American Notes for General Circulation

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I was sometimes asked, in my progress through other places, whether
I had not been very much impressed by the HEADS of the lawmakers at
Washington; meaning not their chiefs and leaders, but literally
their individual and personal heads, whereon their hair grew, and
whereby the phrenological character of each legislator was
expressed: and I almost as often struck my questioner dumb with
indignant consternation by answering 'No, that I didn't remember
being at all overcome.' As I must, at whatever hazard, repeat the
avowal here, I will follow it up by relating my impressions on this
subject in as few words as possible.

In the first place - it may be from some imperfect development of
my organ of veneration - I do not remember having ever fainted
away, or having even been moved to tears of joyful pride, at sight
of any legislative body. I have borne the House of Commons like a
man, and have yielded to no weakness, but slumber, in the House of
Lords. I have seen elections for borough and county, and have
never been impelled (no matter which party won) to damage my hat by
throwing it up into the air in triumph, or to crack my voice by
shouting forth any reference to our Glorious Constitution, to the
noble purity of our independent voters, or, the unimpeachable
integrity of our independent members. Having withstood such strong
attacks upon my fortitude, it is possible that I may be of a cold
and insensible temperament, amounting to iciness, in such matters;
and therefore my impressions of the live pillars of the Capitol at
Washington must be received with such grains of allowance as this
free confession may seem to demand.

Did I see in this public body an assemblage of men, bound together
in the sacred names of Liberty and Freedom, and so asserting the
chaste dignity of those twin goddesses, in all their discussions,
as to exalt at once the Eternal Principles to which their names are
given, and their own character and the character of their
countrymen, in the admiring eyes of the whole world?

It was but a week, since an aged, grey-haired man, a lasting honour
to the land that gave him birth, who has done good service to his
country, as his forefathers did, and who will be remembered scores
upon scores of years after the worms bred in its corruption, are
but so many grains of dust - it was but a week, since this old man
had stood for days upon his trial before this very body, charged
with having dared to assert the infamy of that traffic, which has
for its accursed merchandise men and women, and their unborn
children. Yes. And publicly exhibited in the same city all the
while; gilded, framed and glazed hung up for general admiration;
shown to strangers not with shame, but pride; its face not turned
towards the wall, itself not taken down and burned; is the
Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America,
which solemnly declares that All Men are created Equal; and are
endowed by their Creator with the Inalienable Rights of Life,
Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness!

It was not a month, since this same body had sat calmly by, and
heard a man, one of themselves, with oaths which beggars in their
drink reject, threaten to cut another's throat from ear to ear.
There he sat, among them; not crushed by the general feeling of the
assembly, but as good a man as any.

There was but a week to come, and another of that body, for doing
his duty to those who sent him there; for claiming in a Republic
the Liberty and Freedom of expressing their sentiments, and making
known their prayer; would be tried, found guilty, and have strong
censure passed upon him by the rest. His was a grave offence
indeed; for years before, he had risen up and said, 'A gang of male
and female slaves for sale, warranted to breed like cattle, linked
to each other by iron fetters, are passing now along the open
street beneath the windows of your Temple of Equality! Look!' But
there are many kinds of hunters engaged in the Pursuit of
Happiness, and they go variously armed. It is the Inalienable
Right of some among them, to take the field after THEIR Happiness
equipped with cat and cartwhip, stocks, and iron collar, and to
shout their view halloa! (always in praise of Liberty) to the music
of clanking chains and bloody stripes.

Where sat the many legislators of coarse threats; of words and
blows such as coalheavers deal upon each other, when they forget
their breeding? On every side. Every session had its anecdotes of
that kind, and the actors were all there.

Did I recognise in this assembly, a body of men, who, applying
themselves in a new world to correct some of the falsehoods and
vices of the old, purified the avenues to Public Life, paved the
dirty ways to Place and Power, debated and made laws for the Common
Good, and had no party but their Country?

