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MY DIAEY 



NORTH AND SOUTH. 



BY 



WILLIAM HOWARD RUSSELL. 



NEW YORK: 
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS. 

FRANKLIN SQUARE. 

18 6 3. 






TO 



J) 



RICHARD QUAIN, M.D., 



"^ 



"f. IN TESTIMONY OF THE EEGARD AND GRATITUDE OF 

i THE AUTHOR. 

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J) 



INTRODUCTORY. 



A BOOK wbicli needs apologies ouglit never to have been written. This 
is a canon of criticism so universally accepted, that authors have abstained 
of late days from attempting to disarm hostility by confessions of weakness, 
and are almost afraid to say a prefatory word to the gentle reader. 

It is not to plead in mitigation of punishment or make an appeal ad mis- 
ericordiam, I break through the ordinary practice, but by way of introduction 
and explanation to those who may read this volume, I may remark that 
it consists for the most part of extracts from the diaries and note-books 
which I assiduously kept whilst I was in the United States, as records of the 
events and impressions of the hour. I have been obliged to omit many pas- 
sages which. might cause pain or injury to individuals still living in the midst 
of a civil war, but the spirit of the original is preserved as far as possible, 
and I would entreat my readers to attribute the frequent use of the personal 
pronoun and personal references to the nature of the sources from which the 
work is derived, rather than to the vanity of the author. 
• Had the pages been literally transcribed, without omitting a word, the fate 
of one whose task it was to sift the true from the false and to avoid error in 
statements of fact, in a country remarkable for the extraordinary fertility 
with which the unreal is produced, would have excited some commiseration ; 
but though there is much extenuated in these pages, there is not, I believe, 
aught set down in malice. My aim has been to retain so much relating to 
events passing under my eyes, or to persons who have become famous in 
this great struggle, as may prove interesting at present, though they did not 
at the time always appear in their just proportions of littleness or magnitude. 

During my .sojourn in the States, many stars of the first order have risen 
out of space or fallen into the outer darkness. The watching, trustful mil- 
lions have hailed with delight or witnessed with terror the advent of a shin- 
ing planet or a splendid comet, which a little observation has resolved into 
watery nebulae. In the Southern hemisphere, Bragg and Beauregard have 
given place to Lee and Jackson, In the North M'Dowell has faded away 
before M'Clellan, who having been 'put for a short season in eclipse by Pope, 
only to culminate with increased effulgence, has finally paled away before 
Burnside. The heroes of yesterday are the martyrs or outcasts of to-day, 
and no American general needs a slave behind him in the triumphal chariot 
to remind him that he is a mortal. Had I foreseen such rapid whirls in 
the wheel of fortune I might have taken more note of the men who were be- 
low, but my business was not to speculate but to describe. 

The day I landed at Norfolk, a tall lean man, ill-dressed, in a slouching 
hat and wrinkled clothes, stood, with his arms folded and legs wide apart, 
against the wall of the hotel looking on the ground. One of the waiters 



INTRODUCTORY. 



told me it was " Professor Jackson," and I have been plagued by suspicions 
that in refusing an introduction which was offered to me, I missed an oppor- 
tunity of making the acquaintance of the man of the stonewalls of Winches- 
ter. But, on the whole, I have been fortunate in meeting many of the sol- 
diers and statesmen who have distinguished themselves in this unhappy war. 
Although I have never for one moment seen reason to change the opinion 
I expressed in the first letter I wrote from the States, that the Union as it 
was could never be restored, I am satisfied the Free States of the North will 
retain and gain great advantages by the struggle, if they will only set them- 
selves at work to accomplish their destiny, nor lose their time in sighing 
over vanished empire or indulging in abortive dreams of conquest and 
schemes of vengeance ; but my readers need not expecl from me any dis- 
sertations on the present or future of the great republics, which have been 
so loosely united by the Federal band, nor any description of the political 
system, social life, manners or customs of the people, beyond those which 
may be incidentally 'gathered from these pages. 

It has been my fate to see Americans under their most unfavourable as- 
pect; with all their national feelings, as well as the vices of our common 
humanity, exaggerated and developed by the terrible agonies of a civil war, 
and the Woes of political revolution. Instead of the hum of industry, I 
heard the noise of cannon through the land. Society convulsed by cruel 
passions and apprehensions, and shattered by violence, presented its broken 
angles to the stranger, and I can readily conceive that the America I saw. 
wa's iio more like the country of whicli her people boast so loudly, than the 
St. Lawrence when the ice breaks up, hurrying onwards the rugged drift and 
its snowy crust of crags, with hoarse roar, and crashing witli irresistible force 
and fury to the sea, resembles the calm flow of the stately river on a sum- 
mer's day. 

The swarming communities and happy homes of the New England States 
—the most complete exhibition of the best results of the American system 
—it was denied me to witness ; but if I was deprived of the gratification of 
worshipping the frigid intellectualism of Boston, I saw the effects in the field, 
among the men I met, of the teachings and theories of the political, moral, 
and religious professors, who are the chiefs of that universal Yankee nation, 
as they "delight to call themselves, and there recognised the radical differ- 
ences which must sever them for ever from a true union with the Southern 

■ States. 

The contest, of whi^h no man can predict the end or result, still rages, but 
notwithstanding the darkness and clouds whicli rest upon the scene, I place 
so much reliance on the innate good qualities of the great nations whicli are 
settled on the Continent of North America, as to believe they will be all the 
better for the sweet uses of adversity ; learning to live in peace with their 
neighbours, adapting their institutions to their necessities, and working out, 
not'^in their old arrogance and insolence— mistaking material prosperity for 
good government— but in fear and trembling, the experiment on whicli they 
have cast so much discredit, and the glorious career which misfortune and 
folly can arrest but for a time. W. H. EUSSELL. 

London, December 8, 1862. 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



CHAPTER I. 



trine that all men are bom equal in the sense 



Departure from Cork-The Atlantic in March-Fellow of all men having equal rights. Some were 



passengers— American politics and parties— The Irish 
in New York— Approach to New York. 
On the evening of 3rd March, 18G1, 1 was trans- 
ferred from the little steam-tender, which plies 
between Cork and the anchorage of the Cunard 
steamers at the entrance of the hai-bour, to the 
deck of the good steamship Arabia, Captain 
Stone ; and at nightfall we were breasting the 
long rolling waves of the Atlantic. 

The voyage across the iftlantic has been done 
by so many able hands, that it would be super- 
fliious to describe mine, though it is certain no 
one passage ever resembled another, and no crew 
or set of passengers in one ship were ever iden- 
tical with those in any other. For thirteen days 
the Atlantic followed its usual course in the 
month of March, and was true to the traditions 
which affix to it in that month the character of 
violence and moody changes, from bad to worse 
and back again. The wind was sometimes dead 
against us, and then the infelix Arabia with iron 
energy set to work, storming great Malakhofs 
of water, which rose above her like the side of 
some sward-coated hill crested with snow-drifts ; 
and having gained the summit, and settled for 
an instant among the hissing sea-horses, ran 
plunging headlong down to the encounter of 
another wave, and thus went battling on with 
lieart of fire and breath of flame — ir/neus est ollis 
vigor — hour after hour. 

The traveller for pleasure had better avoid the 
Atlantic in the month of March. The wind was 
sometimes with us, and then the sensations of 
the passengers and the conduct of the ship were 
pretty much as they had been during the adverse 
breezes before, varied by the performance of a 
very violent "yawing" from side to side, and 
certain squashings of the paddle-boxes into the 
yeasty waters, which now ran a ra£e with us and 
eaah other, as if bent on chasing us down, and 
rolling their boarding parties with foaming crests 
down on our decks. The boss, which we repre- 
sented in the stormy shield around us, still moved 
on ; day by day our microcosm shifted its posi- 
tion in the ever-advancing circle of which it was 
the centre, with all around and within.it ever 
undergoing a sea change. 

