our imputed loyalty, or some other national peculiarities, make the fair daughters of this land repulsive to us, I am not prepared to say. To return to the Scots settlement; J. M. lately a blacksmith in the county of Edinburgh, has settled here. He arrived with his wife, seven sons, two daughters, and a son-in-law, about ten months before I met him. He has purchased 480 acres of land, built two log-houses and a small stable; cleared and inclosed about 22 acres, which is nearly all under crop; deadened the timber of about 80 acres more; and planted an orchard. In addition to these improvements, his sons have wrought for a neighbour to the amount of a hundred days’ work. He has a horse, a cow, a few hogs, and some poultry. I inquired if he felt himself happy in a strange land; he replied, that he would not return to Scotland though the property, of which he formerly rented a part, were given to him for nothing.

Madison is a county town, consisting of about 100 houses. It is situated on a northerly bend of the river Ohio; and is, therefore, a place well adapted for intercourse with the interior of Indiana, and, on that account, it may soon become a considerable town. While I was there, the circuit court of the State was sitting. Two respectable personages were on the bench, and several lawyers of polite address were attending to the business on hand. The number of litigants is extremely great when the thinness of the population is considered.

The roads are merely narrow avenues through {227} the woods; felling and rolling away the timber being, in most cases, all the labour which is bestowed upon them. Withered trees, and others blown down by the wind, lie across, forming obstructions in many parts. The few bridges which we do see are made of wood. In Indiana, the roads are opened and occasionally repaired by an assessment from every man who has lived thirty days in any particular county. In the present year this statute labour has been increased from two days’ to six days’ work; and the alteration is unpopular, because the poorest men in the State are obliged to pay as much as the wealthiest landholders, and non-resident landholders are exempted. I have seen several labourers who left the State to avoid this obnoxious tax. I am not informed whether the increase mentioned has been exacted in every part of the State. An act of the legislature fixes six days’ labour, or a money commutation of the same, as a maximum, leaving the actual increase in the option of county commissioners. It does not appear probable that the road law can exist long without being modified, as popular opinion regulates every thing of the kind here.

On the 29th of June, wheat harvest was commenced on several farms to the west of Madison. Oats, at that time, were headed out and luxuriant; but the heat of the climate is uniformly unfavourable to the ripening of this kind of crop. Its weight, relative to measure, is usually about half of that of good grain in the better parts of Britain. The growth of Indian corn is this season luxuriant. The only injury it has suffered arises from squirrels that gathered a considerable quantity of the seed in many fields. Squirrels are not so excessively numerous in the uninhabited woods as in the vicinity of cultivated fields. Potatoes are small and of a bad {228} quality. At Jeffersonville, so early as the 29th of May last, new potatoes were in the market. Turnips (so far as I have observed) do not grow to a large size, nor are they raised in large quantities. Flax, in every field that I have seen, was a short crop, with strong stems, and tops too much forked. Probably thicker sowing would improve its quality. Hemp grows with great luxuriance. The orchards are abundantly productive, and yield apples of the largest size; but little care is taken in selecting or ingrafting from varieties of the best flavour. Small crab apples are the most acid, and produce the finest cider. Pears are scarcely to be seen. Peaches of the best and worst qualities are to be met with. The trees bear on the third summer after the seed is sown, and although no attention is paid to the rearing them, the fruit is excessively plentiful, and is sometimes sold at twenty-five cents (1s. 1¹⁄₂d. English) per bushel. Last year I weighed a peach, and found its weight to be eleven ounces, and I observed in a newspaper about the same time, an account of one of the extraordinary weight of fourteen ounces. A rancid sort of spirit is distilled from them, known here by the name of peach brandy. Cherries are small. The earliest this season at Cincinnati, were ripe on the 22d of May. Wild cherry trees grow to a great height in the woods; the timber is of a red colour, and is used in making tables, bureaus, &c. and forms a tolerable substitute for mahogany.

Ornamental gardening is a pursuit little attended to, and perhaps will not soon be generally exhibited. The soil of the best land being soft, the torrents of rain which almost instantaneously deluge the surface convert it into a paste of a very unsightly appearance. Where the ground has even a slight declivity, it is liable to have deep ruts washed in it. Low walks and other hollows, are {229} often filled with the soil carried down from higher parts of the ground. The severity of the winter is another obstacle; it being difficult to preserve some perennial and biennial plants, or to procure culinary vegetables in the spring. The stock of cultivated flower roots is very small, and these not well selected. Gooseberries and currants are scarce and small. Cucumbers, melons, and a variety of products that require artificial heat in Britain, grow here vigorously in the open air.

