certainly is the author who best maintains that en- |RYATT, who have been more anxious to say someviable character throughout his book. It would thing witty and malicious at our expense, than to have been an easy matter for him to season his give correct notions of a young and growing nation, narrative and reflections with the usual quantity of with which their countrymen must, of necessity, ill-nature and sarcasm; to vindicate his claims to have the closest relations. We have paid some gentility at home by the exhibition of a supercilious attention to these various publications, as well as disdain of all the usages of society here; and to to the manner in which they were successively number with the deadly sins the slightest departure, noticed by the leading reviews in Great Britain, in the Americans, from the conventionalities of his and we hazard little in saying, that nothing can be countrymen. We are very sure that, in refraining conceived more unphilosophical, uncharitable, false from these piquant animadversions, which are ex- and malicious, than the mass of what has been pected as a matter of course, Mr. MURRAY has not written by Englishmen upon this country. Take had the fear of his publisher's account before his all the tours that have been written, and all the reeyes. The sale of the book in England, we dare views which they have elicited, and then compare the say, is lessened by these unusual omissions. aggregate with the work of M. DE TOCQUEVILLEIt would be natural to suppose that Englishmen How immeasurably superior the lucubrations of the feel a deep interest in this country, and with Frenchman! There is no American who may not promptness avail themselves of every facility of learn something about his own country and instituacquiring an accurate knowledge of its actual con- tions from this philosophical work. dition. The lapse of half a century, one might When we wince under the multiplied misreprethink, would have sufficed to heal the wounds sentations alluded to, we are accused of being overcaused by the disruption of political ties by the sensitive. There is truth in the charge-but it revolution; and, as to the bad feelings, engendered comes with a bad grace from the English, who by subsequent commercial collisions and a second have displayed, at all times, the liveliest sensibility appeal to arms, they are not, surely, more deeply to animadversions by foreign tourists upon their seated, nor more inveterate, than those which John peculiarities. The works of Prince PUCKLER MUSBull, for many years, entertained towards his KAU, Baron D'HAUSSEZ, Professor Raumer, &c. neighbor over the channel. Yet we have seen the were of precisely the same gossiping stamp with hate for a Frenchman, which once was inculcated those of Captains HALL and HAMILTON, and Mrs. as a sacred duty upon the English, in the course of TROLLOPE. These foreigners wounded the selfevents give place to a better and more creditable love of John Bull, by drawing invidious comparifeeling, and France become the chosen residence sons between the refinements of society on the of thousands of loyal Britons, who, from various Continent and in England. They ridiculed, or considerations, forego the substantial comforts of compassionated, deficiencies on those very points their ancestral homes, for the tinsel, hollowness and in which the English think themselves invulneradepravity of continental society. This change ble. We refer to the periodicals to show that the of feeling has been wrought by better acquain- nation writhed under these inflictions, quite as tance with their neighbors, and, without estimating much as our countrymen have done under the matoo highly the claims of blood, we believe that licious and disparaging remarks of English travelJohn Bull would not be found more implacable to- lers. It is, moreover, worthy of notice, that many wards his own offspring than towards the French, of the allegations of these continental travellers provided his ignorance with respect to them could, against the English differ little, and but in degree, in like manner, be dissipated. Certain it is, that from those which the English are in the habit of of no country in the civilized world, of any thing making against our society and manners. like the same population or importance, are the could take an article in the Edinburgh, on Prince mass of intelligent Englishmen so profoundly igno- PUCKLER MUSKAU's book, and, mutatis mutandis, rant. No American can pass a fortnight in Eng- make it answer for a slashing critique on Mr. HAland, without having his surprise and risibility-MILTON or Mrs. TROLLOPE.