The Americans on board were, of course, the 
most interesting passengers to one like myself, 
who was going out to \'>sit the great Republic 
under very peculiar circumstances. There was, 
first. Major Garnett, a Virginian, who was going 
back to his State to follow her fortunes. He 
was an officer of the regular army of the United 
States, who had served with distinction in Mex- 
ico ; an accomplished, well-read man ; resen'ed, 
and rather gloomy ; full of the doctrine of States* 
Rights, and animated with a considerable feeling 
of contempt for the New Englanders, and with 
the strongest prejudices in favour of the institu- 
tion of slaverv. He laughed to scorn the doc- 



born to be slaves — some to be labourers in the 
lower strata above the slaves — others to follow 
useful mechanical arts — the rest were born to 
rule and to own their fellow-men. There was 
next a young Carolinian, who had left his post 
as attache at St. Petersburgh to return to his 
State : thus, in all probability, avoiding the in- 
evitable supercession which awaited him at the 
hands of the new Government at Washington. 
He represented, in an intensified form, all the 
Virginian's opinions, and held that Mr. Cal- 
houn's interpretation of the Constitution was in- 
controvertibly right. There were difficulties in 
the way of State sovereignty, he confessed ; but 
they were only in detail — the principle was un- 
assailable. 

To Mr. Mitchell, South Carolina represented a 
power quite sufficient to meet all the Northern 
States in arms. "The North will attempt to 
blockade our coast," said he ; "and in that case, 
the South must march to the attack by land, 
and will nrobably act in Virginia." "But if the 
North aflempts to do more than institute a block- 
ade? — for instance, if their fleet attack your sea- 
port towns, and land men to occupy them?" 
"Oh, in that case, we are quite certain of beat- 
ing tliem." Mr. Julian Mitchell was indignant 
at the idea of submitting to the rule of a "rail- 
splitter," and of such men as Seward and Cam- 
eron. "No gentleman could tolerate such a 
Government." 

An American family from Nashville, consist- 
ing of a lady and her son and daughter, were 
warm advocates of a "gentlemanly" govern- 
ment, and derided the Yankees with great bit- 
terness. But they were by no means as ready 
to enqounter the evils of war, or to break up the 
Union, as the South-Carolinian or the Virginian; 
and in that respect they represented, I was told, 
the negative feelings of the Border States, which 
are disposed to a temporising, moderate course 
of action, most distasteful to the passionate se- 
ceders. 

There were also two Louisiana sugar-plantei-s 
on board — one owning 500 slaves, the other rich 
in some thousands of acres ; they seemed to care 
very little for the political aspects of the ques- 
tioii of Secession, and regarded it merely in ref- 
erence to its bearing on the sugar crop, and the 
security of slave property. Secession was re- 
garded by them as a very extreme and violent 
measure, to which the State had resorted with 
reluctance ; but it was obWous, at the same time, 
that, in event of a general secession of the Slave / 
States from the North, Louisiana could neither 
have Maintained her connection with the North, 
nor have stood in isolation from her sister States. 
All these, and some others who were fellow 
passengers, might be termed Americans — pur 
sang. Garnett belonged to a very old family in 
Virginia. Mitchell came from a stock of several 



10 



MY DIAliY JSOKTIl AND SOUTH. 



penerations' residence in South Carolina. The 
Tennessee family were, in speech and thought, 
types of what Europeans consider true Ameri- 
cans to be. Now take the other side. First 
there was an exceedingly intelligent, well-in- 
formed young merchant of New York — nephew 
of an English county Member, known for his 
wealth, liberality, and munificence. Educated 
at a university in the Northern States, he had 
lived a good deal in England, and was returning 
to his father from a course of book-keeping in 
the house of his uncle's firm in Liverpool. His 
father and uncle were born near Coleraine, and 
he had just been to see the humble dwelling, 
close to the Giant's Causeway, which sheltered 
their youth, and where their race was cradled. 
In the war of 1812, the brothers were about sail- 
ing in a privateer fitted out to prey against the 
British, when accident fixed one of them in Liv- 
erpool, where he founded the house which has 
grown so greatly with the development of trade 
between New York and Lancashire, whilst the 
other settled in the States. Without being vio- 
lent in tone, the young Northerner was very res- 
olute in temper, and determined to do all which 
lay in his power to prevent the " glorious Union" 
being broken up. 

The "Union" has thus founded on two con- 
tinents a family of princely wealth, whose orig- 
inals had probably fought with bitterness in their 
early youth against the union of Great Britain 
and Ireland. But did Mr. Brown, or the other 
Americans who shared his views, nqaeservedly 
approve of American institutions, ana consider 
them faultless? By no means. The New York- 
ers especially were eloquent on the evils of the 
suffrage, and of the licence of the Press in their 
own city; and dis])layed much irritation on the 
subject of naturalisation. The Irish were useful, 
in their w'ay, making roads and working hard, 
for there were few Americans who condescended 
to manual labour, or who could not make far 
more money in higher kinds of work ; but it was 
absurd to give the Irish votes which they used 
to destroy the influence of native-born citizens, 
and to sustain a corporation and local bodies of 
unsurpassable turpitude, corruption, and ineffi- 
ciency. 

Another )^oung merchant, a college friend of 
the former, w^as just returning from a tour in 
Europe with his amiable sister. His father was 
the son of an Irish immigrant, but he did not at 
all differ from the other gentlemen of his city in 
the estimate in which he held the Irish element ; 
and though he had no strong bias one way or 
other, he was quite resolved to support the ab- 
straction called the Union, and its I'epresentative 
fact' — the Federal Government. Thus the agri- 
culturist and the trader — the grower of raw prod- 
tice and the m.erchant who dealt in it — were at 
opposite sides of the question — wide apart as the 
Northern and Southern Poles. They sat apart, 
ate apart, talked apart — two distinct nations, with 
intense antipathies on the part of the South, which 
was active and aggressive in all its demonstra- 
tions. , 

The Southerners liave got a strange charge de 
plus against the Iri.sh. It appears that the reg- 
ular army of the United States is mainly com- 
posed of Irish and Germans; very few Ameri- 
cans indeed being low enough, or martially dis- 
posed enough, to "take the shilling," In case 



of a conflict, which these gentlemen think inevi- 
table, "low Irish mercenaries would," they say, 
"be pitted against the gentlemen of the South', 
and the best blood in the States would be spilled 
by fellows whose lives are worth nothing what- 
ever." Poor Paddy is regarded as a mere woik- 
ing machine, fit, at best, to serve against Choc- 
taws and Seminoles. His facility of reproduc- 
tion has to compensate for the waste which is 
caused by the development in his unhappy head 
of the organs of combativeness and destructive- 
ness. Certainly, if the war is to be carried on by 
the United States' regulars, the Southern States 
will soon dispose of them, for they do not num- 
ber 20,000 men, and their officers are not much 
in love with the new Government. But can it 
come to Waj-? Mr. Mitchell assures me I shall 
see some "pretty tall fighting." 

The most vehement Northerners in the steamer 
are Germans, who are going to the States for the 
first time, or returning there. They have become 
satisfied, no doubt, by long process of reasoning, 
that there is some anomaly in the condition of a 
country which calls itself the land of liberty, and 
is at the same time the potent palladium of serf- 
dom and human chattclry. When they are not 
sea-sick, which is seldom, the Teutons rise up in 
all the might of their misery and dirt, and, mak- 
ing sjmsmodic efforts to smoke, blurt out between 
the ])uffs, or in moody intervals, sundry remarks 
on American politics. "These are the swine," 
quoth Garnett, "who are-swept out of German 
gutters as too foul for them, and who come over 
to the States and presume to control the fate and 
the wishes of our people. In their own country 
they proved they were inca])able of either earn- 
ing a living, or exercising the duties of citizen- 
ship ; and they seek in our country a licence de- 
nied them in their own, and the means of living 
which they could not acquire anywhere else." 

And for myself I may truly say this, that no 
man ever set foot on the soil of the United States 
with a stronger and sincerer desire to ascertain 
and to tell the truth, as it appeared to him. -I 
had no theories to nphold, no jirejudiccs to sub- 
serve, no interests to advance, no instructions to 
fulfil ; I was a free agent, bound to communicate 
to the powerful organ of ]iublic opinion I repre- 
sented, my own daily im])ressions of the men, 
scenes, and actions around me, without fear, fa- 
vour, or affection of or for anything but tliat 
which seemed to me to be the truth. As to the 
questions whieli were distracting the States, my 
mind was a tuhiila Tcisa, or, rather, tabula von 
saipta. I felt indisposed to view with favour a 
rebellion against one of the established and rec- 
ognized governments of the world, which, though 
not friendly to Great Britain, nor opposed to slav- 
ery, was without, so far as I could see, any legit- 
imate cause of revolt, or any injury or grievance, 
perpetrated or imminent, assailed by States still 
less friendly to us, which the slave States, pure 
and simple, certainly were and probably are. At 
the same time, I knew that these were grounds 
which I could justly take, whilst they would not 
be tenable by an American, who is by the theory 
on which he revolted from us and created his own 
system of government, bound to recognise the 
principle that the discontent of the popular ma- 
jority with its rulers, is ample ground and justi- 
fication for revolution. 

