Chapter III: Part 3

In an hour or two, the North Point, at the entrance of the Patapsco river, became visible. General Ross landed here, with the British force of 5000 men, on the 12th of September, 1814, and met his death in the skirmish that ensued shortly afterwards. I rode from Baltimore to the spot where he fell, marked by a small plain stone-monument, by the side of the road. The last four miles out of fourteen lay through a very pretty wood, affording a most grateful shade. When we were within two miles from the city, we passed Fort Mac Henry, which was bombarded upon the same occasion, almost from the extremity of the range of a shell. Some of them, where they fell, penetrated the ground to a depth of five or six feet.

Baltimore, when viewed from the Chesapeake, appears to be built over several low hills, or slopes, and surrounded by others that are considerably higher. Its situation is much finer than that of Philadelphia. It is not so fine as that of New York; but in some respects, is, I think, superior to Boston. When approached by water, the most conspicuous objects are—Washington’s monument, the shot-towers, the Roman Catholic cathedral, and the Unitarian church, all scattered in different parts of the city. Washington’s monument is a plain column of marble, raised on a square base, 175 feet in height, and surmounted by a colossal statue of Washington. It is seen from a great distance on every side, and commands the finest and most extensive prospect; but I am very much inclined to doubt the taste that placed any other than an allegorical object on the top of a lofty pillar. The size of the column, and its simplicity, are calculated to excite admiration; but in my humble judgment, it would have been much better to have had a really fine statue placed inside the base of the column, than to perch the General upon a height that would make a living Admiral feel giddy. Lord Hill’s monument, near Shrewsbury, and that to the memory of General Brock, at Queenstown, are, I think, objectionable, for the same reasons. The battle monument is much prettier, although it is somewhat florid in its ornaments: it is fifty-four feet in height. The column is a circular fasces, symbolical of the Union, twined round with fillets, bearing the names of those who fell on the 12th and 13th of September, 1814; and supporting an allegorical statue of a female, personifying the city of Baltimore, with a bald eagle, the United States’ emblem, at her side. The Archbishop of Maryland is the metropolitan of the States. The Catholic cathedral is a handsome building, with a dome in imitation of the Pantheon. The inside, which is divided into pews, contains two very good pictures from the French school: a descent from the cross, by Paul Guerin, presented by Louis XVI.; and St. Louis burying his dead officers and soldiers before Tunis, by Steaben, presented by Charles X. The descent from the cross is much and deservedly admired. It has the merit of being free from that tedious detail that is usually to be observed in the works of French artists, who paint every thing as it is, and not as it appears. It occurred to me, that the body of Christ did not sufficiently rest on the ground, as intended. The latter picture displays more of the French taste. I did not like it so well, but many prefer it to the other. At Baltimore, is the University of Maryland, which ranks very high as a medical school. The average expenses of a student are one hundred and twenty dollars per annum. It has also professors in law and divinity. St. Mary’s College and Baltimore College are also justly celebrated throughout the Union; the latter will accommodate one hundred and fifty students, who are instructed, by twelve professors, in the ancient and modern languages, mathematics, natural philosophy, &c. The city also contains a good museum, which I did, and many more public buildings, which I did not visit, as I could not learn that there was any thing in them particularly deserving of attention. The theatre was not open.

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The waters of the Chesapeake and the Patapsco are the favourite resort of the canvas-back duck, which I had always been told was the greatest delicacy imaginable; and, “like nothing else, sir! I assure ye!” The sporting commences early in November, and affords most excellent sport. An experienced shot will sometimes kill three dozen in a morning with a single gun; and occasionally they are shot on the wing with a single rifle. The canvas-back duck very much resembles the red-headed wigeon, or common dun-bird. Lucien Bonaparte, who has so well continued Wilson’s work on American Ornithology, has successfully shown that it is quite a different bird. It is about half as large again, with a black and different formed bill and black legs. Those of the red-headed wigeon are of a dark lead colour. They breed on the borders of the great lakes, or about Hudson’s Bay; but in the winter months, they are found in prodigious quantities on the Chesapeake, the Patapsco, and the Potamac. Its flavour is owing to the root of the Vallissneria Americana, or wild celery, on which it feeds, and for which it will dive to a depth of eight or ten feet. The red-headed wigeon, when in company with the canvas-back, will often wait till it has risen from the bottom, and then snatch from it the hard-earned morsel. The _bons vivants_ of America, talk of the canvas-back with an interest that borders on affection, and is sometimes very amusing. “Sir,” said an old fellow to me, “I wished to give a duck feast, and accordingly I bought nine couple of them, all fresh killed, and all of the right weight. I stuffed them into every corner of my gig; and would not suffer the cook to touch them, except in my presence. I dressed them all myself, in different ways, in my parlour, so as to have them all done according to figure, sir! Well, sir! all my company had arrived, except an old German; we could not wait, and sat down without him. When he came, he exclaimed, ‘What! noshing but duckhs!’ I started up in a rage, sir! a violent rage, sir! ‘Noshing but duckhs!’ I repeated after him: Why, you d——d old scoundrel, said I, your own Emperor of Austria never had such a dinner: he could not, sir, though he gave the best jewel in his crown for it.” I tasted these birds several times before I quitted America, and they certainly are extremely good. The meat is dark, and should be sent to table underdone, or what in America is called “rare.” I think the flavour might be imitated by a piece of common wild duck, and a piece of fine juicy venison, tasted at the same time. The word “rare” used in that sense, and which is given by Johnson, on the authority of Dryden, is no doubt one of many which have retained in America, a meaning in which they are not now used in England, but which was doubtless carried over the Atlantic by the settlers of a hundred years ago. I confess that I was for some time in error. I heard every one around me giving orders that his meat should be “rare,” and I thought it a mispronunciation of the word raw.

