Diary in America Volume II Part 4

Their salmon is not equal to ours, and they have no turbot.

Pine-apples, and almost all the tropical fruits, are hawked about in carts in the Eastern cities; but I consider the fruit of the temperate zone, such as grapes, peaches, etcetera, inferior to the English.

Oysters are very plentiful, very large, and, to an English palate, rather insipid. As the Americans a.s.sert that the English and French oysters taste of copper, and that therefore they cannot eat them, I presume they do; and that's the reason why we do not like the American oysters, copper being better than no flavour at all.

I think, after this statement, that the English will agree with me that there are plenty of good things for the table in America; but the old proverb says, "G.o.d sends meat, and the devil sends cooks;" and such is, and unfortunately must be, the case for a long while, in most of the houses in America, owing to the difficulty of obtaining, or keeping servants. But I must quit the subject of eating, for one of much more importance in America, which is that of drinking.

I always did consider that the English and the Swiss were the two nations who most indulged in potations; but on my arrival in the United States, I found that our descendants, in this point most a.s.suredly, as they fain would be thought to do in all others, surpa.s.sed us altogether.

Impartiality compels me to acknowledge the truth; we must, in this instance, submit to a national defeat. There are many causes for this: first, the heat of the climate, next the coldness of the climate, then the changeableness of the climate; add to these, the cheapness of liquor in general, the early disfranchis.e.m.e.nt of the youth from all parental control, the temptation arising from the bar and a.s.sociation, and, lastly, the pleasantness, amenity, and variety of the potations.

Reasons, therefore, are as plentiful as blackberries, and habit becomes second nature.

To run up the whole catalogue of the indigenous compounds in America, from "iced water" to a "stone fence," or "streak of lightning," would fill a volume; I shall first speak of foreign importations.

The Port in America is seldom good; the climate appears not to agree with the wine. The quant.i.ty of Champagne drunk is enormous, and would absorb all the vintage of France, were it not that many hundred thousand bottles are consumed more than are imported.

The small state of New Jersey has the credit of supplying the _American_ Champagne, which is said to be concocted out of turnip juice, mixed with brandy and honey. It is a pleasant and harmless drink, a very good imitation, and may be purchased at six or seven dollars a dozen. I do not know what we shall do when America fills up, if the demand for Champagne should increase in proportion to the population; we had better drink all we can now.

Claret, and the other French wines, do very well in America, but where the Americans beat us out of the field is in their Madeira, which certainly is of a quality which we cannot procure in England. This is owing to the extreme heat and cold of the climate, which ripens this wine; indeed, I may almost say, that I never tasted good Madeira, until I arrived in the United States. The price of wines, generally speaking, is very high, considering what a trifling duty is paid, but the price of good Madeira is surprising. There are certain brands, which if exposed to public auction, will be certain to fetch from twelve to twenty, and I have been told even forty dollars a bottle. I insert a list of the wines at Astor House, to prove that there is no exaggeration in what I have a.s.serted. Even in this list of a tavern, the reader will find that the best Madeira is as high as twelve dollars a bottle, and the list is curious from the variety which it offers.

But the Americans do not confine themselves to foreign wines or liquors; they have every variety at home, in the shape of compounds, such as mint-julep and its varieties; slings in all their varieties; c.o.c.ktails, but I really cannot remember, or if I could, it would occupy too much time to mention the whole battle array against one's brains. I must, however, descant a little upon the mint-julep; as it is, with the thermometer at 100 degrees, one of the most delightful and insinuating potations that ever was invented, and may be drank with equal satisfaction when the thermometer is as low as 70 degrees. There are many varieties, such as those composed of Claret, Madeira, etcetera; but the ingredients of the real mint-julep are as follows. I learnt how to make them, and succeeded pretty well. Put into a tumbler about a dozen sprigs of the tender shoots of mint, upon them put a spoonful of white sugar, and equal proportions of peach and common brandy, so as to fill it up one third, or perhaps a little less. Then take rasped or pounded ice, and fill up the tumbler. Epicures rub the lips of the tumbler with a piece of fresh pine-apple, and the tumbler itself is very often incrusted outside with stalact.i.tes of ice. As the ice melts, you drink.