It was on the morning of the fourteenth day 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



11 



that the shores of New York loomed through the 
drift of a cold wintry sea, leadcii-grcy and com- 
fortless, and in a little time more the coast, cov- 
ered with snow, rose in sight. Towards the after- 
noon the sun came out and brightened the waters 
and the sails of the pretty trim schooners and 
coasters which were dancing around us. How 
different the graceful, tautly-rigged, clean, white- 
sailed vessels from the round-stcrned, lumpish 
billyboys and nondescripts of the eastern coast 
of our isle ! Presently there came bowling down 
towards us a lively "little schooner-yacht, very 
like the once fiimed "America," brightly painted 
in green, sails dazzling white, lofty ponderous 
masts, no tops. As she came nearer, we saw she 
was crowded with men in chimney-jiot black huts, 
and coats, and the like — perhajjs a party of cit- 
izens on pleasure, cold as the day was. Nothing 
of the kind. The craft was our pilot-boat, and 
the hats and coats belongcH to the hardy mari- 
ners who act as guides to the port of New York. 
Their boat wa.s lowered, and was .soon under our 
mainchains ; and a chimney-pot iiat having duly 
come over the side, delivered a mass of newspa- 
pers to the captain, which were distributed among 
the eager passengers, when each at once became 
the centre of a spell-bound circle. 



CHAPTER II. 



Arrival at New York — Custom house — General impres- 
sions as to North and South — Street in New York — Ho- 
tel — Breakfast^Anierican women and men — Visit to 
Mr. Bancroft — Street railways. 

The entrance to New York, as it was seen by 
ns on 16th March, is not remarkable for beauty 
or picturesque scenery, and I incurred the ire of 
several passengers, because I could not consist- 
entl)'' say it was very pretty. It was ditficult to 
distinguish through the snow the villas and coun- 
try houses, which are said to be so charming in 
summer. But beyond these rose a forest of masts 
close by a low shore of brick houses and blue 
roofs, above the level of which again spires of 
churches and domes and cupolas announced a 
great city. On our left, at the narrowest part 
of the entrance, there was a very pow-erful case- 
mated work of fine close stone, in three tiers, 
something like Fort Paul at Sebastopol, built 
close to the water's edge, and armed on all the 
faces — apparently a tetragon with bastions. Ex- 
tensive works were going on at the ground above 
it, which rises rapidly fr(jm the water to a height 
of more than a hundred feet, and the rudiments 
of an extensive work and heavily armed earthen 
parapets could be seen from the channel. On 
the right hand, crossing its fire with that of the 
batteries and works on our left, there was an- 
other regular stone fort with fortified enceinte, 
and higher up the channel, as it widens to the 
city on the same side, I could make out a smaller 
fort on the water's edge. Tlie situation of the 
city renders it susceptible of powerful defence 
from the sea-side, and even now it would be 
hazardous to run the gauntlet of the batteries 
unless in powerful iron-clad ships favoured by 
wind and tide, which could hold the place at 
their mercy. Against a wooden fleet New York 
is now all but secure, save under exceptional cir- 
cumstances in favour of the assailants. 

It was dark as the steamer hauled up along- 



side the wharf on the New Jersey side of the riv- 
er; but ere the sun set I could form some idea 
of the activity and industry of the people from 
the enormous ferry-boats moving backwards and 
forwards like arks on the water, impelled by the 
great walking-beam engines, the crowded stream 
full of merchantmen, steamers, and small craft, 
the smoke of the factories, the tall chimneys — 
the net-work of boats and rafts — all the evidences 
of commercial life in full development. What a 
swarming, eager crowd on the quay-wall ! what 
a wonderful ragged regiment of labourers and 
j)orters, hailing us in broken or Hibernianized 
English ! "These are all Irish and Germans," 
anxiously explained a New Yorker. "I'll bet 
fifty dollars there's not a native-born American 
among them." 

With Anglo-Saxon disregard of official insig- 
nia, American Custom House officers dress very 
much like their British brethren, without any 
sign of authority as faint as even the brass but- 
ton and crown, so that the stranger is somewhat 
uneasy when he sees unauthorised-looking ])eople 
taking liberties with his plunder, especially after 
the admonition he has received on board shi|) to 
look sharp about his things as soon as he lands. 
I was provided w ith an introduction to one of the 
principal officers, and he facilitated my egress, 
and at last I was bundled out through a gate 
into a dark alley, ankle deep in melted snow 
and mud, where I was at once engaged in a 
brisk encounter with my Irish porterhood, and, 
after a long struggle, succeeded in stowing my 
effects in and about a remarkable specimen of 
the hackney-coach of the last century, very high 
in the axle, and weak in the springs,'which plash- 
ed down towards the river through a crowd of 
men shouting out, "You haven't paid me yet, 
yer honour. You haven't given anything to your 
own man that's been waiting here the last six 
months for your honour!" '■'■I'm the man that 
put the lugidge up, sir," &c., &c. The coach 
darted on bc)ard a great steam ferry-boat, which 
had on board a number of similar vehicles, and 
omnibuses, and the gliding, shifting lights, and 
the deep, strong breathing of the engine, told me 
I was moving and afloat before I was otherwise 
aware of it. A few minutes brought us over to 
the lights on the New York side — a jerk or twt) 
up a steep incline — and we were rattling over a 
most abominable pavement, jdunging into mud- 
holes, squashing through snow-heaps in ill-light- 
ed, narrow streets of low, mean-looking, wooden 
houses, of which an unusual proportion appeared 
to be lager-bier saloons, whisky-shops, oyster- 
houses, and billiard and smoking establishments. 

The crowd on the pavement were very much 
what a stranger would be likely to see in a very 
bad part of London, Antwerp, or Hamburg, with 
a dash of the noisy exuberance which proceeds 
from the high animal spirits that defy police reg- 
ulations and are superior to police force, called 
"rowdyism." The drive was long and tortuous; 
but by degrees the character of the thoroughfares 
and streets improved. At last we turned into a 
wide street with very tall houses, alternating with 
far humbler erections, blazing with lights, gay 
with shop-windows, thronged in spite of the mud 
with well-dressed peojile, and pervaded by strings 
of omnibuses — Oxford Street was nothing to it 
for length. At intervals there towered up a 
block of brickwork and stucco with long rows 



12 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



of windows lighted up tier above tier, and a 
swarming crowd passing in and out of the por- 
tals, which were recognised as the barrack-lilie 
glory of American civilisation — a Broadway 
monster hotel. More oyster-shops, lager-bier 
saloons, concert-rooms of astounding denomina- 
tions, with external decorations Aery much in 
the style of the booths at Bartholomew Fair 
— churches, restaurants, confectioners, private- 
houses ! again another series — they cannot go 
on expanding for ever. The coach at last drives 
into a large square, and lands me at the Claren- 
don Hotel. 

Whilst I was crossing the sea, the President's 
Inaugural Message, the composition of which is 
generally attributed to Mr. Seward, had been de- 
livered, and had reached Europe, and the causes 
which were at work in destroying the cohesion 
of the Union, had acquired greater strength and 
violence. 

Whatever force "the declaration of causes 
which induced the Secession of South Carolina" 
might have for Canjlinians, it could not influence 
a foreigner who knew nothing at all of tlie rights, 
sovereignty, and individual independence of a 
state, which, however, had no right to make war 
or peace, to coin money, or enter into treaty ob- 
ligations with any other country. The South 
Carolinian was nothing to us, quoad South Caro- 
lina — -he was merely a citizen of the United States, 
and we knew no more of him in any other ca- 
pacity than a French authority would know of a 
British subject as a Yorkshireman or a Munster- 
man. 