The environs of Baltimore are exceedingly pretty: almost every eminence is crowned with a country house, surrounded by gardens and pleasure grounds richly wooded, and laid out to the best advantage, so as generally to afford a peep through the trees at some part of the Patapsco, or the Chesapeake. They are admirably adapted for a fête champêtre, or a strawberry party, as it is called at Baltimore. I had the honour of an invitation to the only one that was given during my stay in that city. The company assembled about six o’clock. Quadrilles and waltzes were kept up with great spirit, first on the lawn, and then in the house till about eleven. In the mean time strawberries and cream, ices, pine apples, and champagne, were served up in the greatest profusion. I had understood, and am quite ready to admit, that Baltimore deservedly enjoys a high reputation for female beauty. I am speaking of the American ladies in general, when I remark that it is no injustice to them to maintain, that where you will see twenty pretty girls, you will not see one really handsome woman. I have frequently observed the prettiest features,—such as more reminded me of England, than of any other country; but I think that most Europeans who have formed a correct taste from the “stone ideal” of Greece, would agree with me that ladies with pretensions to that higher degree of beauty, are not so often to be met with in America as in England. There is one particular in which they would do well to imitate my fair countrywomen. They have great charms for the breakfast table; but yet, elegant and lady-like as many of them undoubtedly are, how often have I been compelled to wish, that the breakfast table had not quite so many charms for them. They _must_ know that to eat is unfeminine; and that ladies should in the presence of gentlemen, appear _very_ hungry, is a decided proof of a deficiency in national manners,—just as much, or even more so, than that men, be they who or what they may, should sit with their hats on in the dress circle at New York. The influence of a court would extend to, and would remedy all this. I should here again remark, that the first society is seldom seen at the theatre, and would not be guilty of such behaviour.

It is a matter of great surprise to a stranger, that there is not one single promenade at Baltimore. There are some very eligible situations immediately adjoining the city, and which to all appearance are so easily convertible into a public walk, that it is difficult to understand why the ladies do not insist upon its commencement. I would most humbly advise them to do so.

I was honoured with an invitation to “the Manor,” the country residence of Mr. Carroll, of Carrollton. The house was built long before the revolution, and is a curious specimen of Anglo-American architecture, somewhat resembling one of those large old parsonage houses which are to be seen in some parts of England. It stands in the midst of an extensive domain, in a high state of cultivation, and extremely well and neatly kept, considering that it is worked by slaves. I could have fancied myself in England, but for the loose zigzag fences of split logs, which offer to the eye but a poor apology for the English hedge row. Hedges of any kind would not, generally speaking, thrive well in the United States. It would be necessary, I was told, that they should be banked up, in order to keep them from being washed away by the heavy rains; and it is probable that during the extreme heat of the summer months, they could not obtain moisture sufficient to preserve them from being dried up entirely. They are, however, often to be seen close to a gentleman’s house, where they can be constantly attended to. I should conceive that the aloe hedges of Spain and Portugal, might succeed in the United States. It is neither a fault, nor a misfortune, that there is no water scenery at “the Manor.” The rivers and lakes of America are usually on a vast and magnificent scale, fitted either to bound or to deluge a continent; small streams are also common; but a lake for instance of a mile or two in length, is seldom to be seen, excepting in New England, where they are plentiful. Before I arrived there, I do not think that I had seen more than half a dozen ponds, and those all in Kentucky. Instead of being thought an advantage, a piece of water is avoided; no American, from choice, would build on its banks, as the exhalations in the hot weather render such a situation very unhealthy, excepting in the more northerly states.

