The a.r.s.enal is a large, yet not bomb-proof building, in which there are more than twenty thousand muskets, and some useful pistols. We also saw here several very handsomely ornamented single and double-barrel guns, which are kept for the purpose of making presents to Indian chiefs.
The upper part of the town is very old and angular, the streets are muddy, and many not paved. Both towns contain about twenty-five thousand inhabitants. The Catholic cathedral is quite a handsome building; it has three altars, and paintings of but little value. On account of the coldness of the climate the church is floored. The inside of the church is divided like English churches, into aisles. It is near the seminary, an old French building, with ma.s.sive walls, having four corners like a bastion. In this seminary resides the Bishop of Quebec. We had already been introduced to Bishop Plessis, in the house of Sir Francis Burton, and found him a very agreeable and well-informed man. He is the son of a butcher of Montreal, and has elevated himself by his own merit. A few years ago he travelled through England, France, and Italy, where he received the t.i.tle of Archbishop of Canada, from the pope. The English government in the mean time, took into consideration, whether they would recognise his t.i.tle, because he would, as archbishop, rank in the Canadian parliament before the English episcopal bishop. We paid our respects to this worthy man. He received us kindly, surrounded by many young priests. His secretary showed us the building and the garden. The scholars had a vacation, and the house was deserted. They are not all destined for the priesthood; the most respectable people of this country have their sons brought up in this inst.i.tution, in which they receive a very good education. The Catholic clergy are very much respected here, and they are said to deserve it, on account of the information they possess, and the benefactions they bestow. The English government left them all the emoluments and prerogatives which they possessed before the colony was conquered. On this account, the clergy are obedient to the government, and exert their best influence over the people in favour of the government. In the seminary is a small philosophical apparatus. The natural history cabinet is not very rich; the best part of it is a collection of East India sh.e.l.ls. The garden of the seminary is rather large, and serves as a fruit and vegetable garden, &c.
Nine miles from Quebec is the waterfall of Montmorency, to which we travelled, escorted by Colonel d.u.c.h.esnay. The road pa.s.sed through the palace gate. This is the gate where General Arnold made his attack, when he stormed the place in December, 1775, and was wounded in the leg. His column had already pressed into the city, and would certainly have taken the town, if General Montgomery, who attacked the lower town from the side of the St. Lawrence, had met him at the same time. This, however, was impossible, as General Montgomery fell, and after his death his division fell into confusion, and retreated. An English artillerist, returning to the only cannon placed there, which had already been deserted, set a match to it, killed this hero with twelve men, and thus saved the town.
We crossed the river St. Charles over a long well built wooden bridge, and continued our journey partly on a road cut through the rock, having the St. Lawrence always in view. The neighbourhood is well cultivated; several farm-houses have a very ancient appearance. The handsomest of them belongs to the seminary at Quebec, and serves the priests as a pleasure ground. About the middle of the road is the village Beaufort, where one has a very good prospect of the city, the right bank of the St. Lawrence, the Isle d"Orleans, and down the stream. We left the carriage at the river Montmorency, over which a wooden bridge is thrown, and walked nearly to where the Montmorency empties itself into the St.
Lawrence. At that place are the falls, two hundred and seventy-five feet high. The surrounding country is extraordinarily beautiful. Near the waterfall is a cave, where the soil is either sunk, or washed away by the water; it is a narrow deep crack in the earth, which you cannot behold without shuddering. When the water is high, there are three falls. The middle one precipitates directly down, the two others cross over the middle one. The drought, however, of the summer of 1825, and a ca.n.a.l, which drains the water from the river to drive saw and other mills, has lessened the quant.i.ty of water in the river, so that only one of the three falls has water, and instead of seeing the other two, you perceive the bare rock. This rock is slate. At Quebec and Point Levi, it is limestone; in Quebec it is interspersed with silicious crystals, hence its name Cape Diamond. The stones of Point Levi are used for building houses and fortifications; all copings are made of this stone.
Most of the trees in this neighbourhood are cedar. Below the falls of St. Lawrence they have constructed a little harbour by means of two piers, whence they trade in boards on account of its nearness to the sawmills. About a mile and a half above the great falls, in the same river, are others. The channel at these falls is very narrow between the rocks, and formed like stairs; on this account, they are called the natural stairs; resembling very much, though in miniature, the falls of Trenton, near Utica, and are situated in a thick forest of fir, pine, and cedar trees. The road from the bridge to this place, and hence to the turnpike, is a very obscure footpath through the woods.