But the moving force of revolution is neither 
reason nor jxistice — it is most frequently passion 
— it is often interest. The American, when he 
seeks to prove that the Southern States have no 
right to revolt from a confederacy of states cre- 
ated by revolt, has by the principles on which he 
justifies his own revolution, placed between him- 
self and the European a great gulf in the level 
of argument. According to the deeds and words 
of Americans, it. is difficult to see why South Car- 
olina should not use the rights claimed for each 
of the thirteen colonics, "to alter and abolish a 
form of government when it becomes destruct- 
ive of the ends for which it is established, and to 
institute a new one." And the people must be 
left to decide the question as regards their own 
government for themselves, or the principle is 
worthless. The arguments, however, which are 
now going on are fast tending towards the ultima 
ratio regum. At present I find public attention 
is concentrated on the two Federal forts, Pickens 
and Sumter, called after two officers of the rev- 
olutionary armies in the old war. As Alabama 
and South Carolina have gone out, they now de- 
mand the possession of these forts, as of the soil 
of their several states and attached to their sov- 
ereignty. On the other hand, the Government 
of Mr. Lincoln considers it has no right to give 
up any thing belonging to the Federal Govern- 
ment, but evidently desires to temporize and 
evade any decision which might precipitate an 
attack on the forts by the batteries and forces 
prepared to act against them. There is not suf- 
ficient gaiTison in either for an adequate defence, 
and the difficulty of procuring supplies is very 
great. Under the circumstances every one is 
asking what the Government is going to do ? The 
Southern people have declared they will resist 



any attempt to supply or reinf rce the garrisons, 
and in Charleston, at least, have shown they 
mean to keep their word. It is a strange situa- 
tion. The Federal Government, afraid to speak, 
and unable to act, is leaving the soldiers to do 
as they please. In some instances, officers of 
rank, such as General Twiggs, have surrendered 
everything to the State authorities, and the treach- 
ery and secession of many ofiicers in the army 
and navy no doubt paralyze and intimidate tiie 
civilians at the head of affairs. 

Sunday, 17 th March. — The first thing I saw 
this morning, after a vision of a waiter pretend- 
ing to brush my clothes with a feeble twitch com- 
posed of fine fibre had vanished, was a procession 
of men, forty or fifty perhaps, preceded by a small 
band (by no excess of compliment can I say, of 
music), trudging through the cold and slush two 
and two : they wore shamrocks, or the best re- 
semblance thereto lafiich the American soil can 
produce, in their hats, and green silk sashes em- 
blazoned with crownless harp upon their coats, 
but it needed not these insignia to tell they were 
Irishmen, and their solemn mien indicated that 
they were going to mass. It was agreeable to 
see them so well clad and respectable looking, 
though occasional hats seemed as if they had just 
recovered from severe contusions, and others had 
the picturesque irregularity of outline now and 
then observable in the old country. The aspect 
of the street was irregular, and its abnormal look 
was increased by the air of the passers-by, who 
at that liour were domestics — very finely dressed 
negroes, Irish, or German. The coloured ladies 
made most elaborate toilettes, and as they held 
up their broad crinolines over the mud looked not 
unlike double-stemmed mushrooms. "They're 
concayted poor craythures them niggers, male 
and faymale," was the remark of the waiter as 
he saw me watching them. " There seem to be 
no sparrows in the streets," said I. " Sparras !" 
he exclajmed ; "and then how did you think 
a little baste of a sparra could fly across the 
ochean ?" I felt rather ashamed of myself. 

And so down-stairs where there was a table 
d'hote room, with great long tables covered with 
cloths, plates, and breakfast apparatus, and a 
smaller room inside, to which I was directed by 
one of the white-jacketted waiters. Breakfast 
over, visitors began to drop in. At the "office" 
of the hotel, as it is styled, there is a tray of blank 
cards and a big pencil, whereby the cardless man 
who is visiting is enabled to send you his name 
and title. There is a comfortable "reception 
room," in which he can remain and read the pa- 
pers, if you are engaged, so that there is little 
chance of your ultimately escaping him. And, 
indeed, not one of those who came had any but 
most hospitable intents. 

Out of doors the weather was not tempting. 
The snow lay in irregular layers and discoloured 
mounds along the streets, and the gutters gorged 
with "snow-bree" flooded the broken pavement. 
But after a time the crowds began to issue from 
the churches, and it was announced as the ne- 
cessity of the daj-, that we were to walk up and 
down the Fifth Avenue and look at each other. 
This is the west-end of London — its Belgravia 
and Grosvenoria represented in one long street, 
with offshoots of inferior dignity at right angles 
to it. Some of the houses are handsome, but the 
greater number have a compressed, squeezed-up 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



13 



aspect, which arises from the compulsory nar- 
rowness of frontage in proportion to the height 
of the building, and all of tliem are bright and 
new, as if they were just liiiished to order, — a 
most astonishing proof of the rapid development 
of the city. As the hall door is made an import- 
ant feature in the residence, the front parlour is 
generally a narrow, lanky apartment, struggling 
for existence between the hall and the partition 
of the next house. The outer door, which is al- 
ways provided with fine carved panels and mould- 
ings, is of some rich varnished wood, and looks 
much better tiian our painted doors. It is gen- 
erously thrown open so as to show an inner door 
with curtains and plate glass. The windows, 
whicli are double on account of the climate, are 
frequently of plate glass also. Some of the doors 
arc on the same level as tl* street, with a base- 
ment story beneath ; others are approached by 
flights of steps, the basement for servants having 
the entrance below the steps, and this, I believe, 
is the old Dutch fashion, and the name of "stoop" 
is still retained for it. 

No liveried servants are to be seen about the 
streets, the doorways, or the area-steps. Black 
faces in gaudy caps, or an unmistakeable "Bid- 
dy" in crinoline are their substitutes. The chief 
charm of the street was the living ornaturc which 
moved up and down the trottoir^. The costumes 
of Paris, adapted to the severity of this wintry 
weather, were draped round pretty, graceful fig- 
ures which, if wanting somewhat in that round- 
ed fulness of the Medician Venus, or in height, 
were svelte and well poised. The French boot 
has been driven oft* the field by the Balmoral, 
better suited to the snow ; and one must at once 
admit — all prejudices notwithstanding — that the 
American woman is not only well shod and well 
gloved, but that she has no reason to fear com- 
parisons in foot or hand with any daughter of 
Eve, except, perhaps, the Hindoo. 

The great and most frequent fault of the 
stranger in any land is that of generalising from 
a few facts. Every one must feel there are 
"pretty days" and "ugly days" in the world, 
and that his experience on the one would lead 
him to conclusions very diffvirent from that to 
which he would arrive on the other. To-day I 
am quite satisfied that if the American women 
are deficient in stature and in that which makes 
us say, "There is a fine woman," they are easy, 
well formed, and full of grace and prettiness. 
Admitting a certain pallor — which the Russians, 
by the bye, were "Nvont to admire so much that 
they took vinegar to produce it — the face is not 
only pretty, but sometimes of extraordinary beau- 
ty, the features fine, delicate, well defined. Ruby 
lips, indeed, are seldom to be seen, but now and 
then the flashing of-snowy-white evenly-set ivory 
teeth dispels the delusion that the Americans are 
— though the excellence of their dentists be 
granted — naturally ill provided with what they 
take so much pains, by eating bon-bons and con- 
fectionery, to deprive of their purity and colour. 

My friend R , with whom I was walking, 

knew every one in the Fifth Avenue, and we 
worked our way through a succession of small 
talk nearly as far as the end of the street, which 
runs out among divers places in the State of New 
York, through a ddbris of unfinished conceptions 
in masonry. The abrupt transition of the city 
into the country is not unfavourable to an idea 



that the Fifth Avenue might have been trans- 
ported from some great workshop, where it had 
been built to order by a despot, and dropped 
among the Red men : indeed, the immense 
growth of New York in thil direction, although 
far inferior to that of many parts of London, is 
remarkal51e as the work of eighteen or twenty 
years, and is rendered more consi)icuous by be- 
ing developed in this elongated street, and its 
contingents. I was introduced to many persons 
to-day, and was only once or twice asked how I 
liked New-York ; perhaps I anticipated the ques- 
tion by expressing my high opinion of the Fifth 
Avenue. Those to whom I spoke had generally 
something to say in reference to the troubled 
condition of the country, but it was principally 
of a self-complacent nature. "I suppose, sir, 
you are rather surprised, coming from Europe, 
to find us so quiet here in New York : we are a 
peculiar people, and you don't understand us in 
Europe." 