I saw in them, the wheels that move the meanest perversion of
virtuous Political Machinery that the worst tools ever wrought.
Despicable trickery at elections; under-handed tamperings with
public officers; cowardly attacks upon opponents, with scurrilous
newspapers for shields, and hired pens for daggers; shameful
trucklings to mercenary knaves, whose claim to be considered, is,
that every day and week they sow new crops of ruin with their venal
types, which are the dragon's teeth of yore, in everything but
sharpness; aidings and abettings of every bad inclination in the
popular mind, and artful suppressions of all its good influences:
such things as these, and in a word, Dishonest Faction in its most
depraved and most unblushing form, stared out from every corner of
the crowded hall.

Did I see among them, the intelligence and refinement: the true,
honest, patriotic heart of America? Here and there, were drops of
its blood and life, but they scarcely coloured the stream of
desperate adventurers which sets that way for profit and for pay.
It is the game of these men, and of their profligate organs, to
make the strife of politics so fierce and brutal, and so
destructive of all self-respect in worthy men, that sensitive and
delicate-minded persons shall be kept aloof, and they, and such as
they, be left to battle out their selfish views unchecked. And
thus this lowest of all scrambling fights goes on, and they who in
other countries would, from their intelligence and station, most
aspire to make the laws, do here recoil the farthest from that
degradation.

That there are, among the representatives of the people in both
Houses, and among all parties, some men of high character and great
abilities, I need not say. The foremost among those politicians
who are known in Europe, have been already described, and I see no
reason to depart from the rule I have laid down for my guidance, of
abstaining from all mention of individuals. It will be sufficient
to add, that to the most favourable accounts that have been written
of them, I more than fully and most heartily subscribe; and that
personal intercourse and free communication have bred within me,
not the result predicted in the very doubtful proverb, but
increased admiration and respect. They are striking men to look
at, hard to deceive, prompt to act, lions in energy, Crichtons in
varied accomplishments, Indians in fire of eye and gesture,
Americans in strong and generous impulse; and they as well
represent the honour and wisdom of their country at home, as the
distinguished gentleman who is now its Minister at the British
Court sustains its highest character abroad.

I visited both houses nearly every day, during my stay in
Washington. On my initiatory visit to the House of
Representatives, they divided against a decision of the chair; but
the chair won. The second time I went, the member who was
speaking, being interrupted by a laugh, mimicked it, as one child
would in quarrelling with another, and added, 'that he would make
honourable gentlemen opposite, sing out a little more on the other
side of their mouths presently.' But interruptions are rare; the
speaker being usually heard in silence. There are more quarrels
than with us, and more threatenings than gentlemen are accustomed
to exchange in any civilised society of which we have record: but
farm-yard imitations have not as yet been imported from the
Parliament of the United Kingdom. The feature in oratory which
appears to be the most practised, and most relished, is the
constant repetition of the same idea or shadow of an idea in fresh
words; and the inquiry out of doors is not, 'What did he say?' but,
'How long did he speak?' These, however, are but enlargements of a
principle which prevails elsewhere.

The Senate is a dignified and decorous body, and its proceedings
are conducted with much gravity and order. Both houses are
handsomely carpeted; but the state to which these carpets are
reduced by the universal disregard of the spittoon with which every
honourable member is accommodated, and the extraordinary
improvements on the pattern which are squirted and dabbled upon it
in every direction, do not admit of being described. I will merely
observe, that I strongly recommend all strangers not to look at the
floor; and if they happen to drop anything, though it be their
purse, not to pick it up with an ungloved hand on any account.

It is somewhat remarkable too, at first, to say the least, to see
so many honourable members with swelled faces; and it is scarcely
less remarkable to discover that this appearance is caused by the
quantity of tobacco they contrive to stow within the hollow of the
cheek. It is strange enough too, to see an honourable gentleman
leaning back in his tilted chair with his legs on the desk before
him, shaping a convenient 'plug' with his penknife, and when it is
quite ready for use, shooting the old one from his mouth, as from a
pop-gun, and clapping the new one in its place.