I once overheard two ladies talking in the next room to me, and one of them said, "Well, we have a weakness for any one thing, it is for a mint-julep--" a very amiable weakness, and proving her good sense and good taste. They are, in fact, like the American ladies, irresistible.

The Virginians claim the merit of having invented this superb compound, but I must dispute it for my own country, although it has been forgotten of late. In the times of Charles the First and Second it must have been known, for Milton expressly refers to it in his Comus:--

"Behold the cordial julep--here Which flames and dances in its crystal bounds With spirits of _balm_ and _fragrant syrups_ mixed.

Not that Nepenthes, which the wife of Thone In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena Is of such power to stir up joy like this, To life so friendly, or so _cool to thirst_."

If that don't mean mint-julep, I don't know the English language.

The following lines, however, which I found in an American newspaper, dates its origin very far back, even to the period when the heathen G.o.ds were not at a discount as they are now.

ORIGIN OF MINT-JULEP.

'Tis said that the G.o.ds, on Olympus of old, (And who, the bright legend profanes, with a doubt,) One night, 'mid their revels, by Bacchus were told That his last b.u.t.t of nectar had somewhat run out!

But determined to send round the goblet once more, They sued to the fairer immortals--for aid In composing a draught which, till drinking were o'er, Should cast every wine ever drank in the shade.

Grave Cerce herself blithely yielded her corn, And the spirit that lives in each amber-hued grain, And which first had its birth from the dews of the morn, Was taught to steal out in bright dew drops again.

Pomona, whose choicest of fruits on the board, Were scattered profusely in every one's reach, When called on a tribute to cull from the board, Expressed the mild juice of the delicate peach.

The liquids were mingled while Venus looked on With glances so fraught with sweet-magical power, That the honey of Ilybla, e'en when they were gone, Has never been missed in the draught from that hour.

Flora, then, from her bosom of fragrance shook, And with roseate fingers pressed down in the bowl, As dripping and fresh as it came from the brook, The herb whose aroma should flavour the whole.

The draught was delicious, each G.o.d did exclaim, Though something yet wanting they all did bewail, But Julep the drink of immortals became, When Jove himself added a handful of hail.

I have mentioned the princ.i.p.al causes to which must be a.s.signed the propensity to drink, so universal in America. This is an undeniable fact, a.s.serted by every other writer, acknowledged by the Americans themselves in print, and proved by the labours of their Temperance Societies. It is not confined to the lower cla.s.ses, but pervades the whole ma.s.s: of course, where there is most refinement, there is less intoxication, and in the Southern and Western States, it is that the custom of drinking is most prevalent.

I have said that in the American hotels there is a parlour for the ladies to retire to: there is not one for the gentlemen, who have only the reading-room, where they stand and read the papers, which are laid out on desks, or the bar.

The bar of an American hotel is generally a very large room on the bas.e.m.e.nt, fitted up very much like our gin palaces in London, not so elegant in its decorations indeed, but on the same system. A long counter runs across it, behind which stand two or three bar-keepers to wait upon the customers, and distribute the various potations, compounded from the contents of several rows of bottles behind them.

Here the eye reposes on ma.s.ses of pure crystal ice, large bunches of mint, decanters of every sort of wine, every variety of spirits, lemons, sugar, bitters, cigars and tobacco; it really makes one feel thirsty, even the going into a bar. [See Note 3.] Here you meet every body and every body meets you. Here the senator, the member of Congress, the merchant, the store-keeper, travellers from the Far West, and every other part of the country, who have come to purchase goods, all congregate.

Most of them have a cigar in their mouth, some are transacting business, others conversing, some sitting down together whispering confidentially.

Here you obtain all the news, all the scandal, all the politics, and all the fun; it is this dangerous propinquity, which occasions so much intemperance. Mr Head has no bar at the Mansion-house in Philadelphia, and the consequence is, that there is no drinking, except wine at dinner; but in all the other hotels, it would appear as if they purposely allowed the frequenters no room to retire to, so that they must be driven to the bar, which is by far the most profitable part of the concern.

The consequence of the bar being the place of general resort, is, that there is an unceasing pouring out, and amalgamation of alcohol, and other compounds, from morning to late at night. To drink with a friend when you meet him is good fellowship, to drink with a stranger is politeness, and a proof of wishing to be better acquainted.

