First Impressions of the New World Part 7

At 11 o'clock Mr. Dennison called, and took us to the Penitentiary, where nearly 700 prisoners are confined. I think he said 695, although it will hold the full number of 700 if need be. For the credit of the s.e.x, I must say that only ten out of the whole are females. These ten are lodged each in a small room, for it can scarcely be called a cell, very well furnished, and opening into a large sitting-room, of which they all have the unrestrained use, although the presence of a matron puts a restraint on their tongues. They were employed in needlework. The cells of the men are arranged in tiers, and are certainly very different looking habitations to those of the women, and greatly inferior in size and airiness to the cells at Philadelphia, where, in addition to the grating in front of the cell, there was a door behind leading into a small enclosure or court. Here the only opening in the cell is by a door into a long gallery, and the cells were much smaller than either at Philadelphia or at Kingston; but the prisoners only inhabit these cells at night, the solitary system not being adopted or approved of here.

The silent system, however, is practised here as at Kingston, and the prisoners are employed in large workshops, chiefly in making agricultural instruments, hoops for casks, saddles, carpenters' tools, and even rocking horses and toys, which must be rather heart-breaking work for those who have children. The men have certain tasks allotted them, and when the day's work is done, may devote the rest of their time to working on their own account, which most of them do; the chief warden told us that he had lately paid a man, on his leaving the prison, a hundred and twenty-five dollars for extra work done in this way. The warden told us that the men, when discharged, were always strongly urged to return to their own homes instead of seeking to retrieve their characters elsewhere, and that their doing so was generally attended with a better result than when they went to a new place and had no check on their proceedings. This does away with the chief argument of our quaker friend at Philadelphia, in favour of the solitary system, which was, that the prisoner's return to his friends became more easy, when none of them knew that he had been in prison, of which they could not well be ignorant if he had mixed with other prisoners in a public jail.

It must be borne in mind, however, that the great demand in this country for work renders it much more easy for a person so circ.u.mstanced to obtain employment, even with a damaged character, than in England, where our ticket-of-leave men find this almost impossible. There is also, we are told, a kinder feeling towards prisoners here on their leaving the jail than in England, and this saves them from the want and consequent temptation to which our English ticket-of-leave men are exposed; the result is that a much less proportion of those released in America are re-committed for new offences.

We visited the workshops, and afterwards went into a large court to see the men defile in gangs, and march into their dining hall, in which we afterwards saw them a.s.sembled at dinner, and a capital savoury dinner it seemed to be. They have as much bread as they choose to eat, and meat twice a day; their drink is water, except when the doctor orders it otherwise. There are chaplains, called here Moral Instructors, who visit them and perform the service in the chapel, and evening schools are provided, at which the chaplains attend to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. A library of books of general information is provided for the prisoner's use, and to each a Bible is given, and they are allowed to buy sound and useful books. They have each a gas lamp in their cell, which enables them to read there when their work is done, and they are allowed to see their friends in the presence of an officer. Sixty of the prisoners were Negroes, which is a large proportion when compared with the total numbers of the white and black population, especially as the blacks are often let off, owing to the leniency of the committing magistrates who have compa.s.sion on their inferior intelligence; and it is owing, it is said, to a like leniency that there are so few females, though certainly not for the same reason. There are a large number of Irish in the prison.

Our next visit, still under Mr. Dennison's escort, was to the Capitol or State House, a very fine building of white limestone. The facade is more than 300 feet long, and the height nearly 160 feet to the top of the dome. This however has not yet been completed. The architecture is Grecian. Here, as at Washington, are Halls for the Senate and House of Representatives, in equally good taste and somewhat similarly arranged.