I was surprised to observe that even steady old chewers of great
experience, are not always good marksmen, which has rather inclined
me to doubt that general proficiency with the rifle, of which we
have heard so much in England. Several gentlemen called upon me
who, in the course of conversation, frequently missed the spittoon
at five paces; and one (but he was certainly short-sighted) mistook
the closed sash for the open window, at three. On another
occasion, when I dined out, and was sitting with two ladies and
some gentlemen round a fire before dinner, one of the company fell
short of the fireplace, six distinct times. I am disposed to
think, however, that this was occasioned by his not aiming at that
object; as there was a white marble hearth before the fender, which
was more convenient, and may have suited his purpose better.

The Patent Office at Washington, furnishes an extraordinary example
of American enterprise and ingenuity; for the immense number of
models it contains are the accumulated inventions of only five
years; the whole of the previous collection having been destroyed
by fire. The elegant structure in which they are arranged is one
of design rather than execution, for there is but one side erected
out of four, though the works are stopped. The Post Office is a
very compact and very beautiful building. In one of the
departments, among a collection of rare and curious articles, are
deposited the presents which have been made from time to time to
the American ambassadors at foreign courts by the various
potentates to whom they were the accredited agents of the Republic;
gifts which by the law they are not permitted to retain. I confess
that I looked upon this as a very painful exhibition, and one by no
means flattering to the national standard of honesty and honour.
That can scarcely be a high state of moral feeling which imagines a
gentleman of repute and station, likely to be corrupted, in the
discharge of his duty, by the present of a snuff-box, or a richly-
mounted sword, or an Eastern shawl; and surely the Nation who
reposes confidence in her appointed servants, is likely to be
better served, than she who makes them the subject of such very
mean and paltry suspicions.

At George Town, in the suburbs, there is a Jesuit College;
delightfully situated, and, so far as I had an opportunity of
seeing, well managed. Many persons who are not members of the
Romish Church, avail themselves, I believe, of these institutions,
and of the advantageous opportunities they afford for the education
of their children. The heights of this neighbourhood, above the
Potomac River, are very picturesque: and are free, I should
conceive, from some of the insalubrities of Washington. The air,
at that elevation, was quite cool and refreshing, when in the city
it was burning hot.

The President's mansion is more like an English club-house, both
within and without, than any other kind of establishment with which
I can compare it. The ornamental ground about it has been laid out
in garden walks; they are pretty, and agreeable to the eye; though
they have that uncomfortable air of having been made yesterday,
which is far from favourable to the display of such beauties.

My first visit to this house was on the morning after my arrival,
when I was carried thither by an official gentleman, who was so
kind as to charge himself with my presentation to the President.

We entered a large hall, and having twice or thrice rung a bell
which nobody answered, walked without further ceremony through the
rooms on the ground floor, as divers other gentlemen (mostly with
their hats on, and their hands in their pockets) were doing very
leisurely. Some of these had ladies with them, to whom they were
showing the premises; others were lounging on the chairs and sofas;
others, in a perfect state of exhaustion from listlessness, were
yawning drearily. The greater portion of this assemblage were
rather asserting their supremacy than doing anything else, as they
had no particular business there, that anybody knew of. A few were
closely eyeing the movables, as if to make quite sure that the
President (who was far from popular) had not made away with any of
the furniture, or sold the fixtures for his private benefit.

After glancing at these loungers; who were scattered over a pretty
drawing-room, opening upon a terrace which commanded a beautiful
prospect of the river and the adjacent country; and who were
sauntering, too, about a larger state-room called the Eastern
Drawing-room; we went up-stairs into another chamber, where were
certain visitors, waiting for audiences. At sight of my conductor,
a black in plain clothes and yellow slippers who was gliding
noiselessly about, and whispering messages in the ears of the more
impatient, made a sign of recognition, and glided off to announce
him.

We had previously looked into another chamber fitted all round with
a great, bare, wooden desk or counter, whereon lay files of
newspapers, to which sundry gentlemen were referring. But there
were no such means of beguiling the time in this apartment, which
was as unpromising and tiresome as any waiting-room in one of our
public establishments, or any physician's dining-room during his
hours of consultation at home.