In the afternoon I called on Mr. Bancroft, for- 
merly minister to England, whose work on Amer- 
ica must be rather rudely interrupted by this cri- 
sis. Any thing with an "ex" to it in America 
is of little weight — ex-presidents are nobodies, 
though they have had the advantage, during 
their four years' tenure of ofiice, of being prayed 
for as long as they live. So it is of ex-ministers, 
whom nobody prays for at all. Mr. Bancroft 
conversed for some time on the aspect of affairs, 
but he ajipearcd to be unable to arrive at any set- 
tled conclusion, except that the republic, though 
in danger, was the most stable and beneficial 
form of government in the world, and that as a 
Government it had no power to coerce the peo- 
ple of the South or to save itself from the dan- 
ger. I was indeed astonished to hear from him 
and others so much philosophical abstract rea- 
soning as to the riglit of seceding, or, what is 
next to it, the want of any power in the Govern- 
ment to prevent it. 

Returning home in order to dress for dinner, 
I got into a street-railway-car, a long low omni- 
bus drawn by horses over a strada /errata in the 
middle of the street. It was filled with people 
of all classes, and at every crossing some one or 
other rang the bell, and the driver stopped to let 
out or take in passengers, whereby the unoffend- 
ing traveler became possessed of much snow- 
droppings and mud on boots and clothing. I 
found that by far a greater inconvenience caused 
by these street-railways was the destruction of all 
comfurt or rapidity in ordinary carriages. 

I dined with a New York banker, who gave 
such a dinner as bankers generally give all over 
the world. He is a man still young, very kind- 
ly, hospitable, well-informed, with a most charm- 
ing household — an American by theory, an En- 
glishman in instincts and tastes — educated in 
Europe, and sprung from British stock. Con- 
sidering the enormous interests he has at stake, 
I was astonished to perceive how calmly he spoke 
of the impending troubles. His friends, all men 
of. position in New York society, had the same 
dilettante tone, and were as little anxious for 
the future, or excited by the present, as a party 
of savans chronicling the movements of a " mag- 
netic storm." 

On going back to the hotel, I heard that 
Judge Daly and some gentlemen had called to 
request that I would dine with the Friendly So- 



u 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



ciety of St. Patrick to-morrow at Astor House, 
lu what is called "the bar," I met several gen- 
tlemen, one of whom said, "the majority of the 
people of New York, and all the respectable peo- 
ple, were disgusted at the election of such a fel- 
low as Lincoln to be President, and would back 
the Southern States, if it came to a split." 



CHAPTER in. 



" St. Patrick's day" in New Yorlc— Public dinner— Amer- 
ican Constitution — Genernl topics of conversation — 
Public estimate of the Government— Evening party at 

Mons. B 's. 

Monday, \8ih. — "St. Patrick's day in the 
morning'' behig on the 17th, was kept by the 
Irish to-day. In the early-morning the sounds 
of drumming, fifing, and bugling came with the 
hot water and my Irish attendant into the room. 
He told me : "We'll have a pretty nice day for 
it. The weather's often agin us on St. Patrick's 
day." At the angle of the square outside I saw 
a company of volunteers assembling. They wore 
bear-skin caps, some turned brown, and rusty 
green coatees, with white facings and crossbclts, 
a good deal of gold-lace and heavy worsted ejniu- 
lettes, and were armed with ordinary muskets, 
some of them with fiint-locks. Over their heads 
floated a green and gold flag with mystic em- 
blems, and a harp and sunbeams. A gentle- 
man, with an imperfect seat on horseback, which 
justified a suspicion that he was not to tlie man- 
ner born of Squire or Squireen, with much diffi- 
culty was getting them into line, and endanger- 
ing his personal safety by a large intantry-sword, 
the hilt of which was complicated with the bri- 
dle of his charger in some inexplicable manner. 
This gentleman was the oflScer in command of 
the martial body, who were gathering to do hon- 
our to the festival of the old country, and the 
din and clamour in the streets, the strains of mu- 
sic, and the tramp of feet outside announced that 
similar associations were on their way to the ren- 
dezvous. The waiters in the hotel, all of whom 
were Irish, had on their best, and wore an air of 
pleased importance. Many of their countrymen 
outside on the pavement exhibited very large 
decorations, plates of metal, and badges attached 
to broad ribands over their left breasts. 

After breakfast I struggled with a friend 
through the crowd which thronged Union Square. 
Bless them ! They were all Irish, judging from 
speech, and gesture, and look ; for the most part 
decently dressed, and comfortable, evidently bent 
on enjoying the day in spite of the cold,, and 
proud of the privilege of interrupting all the 
trade of the principal streets, in which the Yan- 
kees most do congregate, for the day. They 
were on the door-steps, and on the pavement 
men, women, and children, admiring the big po- 
licemen — many of them compatriots — and they 
swarmed at the corners, cheering yjopular town- 
councillors or local celebrities. Broadway was 
equally full. Plags were flying from the win- 
dows and steeples — and on the cold breeze came 
the hammering of drums, and the blasts of many 
wind instruments. The display, such as it was, 
partook of a military character, though not much 
more formidable in that sense than the march 
of the Trades Unions, or of Temperance Socie- 
ties. Imagine Broadway lined for the long 



miles of its course by spectators mo'stly Hiberni- 
an, and the great gaudy stars and stri]>es, or as 
one of the Secession journals I see styles it, the 
"Sanguinary United States Gridiron" — waving 
in all directions, whilst up its centre in the mud 
maVch the children of Erin. 

First came the acting Brigadier-General and 
his staflf, escorted by 40 lancers, very ill-dressed, 
and worse mounted ; horses dirty, accoutrements 
in the same condition, bits, bridles, and buttons 
rusty and tarnished ; uniforms ill-fitting, and 
badly put on. But the red flags and the show 
pleased the crowd, and they cheered " bould Nu- 
gent" right loudly. A band followed, some mem- 
bers of which had been evidently " smiling" with 
each other ; and next marched a body of drum- 
mers in military uniform, rattling away in the 
French fashion. Il^re comes the G9th N. Y. 
State Militia Regiment — the battalion which 
would not turn out when the Prince of Wales 
was in New York, and whose Colonel, Corcoran, 
is still under court-martial for his refusal. Well, 
the Prince had no loss, and the Colonel may 
have had other besides political reasons for his 
dislike to parade his men. 

The regiment turned out, I should think, only 
200 or 220 men, fine fellows enough, but not in 
the least like soldiers or militia. The United 
States uniform which most of the military bodies 
wore, consists of a blue tunic and trousers, and a 
kepi-like cap, with "U. S."in front for undress. 
In full dress the officers wear large gold epau- 
lettes, and officers and men a bandit-sort of felt 
hat loo])cd up at one side, and decorated with a 
plume of black-ostrich feathers and silk cords. 
The absence of facings, and Jlie want of some- 
thing to finish oft' the collar and cufi's, I'ender the 
tunic very bald and unsightly. Another band 
closed the rear of the GOth, and to eke out the 
military show, which in all was less than 1,200 
men, some companies were borrowed from an- 
other regiment of State Militia, and a troop of 
very ])Oor cavaliy cleared the way fur the Nap- 
]ier- Tandy Artillery, \\hich actually had three 
whole guns with them I It was strange to dwell 
on some of the names of the societies which fol- 
lowed. For instance, there were the "Dungan- 
non Volunteers of '82," jirepared of course to vin- 
dicate the famous declaration that none should 
make laws for Ireland, but the Queen, Lords, 
and Commons of Ireland! Every honest Cath- 
olic among them ignorant of ih& fact that the 
Volunteers of '82 were all Protestants. Then 
there was the " Sarsfield Guard!" One cannot 
conceive anything more hateful to the fiery high- 
s])irited cavalier, than the republican form of 
Government, which these poor Irishmen are, 
tliey think, so fond of. A good deal of what 
passes for national sentiment, is in reality dislike 
to England and religious animosity. 

It was much more interesting to see the long 
string of Benevolent, Friendly and Provident 
Societies, with bands, numbering many thou- 
sands, all decently clad, and marching in order 
with banners, insignia, badges and ribands, and 
the Irish flag flying alongside the "stars and 
stripes." I cannot congratulate them on the 
taste or good effect of their accessories — on their 
symbolical standards, and ridiculous old harpers, 
carried on stages in "bardic costume," very like 
artificial white wigs and white cotton dressing- 
gowns, but the actual good done by these socie- 



MY DIARY XOKTII AND SOUTH. 



ties, 13, I am told, very ^reat, and their charity 
would cover far greater siri.s than incorrectness 
of dress, and a proneness to •' jiiper's 'playing on 
the national l)agpipes." Tiie various societies 
mustered upwards of 10,000 men, sonic of them 
tmiformed and armed, others dresseil in quaint 
garments, and all as nuisy as music and talking 
coul . make them. The Americans appeared to 
regard the whole thing very much as an ancient 
lloman might have looked on tlie Saturnalia; 
but Faddy was in the ascendant, and could not 
be openly trifled with. 