Mr. Dennison, who had once been a member of the Senate, was repudiating the accounts so commonly given of the behaviour of the senators, when Mr. Niel came in, and over-hearing what he was saying, begged to remark that when they "went to work" they usually divested themselves of their coats without subst.i.tuting any senatorial garment in its place; and putting his legs on the desk before the chair, he declared that such was the usual posture in which they listened to the oratory of the place.[8]

We afterwards went through the apartments appropriated to the Treasurer and Auditor of the State, the two chief officers of the Government, which are very capacious and well fitted up--and we were specially introduced to both these functionaries; Mr. Neil, who is somewhat of a wag, was rather jocose with them, and high as their position here is, they very cordially retaliated on him. We next went to those appropriated to the Governor of the State, General Chase, in order that we might be introduced to him, but he was out, which we regretted. He is a candidate to succeed Mr. Buchanan as President. The remainder of the building was occupied by numerous committee-rooms, by the courts of law, the judges' apartments, a law library, and a beautiful room intended for a general library, but in which the collection of books at present is very small. On the whole the building and its contents are very creditable to this, the largest and wealthiest of the States in the West, considering that forty years ago the country here was a wild forest region where no tree had been cut down.

_25th October._--We have seen Columbus well, and it has much to attract attention. On Sat.u.r.day we went from the Capitol to the Lunatic Asylum, but excepting in its being more pleasingly arranged than the one at Utica, there was nothing very striking in its appearance. The galleries in which the patients were walking were prettily decorated with flowers cut out in paper, giving it a very gay appearance; and when the patients become desponding, they have a dance in the great hall, to revive them. The matron who went round with us said that the men and women conduct themselves on these occasions with perfect propriety. The men and women are otherwise so entirely separated in this Asylum that papa went round to the men's wards with the doctor, while I was taken round by the matron to those appropriated to the women. We thought it a pleasant, cheerful-looking place, considering the melancholy object to which it is devoted.

The next sight we saw was, the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb: being Sat.u.r.day, we could not see the mode of tuition, but we have gone through it this morning, and yesterday we attended the afternoon service there, so that in our three visits we have been able to form a pretty good idea of the system carried out. They have an alphabet by which they can spell words, which they do by using one hand only. They speak thus with considerable rapidity, but this method is confined almost entirely to express proper names and words of uncommon use, as the whole conversation is carried on in general by signs, and it was most beautiful to see the graceful manner in which the matron spoke to them.

As this system of signs does not represent words, but _things_ and _ideas_, it has the great advantage of being universally understood when taught, and as the same system is adopted in several countries of Europe, in Norway and Sweden for example, a Norwegian and American child can converse easily together without either knowing a syllable of the other's language. It seems quite as rapid as talking.

We were present at the afternoon sermon, which lasted about half an hour, the subject being that of Simeon in the Temple, and except to express Simeon's name, there was no use at all made of the fingers. Dr.

Stone, the princ.i.p.al, had preached in the morning on the subject of Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and when we went, the children were being examined on the subject of this lecture. We _saw_ a number of questions asked, but in this case the words were spelled in order that Dr. Stone, who was teaching them, might be satisfied that they understood the full meaning of the question in its grammatical sense, as well as its general signification, and the answers were all written down on large black boards. They wrote with prodigious rapidity in large distinct writing--and the answers, which were all different and showed they were not got up by rote, were in most cases very good. This was being done by the eldest cla.s.s, and some of the elder boys and girls seemed full of intelligence. We saw minutely only what was going on in this and in the youngest cla.s.s, which was no less remarkable, considering that some of the children had not been more than two or three months in the Asylum, and when they came there had no idea of either reading or writing.

When I say the youngest cla.s.s, it is not with reference to the age of the pupils, but to the recent period of their admission, for some of them were as old in years as in the first cla.s.s, while others were very young; one of them, a very pretty little Jewish girl with sparkling intelligent eyes, was indeed a mere child. We had on Sunday seen this little girl being taught her lesson, which consisted of the simple words, "I must be kind," and it was very pretty to see the way in which the notion of kindness was conveyed by signs. This morning she was writing this on the slate, and she afterwards wrote in a very neat handwriting a number of short words--cat, dog, horse, &c.--which were dictated to her by signs which were of so simple a nature that we could understand many of them; a goat, for example, was represented by the fingers being stuck on each side of the head as horns, and then by the man drawing his hand down from his chin to indicate the beard. They thus became acquainted by signs with almost every object in the first instance, and are led on by degrees to complex ideas of every kind. Dr.