On the second and last day of my sojourn at Quebec, I went to the parade, escorted by Colonels Durnford and d.u.c.h.esnay. I was pleasantly taken by surprise, when I found the whole garrison under arms. The commanding officers wished to show me their corps. On the right wing stood two companies of artillery, then a company of sappers and miners, after this, the sixty-eighth, and lastly, the seventy-first regiment of infantry. The last is a light regiment, and consists of Scotch Highlanders; it appeared to be in particularly good condition. This regiment is not dressed in the Highland uniform, which was only worn by some of the buglemen. It has a very good band of buglemen, who wear curious caps, made of blue woollen, bordered below with red and white stripes. The troops defiled twice before me.
On the 6th of September we sat out in the steam-boat for Montreal. Sir Francis sent us his carriage, which was very useful to the ladies. On the dock stood a company of the sixty-eighth regiment, with their flag displayed as a guard of honour, which I immediately dismissed. The fortification saluted us with twenty-one guns; this caused a very fine echo from the mountains. Night soon set in, but we had sufficient light to take leave of the magnificent vicinity of Quebec.
The journey, of course, was more tedious in ascending than in descending the river. Fortunately the tide was in our favour during the night, until we pa.s.sed the rapids of Richelieu. In the morning we stopt at Trois Rivieres to take in wood; we then went slowly on. I employed this leisure in writing, but was often interrupted. In this boat they have four meals daily, and at every repast they drove me from my writing place. In the morning at seven o"clock, they ring the bell for the pa.s.sengers to rise and dress; at eight o"clock breakfast is served, which consists of tea, coffee, sausages, ham, beefsteak, and eggs; at twelve, they take luncheon; at four, dine; at eight, take tea; and an hour before every meal they set the table. The weather was cloudy nearly the whole day; it began to rain towards evening, and continued raining through the night.
At Sorel, or William Henry, we came to, in order to land some pa.s.sengers, and take in wood. This place is situated on the right bank of both rivers, at the confluence of the Sorel or Richelieu, (the only outlet of Lake Champlain,) with the St. Lawrence. The French built a fort here, which stands yet, if such bad palisades, barracks, and a.r.s.enals, deserve that name. The town itself was built in the year 1785, by the so called American tories and discharged soldiers. It contains two churches, about one hundred houses, and six hundred inhabitants, whose houses are mostly of wood, and stand separately in the streets, which are arranged in squares, and occupy a great s.p.a.ce. It is built on a sandy soil, and has a poor aspect. Generally speaking, the towns in Canada bear a very poor comparison with those of the United States, and will never arrive at the same point, because the settlers in Canada are mostly poor Scotchmen and Irishmen, who come out at the expense of the government; they receive land, and are oppressed by the feudal system, which opposes all prosperity; emigrants, however, who possess some property, and have an ambitious spirit, settle themselves in the United States, where n.o.body is oppressed; on the contrary, where all the laws are in their favour.
At Fort Sorel is stationed a garrison, a detachment of the seventieth regiment, commanded by a sergeant; an artillery detachment which was moving to Montreal, tied its sloop to our steam-boat, and came on board; the artillerymen mostly intoxicated. Towards evening, we learned that the sloop contained three boxes of gunpowder, which caused us a great deal of uneasiness. The danger was so much the greater, as the sparks were continually flying from the pipe of the steam-boat, which the wind drove towards the sloop. I was one of the first who received the information, and immediately gave the alarm. All the pa.s.sengers agreed in persuading the captain during this rainy and stormy night to remove the sloop some distance from our boat, and place in it an officer and three of the least intoxicated artillerymen. The night was dark, and we were compelled to cast anchor and remain till morning.
The next morning the weather was still cloudy and rainy; the storm was particularly strong, and the wind ahead. The machinery was too weak to make any progress. We therefore saw Montreal three hours before we could reach it; the current particularly was so strong between Montreal and the Isle of St. Helen, that in spite of the machinery we were driven backwards. At last we were obliged to draw up the boat by aid of six oxen, two horses, and ten men. The Lady Sherbrook, however, is one of the oldest steam-boats on the St. Lawrence, and the captain himself confessed that she was so rotten that she was not worth repairing, and will soon be condemned. About 4 o"clock in the afternoon, after we had been forty-six hours on our journey, which took but twenty-six hours going down, we were landed at Montreal. The battery on the Island of St.