We

and it may be his indignation-excited by the mis- But it is time to return to Mr. MURRAY's book. takes he hears made, by men of information, on all There are some who, to appreciate a work, must American subjects-geography, politics, institutions know all about the author. With respect to a book and manners. The object of most of their travellers of travels, this is more than mere curiosity. The seems not to have been the enlightenment of their importance to be attached to his opinions depends countrymen. Some, with good intentions, saw upon his social position, his feelings, and the intoo little of our country to qualify them for the fluences to which he has been subjected, as much task-others came here possessed by certain theo- as the credibility of his statements does upon his nes, to which they made every thing bend. It personal and moral qualities. In this view, we would swell this notice beyond our assigned limits, may inform our readers, that Mr. MURRAY is the to sketch, however slightly, the various tourists, second son of the Earl of DUNMORE, and grandson from Tom MOOKE and ASHE down to Capt. MAR- of the Lord DUNMORE, whose name is familiar to us

VOL. VI.-10

all as the last Colonial Governor of Virginia—that evening is closed by drinking and dancing to a jingling he is a young gentleman of good education and guitar, until fatigue and intoxication terminate the feast." considerable attainments-has travelled extensively The vessel, having refitted, sailed; and, after a on the continent—is master of several modern lan- tedious voyage of six weeks, reached New York— guages, and is a capital shot and keen sportsman. the passengers and crew having been, for ten days, A highland nurturing, and subsequent athletic ex- on short allowance. The only incident of the voyercises, have given him a hardihood of constitution age was one, which, the author says, he would be and physical capabilities, suited to the vicissitudes afraid to relate, had it not been witnessed by a of travel, and admirably qualifying him for the whole ship's company. fatigues and privations to which he was subjected during his summer campaign on the prairies. A playing round the ship. I was on deck with my doublefine, manly person-an engaging address-the sim- barrelled rifle, and was talking near the bows of the ship with an old sailor who had served many years on board a ple, unaffected manners of a well-bred gentleman, whaler. As one of the whales came up above the water, and the political sentiments of an English Whig-not more than thirty or forty yards distant, he directed me to aim about three feet behind the head, and rather low in an indomitable spirit of adventure-good temper the body; I obeyed his instructions, and lodged both the and a knowledge of the world-complete his quali-balls within a few inches of each other in the part he had fications as a traveller.

Mr. MURRAY embarked on the 18th April, 1834, at Liverpool, in the ship Waverley, for New York. Besides the usual assortment of cabin passengers, there were in the steerage one hundred and fifty of the poorest class of Irish. On the 1st May, when twelve hundred miles from Liverpool, the vessel sprung a-leak. The weather continuing dreadful, the captain bore up for the Azores. By the exertions of the steerage passengers at the pumps, the vessel was kept afloat; and, after throwing overboard the greater part of the cargo, the Waverley arrived on the 8th, at Fayal. The description of these islands, and the incidents of the month spent there, are not the least attractive parts of the work. We give an extract, descriptive of a curious

custom:

"On the evening of the 22d June, several whales were

pointed out. They pierced the thick coat of blubber, and both probably entered the heart; for after a few convulsive struggles, which discolored the water with blood and fat for many yards around, the unfortunate whale turned upon his back, and ere he had floated past the stern of the ship was perfectly dead. We had no tackle on board proper for heaving him up, and the evening being too far advanced to permit the captain to lower his boats, no advantage could be derived from this accidental shot, which might otherwise have furnished us with several barrels of oil. I had, on several other occasions, struck the whales and black fish which played round the ship, with balls from the same rifle, but without any other apparent effect than making them lash the water with their tail and go down for a few seconds, after which they appeared again on the surface, pursuing their pastime as if nothing had occurred to disturb it."