Stone says that the use of signs is known in England, but he believes is never practised to any extent, and certainly not in giving religious instruction. No attempt is made here, as in England, to teach them to articulate, as he considered the attempt to do this to be a great mistake, it being a painful effort to the child, which never leads to any good practical result. In some cases where deafness has been accidentally brought on after children have learned to speak, it is then as far as possible kept up; but even then the effort, as we saw, was very painful.

Our next visit was to the Blind Inst.i.tution, but here there was nothing very remarkable, though owing to the children not being in school we saw the Inst.i.tution very imperfectly. Raised characters are used here, as I believe everywhere else; one little girl who was called up read and p.r.o.nounced very well; we also heard some of them sing and play for a considerable time. The bulk of the children, or rather young people, for they keep them here till they are one or two and twenty, were walking about the gardens invariably in pairs, which seems an excellent preservative against accidents: this they do of their own accord.

We next went to the Idiot Asylum, but the children being, as usual on Sat.u.r.day, out of doors, we merely took a general look at the place, and returned there this morning to see the system pursued for them more in detail. Dr. Patterson, the superintendent, is a man of wonderful energy; and two young women and a matron, the two young teachers especially, must be exemplary characters, for they appear to devote themselves to their work with an energy and kindness which is perfectly marvellous, considering the apparently hopeless task they are engaged in. However, when taken young, from six to seven years of age, the capabilities of these poor children for improvement seem in general great, unless the infirmity is occasioned by epileptic fits, when the cure is considered almost hopeless. We were entertained by a story told by Dr. Patterson of a boy brought to him by the Mayor of C., who told him it was a bad case, but that he would be satisfied if he could fit him to be a missionary.

Dr. P. replied that he could not answer for that, but that he could at all events fit him to be Mayor of C.

The great means resorted to for improvement is constant occupation, changed every quarter of an hour through out the day. By this means their physical power at night is nearly exhausted, and they invariably sleep well; where no greater improvement is arrived at, they can in all cases gain cleanly habits, and get entirely rid of that repulsive appearance which an idiot left to himself is almost sure at last to acquire. Active exercises are what they resort to in the first instance; they have a large school-room fitted up with ladders and gymnastic apparatus of all kinds. We saw little boys, who shortly before were scarcely able to stand alone, climbing places which made me tremble for their safety, but it was curious to observe with what caution they did it.

When we entered the room the youngest cla.s.s were all standing round a piano, at which one of the teachers was playing, whilst she and the other teacher were leading them on in singing a cheerful song, and it was really quite touching to hear and see them; they sang very fairly, not worse than children usually do at that age. After a quarter of an hour of this they went through their Calisthenic exercises, marching in perfect time, clapping their hands, and going through different gestures with great accuracy, and these poor children a very few months ago had hardly any control over their actions.

Another thing taught is, to distinguish colour and form--for which purpose they have cards cut out into circles, squares, and octagons--and other marked shapes, of every variety and shade of colour. Five or six of these of different sorts were spread on the table, and a large unsorted pack was placed before a little boy five or six years old, and it was quite interesting to see him proceed to sort them by placing each one on the top of the counterpart which had been placed at first on the table. As there were many more kinds in the pack than those spread out on the table, when he came to a new one he first placed it in contact with the others to see if it suited, and after going round them all and seeing that none were the same, he appeared puzzled, and at last set it down in a place by itself. Although there was a certain degree of vacancy in the expression of the child, it seemed quite to brighten up at each successive step, and the occupation was evidently a source of considerable enjoyment to him. This little fellow had been a very short time in the Asylum, and when admitted had not the slightest idea of form, colour, or size.

Another mode adopted is, to take little blocks of wood of different sizes and forms, which the child is required to fit into corresponding holes cut out in a board. All this is for the least advanced pupils.

They learn afterwards to read and write, and some of the very little ones traced lines upon a board as well as most children could do with all their senses about them. The elder ones could write short words and read easy books; they are taught to read by having short words like cow, dog, ox, printed on cards, and are then shown by a picture what the words represent, and they are not taught their letters or to spell words till they begin to learn to write; the elementary books therefore consist chiefly of words representing ideas quite independently of the letters of which the words are formed. Many, however, can never fully obtain the power of speech, and that without any physical defect in their organs, and without the accompaniment of deafness, for they hear perfectly. In these instances to teach them to speak is very difficult, and sometimes hopeless. The poor little boy whom we saw sorting his cards, was one of those cases in which no articulate sound had ever been uttered, or could be produced by any teaching. At the same time the development of his head, and that of many others, was almost perfect and quite a beau ideal of what a head should be.