Tlie crowds remained in the streets long after 
the procession had passed, and I saw various 
pickpockets captured by the big jjolicemen, and 
conveyed to approjiriate recejjtacles. "Was 
there any man of eminence in that procession?" 
I asked. "No; a few small local politicians, 
some wealthy store - keepers, and beer -saloon 
owners perhaps ; but the mass were of the small 
bourgeoisie. Such a man as Mr. O'Conor, who 
may be considered at the head of the Xew York 
bar for instance, would not take ])art in it." 

In the evening I went, according to invitation, 
to the Astor House — a large hotel, with a front 
like a railway terminus, in the Americo-Classical 
style, with great Doric columns and portico, and 
found, to my surprise, that the friendly party 
was to be a great public dinner. The halls were 
filled with the company, few or none in evening 
dress ; and in a few minutes I was presented to 
at least twenty-four gentlemen, whose names I 
dill not even hear. Tlie nse of badges, medals, 
and ribands, might, at first, lead a stranger to 
believe he was in v;'ry distinguished military so- 
ciety ; but he would soon learn that these insig- 
nia were the decorations of benevolent or con- 
vivial associations. Tliere is a latent taste for 
these things in spite of pure republicanism. At 
the dinner thert were Americans of Dutch and 
English descent, some "Yankees," one or two 
Englishmen, Scotchmen, and Welchmen. The 
chairman, Judge Daly, was indeed a true son of 
the soil, and his sjjeeches were full of good hu- 
mour, fluency, and wit; but his greatest effect 
was produced by tlie exhibition of a tuft of shani- 
rocks in a flower pot, which had been sent from 
Ireland for the occasion. This is done annually, 
but, like the miracle of St. Januarius, it never 
loses its effect, and always touches the heart. 

I confess it was to some extent curiosity to ob- 
serve the sentiment of the meeting, and a desire 
to sec how Irishmen were affected by the change 
in their climate, which led me to the room. I 
*carae away regretting deeply that so many 'na- 
tives of the British Isles should be animated with 
a hostile 'feeling towards England, and that no 
statesman has yet arisen who can- devise a pan- 
acea for the evils of these passionate and un- 
meaning differences between races and religions. 
Their strong antipathy is not diminished by the 
impossibility of gratifying it. They live in hope, 
and certainly the existence of these feelings is 
not only troublesome to American statesmen, 
but mischievous to the Irish themselves, inas- 
much as they are rendered witli unusual readi- 
ness the victims of agitators or political intriguers. 
The Irish element, as it is called, is much regard- 
ed in voting times, by suffraging bishops and 
others ; at other times, it is left to its work and 
its toil — Mr. Seward and Bishop Hughes are 
supposed to be its present masters. Undoubted- 



ly the mass of those I saw to-day were better 
clad than they would have been if they remain- 
ed at home. As I said in the speech which I 
was forced to make much against my will, by the 
gentle violence of my comjianions, never had I 
seen so many good hats and coats in an assem- 
blage of Irishmen in any other part of the world. 

March 11). The morning newspajiers contain 
reports of last night's speeches wliich are amusing 
in one respect, at all events, as affording speci- 
mens of the different versions which may be given 
of the same matter. A "citizen" who was kind 
enough to come in to shave me, paid me some 
easy compliments, in the manner of tlie "Bar- 
ber of Seville," on what he termed the "ora- 
tion" of the night before, and then pr()ceeded to 
give his notions of the merits and dcf(.'cts of the 
American Constitution. " He did not care much 
about the Franchise — it was given to too many 
he thought. A man must be five years resident 
in New York before he is admitted to the privi- 
leges of, voting. When an emigrant arrived, a 
paper was delivered to him to certify the fact, 
which he ijroduced after a lapse of five years, 
when he might be registered as a voter ; if he 
omitted the process of registration, he could how- 
ever Vote if identified by two householders, and 
a low lot," observed the barber, " they are — Irish 
and such like. I don't want any of their votes." 

In the afternoon a number of gentlemen call- 
ed, and made the kindest offers of service ; let- 
ters of introduction to all parts of the States; 
facilities of every description^all tendered with 
frankness. 

I was astonished to find little sympathy and 
no respect for the newly installed Government. 
They were regarded as obscure or undistinguish- 
ed men. I alluded to the circumstance that one 
of the journals continued to speak of "The Pres- 
ident" in the most contemptuous manner, and 
to designate him as the great "Rail-Splitter." 
" Oh yes," said the gentleman with whom I was 
conversing, " that must strike you as a strange 
way of mentioning the Chief Magistrate of our 
great Republic, but the fact is, no one minds 
what the man writes of any one, his game is to 
abuse every respectable man in the country in 
order to take his revenge on them for his social 
exclusion, and at the same time to please the ig- 
norant masses who delight in vituperation and 
scandal." 

In the evening, dining again with my friend 
the banker, I had a favorable opportunity of 
hearing more of the sjiecial pleading which is 
brought to bear on the solution of the gravest 
political questions. It would seem as if a coun- 
cil of physicians were wrangling with each other 
over abstract dogmas respecting life and health, 
whilst their patient was struggling in the agonies 
of death before them ! In tlie comfortable and 
well-appointed house wherein I met several men 
of position, acquirements, and natural sagacity, 
there was not the smallest evidence of uneasiness 
on account of circumstances which, to the eye of 
a stranger, -betokened an awful crisis, if not the 
impending dissolution of society itself. Stranger 
still, the acts which are bringing about such a 
calamity are not regarded with disfavour, or, at 
least, arc not considered unjustifiable. 

Among the guests were the Hon. Horatio Sey- 
mour, a former Governor of the State of New 
York ; Mr. Tylden, an acute lawyer ; and Mr. 



16 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



Bancroft ; the result left on my mind by their 
conversations and arguments was that, accord- 
ing to the Constitution, the Government could 
not employ force to prevent secession, or to com- 
pel States which had seceded by the will of the 
people to acknowledge tiie Federal power. In 
fact, according to them, the Federal Government 
was the mere machine put forward by a Society 
of Sovereign States, as a common instrument for 
certain ministerial acts, more particularly those 
which affected the external relations of the Con- 
federation. I do not think that any of the guests 
sought to turn the channel of talk upon politics, 
but the occasion offered itself to Mr. Horatio Sey- 
mour to give me his views of the Constitution of 
the United States, and by degrees the theme 
spread over the table. I had bought the " Con- 
stitution" for three cents in Broadway in the 
forenoon, and had read it carefully, but I could 
not find that it was self-expounding ; it referred 
itself to the Supreme Court, but what was to sup- 
port the Supreme Court in a contest with anned 
power, either of Government or people ? There 
was not a man who maintained the Government 
had any power to coerce the people of a State, 
or to force a State to remain in the Union, or 
under the action of the Federal Government ; in 
other words, the symbol of power at "Washington 
is not at all analogous to that which represents 
an established Government in other countries. 
Qiiid pi'osunt legis sine armis ? Although they • 
admitted the Southern leaders had meditated 
"the treason against the Union" years ago, they 
could not bring themselves to allow their old op- 
ponents, the Republicans now in power, to dis- 
pose of the armed force of the Union against 
their brother democrats in the Southern States. 

Mr. Seymour is a man of compromise, but his 
views go farther than those which were enter- 
tained by his party ten years ago. Although se- 
cession would produce revolution, it was, never- 
theless, "a right," founded on abstract princi- 
ples, which could scarcely be abrogated consist- 
ently with due regard to the original compact. 
One of the company made a remark which was 
trne enough, I dare say. We were talking of 
the difficulty of relieving Fort Sumter — an in- 
fallible topic just now. '"If the British or any 
foreign power were threatening ^le fort," said 
he, "our Government wotild find means of re- 
lieving it fast enough." In fact, the Federal 
Government is groping in the dark ; and whilst 
its friends are telling it to advance boldly, there 
are myriad voices shrieking out in its ears, "If 
you put out a foot you are lost." There is nei- 
ther army nor navy available, and the ministers 
have no machinery of rewards, and means of in- 
trigue, or modes of gaining adherents known to 
European administratioiis. The democrats be- 
hold with silent satisfaction the troubles into 
which the republican triumph has plunged the 
countiy, and are not at all disposed to extricate 
them. The most notable way of impeding their 
efforts is to knock them down with the "Consti- 
tution'' every time they rise to the surface and 
begin to swim out. 