Several species of forest trees furnish excellent timber. The white oak is at once tough, dense, flexible, and easily split. The black locust is strong, heavy, not much subject to warping, and resists the effects of the weather for a long period of time. This sort of timber resembles laburnum more than any that you are acquainted with. White hickory is tough and elastic in a high degree, and is the wood in general use for handles to axes, and other tools. Black walnut grows to a great size, and is considered a mark of the excellence of the soil on which it grows. It is lighter, less curled in its texture, and probably weaker than that of England. The sugar-maple is curled in its fibre, and is used in making stocks for rifles. White or water maple is also curled, of a fine straw-colour, and is sometimes introduced in cabinet-work with much effect. White and blue ash trees are easily split, pliant, and readily smoothed, but less fit to bear exposure to the weather than the ash of Europe. Poplar grows to a great size, and is easily converted into boards or scantling. Red cedar is exceedingly durable as posts of rail-fences, and grows in great abundance by Kentucky river. White and yellow pines, similar to those of Canada, are brought from Allegany river, and are now sold here, in boards, at a cent per square foot.

{230} A few days ago I witnessed the election of a member of Congress for the State of Indiana.--Members for the State assembly and county officers, and the votes for the township of Jeffersonville, were taken by ballot in one day. No quarrels or disorder occurred. At Louisville, in Kentucky, the poll was kept open for three days. The votes were given _viva voce_. I saw three fights in the course of an hour. This method appears to be productive of as much discord here as in England. The States Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and all north of the latter, vote by ballot, and the southern proceed verbally.[129]

The sales of land in the late Indian purchase in Indiana have commenced at Jeffersonville.--They are now exposed by auction in lots of half quarter sections, (80 acres.) Only a very small part of the quantity offered has been sold. The price obtained is almost uniformly a dollar and a quarter per acre, the minimum rate now established by act of Congress. A few lots which present superior local advantages have sold higher. I know of one, with an excellent mill-seat, that gave three dollars per acre. The lands offered, but not sold at the present auction, may afterwards be privately purchased at the land-office for a dollar and a quarter per acre. No credit is given to those who buy public lands. The purchasers, whose lands were by law forfeited for non-payment, have got another year’s indulgence, but this act of lenity does not extend to those who are not actual settlers. Quarter sections are divided into half quarters, by south and north lines. A considerable number of backwoodsmen, who had previously taken possession of lands in the new purchase, attended the public sales for about a week. During the night they lodged in a joiner’s shed, which {231} is a mere temporary roof, composed of loose boards, for the purpose of sheltering workmen from the direct rays of the sun.

I lately returned from visiting the camp meeting of Wesleyan methodists, where I remained about twenty-four hours. On approaching the scene of action, the number of horses tied to fences and trees, and the travelling waggons standing in the environs, convinced me of the great magnitude of the assemblage. Immediately round the meeting a considerable number of tents were irregularly disposed. Some of them were log cabins that seemed to have served several campaigns, but most of them constructed by poles, covered over with coarse tow cloth.

These tents are for the accommodation of the people who attend the worship for several days, or for a week together. I had no sooner got a sight of the area within, than I was struck with surprise, my feet were for a moment involuntarily arrested, while I gazed on a preacher vociferating from a high rostrum, raised between two trees, and an agitated crowd immediately before him, that were making a loud noise, and the most singular gesticulations which can be imagined. On advancing a few paces, I discovered that the turmoil was chiefly confined within a small inclosure of about thirty feet square, in front of the orator, and that the ground occupied by the congregation was laid with felled trees for seats. A rail fence divided it into two parts, one for females, and the other for males. It was my misfortune to enter by the wrong side, and I was politely informed of the mistake by a Colonel P----, of my acquaintance, who, it appeared, had undertaken the duty of keeping the males apart from the females. The inclosure already mentioned was for the reception of those who undergo religious awakenings, and was {232} filled by both sexes, who were exercising violently. Shouting, screaming, clapping of hands, leaping, jerking, falling, and swooning. The preacher could not be distinctly heard, great as his exertions were; certainly had it not been for his elevated position, his voice would have been entirely blended with the clamours below. I took my stand close by the fence, for the purpose of noting down exclamations uttered by the exercised, but found myself unable to pick up any thing like a distinct paragraph.--Borrowing an idea from the Greek mythology, to have a distinct perception of sounds, poured from such a multitude of bellowing mouths, would require the ear of _Jove_.--I had to content myself with such vociferations as _glory, glory, power, Jesus Christ_,--with “groans and woes unutterable.”