At the manor I partook of that hospitality which is so kindly and universally extended to every foreigner who visits Baltimore with a proper letter of introduction. Mr. Carroll himself, is the most extraordinary individual in America. This venerable old gentleman is in his ninety-fifth year, is exceedingly cheerful, enjoys most excellent health, and is in good possession of his faculties. He is the only survivor of the patriots who signed the Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July, 1776. He has always adhered to the federal principles, and his valuable estate is one of the very few that have descended in a direct line from the first possessor. Mr. Carroll is the grandfather of the Ladies Wellesley and Caermarthen.

No one who visits Baltimore should omit seeing the vessels known by the name of clippers. They are uncommonly neat single-decked schooners usually, but sometimes are rigged like a brig. Their burden is commonly about 200 tons. They are cut remarkably sharp at the bows, with a great breadth of beam. When lying in the water, the head is considerably elevated above the stern, so that, although the masts are nearly at right angles with the hull, they appear to rake much more than they really do. They will sail on a wind at the rate of seven knots an hour, when other fast sailing vessels can make only five and a half, or six; but few of them are good sailers before the wind. They usually make a voyage to the Havannah, where they are sold for slave ships, or to South America, where they are bought by smugglers or pirates, for whose occupations they are admirably adapted. They are built nowhere so well as at Baltimore.

Two rail-roads had been commenced at Baltimore: one called the Baltimore and Ohio rail-road, because it was intended to join that river. The exact line of country through which it would pass, was as yet a secret with a select few, who would thus be able to secure from the owners a refusal of the land through which it passed without being obliged to pay an increased price. The other is called the Susquehanna rail-road, and was intended to join that river at York-haven, about sixty miles below Harrisburg. Deputations have been sent from Baltimore to Philadelphia, to obtain the necessary permission to carry it into the state of Pennsylvania; but their applications have been, I was informed, twice refused. The rail-road, however, is still continued, from a well-grounded persuasion that the inhabitants of the western parts of Pennsylvania, convinced of the advantages that will accrue to them by its affording them another means of carriage for their bituminous coal, iron, and timber, will ultimately succeed in obtaining a majority in Congress in favour of its completion. But does not a jealousy of this kind arise, after a contemplation, however distant, of the political horizon? Has it not a prospective reference to the interest of the State separately, when the federal government shall be no more?

By the constitution of Maryland the governor does not possess the right of a veto over the Acts of the general assembly.

More flour is annually inspected at Baltimore, than at any other port in the United States excepting New York. The amount for the year 1830, was 597,804 barrels; but by the returns made since the first of January, 1831, it is supposed that the quantity in this year will exceed 600,000 barrels. The wheat that is shipped, is sent almost exclusively to England; but it bears a very small proportion to the flour, although it sells better in the English market—about 70,000 bushels of wheat were shipped this year for England. The quality in general is good, excepting that a portion of it is sometimes tainted with garlick; a nuisance that is almost unavoidable, because the plant grows spontaneously in the wheat districts. It is said to have been first introduced by the Hessians, during the revolutionary war, and it has since increased so much, that it cannot be got rid of. The wheat exported from Baltimore is grown in the State of Maryland, and in many parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania. Money had been plentiful for the last two years, and investments that would produce five per cent. were not easily to be met with. A market overstocked with imports from Europe and India, was the assignable cause: trade was comparatively less brisk, and many capitalists withdrew their funds from active business, for the purpose of investment in the stock of bank insurance and rail-road companies. A great quantity of money was likewise lying in the market in consequence of the national debt being in a course of reduction by the payment of government loans. However, when I was there, money was more scarce, and worth more than six per cent.; the exchange on England had risen as high as eleven per cent. per annum, and a large quantity of specie had been exported to that country.

At Baltimore, I first saw the fire-fly. They begin to appear about sunset, after which they are sparkling in all directions. In some places ladies will wear them in their hair, and the effect is said to be very brilliant. Mischievous boys will sometimes catch a bull-frog, and fasten them all over him. They show to great advantage, while the poor frog, who cannot understand the “new lights” that are breaking upon him, affords amusement to his tormentors by hopping about in a state of desperation.

About thirty miles from Baltimore, on the western shore as it is termed, stands Annapolis the capital of Maryland. It is situated at the bottom of a fine bay, and contains several curious old houses, built long before the revolution. The most conspicuous object is the capitol, which is surmounted by a fine steeple. The general assembly of Maryland, hold their sittings there, and it was there that General Washington resigned to the federal congress the command he had so nobly used. It sat there for some time after the independence of the United States was established.