There were some fifteen or twenty persons in the room. One, a
tall, wiry, muscular old man, from the west; sunburnt and swarthy;
with a brown white hat on his knees, and a giant umbrella resting
between his legs; who sat bolt upright in his chair, frowning
steadily at the carpet, and twitching the hard lines about his
mouth, as if he had made up his mind 'to fix' the President on what
he had to say, and wouldn't bate him a grain. Another, a Kentucky
farmer, six-feet-six in height, with his hat on, and his hands
under his coat-tails, who leaned against the wall and kicked the
floor with his heel, as though he had Time's head under his shoe,
and were literally 'killing' him. A third, an oval-faced, bilious-
looking man, with sleek black hair cropped close, and whiskers and
beard shaved down to blue dots, who sucked the head of a thick
stick, and from time to time took it out of his mouth, to see how
it was getting on. A fourth did nothing but whistle. A fifth did
nothing but spit. And indeed all these gentlemen were so very
persevering and energetic in this latter particular, and bestowed
their favours so abundantly upon the carpet, that I take it for
granted the Presidential housemaids have high wages, or, to speak
more genteelly, an ample amount of 'compensation:' which is the
American word for salary, in the case of all public servants.

We had not waited in this room many minutes, before the black
messenger returned, and conducted us into another of smaller
dimensions, where, at a business-like table covered with papers,
sat the President himself. He looked somewhat worn and anxious,
and well he might; being at war with everybody - but the expression
of his face was mild and pleasant, and his manner was remarkably
unaffected, gentlemanly, and agreeable. I thought that in his
whole carriage and demeanour, he became his station singularly
well.

Being advised that the sensible etiquette of the republican court
admitted of a traveller, like myself, declining, without any
impropriety, an invitation to dinner, which did not reach me until
I had concluded my arrangements for leaving Washington some days
before that to which it referred, I only returned to this house
once. It was on the occasion of one of those general assemblies
which are held on certain nights, between the hours of nine and
twelve o'clock, and are called, rather oddly, Levees.

I went, with my wife, at about ten. There was a pretty dense crowd
of carriages and people in the court-yard, and so far as I could
make out, there were no very clear regulations for the taking up or
setting down of company. There were certainly no policemen to
soothe startled horses, either by sawing at their bridles or
flourishing truncheons in their eyes; and I am ready to make oath
that no inoffensive persons were knocked violently on the head, or
poked acutely in their backs or stomachs; or brought to a
standstill by any such gentle means, and then taken into custody
for not moving on. But there was no confusion or disorder. Our
carriage reached the porch in its turn, without any blustering,
swearing, shouting, backing, or other disturbance: and we
dismounted with as much ease and comfort as though we had been
escorted by the whole Metropolitan Force from A to Z inclusive.

The suite of rooms on the ground-floor were lighted up, and a
military band was playing in the hall. In the smaller drawing-
room, the centre of a circle of company, were the President and his
daughter-in-law, who acted as the lady of the mansion; and a very
interesting, graceful, and accomplished lady too. One gentleman
who stood among this group, appeared to take upon himself the
functions of a master of the ceremonies. I saw no other officers
or attendants, and none were needed.

The great drawing-room, which I have already mentioned, and the
other chambers on the ground-floor, were crowded to excess. The
company was not, in our sense of the term, select, for it
comprehended persons of very many grades and classes; nor was there
any great display of costly attire: indeed, some of the costumes
may have been, for aught I know, grotesque enough. But the decorum
and propriety of behaviour which prevailed, were unbroken by any
rude or disagreeable incident; and every man, even among the
miscellaneous crowd in the hall who were admitted without any
orders or tickets to look on, appeared to feel that he was a part
of the Institution, and was responsible for its preserving a
becoming character, and appearing to the best advantage.