On landing in New York, he was cheated by a hackney coachman, who charged him three or four prices for carrying him from the wharf to the "American." Here was an incident, which a traveller of the old school would have turned to account. We might have had a dissertation upon "On the evening after our arrival I witnessed a curious the demoralizing influence of republican instituprocession, the origin and description of which may be so tions, and the inference that all the citizens of the far interesting, as throwing some light upon the habits and religious prejudices of the inhabitants. The island of Fayal commercial emporium were sharpers. Mr. MURis divided into eight parishes, of which three are in the town. RAY contents himself by saying "In justice to In each of these are chosen, on every successive Sunday

between Easter and Whitsunday, an Emperor and an Em-America, I must subjoin two observations: first, press; they are elected by universal suffrage of their fellow that this class of street plunderers is common to parishioners, from the middle and lower orders, their office

fasting, of course, one week: they may or may not be re- every city in Europe; and, secondly, that the indilated to each other, and have no power, authority, or privi-vidual in question was evidently from that ‘first lege of any kind; on the contrary, they are obliged to fur

nish wax candles for the churches on the day of their inau-gem of the sea,' whose sons perform the greater guration, and to provide a certain quantity of food for the portion of laborious and domestic service throughpoor, and a treat of wine and other drink to their compan-out the Atlantic cities." ions. The ceremony may probably cost them from twenty to thirty dollars; and yet, such is the force of prejudice and habit, that even in the present depressed and impoverished state of the island, this empty distinction is sought with the greatest avidity by men who can scarcely find wherewithal to feed or clothe themselves and their families. I an assured, it is by no means uncommon for their imperial honors to be preceded, or followed, by a few weeks' imprisonment for debt.

The inns of this country are standing subjects of comment with travellers of the silver-fork school. Mr. MURRAY can dine at a hotel and not make an invidious remark:

"At five o'clock I dined for the first time at an American table d'hôte, and I certainly never saw, at any hotel in Europe, a dinner for so large a party served in better style, or with less confusion. The dishes were very numerous, and the cookery respectable. I observed also that the knives, glasses, plates, &c. were remarkably clean, the table-cloth of the finest quality, and that ice was applied in a profusion not less unexpected than agreeable to the water, salad, cucumbers, butter, &c.

"On the day of their installation they go in procession through the streets with flags and banners, discordant music, and still more discordant cries, to the church, where the priest places a silver tinsel crown upon their heads and performs other trifling ceremonies. As they pass along, they receive from many houses tribute of a small donation, which is offered by them at the church, for the Holy Ghost, in honor of whom the festival is said to have been originally "In answer to my inquiries, I learnt from one of my instituted: a collection is always made, because it appears neighbors that this was called the ladies' ordinary being to be the custom of the lower orders when attacked by sick-attended by the families resident in the house, and that the ness or disease, to go to bed, and, taking neither remedy usual public table d'hote was daily at two o'clock, so that nor medical advice, to vow so many farthings to the Holy if I chose to attend it, I should witness a very different Ghost on this occasion, in the event of their recovery. The scene from the well-conducted table now before me. I cer

tainly remarked that there was less conversation than at a | he lodged in a log-house; subsequently in a cottage; and he German table d'hôte, perhaps even less than at an English is now the universally esteemed and respected possessor of public table; and although the dinner was a ceremony a demesne, which many of the proudest nobility of Europe quickly despatched, there was neither haste nor scrambling, such as travellers are led to expect."*

The first night gave him experience of the heat of the weather, and a walk the next morning enabled him to add his testimony to that of most other travellers in favor of the beauty of American women. He repaired to Rockaway to visit his friend, the British Minister, Sir CHarles Vaughan, who received him as one from the dead, in conse

might look upon with envy, where he exercises the rites of hospitality, in the midst of his amiable family, with a sincerity and kindness that I shall not easily forget."