Mr A is standing at the bar, enter B. "My dear B, how are you?"--"Quite well, and you?"--"Well, what shall it be?"--"Well, I don't care--a gin sling."--"Two gin slings, Bar-keeper." Touch gla.s.ses, and drink. Mr A has hardly swallowed his gin sling, and replaced his cigar, when, in comes Mr D. "A, how are you?"--"Ah! D, how goes it on with you?"--"Well, I thankey--what shall we have?"--"Well, I don't care; I say brandy c.o.c.ktail."--"Give me another," both drink, and the shilling is thrown down on the counter.

Then B comes up again. "A, you must allow me to introduce my friend C."--"Mr A"--shake hands--"Most happy to make the acquaintance. I trust I shall have the pleasure of drinking--something with you?"--"With great pleasure, Mr A, I will take a julep."--"Two juleps, Bar-keeper."--"Mr C, your good health"--"Mr A, yours; if you should come our way, most happy to see you,"--drink.

Now, I will appeal to the Americans themselves, if this is not a fair sample of a bar-room.

They say that the English cannot settle any thing properly, without a dinner. I am sure the Americans can fix nothing, without a drink. If you meet, you drink; if you part, you drink; if you make acquaintance, you drink; if you close a bargain you drink; they quarrel in their drink, and they make it up with a drink. They drink, because it is hot; they drink because it is cold. If successful in elections, they drink and rejoice; if not, they drink and swear; they begin to drink early in the morning, they leave off late at night; they commence it early in life, and they continue it, until they soon drop into the grave. To use their own expression, the way they drink, is "quite a caution" [See Note 4.] As for water, what the man said, when asked to belong to the Temperance Society, appears to be the general opinion, "it's very good for navigation."

So much has it become the habit to cement all friendship, and commence acquaintance by drinking, that it is a cause of serious offence to refuse, especially in a foreigner, as the Americans like to call the English. I was always willing to accommodate the Americans in this particular, as far as I could; (there at least, they will do me justice;) that at times I drank much more than I wished is certain, yet still I gave most serious offence, especially in the West, because I would not drink early in the morning, or before dinner, which is a general custom in the States, although much more prevalent in the South and West, where it is literally, "Stranger, will you drink or fight?"

This refusal on my part, or rather excusing myself from drinking with all those who were introduced to me, was eventually the occasion of much disturbance and of great animosity towards me--certainly, most unreasonably, as I was introduced to at least twenty every forenoon; and had I drunk with them all, I should have been in the same state as many of them were--that is, not really sober for three or four weeks at a time.

That the const.i.tutions of the Americans must suffer from this habit is certain; they do not, however, appear to suffer so much as we should.

They say that you may always know the grave of a Virginian; as from the quant.i.ty of juleps he has drunk, mint invariably springs up where he has been buried. But the Virginians are not the greatest drinkers, by any means. I was once looking for an American, and asked a friend of his, where I should find him. "Why," replied he, pointing to an hotel opposite, "that is his _licking place_, (a term borrowed from deer resorting to lick the salt:) we will see if he is there." He was not; the bar-keeper said he had left about ten minutes. "Well, then, you had better remain here, he is certain to be back in ten more--if not sooner." The American judged his friend rightly; in five minutes he was back again, and we had a drink together, of course.

I did not see it myself, but I was told that somewhere in Missouri, or thereabouts, west of the Mississippi, all the bars have what they term a _kicking-board_, it being the custom with the people who live there, instead of touching gla.s.ses when they drink together, to kick sharply with the side of the foot against the board, and that after this ceremony you are sworn friends. I have had it mentioned to me by more than one person, therefore I presume it is the case. What the origin of it is I know not, unless it intends to imply, "I'm your's to the _last kick_."

Before I finish this article on hotels, I may as well observe here that there is a custom in the United States, which I consider very demoralising to the women, which is that of taking up permanent residence in large hotels.