Helen saluted us with twenty-one guns. The first information we received was, that fifty houses were burned down yesterday in the suburbs of the town, and that this misfortune fell mostly upon the poorer cla.s.s, whose houses were not insured.
Mr. Bingham, from Philadelphia, who married a rich heiress here, and turned Catholic to get possession of her estate, gave a ball to-day, in honour of the first birth-day of his only daughter, and politely invited our company. We accepted the invitation, and rode to the ball at 9 o"clock. He was twenty-four years of age, and his wife nineteen; has many friends, because his cellar is well filled, and has the talent to spend his money liberally among the people. We found a.s.sembled in his rich and tastefully furnished halls the whole fashionable world of Montreal. They mostly dance French contra dances, commonly called Spanish dances. To the contra dances, in honour of the officers of the seventieth regiment, who are the favourite young gentlemen, they have adopted tedious Scotch melodies; to the Spanish dances they played German waltzes. The native ladies conversed in very soft Canadian bad French, not even excepting our handsome landlady. I took particular notice of a Miss Ermatinger, the daughter of a Swiss, and an Indian woman, on account of her singular but very beautiful Indian countenance.
She was dressed in the best taste of all, and danced very well. Indeed there was a great deal of animation at this ball, as well as a great deal of luxury, particularly a profusion of silver plate and gla.s.s in the house of Mr. Bingham, whose sister is the wife of the banker, Baring, of London.
CHAPTER IX.
_Journey from Montreal to New York.-- Isle Aux Noix.-- Lake Champlain.-- Lake George.-- Falls of Hudson.-- Glenn"s Falls.-- Saratoga Springs.-- Saratoga Battleground.-- Shaker Settlement at New Lebanon.-- Military School at West Point._
As the season was so far advanced, I wished to reach New York without delay. We therefore concluded to travel soon, and visit Lake Champlain to its southern extremity, then to Saratoga, Albany, and further down the Hudson to New York, taking the Catskill mountains by the way, and inspecting the famous military school of West Point. With this view, on Friday, the 9th of September, we went on board the steam-boat Montreal, which runs between Montreal and the right bank of the river.
Lieutenant-Colonel M"Gregor and Major Loring escorted us to the boat.
In half an hour we found ourselves on the other side of the river. We landed near the village Longueuil, where stage-coaches awaited us, which carried us and our baggage to St. John, situated on the river Richelieu, about twenty-seven miles from Longueuil. The road lies several miles along the banks of the river St. Lawrence, till you arrive to the village of La Prairie. In this village we took our leave of this n.o.ble neighbourhood and majestic stream, on whose banks we had tarried so agreeably. The road led through a plain, which was very little cultivated, and containing few trees. We only met with a single village called Lavane. Here and there we observed some larch trees. About half past one in the afternoon, we reached the village of St. John, having arrived a mile from the above-named village, at the river Richelieu.
Here we went on board the American steam-boat Phnix, in order to sail for Whitehall. This vessel deserves the name, because the boat, whose place it supplies, was of the same name, and burned some years ago on Lake Champlain. The new Phnix is commodious and clean, one hundred and twenty feet long, having machinery of forty-six horse-power. Both banks of the river were thickly timbered. Ten miles above St. John we reached an island called Isle Aux Noix, the last English strong post on Lake Champlain. The captain had the politeness to tarry here a short time, in order that I might survey the island and its fortifications.
Isle Aux Noix contains about ninety acres, and is very flat and swampy.
The fort is called Fort Lenox, in honour of the late duke of Richmond; it consists of a regular square, with four bastions and two ravelins, and is built according to the system of Vaubans. On account of the swampy ground, the fortification which anciently stood here, is almost sunk. The revetement is a half one, and formed of wood, as well as the scarp and counterscarp. The whole lower wall consists of roots of trees, mostly cedar, placed horizontally crosswise, and only those roots which const.i.tute the revetement stand upright. On the horizontal roots earth is thrown and rammed. The engineers believe that this costly work will stand thirty years. I however believe it would have been better if they had rammed the roots into the ground and put a grate upon that, and then a strong stone revetement, or still better if they had arched it _en decharge_. The two ravelins, whose basis is also of wood, lie before the northern and southern front. Under the curtain of the eastern front, they have built casemates for the garrison. Near the gate in the wall are small a.r.s.enals, and on the inside of the fort stands the guard-house, which also contains the prison. The base of this fortification, as well as the few buildings which stand within, are bomb-proof. The houses are built of blue limestone which comes from the state of Vermont. A road covered with palisades surrounds the fort.