After visiting the Falls, he made a short visit to Toronto, intending to proceed to Montreal, but was prevented by the prevalence of the cholera there. From Ogdensburg, a drive of one hundred and fifty miles, through the most wild and uncultivated country he had ever seen, brought him to Plattsburg. Mr. MURRAY, like all other travellers, is struck by the gloom and silence of our primeval forests. There is, indeed, something appalling in their monotonous grandeur. "I do not know," says he, "from what principle of our nature it proceeds,

quence of the report of the loss of the Waverley. It was here he first tasted "Mint Julep," the apostrophe to which, as well as other laudations of strong drink, scattered through the book, are not in good taste, and are calculated to give an erroneous but it is undoubtedly true that the mind feels more impression of his habits. From New York, he ascends the Hudson-visits of a vast American forest, than by the barren desooppressed by the unvarying loneliness and silence West Point, Albany, Saratoga, Auburn, Canandai-lation of the wildest moor or plain; nay, even than gua. We give the following account of his visit by the waste of waters in a calm at sea." to Mr. WADSWORTH:

agreeable houses that I ever entered. Mr. W.

's son

We give the following incidents, as creditable alike to the landlords and to him, who could thus inspire such confidence:

neous. We are taught to believe that the Yankee is inva

"From Canandaigua, which I left with much reluctance, we passed through a thriving and well cultivated country to Genesee, where I had the pleasure of being introduced to Mr. W -, the owner of a magnificent estate in the Gen"Here I cannot help making a few remarks upon a subesee flats. Fortune seemed not yet wearied of being bountiful, and allowed us to see this most beautiful valley, with ject on which I think the general opinion in Britain is errothe advantage of residing in one of the most hospitable and riably a suspicious and avaricious man in his money transaccompanied us through his extensive farms, which are actions, and incapable of those feelings and acts of libeformed to delight equally the eye of a Poussin or a Sir J. shall mention two instances that occurred to me in the space rality for which the British character is distinguished. I Sinclair. The broad meadows of an alluvial soil, covered of four days, which showed a very different character from with the richest grasses, as watered by the winding Gene- that of which the New Englanders are accused. The change see, are studded with trees, beautifully and negligently in the route which the prevalence of the cholera at Montreal grouped, among which are scattered large herds of cattle of induced me to adopt, had prevented me from drawing any various breeds and kinds, both English and American; the of the money which I intended to get in that city, and my meadows are here and there interspersed with fields of In- finances were, therefore, so much reduced as to leave me dian corn and wheat, while the hills that rise on each side only just sufficient to take me as far as Boston. Upon my are crowned with timber, excepting spots where the encroaching hand of improvement has begun to girdle some of mentioning the circumstance to Mr. T.the tall sons of the forest, whose scathed tops and black at Burlington, as my reason for not making some trifling bare arms, betokening their approaching fall, give a pictu-lars, by endorsing my draft on New York, and presenting purchases in that town, he at once advanced me fifty dolresque variety to the scene. the bill to the Burlington Bank.

-, my landlord

"Yet this scene, extraordinary and interesting as it was, possessed less interest to a contemplative and musing mind, than the venerable and excellent gentleman who had almost created it; for it was now forty-four years since Mr. Wcame as the first settler to this spot, with an axe on his shoulder, and slept the first night under a tree. After this, *It must not be supposed that the foregoing account is in tended to impugn the accuracy of the statements which have been so often laid before the public, of the greedy haste and confusion which are usually observable at American tavern dinners: on the contrary, these are deserving of all the strong animadversions which have been bestowed upon them. I should probably be accused of entertaining the prejudices universally attributed to British travellers in the United States, if I were to He traversed Vermont and New Hampshire, express myself in terms only half as strong as those contained and made a short visit to Boston, and thence rein the subjoined extract from the National Intelligencer, pub. lished at Washington, Nov. 20, 1836. Several persons have turned to New York. He then proceeded to Phidied in New York lately, by being choked with edibles, at their ladelphia and Washington. From the latter city, meals. This is the result of the bolting system, which is so he made excursions into Loudoun and Hampshire generally adopted among our people. We wonder that disas ters of this kind are not more frequent than they are. A prac. counties, in Virginia, on business connected with tice so pernicious and so detrimental to health as quick eating-certain land claims. His adventures, in these exto say nothing of its positive danger-does not exist in the coun