That these visitors, too, whatever their station, were not without
some refinement of taste and appreciation of intellectual gifts,
and gratitude to those men who, by the peaceful exercise of great
abilities, shed new charms and associations upon the homes of their
countrymen, and elevate their character in other lands, was most
earnestly testified by their reception of Washington Irving, my
dear friend, who had recently been appointed Minister at the court
of Spain, and who was among them that night, in his new character,
for the first and last time before going abroad. I sincerely
believe that in all the madness of American politics, few public
men would have been so earnestly, devotedly, and affectionately
caressed, as this most charming writer: and I have seldom
respected a public assembly more, than I did this eager throng,
when I saw them turning with one mind from noisy orators and
officers of state, and flocking with a generous and honest impulse
round the man of quiet pursuits: proud in his promotion as
reflecting back upon their country: and grateful to him with their
whole hearts for the store of graceful fancies he had poured out
among them. Long may he dispense such treasures with unsparing
hand; and long may they remember him as worthily!

* * * * * *

The term we had assigned for the duration of our stay in Washington
was now at an end, and we were to begin to travel; for the railroad
distances we had traversed yet, in journeying among these older
towns, are on that great continent looked upon as nothing.

I had at first intended going South - to Charleston. But when I
came to consider the length of time which this journey would
occupy, and the premature heat of the season, which even at
Washington had been often very trying; and weighed moreover, in my
own mind, the pain of living in the constant contemplation of
slavery, against the more than doubtful chances of my ever seeing
it, in the time I had to spare, stripped of the disguises in which
it would certainly be dressed, and so adding any item to the host
of facts already heaped together on the subject; I began to listen
to old whisperings which had often been present to me at home in
England, when I little thought of ever being here; and to dream
again of cities growing up, like palaces in fairy tales, among the
wilds and forests of the west.

The advice I received in most quarters when I began to yield to my
desire of travelling towards that point of the compass was,
according to custom, sufficiently cheerless: my companion being
threatened with more perils, dangers, and discomforts, than I can
remember or would catalogue if I could; but of which it will be
sufficient to remark that blowings-up in steamboats and breakings-
down in coaches were among the least. But, having a western route
sketched out for me by the best and kindest authority to which I
could have resorted, and putting no great faith in these
discouragements, I soon determined on my plan of action.

This was to travel south, only to Richmond in Virginia; and then to
turn, and shape our course for the Far West; whither I beseech the
reader's company, in a new chapter.

CHAPTER IX - A NIGHT STEAMER ON THE POTOMAC RIVER. VIRGINIA ROAD,
AND A BLACK DRIVER. RICHMOND. BALTIMORE. THE HARRISBURG MAIL,
AND A GLIMPSE OF THE CITY. A CANAL BOAT

WE were to proceed in the first instance by steamboat; and as it is
usual to sleep on board, in consequence of the starting-hour being
four o'clock in the morning, we went down to where she lay, at that
very uncomfortable time for such expeditions when slippers are most
valuable, and a familiar bed, in the perspective of an hour or two,
looks uncommonly pleasant.

It is ten o'clock at night: say half-past ten: moonlight, warm,
and dull enough. The steamer (not unlike a child's Noah's ark in
form, with the machinery on the top of the roof) is riding lazily
up and down, and bumping clumsily against the wooden pier, as the
ripple of the river trifles with its unwieldy carcase. The wharf
is some distance from the city. There is nobody down here; and one
or two dull lamps upon the steamer's decks are the only signs of
life remaining, when our coach has driven away. As soon as our
footsteps are heard upon the planks, a fat negress, particularly
favoured by nature in respect of bustle, emerges from some dark
stairs, and marshals my wife towards the ladies' cabin, to which
retreat she goes, followed by a mighty bale of cloaks and great-
coats. I valiantly resolve not to go to bed at all, but to walk up
and down the pier till morning.

I begin my promenade - thinking of all kinds of distant things and
persons, and of nothing near - and pace up and down for half-an-
hour. Then I go on board again; and getting into the light of one
of the lamps, look at my watch and think it must have stopped; and
wonder what has become of the faithful secretary whom I brought
along with me from Boston. He is supping with our late landlord (a
Field Marshal, at least, no doubt) in honour of our departure, and
may be two hours longer. I walk again, but it gets duller and
duller: the moon goes down: next June seems farther off in the
dark, and the echoes of my footsteps make me nervous. It has
turned cold too; and walking up and down without my companion in
such lonely circumstances, is but poor amusement. So I break my
staunch resolution, and think it may be, perhaps, as well to go to
bed.

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