At Baltimore, I visited the studies of two very promising young artists: Mr. Hubard, an Englishman, is certainly the better painter; but has the advantage of four or five years of experience over Mr. Miller, who is an American, quite a boy; and whom, I think, at least an equal genius. He has had little or no instruction. If sent to Europe, as he certainly ought to be, I will venture to predict, that at some future period he will be an ornament to his native city; and which he certainly never will, or can be, if he does not leave it. Will it be credited, that in America, with all her pretensions to good sense and general encouragement of emulation and enterprise, the voice of public opinion is a bar to the advantage of drawing from a living model? Without it, historical painting cannot thrive, and sculpture must be out of the question.

I left Baltimore with regret: I had been kindly and hospitably treated there,—and in a few hours the mail carried me to Washington. This city of distances—this capital that is to be—is laid out upon an open piece of undulating down, on the north side of the Potomac. The capitol of the United States is built upon the most lofty part of it, which is ascended by a fine flight of steps, and altogether has a very imposing appearance, being visible at a great distance from almost every side. It is of free-stone, which is found on the river about thirty miles below the city. In front is a magnificent portico of Corinthian columns, and behind it there is another; in the same style, (though larger), as that at Wanstead House in Essex, or Wentworth Castle in Yorkshire, which is a copy of Wanstead. On the top are three domes; that in the centre would look a great deal better if it were deeply fluted, like the dome of St. Paul’s; at present it would be much better out of the way, as it gives a general appearance of heaviness, to what would otherwise be deservedly thought a very fine building. From the balustrade is obtained a delightful view of the river, and the surrounding country. The centre of the interior of the capitol, is occupied by a large open space under the dome, containing four pictures, that look very well at a little distance: the subjects are the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Surrender of General Burgoyne, the Surrender of Lord Cornwallis; and General Washington resigning his command at Annapolis. They are painted by Col. Trumbull. The remainder of the capitol is occupied by the apartments and offices connected with the senate, the house of representatives, and the supreme court of the United States. The pillars which support the roof of the chamber of representatives, are of breccia, or pudding-stone; perhaps the most singular formation of the kind that is to be found anywhere, not excepting that at Monserrat in Spain, which is entirely composed of breccia. Fragments of granite, quartz, limestone, and other rocks, have been pressed together in the most extraordinary manner, by some stupendous power, and from a little distance the composition might be mistaken for the _verd antique_. It is found on the Potomac, about thirty miles above Washington. The president’s house is a handsome building, with an Ionic portico; and the only one in the States that resembles the modern residence of a British nobleman. It is exactly at the distance of one mile and a half in a straight line from the capitol, and the houses are continued beyond it for nearly another. Numerous large streets radiate from the capitol and the president’s house, as centres—a method of laying out a city far handsomer than that which has been adopted at Philadelphia, where the streets cross each other at right angles. Who that has seen the “Perspective” at Petersburg, can ever forget it? where the principal streets are all pointed towards the beautifully gilt steeple of the Admiralty, that is seen glittering at the end of each of them. It must be allowed that this arrangement has its disadvantages in the shape of the houses, and apartments, one end of which, if they are regularly divided, must be larger than the other.

In the dock-yard at Washington, I saw a sixty-gun frigate in a state of forwardness, and a small schooner constructed on a plan that had never been applied to a vessel of war, being of the same shape fore and aft, and having no internal timbers. The blocks made there, are not all of one piece, as they are at our dock-yard at Portsmouth. A double block for instance, is composed of seven pieces of wood, exclusively of the sheave. They are, no doubt, much stronger when made in this manner; but a man can make but one in half an hour.

The college at George Town, adjoining the city, is a Catholic establishment; its members are Jesuits, and who, as usual, are increasing their influence, by purchasing lands, &c. Attached to the college, is the nunnery of the Sisters of Visitation, containing about fifty nuns. They tell there of a Hohenlohe miracle.

Washington, like most of the American cities, can boast of several beautiful rides and walks in its vicinity. Arlington, the seat of George Washington P. Castis, Esq., occupies a most conspicuous and commanding situation, on the south bank of the Potomac. It is visible for many miles, and in the distance has the appearance of a superior English country residence, beyond any place I had seen in the States: but as I came close to it, as usual, I was wofully disappointed. It contains a valuable portrait of Washington, when a Major in the British service, and wearing of course the blue-and-buff uniform.