I observed here palisades which can be knocked down backwards, and might be advantageous in case of accident, whilst I took a survey of this work, accompanied by Captain Reed of the seventieth regiment, who is commandant, and has already been in garrison here one year with his company, also by the two engineer officers. Northward of the fort stands the navy-yard, which is in the same situation as it was at the period of the treaty of Ghent. There were about twelve gun-boats under cover, and a frigate of thirty-six guns on the stocks, whose keel and skeleton has rotted ever since. A naval magazine, and the dwellings of the officers, overseers, and workmen of the wharf, stand behind the navy-yard. The two branches of the stream separating the island from the main land are tolerably small, and the sh.o.r.es are covered with trees.
Eleven miles above Isle Aux Noix we left Canada and again reached the territories of the United States. At the point where the river Sorel leaves Lake Champlain, and where we entered into the latter, the American government has erected a fort called Rous" Point, consisting of a defensive tower with casemates, which, as well as I could judge in pa.s.sing, appeared to have been located with much judgment and erected at a small expense. This tower completely commands the communication between the lake and the Sorel, and as the guns are all under cover, the garrison has but little to fear from the vertical fire of the enemy"s infantry. The fort stands on a cape. According to the treaty of Ghent, the forty-fifth degree of north lat.i.tude, between the state of Maine and the St. Lawrence, between the United States and Canada, were fixed as boundaries; and as to fulfil the terms of the treaty, the commissioners determined the lat.i.tude of several places astronomically, it has been discovered that this fort lies somewhat north of forty-five degrees, and consequently is on the Canadian side.
The greatest breadth of Lake Champlain, which contains several large islands, is six miles. The sh.o.r.e on our right, belonging to the state of New York, is low and covered with trees; the other belongs to Vermont, and is more mountainous. As night approached, we were prevented from enjoying this beautiful part of the country; I was also with regret prevented from seeing the battle ground of Plattsburgh, at which town the vessel made a short stay during the night. Some American custom-house officers came on board, without, however, inquiring after our baggage, and this was a new and not disagreeable circ.u.mstance.
The same night we stopped at Burlington in Vermont, and the Grymes"
family left us here to go to Boston. I expected to meet this interesting family again in New York in fourteen days. Towards morning we pa.s.sed the ruins of Fort Crownpoint, which lie on a hill. At this place the lake is very narrow and resembles a river. The sh.o.r.es are generally covered with bushes and pine trees, are hilly, and afford a pleasing prospect. At the village of Sh.o.r.eham, twelve miles above Crownpoint, on the eastern sh.o.r.e of Vermont, we left the Phnix, which went twenty miles further to Whitehall, the southern point of Lake Champlain, and landed to see Lake George, which is celebrated for its romantic situation and sh.o.r.es. Sir Michael and Lady Clare continued with us, and resolved not to part from us till we arrived at Albany, after which they would travel to Boston.
As a slight recompense for the loss of the Grymes" family, Mr.
Shoemaker, and his wife, from Philadelphia, bore us company hence to Albany. They were Quakers, but had laid aside the striking costume of their sect.
At the inn of Sh.o.r.eham is a place for loading and unloading vessels, which transport much plaster of Paris and blue limestone for building, to Canada. Among the stones on the sh.o.r.e we found some which appeared to be rich iron ore, said to be common in Vermont. At the inn we met with an elderly lady of the middle rank, who was smoking tobacco; this custom is said to be prevalent here among elderly women. We pa.s.sed over the lake, scarcely half a mile wide, in a wherry, and landed on the other sh.o.r.e, not far from the ruins of Fort Ticonderoga. This in an old French fort, lying on an elevated cape, which commands the navigation of the lake. From the ruins we saw that it was a square with four small bastions and three ravelins, the scarp, and the counterscarp being covered with strong stone-work; the bastion contains casemates as well as the curtain of the eastern front. Several ma.s.sive buildings stood in the fort so that it must have had but little room. About three hundred paces east of the fort, on the extremity of the cape, stands a small pentagonal redoubt, which communicated with the fort by means of a covered way. The cape is connected with the main land of New York by means of a neck of land, which was cut off by a crownwork, consisting of earth. The eminence on which this crownwork lies, in some measure commands the fort, and an entrenched camp seems to have been located here. Between the fort and crownwork we remarked the remains of two square redoubts. On the same sh.o.r.e, south of the fort, but separated from it by an inlet of the lake, lies Mount Defiance, which commands the fort in a great degree, and from which, in July, 1777, the English, under General Burgoyne, bombarded the fort, which was too quickly evacuated by the Americans, under General St. Clair. On the eastern sh.o.r.e of the lake, opposite Ticonderoga, lies another hill, Mount Independence, of the same height as the fort on which the Americans had formed their works at that time, under the protection of which they pa.s.sed the lake after the evacuation of the fort. This was afterwards destroyed by the English. In July, 1758, when the fort still belonged to the French, the English attacked it, but were repulsed with a loss of eighteen hundred men.