I forgot in speaking of the deaf and dumb to mention that their crying and laughter were quite like those of other children, and it appears to be the same with the idiots, even though they cannot speak. There was among the idiots one boy in irons to support his legs, which were otherwise quite without power, and he seemed under this treatment to be rapidly improving. They all have meat twice a day, and great care is taken to feed them generously. The only other sight in Columbus is the Medical College, which, however, we had no time to go over. We must, however, except the Governor's house, not forgetting its inmates, Governor Chase himself, and his interesting daughter. We had been introduced to the Governor by Mr. Dennison, after missing him on Sat.u.r.day at the Capitol, and he most kindly asked us to drink tea and spend the evening with him, apologising for time not permitting his daughter to call upon us. He is Governor of the State of Ohio, an office that is held for two years. He is a first-rate man in talent and character,--a strong abolitionist, and a thorough gentleman in his appearance--showing that the active and adventurous habits of his nation are quite consistent with the highest polish and refinement. He is deeply involved in the politics of his country, and, as I said before, is a candidate for the next presidentship. His strong views on the question of slavery will probably be a bar to his success, but unfortunately another hindrance may be that very high social character for which he is so remarkable. To judge at least by the treatment of such men as Henry Clay, and others of his stamp, it would appear as if real merit were a hindrance rather than a help to the attainment of the highest offices in America.[9]

The Governor's house looked externally something like an English rectory standing in a little garden, and we were at first shown into a small sitting-room. It seems the fashion all over America, as it is abroad, to leave the s.p.a.ce open in the middle of the room, and the chairs and sofas arranged round the walls, but there is always a good carpet of lively colours or a matting in summer, and not the bare floor so constantly seen in France and Germany. The little gathering consisted of the Governor, his two daughters (his only children), his niece, and his sister, Mr. Dennison, and Mr. Barnay, a clever New York lawyer, with whom we had crossed the Atlantic. But if the Governor recommended himself to us as a gentleman, what am I to say of his daughter? Papa has gone out and has left her description to me, whereas he could give a much more lively one, as he at once lost his heart to her. Her figure is tall and slight, but at the same time beautifully rounded; her neck long and graceful, with a sweet pretty brunette face. I seldom have seen such lovely eyes and dark eyelashes; she has rich dark hair in great profusion, but her style and dress were of the utmost simplicity and grace, and I almost forgave papa for at once falling in love with her.

Her father has been three times a widower, though not older-looking than papa, and with good reason he worships his daughter. She has been at the head of her father's house for the last six months, and the _nave_ importance she attached to her office gave an additional attraction to her manners. While we sat talking in the little room the Governor handed me a white and red rose as being the last of the season. He had placed them ready for me in a gla.s.s, and I have dried them as a memorial of that pleasant evening. We soon went into the dining-room, where tea and coffee were laid out on a light oak table, with an excellent _compote_ of apples, a silver basket full of sweet cakes, of which the Americans are very fond: bread--alas! always cut in slices whether at the hotels or in private, fresh b.u.t.ter,--an improvement on the usual salt b.u.t.ter of the country, and served, as it generally is, in silver perforated dishes to allow of the water from the ice to drain through, and a large tureen of cream toast. This is also a common dish, being simply slices of toast soaked in milk or cream and served hot. It often appears at the hotels, but there it is milk toast, and is not so good. I thought the cream toast excellent, and a great improvement on our bread and milk in England, but papa did not like it. The Governor and his fair daughter presided at the table, the Governor first saying grace very reverently, and we had a very pleasant repast.