Not far from the race ground, and about three miles from George Town, is the residence of a gentleman who has paid greater and more indefatigable attention to the culture of the vine than any other person in America. The vineyards around his house produce several different kinds of grapes; from which, considering how few years have elapsed since the attempt was first made, he may be said to have been very successful in producing some very good and palatable wines. Amongst others, the best is dignified by the very aristocratic name of “Tokay.” It is made from the “Catawba” grape, which he himself first found in a cottager’s garden, not far from a tavern bearing the sign of the Catawba Indians, distant about twenty miles from Washington. From this circumstance he called it the Catawba grape. The Catawba is a river of South Carolina, but no grape of the kind is found near it. The cottagers could give him no satisfactory account of it, and he never could find out whether it was indigenous, or, which is most likely the fact, imported. It is rather a large grape, thick-skinned, but at the same time very transparent, with a fine purple blush, and far more fit for making wine than to form part of a dessert. As yet it appears to thrive better than any kind of grape that has been tried in the United States; so much so, that at Pittsburgh, and Lancaster, and other places where there are vineyards, they have cleared away a large proportion of the European plants, in favour of the Catawba vine. He informed me that he had sent cuttings of it to every State in the Union excepting Florida, Arkansaw, and Kentucky. A long time, however, must elapse before the Americans can compete with the wines of Europe: as yet, comparatively speaking, little can be known there, either with reference to the best fruit, or to the soil and temperature necessary to bring it to perfection. Upwards of seventy kinds of the wild vine are found in the American forests, but not more than half of them bear fruit. At Boston I tasted a grape called the Isabella grape, whose flavour was still harsh, but was a great and decided improvement in every respect, upon the sourness of the fox-grape of the woods, from which, I was informed, it had been originally produced. I am, of course, speaking of the Catawba and other grapes, only in their wine-making capacity; the grapes raised in the United States for the table, are exceedingly good and very plentiful.

As a matter of course, I visited Mount Vernon. A steam-boat conveyed me to Alexandria in an hour. Alexandria was taken by the British squadron on the 29th of August, 1814, and the stores of flour, tobacco, and cotton, were carried off by them. It contains a population of 9000 persons, and carries on a trade in flour, tobacco, fish, and lumber, to the southern States and the West Indies, although Baltimore has run away with the greater part of its commerce. A ride of nine miles on a well-shaded road, conducted me to Mount Vernon, now in possession of John Augustine Washington, Esq., nephew to the General, and to the late Judge, whose worth and learning are recorded by an inscription in the court-house of Philadelphia. Of the house itself there is little to be said. I saw there a piece of an old mug, which bears upon it a small head of the General, said to be the best likeness of him that is known anywhere. From the lawn, there is a fine view of the Potomac with Fort Washington nearly opposite, which was abandoned at the approach of the British squadron in 1814. In passing Mount Vernon, the ships fired a salute it well deserved. I must confess that I was greatly disappointed at the sight of the tomb that contains the ashes of Washington. I did not expect grandeur, but I thought to have seen something more respectable than either the old, or the new tomb, to which the coffin was removed two years ago. But for the inscription, I should have taken them for a couple of ice-houses. An avoidance of every thing like pretension is desirable only so long as it is attended with neatness;—but there is not even what can be fairly called a path to either of them. Instead of feeling as I wished, whilst in contemplation of the last long-home of this really great, because good man, my mind was only occupied by intrusive reflections on the insignificant and pauper-like appearance of the whole scene before me. The tears of La Fayette, when visiting the tomb in 1825, might have partly flowed from other sources than the mere consciousness that he was standing in the presence of the mortal remains of his old friend and companion in arms. There has been some talk of removing the coffin to the centre of the hall in the capitol, and of a monument to be raised over it, but I have understood that it is not seriously contemplated. If it were placed there, it might one day be the means of saving the Union. How forcible, how effective, in a moment of danger, might be an eloquent appeal to its presence, made by the Judges of the supreme court, or the orators of the American congress!