New York society, however, is easy in its mind 
just now, and the upper world of millionaire mer- 
chants, bankers, contractors, and great traders 
are glad that the vulgar republicans are suffering 
for their success. Not a man there but resented 
the influence given by universal suffrage to the 



mob of the city, and complained of the intoler- 
able effects of their ascendency — of the corrup. 
tion of the municipal bodies, the venality of elect- 
ors and elected, and the abuse, waste, and profli- 
gate outlay of the public fuiids. Of these there 
were many illustrations given to me. garnished 
with historiettes of some of the civic dignitaries 
and of their coadjutors in the press ; but it did 
not require proof that universal suftVage in a city 
of which perhaps three-fourths of the voters were 
born abroad or of foreign jiarents, and of whom 
many were the scum swept ofl' the seethinps of 
European populations, must work most injurious- 
ly on property and capital. I confess it is to be 
much wondered at that the consequences are not 
more evil ; but no doubt the time is coming 
when the mischief can no longer be borne, and a 
social reform and revolution must be inevitable. 

Within only a very few hundreds of yards 
from the house and picture-gallery of Mons. 

B , the representative of European millions, 

are the hovels and lodgings of his equals in polit- 
ical power. This evening I visited the house of 

]\Ions. B , where his wife had a reception, to 

which nearly the whole of the party went. When 
a man looks at a suit of armour made to order 
by the first blacksmith in Europe, he observes 
that the finish of the joints and hinges is much 
higher than in the old iron clothes of the former 
time. Possibly the metal is better, and the chas- 
ings and garniture as good as the work of ^lilan, 
but the observer is not for a moment led to imag- 
ine that the fabric has stood proof of blows, or 
that it smacks of ancient watch-fire. If he were 
asked why it is so, he could not tell ; anv' more 
perhaps than he could define exactly the differ- 
ence between the lustrous, highly-jewelled, well- 
greaved Achaian of New York and the very less 
effective and showy creature who will in every 
society over the world pass muster as a gentle- 
man. Here was an elegant house — I use the 
word in its real meaning — with pretty statues, 
rich carpets, handsome furniture, and a gallery 
of charming Meissonicrs and genre pieces ; the 
saloons admirably lighted — a fair fine large suite, 
filled with the prettiest women in the most de- 
lightful toilettes, with a proper fringe of young 
men, orderly, neat, and well turned-out, fretting 
against the usual advanced posts of turbaned and 
jewelled dowagers, and provided with every ac- 
cessory to make the whole good society ; for there 
was wit, sense, intelligence, vivacity; and yet 
there was something wanting — not in host or 
hostess, or company, or house — where was it? — 
which was conspicuous by its absence. Jlr. Ban- 
croft was kind enough to introduce me to the 
most lovely faces and figures, and so far enabled 
me to judge that nothing could be more beauti- 
ful, easy, or natural than the womanhood or girl- 
hood of New York. It is prettiness rather than 
fineness ; regular, intelligent, wax - like faces, 
graceful little figures ; none of the grandiose 
Roman type which Von Raumer recognised in 
London, as in the Holy City, a quarter of a cen- 
tury ago. Natheless, the young men of New 
York ought to be thankful and grateful, and tiy 
to be worthy of it. Late in the evening I saw 
these same "young men, Novi Eboracenses, at 
their club, dicing for drinks and oathing for noth- 
ing, and all very friendly and hospitable. 

The club-house is remarkable as the mansion 
of a happy man who invented or patented a wa- 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



17 



terproof hat-lining, whercbv he built a sort of 
Sallustian villa, with a central court-yard, a 
I'Alharabra, with fountains and flowers, now 
passed away to the New York Club. Here was 
Pratt's, or the defunct Fielding, or the old 
C. C. C.'s in disregard of time and regard of 
drinks — and nothing more. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Streets and shops in Xew York— Literature— A funeral- 
Dinner at Mr. H ^"s — Dinner at Mr. Bancroft's — 

Political and focial features — Literary breakfast; Hee- 
nan and Sayera. 

March 20th. — The papers are still full of Sum- 
ter and Pickens. The reports that they are or 
arc not to be relieved are stated and contradict- 
ed in each paper without any regard to individ- 
oal consistency. The "Tribune" has an article 
on my speech at the St. Patrick's dinner, to 
which it is pleased to assign reasons and mo- 
tives which the speaker, at all events, never had 
in making it. 

Received several begging letters, some of them 
apparently with only too much of the stamp of 
reality about their tales of disappointment, dis- 
tress, and suffering. In the afternoon went 
down Broadway, which was crowded, notwith- 
standing the piles of blackened snow by the 
kerbstones, and the sloughs of mud, and half 
frozen pools at the crossings. Visited several 
large stores or shops — some rival the best estab- 
lishments in Paris or London in richness and 
in value, and far exceed them in size and splen- 
dour of exterior. Some on Broadway, built of 
marble, or of fine cut stone, cost from 6000/. to 
8000/. a year in mere rent. Here, from the 
base to the fourth or fifth story, are piled collec- 
tions of all the world can produce, often in ex- 
cess of all possible requirements of the country ; 
indeed I was told that the United States have al- 
ways imported more goods than they could pay 
for. Jewellers' shops are not numerous, but 
there are two in Broadway which have splendid 
collections of jewels, and of workmanship in 
gold and silver, displayed to the greatest advan- 
tage in fine apartments decorated with black 
marble, statuary, and plate-glass. 

New York has certainly all the air of a " nou- 
Teau riche." There is about it an utter absence 
of any appearance of a grandfather — one does 
not see even such evidences of eccentric taste as 
are afforded in Paris and London, by the exist- 
ence of shops where the old families of a coun- 
try cast off their "exm-ix" which are sought by 
the new, that they may persuade the world they 
are old ; there is no curiosity shop, not to speak 
of a Wardour Street, and such efforts as are 
made to supply the deficiency reveal an enor- 
mous amount of ignorance or of bad taste. The 
new arts, however, flourish ; the plague of pho- 
tography has spread through all the corners of 
the city, and the shop-windows glare with fla- 
grant displays of the most tawdry art. In some 
of the large booksellers' shops — Appleton's for 
example — are striking proofs of the activity of 
the American press, if not of the vigour and 
originality of the American intellect. I passed 
down long rows of shelves laden with the works 
of European authors, for the most part, oh 
shame L stolen and translated into American 



type without the smallest compunction or scru- 
ple, and without the least intention of ever 
yielding the most pitiful deodand to the au- 
thors. Mr. Appleton sells no less than one 
million and a half of Webster's spelling books 
a year ; his tables are covered with a Hood of 
pamphlets, some for, others against coercion ; 
some for, others opposed to slavery, — but when 
I asked fur a single solid, substantial work on 
the present difliculty, I was told there was not 
one published worth a cent. With such men 
as Audubon and Wilson in natural history, 
Prescott and Motley in history, Washington Ir- 
ving and Cooper in fiction, Longfellow and Ed- 
gar Poe in poetry, even Bryant and the respect- 
abilities in rhyme, and Emerson as essayist, 
there is no reason why New York should be a 
paltry imitation of Leipzig, without the good 
faith of Tauchnitz. 

I dined with a litterateur well known in En- 
gland to many people a year or two ago — 
sprightly, loquacious, and well informed, if nei- 
ther witty nor profound — now a Southern man 
with Southern proclivities, as Americans say ; 
once a Southern man with such strong anti- 
slavery convictions, that his expression of them 
in an English quarterly had secured him the 
hostility of his own people — one of the emana- 
tions of American literary life for which their 
own country finds no fitting receiver. As the 
best proof of his sincerity, he has just now aban- 
doned his connection with one of the New York 
papers on the republican side, because he be=^- 
lieved that the course of the journal was dic- 
tated by anti-Southern fanaticism. He is, in 
fact, persuaded that there will^be a civil war, 
and that the South will have much of the right 
on its side in the contest. At his rooms were 
Mons. B , Dr. Gwin, a Californian ex-sena- 
tor, Mr. Barlow, and several of the leading men 
of a certain clique in New York. The Ameri- 
cans complain, or assert, that we do not under- 
stand them, and I confess the reproach, or state- 
ment, was felt to be well founded by myself at 
all events, when I heard it declared and admit- 
ted that "if Mons. Belmont had not gone to the 
Charleston Convention, the present crisis would 
never have occurred." 