After this we were conducted to the drawing-room. Such a _bijou_ of a room! The size was about twenty feet by eighteen, and the walls and ceiling, including doors, window-frames, and shutters--there were no curtains, might have been all made of the purest white china. It is a most peculiar and desirable varnish which is used on their wood-work that gives this effect. Mr. Tyson told us that it is made of Canada balsam, and that it comes therefore from our own territory, so that it is very stupid of Cubitt and others not to make use of it. The effect is like what the white wood-work of our drawing-room was when it was first finished, and you may imagine the appearance of the whole room being done with this fine white polish everywhere. We see it in all the hotels and railway carriages, so that it cannot be expensive. The windows were pointed, and the shutters were made to slide into the walls. They were shut on that evening, and were made, as they often are, with a small piece of Venetian blind-work let into them, also painted white. If we had called in the morning we should probably have found the room in nearly total darkness, as we found to be the case at Mr. Neil's, for the dear Americans seem too much afraid of their sun. There was a white marble table in the centre of this drawing-room, and the room was well lighted with gas. The only ornament was a most lovely ideal head in marble by Power, the sculptor of the Greek slave. The simplicity and beauty of the room could not be surpa.s.sed, and we spent a most interesting evening.

The father and daughter we found to be full of intelligence and knowledge of our best authors, though neither of them has ever been in England. Miss Chase is much interested in a new conservatory, took me over it, and gave me several very pretty things to dry. I shall endeavour to get cuttings or seeds of them. I was generous enough to allow papa afterwards to go over the conservatory alone with her. She is longing to come and see England, but her father is too busy at present to leave the country. She expressed such sorrow not to know more of us, that we promised to call this morning after our "asylum" work was done, when she showed us over the house, which is very pretty, and nicely arranged throughout.

I think I have nothing more to say of Columbus, except that we heard two sermons and _saw_ one on Sunday; for, besides the morning sermon at the Episcopal Church, and the _sign_ one to the deaf and dumb, we looked in at another where a negro was preaching to his fellow n.i.g.g.e.rs with great energy and life; but the ladies were quiet, and restrained their agonies and their "glory."

_Cincinnati, Oct. 27th._--We left Columbus at forty minutes past twelve yesterday. Mr. Dennison and Mr. Neil's son met us at the station, and Mr. Neil gave me some dried red leaves he had promised me, which have kept their colour tolerably well. Mr. D. is president of the railroad on which we were about to travel, and wished to give us free tickets to this place, but papa declined with many thanks. Papa has no sort of claim or connection with this railway, and I only mention the circ.u.mstance to show the extreme kindness and liberality of these gentlemen, who knew nothing of us, and probably had never heard our names until they had received letters of introduction about us from others, who were themselves equally strangers to us a few days ago. They introduced us to the freight agent of the Ohio and Mississippi Railway, who travelled with us, as did also a clever handsome widow. She seemed to be well connected, being related to General Ca.s.s and other people of note. She reminds me a little of Mrs. B. in style and manner, and it is pleasant to have some one to talk to, for we do not find people in general communicative in travelling, though papa says the fault may be ours.

There was nothing particularly pretty on the road, as the trees are, I grieve to say, losing their leaves in this neighbourhood; but on approaching this great city, "the Queen of the West," we came again on the Ohio. The water is now very low, but the bed of the river shows how great its width is when full; and even now there is a perfect navy of splendid steamers floating on its waters, many of which we saw as our train drove through the suburban streets of the city. Unhappily the rain poured down upon us as we got into the omnibus, but we were soon consoled by finding ourselves in this most magnificent hotel, the finest I have yet seen. The drawing room, is I should think, unsurpa.s.sed in beauty by any hotel anywhere, and I shall endeavour to make a drawing of it before I leave. The hotel at Columbus was tolerably large, as you may suppose, when I tell you that our dining room there was about ninety feet by thirty. This one, however, has two dining rooms of at least equal dimensions, which together can dine 1000 persons, and it makes up 600 beds. We sat in the drawing room yesterday evening, for we could not reconcile ourselves to leave it, even to write this journal. There were various ladies and gentlemen laughing and talking together, but no evening dresses, and nothing of any importance to remark about them. One young lady only was rather grandly dressed in a drab silk; she afterwards sat down to the piano, and began the usual American jingle, for I cannot call it music; and I have since been told she was the daughter of the master of the house. "Egalite" is certainly the order of the day here, and this young lady was treated quite on an equality with the other ladies in the room. The food is excellent, and we are very thankful to have so luxurious a resting place if we are at all detained here. We have several friends in the hotel, who are here to meet papa on business.