I was never fortunate enough to hear a mocking bird in its wild state; I had frequently heard them in cages, but nowhere in such perfection as at Washington. This bird, one of the noblest in nature, is an inhabitant of the southern states only, and is thus described by Wilson, the celebrated Ornithologist. “The plumage of the mocking bird would scarcely entitle him to notice, but his figure is well proportioned, and even handsome. The ease, elegance, and rapidity of his movements—the animation of his eye, and the intelligence he displays in listening and laying up lessons from almost every species of the feathered race within his hearing, are really surprising, and mark the superiority of his genius. He has a voice capable of almost every modulation, from the clear mellow notes of the wood-thrush, to the savage scream of the bald-eagle. In measure and accent, he faithfully follows his originals; in force and sweetness of expression, he greatly improves upon them: his admirable song rises paramount over every competitor. His own native notes are bold and full, and varied beyond all limits. In the height of his song, his ardour and animation appear unbounded—he sweeps round with enthusiastic ecstasy—he mounts or descends as his song swells or dies away; and as my friend Mr. Bartram, (an American naturalist), has beautifully expressed it: “he bounds aloft with the rapidity of an arrow, as if to recover or recall his very soul, expired in the last elevated strain. While thus exerting himself, a by-stander destitute of sight would suppose, that the whole feathered tribe had assembled together, each striving to produce his utmost effort, so perfect are his imitations. He many times deceives the sportsman, and sends him in search of birds that are not within a mile of him, but whose notes he exactly imitates. Even birds themselves are imposed upon by his admirable music, and are decoyed by the fancied calls of their mates, or are driven with precipitation into the depths of the forest, at the screams of what they suppose to be the sparrow-hawk.” He is of a size between the thrush and the nightingale, but shaped like the latter bird. His plumage in general is of a cinerous brown colour, with a broad bar of white on the wing, which he is very fond of displaying. I am afraid that I never heard them in perfection; but to judge from what I did hear, I should suppose that although infinitely more varied, his natural notes were neither so full nor so rich as those of the nightingale. But there are many who think differently.”

One morning I was much amused by the debut of a new volunteer corps, calling themselves the Highlanders,—Washington being one of the flattest places in the States. The dress would have looked well enough had it been uniform, but I was told there was not plaid enough of the same pattern to be obtained in the city. The bonnet had a very theatrical appearance, and would not have been half so bad, had not the eye been attracted by the waistcoat and the broad lacings of the coat, all of which were of a very dark sky-blue. I have a great respect for the tartan; and I thought it might have looked decent, even when converted, as it was, into small-clothes, had they not been made extremely tight. Still, however, the costume of the nether man might have passed unnoticed, had not the enormous bows at the knees been composed of tri-coloured ribbon, and the general effect much heightened by the long nankeen gaiters, which covered the leg from the knee to the shoe.

In the capitol, as all the world knows, sit the senate, the house of representatives, and the supreme court of the United States. And here I may be permitted to remark, that when writing generally on such a subject as the United States, every candid person will make allowances for the impossibility of avoiding a repetition of things already well known and well described. Under the apprehension that I shall frequently be in error on this head, I think the safest mode is to apologise at once, and beforehand. None, however, is necessary for not entering at large upon a subject so tedious and so endless, as that of the courts of the different states in their separate capacity as to the federal judiciary. I may mention, that the United States are divided into seven judicial circuits, and thirty-two judicial districts. Each state is one district, with the exceptions of New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Alabama; which are each of them divided into two districts. There are three courts belonging to the general or federal government: the district court, the circuit court, and the supreme court. The district court possesses a civil and criminal admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, and also takes cognizance of all cases affecting the revenue, and all crimes and offences committed within the district, which are punishable by moderate corporal punishment, or fine and imprisonment. It is held by a district judge (there being one in each district), sitting alone, four times a year: his salary varies from 1000 to 3000 dollars a year. An appeal lies from his decision in cases where, exclusive of costs, the matter in dispute exceeds the sum or value of fifty dollars, to the “circuit court,” possessing an original jurisdiction, civil and criminal. The civil jurisdiction extends to all controversies between citizens of different states, and between a citizen and an alien. All offences against the penal laws of the United States, can be tried in this court. It is also a court of equity. The circuit court is held before the district judge, sitting twice a year with the judge of the supreme court. An appeal lies from its decisions to the supreme court of the United States, where the matter in dispute exceeds 2000 dollars. In criminal cases, a point may be reserved for the opinion of the judges of the supreme court, which is sent down to the circuit court to be proceeded upon afterwards. In six of the states, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, there is no circuit court, because the judges of the supreme court could not find time to sit there twice a year; but the district courts possess the powers and jurisdiction of a circuit court.

The supreme court of the United States, is a very high and honourable tribunal, composed of a chief justice, with a salary of 5000 dollars (1125_l._), and six associate justices, with a salary of 4500 dollars each, who hold a sitting once a year, at Washington, commencing on the second Monday in January. The court sits five hours every day for two months, deciding in that time usually about eighty causes, which are reported as those of the law courts in England used, and ought still to be, by an officer of the court. Its original jurisdiction is confined to all such cases, affecting ambassadors, consuls, and vice-consuls, as a court of law can exercise consistently with the law of nations; and it has original, but not exclusive jurisdiction of all suits brought by ambassadors, and other public ministers, in which a consul or vice-consul is a party. But its dignity rests chiefly on its appellate jurisdiction, which extends to all cases and appeals, and writs of error from the circuit courts: likewise in all cases where the constitution and laws of the federal government, or the construction of any treaty entered into by the federal government, or its validity, or any right or interest under a treaty, has been a subject of controversy in the state tribunals. Its decisions and opinions on the construction of the constitution, are the safeguard of the Union. But its appellate jurisdiction is defined, and extends to no cases but where the power is affirmatively given. In order to enable it to issue a mandamus, proof is required that it is an exercise, or necessary to an exercise, of its appellate jurisdiction. The supreme court has jurisdiction in all controversies where the United States shall be a party in controversies between two or more states; between a state and the citizens of another state; between citizens of different states; between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states; and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects. A strict and admirable attention to justice, is observable in these arrangements. Every description of case which might be partially decided by the courts of the litigant states, is brought to the bar of the great national tribunal to be disposed of.