"The second instance which I shall quote was in the understanding that it would be inconvenient for me to pay of Montpelier, purchase of the Indian pony. Mr. Chis price out of my travelling pocket-money, offered at once to accept my draft on New York for the sum, in which manner the purchase was made. Neither of these gentlemen had ever seen or heard of me before, neither of them asked even for a letter of introduction or other papers to satisfy and modest allowance for my own gentlemanly appearance, I them as to any particulars respecting me; and with all due very much doubt whether I should have met with the same liberal treatment, under similar circumstances, at a country town in Yorkshire or Lancashire."

try. At the table d'hôte of an inn, where great numbers convene together, the process of bolting would seem to be done by steam, and those who perform it jaw-moving automata. They sit down and rise up simultaneously, accompanied by the quick time music of knives and forks, sallying forth on the instant to use their quills, and smoke their segars at leisure. The habit is a bad one."

cursions, are narrated in a pleasing manner, and his reflections evince observation and good humor. He constantly bears testimony to the hospitality and kindliness of the hardy mountaineers, with whom he had intercourse, and with whom he was occasionally domesticated for weeks. He visited the

"Glades" of the Alleghany, and we have the follow- and Harrisons, is almost as widely extended as a similar ing pleasing incident:

relation in the highlands of Scotland. They seem upon the most friendly terms-are constantly interchanging visits, without ceremony or invitation; and their hospitality to "One of my long rambles led me to the house of Mr. strangers is not surpassed in any country that I have seen. Chisholm, one of a large and respectable family who emi- Here, too, I saw again walls adorned with the powdered grated from the neighborhood of Inverness, and are now heads and laced coats of our common ancestors. I sat at among the most wealthy and thriving tenants of the Glades. dinner beneath the sweet smile of Pope's Miss Blount, from As I drew near to the farm I overtook a man whom I imme: the pencil of Sir G. Kneller; while Lord Orrery, Lord Aldiately guessed by his appearance to be the laird. He did bemarle, and the Duke of Argyle, frowned from eanvass of not hear me coming along the grass, and when close behind respectable antiquity. The illusion was carried yet farhim I called out, in Gaelic, 'It is a fine day, to-day.' Hether by the Anglicism of the names of their residencesstarted with surprise at this salutation, answered it by wel- such as Shirley, Brandon, Berkeley, &c. coming me to his house, and soon made me regret that my knowledge of Gaelic, confined as it was to a few phrases, did not enable me to carry on the conversation in that language; however, we cracked' long over scenes of mutual interest and recollection-the wilds of Badenoch, the woodlands of Inverishie, and the ducal mansion of Kinrara, and the neighboring abode of Rothiemurkes.

"With many mingled emotions did I listen to the tongue that, in native accents, spoke of these well-known scenes. They may be of little interest to others, they may be unknown to fame; but when one who has highland blood in his veins,-whose early foot has trodden the heath-covered mountain-whose young memory was impregnated with the wheeling flight of the eagle, the timid eye and free bound of the roe, the hoarse plash of the waterfall and the slumbering loch, its pebbled margin fringed with weeping birch, and its bosom reflecting the rugged and dusky forms of the cliffs and promontories by which it is indented-when such a one feels his heart unmoved, his spirit unstirred by these recollections, let him doff that tartan which has well-earned its green and crimson glory in many a field from Bannockburn to Waterloo-let him doff it,

'and hang a calf-skin on his recreant limbs!' "In no other part of the world has my national pride been more gratified than in this country; which abounding as it does in settlers from every nation in Europe, affords a fairer opportunity than can be found at home of comparing their respective characters under similar circumstances. I think I can affirm with equal truth and pleasure, that the Scotchmen who have settled in the United States, have earned for themselves a higher average character for honesty, perseverance and enterprise, than their rival settlers from any other part of the old world."

Mr. MURRAY remained in Washington, attending the debates, and mixing freely in the society of the capital. His observations are marked by his usual candor and moderation. He then proceeded to Richmond, where he was received with hospitality and kindness. He pays a beautiful tribute to the character of the late Chief Justice.