This morning we have had a visit from Mr. Mitch.e.l.l, the astronomer, and author of the work on Astronomy, which I remember reading with pleasure just before I left England. His daughter is to call on me and drive us out, and we are to pay a visit to his observatory. We went this afternoon to leave some letters, which Mr. Dennison had given us for Mr.

Rufus King and Mr. Lars Anderson. We found Mrs. King at home; her husband is much devoted to educational subjects and to the fine arts.

There were some very good pictures and engravings in the drawing room, and amongst the latter two of Sir Robert Strange's performances. We found both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson at home; they live in a splendid house, but as it was getting dark we could not see the details. We sent in our cards with our letter, and the room being full of people, Mr. Anderson introduced papa to each one separately, and me as Mrs. S----. As these guests went out others came in, and fresh introductions took place, but still always Mr. T---- and Mrs. S----, and he so addressed me during the visit. As we were going away papa said that he was making some strange mistake about my name, but he insisted upon it that we had so announced it; and on looking at our cards I found the card of a very vulgar lady at New York, which I had given by mistake as my own.

As we were leaving the room, a very amiable and pleasing person asked me if I would not call upon Mr. Longworth, the most celebrated character in this country, who she said was her father and the father of Mrs.

Anderson. I said that we had letters to him from Mr. Jared Sparks, and that we had meant to call on him the next day, but she said we had better return with her then. We accordingly accompanied her through Mr.

Anderson's garden, and through an adjoining one which led to her father's house, likewise a very large one, though not presenting such an architectural appearance as Mr. Anderson's. The old gentleman soon made his appearance, and afterwards Mrs. Longworth. They were a most venerable couple, who had a twelve-month ago celebrated their golden marriage, or fiftieth anniversary of their wedding day. We were invited to stay and drink tea, which we did, and met a large a.s.semblage of children and grand-children; a great-grand-child who had been present at the golden wedding, was in its nursery.

Mr. Longworth, among other things remarkable about him, is the proprietor of the vineyards from which the sparkling champagne is produced, known, from the name of the grape, as the sparkling Catawba; but he seems no less remarkable from the immense extent of his strawberry beds, which cover, I think he said, 60 acres of ground. He told us the number of bushels of fruit they daily produce in the season; but the number is legion, and I dare not set it down from memory. He showed papa a book he had written about his grapes and strawberries, and is very incredulous as to any in the world being better than his. This led to a discussion upon the relative size of trees and plants on the two sides of the Atlantic; and in speaking of the Indian corn, he tells us he has seen it standing, in Ohio, eighteen feet high, and he says it has been known, in Kentucky, to reach as high as twenty-five feet, and the ear eighteen inches long.

The old gentleman is a diminutive-looking person, with a coat so shabby that one would be tempted to offer him a sixpence if we met him in the streets; indeed a story is told of a stranger, who, going into his garden, and being shown round it by Mr. Longworth, gave him a dollar, which the latter good-humouredly put into his pocket, and it was not till he was asked to go into the house that the stranger discovered him to be the owner.[10] He is, however, delightfully vivacious, and full of agricultural hobbies. His wife is a very pleasing, primitive-looking person. We tasted at their house some of the ham for which this city, called by the wits Porkopolis, is so remarkable. The maple sugar is used in curing it, and improves the flavour very much.

_October 28th._--I must bring this letter to a rapid close, for it must be posted a day earlier than we expected. We intend to start in two days for St. Louis, and there I will finish my account of Cincinnati. To-day we have seen a great many schools, which have given us considerable insight into the state of education in America. My next letter will probably bring us to our most western point, though we have not yet quite settled whether we shall go to the Falls of St. Anthony, or to Chicago. Papa says I must close, and I must obey.

FOOTNOTES:

[8] Though this description of the Senate was meant as a good-humoured satire on the absence of etiquette in their a.s.semblies, it is probably no very exaggerated account of what is sometimes seen there; but it would be most unfair to draw any conclusion from this as to the behaviour in general society of well-educated gentlemen in America, there being as much real courtesy among these as is found in any other country, though certainly not always accompanied by the refinements of polished society in Europe.