During the last sittings of the supreme court, a case of great constitutional interest was heard before it. It was entitled “The Cherokee Nation, _versus_ the State of Georgia.” The Cherokee nation having been repeatedly harassed by the incursions and other unneighbourly proceedings of the inhabitants of Georgia, applied to the supreme court for an injunction to restrain the state, its governor, and other officers, from executing and enforcing the laws of Georgia within the Cherokee territory. The counsel for the Cherokees argued, that not being a state of the Union, the Cherokee nation was to be considered as a foreign state, and was rendered capable of suing in the supreme court by virtue of the clause I have mentioned above, in which the judicial power of the court is extended to controversies between a state and the citizens thereof, and foreign states’ citizens or subjects: but Chief Justice Marshall decided, that the relation of the Cherokees to the United States resembled that of guardian and ward; that they could not be considered either as a foreign state, or as a state of the Union; and that therefore they were rendered incapable of suing in that court. His judgment was strengthened by the wording of the articles of the constitution, in which Congress is empowered to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and the several states and the “Indian tribes,” who being in this manner specifically mentioned, could not have been considered as a foreign state or nation by the original framers of the constitution. Imagine the astonishment of the poor Cherokees upon being told, that the highest tribunal at the city of their Great Father could afford them no redress. The affair will, of course, come before congress. Chief Justice Marshall decided according to the letter of the constitution; but the opinion of Chancellor Kent, of New York, is surely deserving of the greatest attention, as containing an exposition apparently more agreeable to justice. He considers the Indian tribes “not only as states, but as foreign states, because they do not constitute any ingredient or essential part of our own body politic.” He considers the clause just referred to, may have contained the additional grant of power to regulate commerce with the “Indian tribes” out of abundant caution, and to prevent any possible doubt of the application to them of the power to regulate commerce with “foreign nations.” The last words, he apprehends, would have reached the Indians; but the constitution, in several other instances, has gone into a like specification of powers which were, by necessary implication, included in the more general grant. Thus, for instance, power is given to congress “to declare war,” and it is immediately subjoined “to grant letters of marque and reprisal.” They have power to “coin money,” and “to regulate the value thereof:” they have power “to raise armies,” and “to provide and maintain a navy:” and it is immediately subjoined “to make rules for the government” (and not government only, but it is added) “and regulation of the army and land force.”

All the judges in the American courts enjoy an immunity from wigs, and the judges of the supreme court alone are clothed in “silk attire.” Their robes are black, and fashioned according to the taste of the wearer. I examined four or five of them which were hanging up in the court, and found that although perfectly judicial, they displayed no small attention to taste in their cut and general appearance. A proper degree of dignity is required and observed in the supreme court; business is there conducted as it ought to be in every court of justice; but some of the state courts are remarkably deficient in this respect: even in the court-house at Philadelphia, during the sitting of the circuit court, I have seen a gentleman, a counsellor of eminence, coolly seat himself on the table whilst a judgment was being given, and in that attitude I have heard him address some interlocutory observations to the court, and press them upon its attention with great earnestness and ability. I cannot understand why more dignity, both judicial and forensic, should not be observed in the courts of the United States. I have often been in the company of American lawyers, who, as individuals, were men of gentlemanly manners, and excellent general information, which they have ever evinced a readiness to impart; but I do not remember one who ever mentioned the subject at all, without admitting that a proper want of the respect due to the time and the place is frequently but too visible in the American courts; and yet there is no improvement.

Silence, being indispensable, is well preserved; but counsel and attorneys may be occasionally seen with their legs dangling over the back of a chair, or possibly resting on the table. A corresponding carelessness of manner is of course exhibited by the spectators. I have even observed persons with their hats on in court, and upon inquiry have been told they were Quakers; but once or twice I remember having taken the liberty of doubting the information. I hope I shall not be supposed to mean, that no greater decorum is observed in the principal courts of the larger cities than in those held at places of minor importance; I am speaking of them generally as I found them when in travelling. I happened to arrive at some place where a court was sitting, and “just dropped in” for half an hour _en passant_; but still there is always a something even in the best of them which, to an English eye, appears undignified and indecorous; although there can be no doubt that their appearance is not mended by the total absence of wigs and gowns from all of them.