From Ticonderoga we went in a stage three miles further to Lake George, through a very hilly country. The level of this lake is about three hundred feet higher than that of Lake Champlain; the stream which flows from the former into the latter lake, forms a succession of small cascades, and turns several saw-mills. We arrived at the northern point of Lake George, and entered the steam-boat Mountaineer, which was ready to depart; it was ninety feet long with a machine of sixteen horse-power.
Lake George resembles the Scottish lakes. It is thirty-six miles long, and never more than five miles broad. The sh.o.r.es are very hilly, the heights are all covered with trees, and are not, as it seems to me, above eight hundred feet high. There are several islands in the lake, generally covered with wood. A single one, called Diamond Island, on account of the handsome crystals which are found in it, is inhabited.
The inhabitants consist of an Indian family, which lives in a small house, and maintains itself by selling these crystals. About five o"clock in the evening, we arrived at the southern point of the lake.
The scenery is very handsome. One of the highest mountains, which rises perpendicularly out of the lake, is called Rodgers" rock, after an American Captain Rodgers, who being hunted by the Indians, during the revolution, fled to the top of this rock, and in extremely cold weather, being urged by danger, glided on the smooth surface down to the frozen lake. Towns are not seen; but few single houses stand along the sh.o.r.e.
At the southern extremity, however, lies the village of Caldwell, founded about twenty years ago, which, besides a very good and large inn, where we took lodgings, contains several neat houses. In former times, an English fort, William Henry, stood here, which, to judge from its few remains, must have been a square redoubt of earth. It was built in the year 1755, by order of Sir William Johnstone, who commanded the English army in the then colony of New York, after having completely routed, on September the 8th, 1755, a French corps which had come from Ticonderoga to attack him. In this rencontre, Baron Dieskau, a French general lost his life. In the following year, however, Marquis de Montcalm arrived with a stronger force and captured the fort.
A capitulation was allowed to the English garrison, but they were attacked after leaving the fort, by the Indians, in a disgraceful manner, and the greater part cut to pieces. After the fort was taken, the Marquis de Montcalm ordered it to be destroyed. Not far from this place, in a higher station and on a rocky ground, the English erected afterwards a new fort, called Fort George, which, at the unsuccessful expedition of General Burgoyne, in 1777, served his army as a depot and magazine, till he moved too far forward and was cut off from the fort.
Remains of it are still plainly seen. It was a strongly-built square redoubt, the entrance being protected by a _fleche_. It lies in an advantageous situation, commands the whole southern sh.o.r.e of the lake, with a large part of the vicinity, stands, as was said before, on a strong ground, and is covered on one side by a mora.s.s. On the eastern side alone, it is commanded by a high mountain, which, however, is at some distance. If the American government should resolve to restore Crownpoint and Ticonderoga, the latter particularly would be adapted, after fortifying the two mountains, Defiance and Independence, for an a.r.s.enal of a superior kind; it might contain large depots, serve as a fortified camp, and be successfully defended by a small garrison. Here fleets might be completed to command Lake Champlain, and an expedition against Isle Aux Noix and Canada organized. However, a good road would be necessary, leading from Ticonderoga to the northern point of Lake George, three miles distant, and here it would be necessary to protect the place of embarkation by a fort. A new fort on the same spot where Fort George was erected, would be necessary. There is a good locality between this fort and Fort William Henry to found a dock-yard. The communication between Ticonderoga and the United States would be well and doubly protected by the southern point of Lake Champlain, towards Whitehall, and by Lake George. If the English should attack the United States on this side, they would undoubtedly waste much strength, and not advance a step, unless they had seized Ticonderoga.