[9] It is not meant here to obtrude special views of politics, or to maintain that democratic principles have naturally this tendency; but it may help to explain why so little is heard or known in England of the better cla.s.s of Americans. Their un.o.btrusive mode of life entirely accounts for this, and it is to be regretted that it is the noisy demagogue who forms the type of the American as known to the generality of the European public.

[10] I should not have taken the liberty of printing this account of Mr.

Longworth were he not, in a manner, a public character, well known throughout the length and breadth of the land, and his eccentricities are as familiar to every one at Cincinnati as his goodness of heart. In speaking, too, of his family, it is most gratifying to be able to record the patriarchal way in which we found him and Mrs. Longworth, surrounded by their descendants to the third generation.

If any apology is required, the same excuse--of his being a well-known public character--may be made for saying so much of Governor Chase and of his family.

LETTER X.

CINCINNATI.--MR. LONGWORTH.--GERMAN POPULATION---"OVER THE RHINE."--ENVIRONS OF CINCINNATI.--GARDENS.--FRUITS.--COMMON SCHOOLS.--JOURNEY TO ST. LOUIS.

Vincennes, Indiana, Nov. 1st, 1858.

My last letter brought us up to our arrival at Cincinnati, and our pa.s.sing the evening at Mr. Longworth's on the following day. Next day, Wednesday the 27th, Mrs. Anderson, Mr. Longworth's daughter, called and asked us to spend that evening also at her mother's house. She took me out in her carriage in the morning to see some of the best shops, which were equal to some of our best London ones in extent and in the value of the goods; and in the course of the day we called at Monsieur Raschig's; he not being at home, we made an appointment to call there late in the evening.

The party at the Longworths was confined to the members of their large family, all of whom are very agreeable. There were two married daughters, Mrs. Flagg and Mrs. Anderson, and the grandson and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Stettinius; and we also saw the little great-grand-daughter, who is a pretty child of eighteen months. The dining-room not being long enough to accommodate us all at tea, the table was placed diagonally across the room, and it was surprising to see Mrs. Longworth pouring out tea and coffee for the whole party as vigorously as if she were eighteen years old, her age being seventy-two.

She is remarkably pretty, with a fair complexion, and a very attractive and gentle manner and face.

We had quails and Cincinnati hams, also oysters served in three different ways--stewed, fried in b.u.t.ter, and in their natural state, but taken out of their sh.e.l.ls and served _en ma.s.se_ in a large dish. Our friends were astonished that we did not like these famous oysters of theirs in any form, which we did not, they being very huge in size and strong in flavour. We said, too, we did not like making two bites of an oyster; they pitied our want of taste, and lamented over our miserably small ones in England. After tea we saw some sea-weed and autumnal leaves beautifully dried and preserved by Mrs. Flagg, and we also looked over an ill.u.s.trated poem on the subject of Mr. and Mrs.

Longworth's golden wedding, the poem being the composition of Mr. Flagg.

Towards ten o'clock a table was laid out in the drawing-room with their Catawba champagne, which was handed round in tumblers, followed by piles of Vanilla ice a foot and a half high. There were two of these towers of Babel on the table, and each person was given a supply that would have served for half a dozen in England; the cream however is so light in this country that a great deal more can be taken of it than in England; ices are extremely good and cheap all over America; even in very small towns they are to be had as good as in the large ones. Water ices or fruit ices are rare; they are almost always of Vanilla cream. In summer a stewed peach is sometimes added.

We left the Longworths that evening in a down pour of rain, so that papa only got out for a minute at the door of Miss Raschig's uncle, and asked him to breakfast with us next morning. He accordingly came; we found him a most quick, lively, and excellent man, full of intelligence, and he received us with the warmth and ardour of an old friend, having during the twenty-five years he has been in America scarcely ever seen any one who knew any of his relatives. He is a Lutheran minister, and has a large congregation of Germans. He said a good deal had been going on during the revivals at Cincinnati, and he thought the feeling shown was of a satisfactory kind; there had been preaching in tents opposite his church.

The part of the town where he resides beyond the Miami Ca.n.a.l, which divides it into two portions, is known by the name of "Over the Rhine,"