The spirit of equality renders it allowable, and the impossibility in distant towns of making the profession answer by any other arrangement, renders it necessary, that a barrister and solicitor should frequently commence business as partners, and play into each other’s hands. A judge will frequently travel from town to town unattended, in his gig, or on horseback, with his saddle-bags before him, or in the stage-coach, and dine at the village table d’hôte with shopkeepers, pseudo majors, and advertising attorneys. Human nature will out. In the absence of other titles, it is the pleasure of the Americans that they should be dignified by the rank of General, Colonel, or Aide-de-camp; but more especially I found by that of Major. An English gentleman assured me that, being on board a steamer on the Ohio river, he was first introduced by a friend as plain Mr., then as Captain; soon after he was addressed as Major, and before the end of the day he was formally introduced as a General. There is usually a Major, or an Aide, as they call themselves, in every stage-coach company. The captain of a steam-boat, who was presiding at the dinner table, happened to ask rather loudly, “General, a little fish!” and was immediately answered in the affirmative by twenty-five out of the thirty gentlemen who were present.

One would have imagined, that in the United States, where an equal partition of the rights of mankind is the boasted foundation of the government, Justice would have been treated with peculiar courtesy; but she is not properly honoured there. Justice is not exclusively a republican in principle, whatever the Americans may think. She must remain unaltered, whatever may be the form of government, as the value of the diamond is the same whether its possessor be a prince or a peasant. During my occasional visits to the courts of justice in the United States, I could not help thinking how fortunate it was that Justice was blind, and could not therefore be shocked by the want of decorum I observed there. What was my surprise on entering the supreme court in the capitol at Washington, to perceive her wooden figure with the eyes unfilleted, and grasping the scales like a groceress! With great deference, I would suggest that the whole of this unworthy group should be removed. The day may arrive, as I have said before, when the supreme court may be the means of saving the Union.

Any suggestions recommendatory of an amendment or additional clause in the constitution, emanate from the judges of this exalted tribunal. When it is thought necessary that the constitution of any particular state should be altered or amended, the legislature authorizes the people to express their opinions as to whether they are or are not in favour of calling a general convention. This is usually arranged at the time of a general election. If there be a majority in favour of the convention, the legislature then calls upon the people to elect persons to serve as members or delegates, and it fixes the time of meeting. If any amendments are made by the convention, they are submitted to the people for their approval; and if a majority decide upon their adoption, they forthwith become part of the constitution.

When it is considered that the supreme court has a federal jurisdiction extending over a union of twenty-four states, many of them as large or larger than England, whose humble and individual importance are increasing, and which are divided and subdivided by party, and by conflicting and annually arising interests, and which are becoming more and more democratic in every succeeding year, and consequently more and more opposed to the spirit in which the constitution was originally framed, some idea may be formed of the importance that is attached to the decisions of this court, whose authorities, from first to last, are intended as a safeguard to the Union. The independence of this court, and, in fact, of all the federal judiciary, may be termed the sheet anchor of the United States. Its power constitutes their chief hope; the abuse of it is the only medium of tyranny, and is therefore the principal source of apprehension. The judges of all the federal courts hold their offices during good behaviour, and are removable only by impeachment. It would reasonably be supposed that the individual states would follow the example of the general government in the appointment of their judges; but this is not the case. In seven of the states they are elected for a term of years only; in Rhode Island they are elected annually; in five of the states they are obliged to go out of office at sixty, sixty-five, or seventy years of age. This law in the enlightened state of New York has deprived it of the valuable services of Chancellor Kent, the author of the admirable Commentaries on the laws of America. There are many democrats who actually wish that the judges of the supreme court should be elected for a term of years only. This custom is notoriously productive of sufficient hardships in some of the more remote states, where, on account of the smallness of the salary, amounting to not more than two or three hundred pounds, the bench is sometimes filled by young and inexperienced men, who are the children of party, and whose decisions must be occasionally affected by the hope of re-election.

Entailed estates are but little known in the United States: in South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana, not at all. In many of the states they are nothing in effect but an estate in fee; the limitation in tail being of no value, except it be in special tail. But in all cases estates tail may be barred by a simple deed of bargain and sale, and which is, in fact, the almost universal assurance; lease and release being but little known. In other respects the doctrine of the statutes of uses is in full operation, excepting in the state of New York, where it has been discontinued since the new code passed in 1829.