We left Caldwell at eight o"clock the next day, September 11, in two inconvenient carriages, and pa.s.sed through a very uninteresting, deep, sandy road, in a hilly country, covered with th.o.r.n.y trees, on our route to Saratoga springs, to which the whole fashionable world of the United States repairs in summer, for the fashionables have here the same mania which prevails in other countries, to visit the baths in summer, whether sick or well. The distance is twenty-seven miles. On our pa.s.sage, we saw but one interesting object--the Hudson falls, which river we had left at Albany, and reached again nine miles from Caldwell, coming from the west.
These falls are known under the name of Glenn"s Falls. A village of the same name is built in their vicinity, on the rocky sh.o.r.es of the river.
The river is crossed by means of a pendant wooden bridge. The arches rest on pillars, consisting of large beams, which lie across each other, as t.i.t-mouse traps are constructed in my native country; the bridge might therefore be called bird-cage bridge. These cages rest on a foundation of limestone, cut through by the Hudson in its course. This river is really a remarkable sight in this sandy country. Above the bridge it is one hundred and sixty yards broad, and crossed by a dam, which conducts the water to the saw-mills along the banks. A single rock, on which, also, a saw-mill stands, divides into two parts, the princ.i.p.al fall, which is forty feet high. But there are, both above and below the princ.i.p.al falls, a number of smaller falls, which we could approach with ease, as the water was very low. These falls are not indeed to be numbered among the largest, but among the handsomest falls which I have seen. A constant mist arises from them, and, as the sun shone very brilliantly, we saw several rainbows at the same time. In the rock, as at Niagara, we observed some remarkable and deep cavities. They arise from the flintstones which are scattered throughout the limestone, and are washed away by the violence of the water. When these flintstones meet with resistance, or fall into a small cavity, they are constantly agitated by the falling water, and moving in a circular direction, form by degrees deep cavities in the soft limestone. At the base of the small island, which divides the chief fall into two parts, a remarkable cave appears below the falls, leading to the other side of the rock; this was also undoubtedly made by the washing of the water. The saw-mills, all of wood, occupy a bold position over the falls, and appear besides, to be in such a state of decay, that a fear arises, lest they should soon fall into the abyss. The Hudson is partly navigable above Glenn"s Falls, and two miles further up, feeds a navigable ca.n.a.l, with thirteen locks, which runs seven miles north of the Hudson, and then joins Champlain ca.n.a.l.
We arrived at Saratoga at two o"clock in the afternoon, and stopped at Congress Hall. The greater part of the company had already departed, so that but forty persons remained; among these was the governor of the state of New York, the celebrated De Witt Clinton.[I-10] I was immediately introduced to his excellency, and very well received by this great statesman.
[Footnote I-10: [Since, unfortunately for his country, deceased.]--TRANS.]
The water of the springs is cold, of a somewhat salt taste, and stronger than the mineral water of Eger. It is said to act very beneficially as a tonic. When this region was yet covered with forests, inhabited princ.i.p.ally by Indians, and by few white people, the Indians were acquainted with the virtues of this water; only one spring, however, High Rock Spring, was discovered. They led to it the above-mentioned Sir William Johnstone, who was much beloved by the Indians, and in a bad state of health. By drinking this water he regained his health, and thus this spring became known. It is not above twelve years since a beginning was made to clear the ground, and build houses; at present, more than a hundred, princ.i.p.ally of wood, form a street. They are generally arranged to receive strangers. The four largest hotels are Congress Hall, Union Hall, the Pavilion, and the United States Hotel, the last of brick, the three former of wood. Congress Hall alone, was yet open, the others had closed since September 1st, on account of the frost. The hotel can accommodate two hundred strangers. In the evening the company a.s.sembles in the large halls in the lower story, at this season, alas! by the fire, and pa.s.s the time in music, dancing, or conversation. Games of chance are strictly forbidden by the laws of the state, and in general, public opinion in the United States is much against gaming. I was told that at a watering-place in Pennsylvania, three genteel young men once arrived from different parts of the United States. They were at first very well received, but afterwards were found to be gamblers. All communication with them was immediately broken off in so striking a manner that they were soon obliged to leave the place.