In the afternoon a short cessation was allowed for dinner, and those deeply affected were removed to tents and laid on the ground. This new arrangement made a striking change in the camp, the bustle being removed from the centre and distributed along the outskirts of the preaching ground. Separate tents, in which one or more persons were laid, were surrounded by females who sung melodiously. It is truly delightful to hear these sweet singing people. Some of their tunes, it is true, did not convey, through my prejudiced ears, the solemn impressions that become religious worship, for I recognised several of the airs associated with the sentimental songs of my native land. In one instance a tent was dismantled of its tow cloth covering, which discovered a female almost motionless. After a choir of girls around her, had sung for a few minutes, two men stood over her, and simultaneously joined in prayer. One of them, {233} gifted with a loud and clear voice, drowned the other totally, and actually prayed him down.

After dinner another orator took his place. The inclosure was again filled with the penitent, or with others wishing to become so, and a vast congregation arranged themselves on their seats in the rear. A most pathetic prayer was poured forth, and a profound silence reigned over all the camp, except the fenced inclosure, from whence a low hollow murmuring sound issued. Now and then, _Amen_ was articulated in a pitiful and indistinct tone of voice. You have seen a menagerie of wild animals on a journey, and have perhaps heard the king of beasts, and other powerful quadrupeds, excited to grumbling by the jolting of the waggon. Probably you will call this a rude simile; but it is the most accurate that I can think of. Sermon commenced. The preacher announced his determination of discontinuing his labours in this part of the world, and leaving his dear brethren for ever. He addressed the old men present, telling them that they and he must soon be removed from this mortal state of existence, and that the melancholy reflection arose in his mind,--“_What will become of the church when we are dead and gone?_”--A loud response of groaning and howling was sounded by the aged in the inclosure, and throughout the congregation. He next noticed that he saw a multitude of young men before him, and, addressing himself to them, said, “I trust in _God_, that many of you will be _now_ converted, and will become the _preachers_ and the pious Christians of after days.”--The clamour now thickened, for young and old shouted together. Turning his eyes toward the female side of the fence, he continued, “And you, my {234} dear sisters.”--What he had farther to say to the future “nursing mothers of the church,” could not be heard, for the burst of acclamation, on their part, completely prevented his voice from being heard, on which account he withdrew; and a tune was struck up and sung with grand enthusiasm. The worship now proceeded with a new energy; the prompter in the pulpit had succeeded in giving it an impulse, and the music was sufficient to preserve emotion. The inclosure was so much crowded that its inmates had not the liberty of lateral motion, but were literally hobbling _en masse_. My attention was particularly directed to a girl of about twelve years of age, who while standing could not be seen over her taller neighbours; but at every leap she was conspicuous above them. The velocity of every plunge made her long loose hair flirt up as if a handkerchief were held by one of its corners and twitched violently. Another female, who had arrived at womanhood, was so much overcome that she was held up to the breeze by two persons who went to her relief. I never before saw such exhaustion. The vertebral column was completely pliant, her body, her neck, and her extended arms, bent in every direction successively. It would be impossible to describe the diversity of cases; they were not now confined within the fence, but were numerous among the people without. Only a small proportion of them could fall within the observation of any one bystander. The scene was to me equally novel and curious.

About dusk I retired several hundred yards into the woods to enjoy the distant effect of the meeting. Female voices were mournfully predominant, and my imagination figured to me a multitude of mothers, widows, and sisters, giving the {235} first vent to their grief, in bewailing the loss of a male population, by war, shipwreck, or some other great catastrophe.

It had been thought proper to place sentinels without the camp. Females were not allowed to pass out into the woods after dark. Spirituous liquors were not permitted to be sold in the neighbourhood.