We now approach the only part of the book, perhaps, which is calculated to wound the feelings of any one whose name is mentioned, or who is so described as to be quickly recognized. In justice to Mr. MURRAY we quote at length:

"As these were the first plantations, or farms, which I had as yet seen cultivated on a large scale by slave-labor, I naturally paid much attention to the appearance of the land and its cultivators. I shall not interrupt this narrative portion of my journal by any remarks on the general question of slavery, but shall confine myself to a simple record of the facts which came under my observation during this excur sion-reserving to another occasion the discussion of a subject which is confessedly the most important, the most disagreeable, and the most difficult that can engage the attention either of the politician or the moralist in the United

States.

"From what I had already seen of the social qualities of the gentlemen at whose houses I was a visiter, I was rather gratified than surprised to witness the comparative comfort and good usage enjoyed by their slaves. The huts in which they reside are constructed of wood, and divided in the centre by a compartment, in which is fixed a chimney, to convey the smoke from each division; their food (consisting chiefly of fish, broth, maize cooked after various fashions, bacon, &c.) is wholesome and sufficient: their clothing, coarse, but suited to their necessities, and to the climate: their labor compulsory and constant, but not beyond their power. During the days that I spent in the neighborhood, I did not see any corporal punishment; but each overseer was armed with a cowhide; and one, with whom I held a long conversation regarding the detail of his occupation, informed me, that he was obliged constantly to use the lash, both to the men and tromen: that some he whipped four or five times a-week, some only twice or thrice a-month: that all attempts to make them work regularly by advice or kindness were unavailing, for their general character was stubborn idleness; and that many who were cheerful, and even appeared attached to the family, would not work without occasional hints from the cowhide. He owned he was extremely sorry that the race existed in Virginia, destroy ing as they must the market for the white man's labor; adding his conviction that his employer's estate would produce more clear revenue if every negro were removed from the state, and the property divided into farms under lease. The grounds for this opi non, were the heavy original outlay in the purchase of slaves (the price of an able-bodied male being, at an average, 1501.,)— the expense of their maintenance-the perpetual losses incurred by their dying, running away, falling sick, and other casualties, the weight of which in free countries falls upon the laborer."

Now, we believe there never was traveller more anxious to avoid whatever might give offence-consistently with the higher obligations to speak the truth-than our author. His character as a gentleman forbids the idea, that he did not believe every word of the foregoing to be strictly true; and "I availed myself with much pleasure of the hospitable offers of one or two gentlemen, whose acquaintance I had we feel confident, that, had he supposed any thing made in Richmond, of paying them a visit. I disembarked in this statement calculated to wound any of the accordingly about sixty miles down the river, and received gentlemen, whose kindness and hospitality he so a kind welcome in the house of one of the oldest families in

the state. Here I remained four or five days; and if the gratefully acknowledges, he would have cancelled wishes of the friendly and excellent host, or of his guest, the whole. had been alone to be consulted, I might have remained there as many weeks, so agreeable was the domestic circle in which I found myself, and so pressing were the invitations to prolong my stay. In Virginia, as in England, a country-house is a very hot-house of acquaintance, and ripens it much earlier than the common garden of society; and the hospitality of Virginia is deservedly celebrated.

well as subsequent ones in which he alludes to the The paragraph we have quoted, as slaves, are calculated to give an erroneous idea of their treatment on the James river. We call attention, however, particularly to the allegations MURRAY understood the overseer so to speak-if which we have italicised. We have no doubt Mr.

"Proceeding down the river about fifteen miles, I paid another visit to two gentlemen, brothers, who were connections of my former host. Indeed, a great many of the resi- he did not misapprehend him, then it is evident that dents on the James river are, from intermarriage and division of old estates, mutually connected; and the cousin functionary was exaggerating, to enhance the idea ship of the old families of the Byrds, Carters, Randolphs, of his own importance and authority; or, not less