The different springs, which do not lie far from each other in a swampy ground in the same valley, are called Hamilton, Congress, Columbia, Flat Rock, Munroe, High Rock, President, and Red Spring. The water is generally drank, but baths are also erected. High Rock Spring flows from a white conical limestone rock, five feet high, in which there is a round aperture above, about nine inches in diameter, through which the water in the spring is seen in a state of constant agitation. So much fixed air escapes from it, that an animal held over it, as in the _Grotto del Cane_, near Naples, cannot live above half a minute. Mr.
Shoemaker held his head over the opening, and though he had covered it with a handkerchief, immediately fainted away; he retained besides, during several days after this experiment, a bad dry cough. The vicinity of Saratoga Springs possesses no attraction. Promenades are not yet constructed. The only pleasure which can be enjoyed must be sought in company. A large piazza is built before Congress Hall, to the pillars of which wild vines are attached, which almost reach the roof. I pa.s.sed the evening in the lower parlour by the fire, with the governor and Mr.
Schley, from Maryland, in very agreeable and instructive conversation.
The ladies did not entertain us with music, because it was Sunday.
The governor had the kindness to give me some letters for New York, and a letter of introduction to the Shakers of New Lebanon. Furnished with these, we left Saratoga Springs, September 12th, at 9 o"clock, in a convenient stage to go to Albany, thirty-six miles distant. We pa.s.sed through a disagreeable and sandy country. The uniformity was, however, very pleasingly interrupted by Saratoga lake, which is eight miles long.
At Stillwater village, we reached the Hudson. Not far from this, runs the new Champlain Ca.n.a.l, which was commenced at the same time with the Erie Ca.n.a.l, but is not yet completed, and which I mentioned on my pa.s.sage from Albany to Schenectady. At Stillwater we visited the two battle-grounds, Freeman"s Farm and Bernis"s Heights, which became celebrated September 19th, and October 7th, 1777. These actions, as is known, took place during the expedition of Burgoyne. They closed with taking the whole corps of this general, to which also the Brunswick troops, under General Von Riedesel belonged, at Saratoga.
Our guide to both battle-grounds, which are adjacent, was an octogenarian farmer, called by his neighbours Major Buel, because he had been the guide of the American army during the campaign. The ground has since greatly changed; wood has grown again, so that with the exception of some remains of the English lines, nothing is to be seen. Not far from the river, on an eminence, are the remains of a very small work, called the great English redoubt. Here lies General Fraser, of whose burial Madam Von Riedesel gives a description so attractive, and yet so terrific. I broke off, near his grave, a small branch of a pine tree to present it to Baron Von Riedesel, Land-marshal of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar. I inquired after the house in which the mother of the latter had lived, and in which General Fraser died. This house stands no longer on the original spot, as the ca.n.a.l pa.s.sed through its site; in other respects it is said to be arranged now, as it was then. The place in the bar-room, where General Frazer died, and a small room behind this, in which Madam Von Riedesel lived with her children, were shown me.
At the small town of Waterford we pa.s.sed along the left sh.o.r.e of the Hudson on a long wooden bridge, to avoid a bad bridge over the Mohawk.
We proceeded on our route in the night on a very good road, and pa.s.sed through Lansingburg and Troy. The latter is very handsomely built, and many stores are very well lighted up in the evening. Here we returned to the right sh.o.r.e of the Hudson, and reached Albany at 10 o"clock at night.
On the 13th of September I went with Mr. Tromp in a stage-coach to New Lebanon, twenty-eight miles from Albany to see the settlement of Shakers. We pa.s.sed through Greenbush, (where the team-boat put us on the left side of the Hudson,) Schodack, Union, Stephentown, and Canaan. The country about New Lebanon is extremely handsome; the tops of the mountains are covered with trees, and the lower parts well cultivated.
The valley is wide, with very neat houses, and resembles a garden. Fruit is particularly cultivated. On a slight eminence at the foot of a mountain, the Shaker village is very beautifully situated, and is about one mile long. The houses stand in groups at a distance from each other, in general large, built of wood, and painted yellow; the church alone, or rather the meeting-house, is wide, with an arched roof of slate.