Large fires of timber were kindled, which cast a new lustre on every object. The white tents gleamed in the glare. Over them the dusky woods formed a most romantic gloom, only the tall trunks of the front rank were distinctly visible, and these seemed so many members of a lofty colonnade. The illuminated camp lay on a declivity, and exposed a scene that suggested to my mind the moonlight gambols of beings known to us only through the fictions of credulous ages. The greatest turmoil prevailed within the fence, where the inmates were leaping and hobbling together with upward looks and extended arms. Around this busy mass, the crowd formed a thicker ring than the famous Macedonian phalanx; and among them, a mixture of the exercised were interspersed. Most faces were turned inward to gaze on the grand exhibition, the rear ranks on tip-toe, to see over those in front of them, and not a few mounted on the log-seats, to have a more commanding view of the show. People were constantly passing out and into the ring in brisk motion, so that the white drapery of females, and the darker apparel of the men were alternately vanishing and reappearing in the most elegant confusion. The sublimity of the music served to give an enchanting effect to the whole. My mind involuntarily reverted to the leading feature of the tale of Alloway Kirk: {236}

“Warlocks and witches in a dance;

Where Tam o’Shanter

----Stood like ane bewitch’d,
And thought his very een enrich’d.”

Late in the evening a man detached himself from the crowd, walking rapidly backward and forward, and crying aloud. His vociferations were of this kind: “I have been a great sinner, and was on the way to be damned; but am converted now, thank God--glory, glory!” He turned round on his heel occasionally, giving a loud whoop. A gentleman with whom I am well acquainted, told me that he had a conversation with a female who had just recovered from the debility of the day. She could give no other account of her sensations than that she felt so good, that she could press her very enemy to her bosom.

At half past two A.M. I got into a tent, stretched myself on the ground, and was soon lulled asleep by the music. About five I was awakened by the unceasing melody. At seven, preaching was resumed; and a lawyer residing in the neighbourhood gave a sermon of a legal character.

At nine the meeting adjourned to breakfast. A multitude of small fires being previously struck up, an extensive cooking process commenced, and the smell of bacon tainted the air. I took this opportunity of reconnoitring the evacuated field. The little inclosure, so often mentioned, is by the religious called _Altar_, and some scoffers are wicked enough to call it _Pen_, from its similarity to the structures in which hogs are confined. Its area was covered over with straw, in some parts more wetted than the litter of a stable. If it could be ascertained that all this moisture was from the tears of the penitent, the fact would be a surprising one. Waving all inquiry into this phenomenon, {237} however, the incident now recorded may be held forth as a very suitable counterpart to a wonderful story recorded by the Methodistic oracle Lorenzo Dow, of a heavy shower drenching a neighbourhood, while a small speck including a camp meeting was passed over and left entirely dry. In Lorenzo’s case, the rain fell all round the camp, but in that noticed by me, the moisture was in the very centre.

You can form no adequate idea of a camp meeting from any description which can be given of it. Any one who would have a complete view of enthusiasm can only obtain it by visiting such a meeting and seeing it himself. I should be sorry to abuse the Methodist sect by the illiberal application of such terms as fanaticism, superstition, or illusion. I have known many of them who are valuable members of society, and several who have rendered important services to their country, but have not seen any one prostrated, or even visibly affected, at the camp meeting or elsewhere, whom I knew to be men of strong minds or of much intelligence. Females seem to be more susceptible of the impressions than men are. A quality perhaps that is to be imputed to the greater sensibility of their feelings.

* * * * *

The awakenings in Kentucky that were some years ago hailed by the religious magazines of your country as the workings of the _Divine Spirit_, {238} must have been those that occurred at camp meetings of Methodists. These assemblages are now said to be on the decline in Kentucky; and when meetings were held on a grand scale there, many disorders were committed by immoral persons, tending to the great scandal of religion, and occasioning the precautionary measures already noticed in this detail.

FOOTNOTES:

[128] Madison, Jefferson County, was to Indiana what Maysville was to Kentucky and Shawneetown to Illinois, an important _entrepôt_ and place of debarkation for pioneers moving to the interior. The early railways built to Madison and Maysville, emphasize this.--ED.

[129] Flint’s generalization regarding the Southern states is too sweeping. Virginia and Kentucky were the only commonwealths in which the people voted _viva-voce_. North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana, authorized the written ballot in their constitutions, and in South Carolina it was established by statute. The use of the ballot was a custom of long standing in New England, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, dating from the middle of the seventeenth century. In New York it was introduced as an experiment in 1778, and permanently adopted ten years later. Virginia changed to the written ballot for all popular elections, in her constitution of 1864, and Kentucky in hers of 1891; so that at present it is universal in the United States.--ED.