There are several reasons for this: one is, that people marry so very early that they cannot afford to take a house with the attendant expenses, for in America it is cheaper to live in a large hotel than to keep a house of your own; another is, the difficulty of obtaining servants, and, perhaps, the unwillingness of the women to have the fatigue and annoyance which is really occasioned by an establishment in that country: added to which is the want of society, arising from their husbands being from morning to night plodding at their various avocations. At some of the princ.i.p.al hotels you will find the apartments of the lodgers so permanently taken, that the plate with their name engraved on it is fixed on the door. I could almost tell whether a lady in America kept own establishment or lived at an hotel, the difference of manners are so marked; and, what is worse, it is chiefly the young married couples who are to be found there. Miss Martineau makes some very just comments upon this practice:--

"The uncertainty about domestic service is so great, and the economy of boarding-house life so tempting to people who have not provided themselves with house and furniture, that it is not to be wondered at that many young married people use the accommodation provided. But no sensible husband, who could beforehand become acquainted with the liabilities incurred, would willingly expose his domestic peace to the fearful risk. I saw enough when I saw the elegantly dressed ladies repair to the windows of the common drawing-room, on their husbands'

departure to the counting-house after breakfast.

"I have been a.s.sured that there is no end to the difficulties in which gentlemen have been involved, both as to their commercial and domestic affairs, by the indiscretion of their thoughtless young wives, amidst the idleness and levities of boarding-house life. As for the gentlemen, they are much to be pitied. Public meals, a noisy house, confinement to one or two private rooms, with the absence of all gratifications of their own peculiar convenience and taste, are but a poor solace to the man of business, after the toils and cares of the day. When to these are added the snares to which their wives are exposed, it may be imagined that men of sense and refinement would rather bear with any domestic inconvenience from the uncertainty and bad quality of help, than give up housekeeping."

If such is the case in boarding-houses, what must it be in hotels, where the male company is ever changing. It is one constant life of scandal, flirting, eating, drinking, and living in public; the sense of delicacy is destroyed, and the women remind you of the flowers that have been breathed upon till they have lost their perfume.

Miss M observes:--

"I can only say, that I unavoidably knew of more eases of lapse in highly respectable families in one State than ever came to my knowledge at home; and that they were got over with a disgrace far more temporary and superficial than they could have been visited with in England."

If this observation is correct, it must, in my opinion, be considered as referring to that portion of the s.e.x who live in _hotels_, certainly not to the ma.s.s, for reasons which I shall hereafter point out.

Indeed, what I have seen at some of the large hotels fully bears out her a.s.sertion. Miss M talks of young ladies being _taken_ to the piano in a promiscuous company. I have seen them go to the piano without being taken there, sit down and sing with all the energy of peac.o.c.ks, before total strangers, and very often without accompaniment. In the hotels, the private apartments of the boarders seldom consist of more than a large bed-room, and although company are admitted into it, still it is natural that the major portion of the women's time should be pa.s.sed down below in the general receiving room. In the evening, especially in the large western cities, they have b.a.l.l.s almost every night; indeed it is a life of idleness and vacuity of outward pretence, but of no real good feeling.

Scandal rages--every one is busy with watching her neighbour's affairs; those who have boarded there longest take the lead, and every newcomer or stranger is canva.s.sed with the most severe scrutiny; their histories are ascertained, and they are very often sent to Coventry, for little better reason than the will of those who, as residents, lay down the law.

Indeed, I never witnessed a more ridiculous compound of pretended modesty, and real want of delicacy, than is to be found with this cla.s.s of sojourners on the highway. Should any of their own s.e.x arrive, of whom some little scandal has been afloat, they are up in arms, and down they plump in their rocking-chairs; and although the hotel may cover nearly an acre of ground, so afraid are they of contamination, that they declare they will not go down to dinner, or eat another meal in the hotel, until the obnoxious parties "clear out." The proprietors are summoned, husbands are bullied, and, rather than indignant virtue should starve in her rocking-chair, a committee is formed, and the libelled parties, guilty or not guilty, are requested to leave the hotel. As soon as this purification is announced, virtue, appeased, recovers her appet.i.te, and they all eat drink, talk scandal, flirt, and sing without invitation as before.

I have been severe upon this cla.s.s of society in America, not only because I consider that it deserves it, but because I wish to point out that Miss Martineau's observations must be considered as referring to it, and not to the general character of the American woman.