The Shakers are a religious sect, originally from England. It was founded by Ann Lee, the daughter of a Manchester blacksmith, and wife of the blacksmith Stanley, of the same city. Her chief doctrines are, community of goods, a perfect continence with regard to the s.e.xes and adoration of the Deity by dancing. Ann Lee pretended to higher inspiration, performed miracles, announced the speedy reappearance of Christ on earth, spoke of the millennium, and of similar glories. She commenced in England, by making proselytes among the lowest cla.s.ses, who followed her when she preached in public, held noisy prayer, or rather, dancing meetings, and thus disturbed the public peace. This worthy prophetess was therefore, with her friends, at different times imprisoned; the impatient and unbelieving public even began once to stone her. The good soul, whose convulsions were said by the wicked world to be the effect of ardent spirits, wandered therefore, in 1774, with her family, and several of her friends, to New York, where she settled. But her husband was wearied with the sisterly connexion in which he lived with her, and resolved to divorce his sisterly wife, and marry another. Whereupon the repudiated wife wandered towards Albany, settled first at Watervliet, and held meetings. These meetings, however, appeared to the Americans so suspicious, (it was during the time of the revolution,) that the good lady was arrested at Albany with several of her friends, and transported to the neighbourhood of New York, in order to give her in charge to the English, who then held the city. But she soon returned again to Watervliet, and her faithful adherents bought land near Niskayuna, between Albany and Schenectady, and settled there.
A large part of this people, those particularly who had joined the sect in America, founded the colony of New Lebanon. Ann Lee died in Niskayuna, in 1784. As this sect conducted itself very quietly, and gave no public offence, the government allowed them to live in peace. The colony numbers about six hundred members, who are divided into families, some of which contain above one hundred individuals of both s.e.xes. Each lives in a group of houses with an elder at their head. The elders of all the families form a counsel, which watches for the public good. They have for divine service a sort of preachers, two of each s.e.x, who hold forth on Sundays. The greatest cleanliness prevails in the houses, equalled perhaps only by the hospital of Boston; the brethren live on one side, and the sisters on the other. They have a common eating-room, in which again each s.e.x has its own side, but different working places.
Both the brethren and the sisters live, generally, two individuals in one room, and two also sleep in the same bed. Many of the sisters, however, notwithstanding their good food, were pale and wan.
When a family wishes to join the Shakers, the relation of brother and sister, must immediately take place between husband and wife. The children are then brought up in Shaker principles. Orphans also find a home with them; still, however, unfavourable reports are circulated about the origin of these orphans. Of course, if the principles of these people should prevail, which, however, may heaven prevent, the world would soon be depopulated. In countries, however, with too great population, it might perhaps be of service to receive missionaries of this sect and promote proselytism.
Every family possesses a shop, where all things made by the family are laid out for sale. These articles generally consist of wooden utensils, sieves, brushes, harness, table-linen, somewhat coa.r.s.e silver writing pens, very good rose water, &c. Besides, they sell books, exposing the doctrines of their sect, and containing the life of their founder, Ann Lee, whom they call mother Ann. They pay also much attention to the breeding of cattle, make good b.u.t.ter, and particularly good cheese, great quant.i.ties of which they sell. Their hogs are remarkably handsome, and cleanliness is also extended to them. It is a rare pleasure to walk about in a Shaker pig-sty! they have a large kitchen garden behind the church, where they raise vegetables, princ.i.p.ally for the sake of seed, which is said to be here of a remarkably good kind. Medicinal herbs, roots, and berries, which they cultivate very carefully in a separate garden, and which, as I heard in Albany, are of a remarkably good quality, form a princ.i.p.al part of their commerce.
The governor"s letter every where procured me a good reception, as they generally lead strangers about the settlement with reluctance. The few men with whom I spoke, and who accompanied me, were elderly people, and had long ago become Shakers with their parents. An old man told me, that he had been one of the first adherents of mother Ann at her arrival in America. They were very polite to me, and appear to be somewhat monkish.
They showed me also their church, which they do not generally do, Sundays excepted, as every body can attend their worship. My travelling plan did not allow me to pa.s.s a Sunday with them. The hall, which serves as their church, is about eighty feet long, and above fifty broad. On one side stand benches in form of an amphitheatre, for spectators and old members, to whom the dancing has become difficult. The floor consists of handsome cedar wood, which is well polished; the boards are attached to each other without nails. Service commences, as I was told, with a speech, which the congregation hear in a standing position, the s.e.xes being again divided. Occasionally the spirit comes upon one or the other; they are so moved by the speech, that they begin to shake, and to make strange contortions. Then begin the prayers, which are sung, and during which, they dance. Every member has a spot about four feet square for jumping, and I was a.s.sured this service was done with such a zeal, that the vaulters sometimes fainted away.