March 22nd. — A snow-storm worthy of Mos- 
cow or Riga flew through New York all day, de- 
positing more food for the mud. I paid a visit 
to Mr. Horace Greeley, and had a long conver- 
sation with him. He expressed great pleasure 
at the intelligence that I was going to visit the 
Southern States. "Be sure you examine the 
slave-pens. They will be afraid to refuse you, 
and you can tell the truth." As the capital and 
the South form the chief attractions at present, 
I am preparing to escape from "the divine 
calm" and snows of New York. I was recom- 
mended to visit many places before I left New 
York, principally hospitals and prisons. Sing- 
Sing, the state penitentiary, is "claimed," as the 
Americans say, to be the first "institution" of its 
kind in the world. Time presses, however, and 
Sing- Sing is a long way off. I am told a sys^ 
tem of torture prevails there for hardened or ob- 
durate oftenders — torture by dropping cold wa- 
ter on them, torture by thumb-screws, and the 
like — rather opposed to the views of prison phi- 
lanthropists in modern days. 

March 23rd. — It is announced positiyely that 



18 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



the authorities in Pensacola and Charleston have ' 
refused to allow any further supplies to be sent 
to Fort Pickens, the United States fleet in the j 
Gulf, and to Fort Sumter. Everywhere the ; 
Southern leaders are forcing; on a solution with j 
decision and energy, whilst the Government ap- 
pears to be helplessly drifting with the current ; 
of events, having neither bow nor stern, neither j 
keel nor deck, neither rudder, compass, sails, or j 
steam. Mr. Seward has declined to receive or 
hold any intercourse with the three gentlemen j 
called Southern Commissioners, wlio repaired to j 
Washington accredited by the Government and 
Congress of the Seceding States now sitting at 
Montgomery, so that there is no channel of me- 
diation or means of adjustment left open. I 
hear, indeed, that Government is secretly pre- 
paring what force it can to strengthen the garri- 
son at Pickens, and to reinforce Sumter at any 
hazard ; but that its want of men, ships, and 
money compels it to temporise, lest the Southern 
authorities should forestall their designs by a vig- 
orous attack on the enfeebled forts. 

There is, in reality, very little done by New 
York to support or encourage the Government 
in any decided policy, and the journals are more 
engaged now in abusing each other, and in small 
party aggressive warfare, than in the perform- 
ance of the duties of a patriotic press, whose 
mission at such a time is beyond all question tlie 
resignation of little differences for the sak6 of 
the whole country, and an entire devotion to its 
safety, honour, and integrity. But the New York 
people must have their intellectual drams every 
morning, and it matters little what; the course of 
Government may be, so long as the aristocratic 
I democrat can be amused by ridicule of the Great 
Rail-Splitter, or a vivid portraiture of Mr. Hor- 
ace Greeley's old coat, hat, breeches, and um- 
brella. The coarsest personalities are read with 
gusto, and attacks of a kind which would not 
have been admitted into the "Age" or "Satir- 
ist" in their worst days, form the staple leading 
articles of one or two of the most largely circu- 
lated journals in the city. " Slang" in its worst 
Americanised form is freely used in sensation 
headings and leaders, and a class of advertise- 
ments which are not allowed to appear in re- 
spectable English papers, have possession of col- 
umns of the principal newspapers, few, indeed, 
excluding them. It is strange, too, to see in 
journals which profess to represent the civilisa- 
tion and intelligence of the most enlightened 
and highly educated people on the face of the 
earth, advertisements of sorcerers, wizards, and 
fortune-tellers by the score — "wonderful clair- 
voyants," " the seventh child of a seventh child," 
"mesmeristic necromancers," and the like, who 
can tell your thoughts as soon as you enter the 
room, can secure the affections you prize, give 
lucky numbers in lotteries, and make everybody's 
fortunes but their own. Then there are the 
most impudent quack programmes — very doubt- 
ful "personals" addressed to "the young lady 
with black hair and blue eyes, who got out of 
the omnibus at the corner of 7th Street" — ap- 
peals by "a lady about to be confined" to any 
respectable person who is desirous of adopting a 
child : all rather curious reading for a stranger, 
or for a family. 

It is not to be expected, of course, that New 
York is a very pure city, for more than London 



or Paris it is the sewer of nations. It is a city 
of luxury also — French and Italian cooks and 
milliners, German and Italian musicians, high 
prices, extravagant tastes and dressing, money 
readily made, a life in hotels, bar-rooms, heavy 
gambling, sporting, and prize-fighting flourish 
here, and combine to lower the standard of the 
bourgeoisie at all events. Where wealth is the 
sole aristocracy, there is great danger of mistak- 
ing excess and jirofusion for elegance and good 
taste. To-day as I was going down Broadway, 
some dozen or more of the most over-dressed 
men I ever saw were pointed out to me as 
"sports;" that is, men who lived by gambling- 
houses and betting on races; and the class is so 
numerous that it has its own influence, particu- 
larly at elections, when the power of a hard-hit- 
ting prize-fighter with a following makes itself 
unmistakeably felt. Young America essays to 
look like martial France in mufti, but the hat 
and the coat suited to tlie Colonel of Carabiuiers 
en retraite do not at all become the thin, tall, 
rather long-faced gentlemen one sees lounging 
about Broadway. It is true, indeed, the type, 
though not French, is not English. The char- 
acteristics of the American are straight hair, 
keen, bright, penetrating eyes, and want of col- 
our in the cheeks. 

March 2oth. — I had an invitation to meet sev- 
eral members of the New York press association 
at breakfast. Among the company were — Mr. 
Bayard Taylor, with whose extensive notes of 
travel his countrymen are familiar — a kind of 
enlarged Inglis, full of the genial spirit which 
makes travelling in company so agreeable, but he 
has come back as travellers generally do, satis- 
fied there is no country like his own — Prince 
Leeboo loved his o^\ti isle the best after all — Mr. 
Raymond, of the "New York Times" (formerly 
Lieutenant-Governor of the State) ; Mr. Olm- 
sted, the indefatigable, able, and earnest writer, 
whom to describe simply as an Abolitionist 
would be to confound with ignorant if zealous, 
nnphilosophical, and impracticable men ; Mr. 
Dana, of the "Tribune;"' Mr. Hurlbert, of the 
"Times ;" the Editor of the "Coimer des Etats 
Unis;" Mr. Young, of the "Albion," which is 
the only English journal published in the States; 
and others. There was a good deal of pleasant 
conversation, though every one dift'ered with his 
neighbour, as a matter of course, as soon as he 
touched on politics. There was talk de omnibus 
rebut (t quibusdam aliis, such as Heenan and 
Sayers, Secession and Sumter, the press, politi- 
cians, New York life, and so on. The first topic 
occupied a larger place than it was entitled to, 
because in all likelihood the sporting editor of 
one of the papers who was present expressed, 
perhaps, some justifiable feeling in reference to 
the refusal of the belt to the American. All ad- 
mitted the courage and great endurance of his 
antagonist, but seemed convinced that Heenan, 
if not the better man, was at least the victor in 
that particular contest. It would be strange to 
see the great tendency of Americans to institute 
comparisons with ancient and recognised stand- 
ards, if it were not that they are adopting the 
natural mode of judging of their own capabili- 
ties. The nation is like a growing lad who is 
constantly testing his powers in competition with 
his elders. He is in his youth and nonage, and 
he is calling down the lanes and alleje to all 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



19 



comers to look at his muscle, to run against or 
to fight him. It is a sign of youth, not a proof 
of weakness, though it does oftend the old hands 
and vex the vetei-aus. 

Then one finds that Great Britain is often 
treated very much as an old Peninsula man may 
be by a set of young soldiers at a club. He is 
no doubt a very gallant fellow, and has done very 
fine things in his day, and he is listened to with 
respectful endurance, but there is a secret belief 
that he will never do anything very great again. 

One of the gentlemen present said that En- 
gland might dispute the right of the United 
States Government to blockade the ports of her 
own States, to which she was entitled to access 
under treaty, and might urge that such a block- 
ade was not justifiable ; but then, it was argued, 
that the President could open and shut ports as 
he pleased ; and that he might close the Soutli- 
ern ports by a proclamation in the nature of an 
Order of Council. It was taken for granted that 
Great Britain would only act on sordid motives, 
but that the well known affection of France for 
the United States is to check the selfishness of 
her rival, and prevent a speedy recognition. 



CHAPTER V. 



Off to the railway station — Kailway carriaees — Philadel- 
phia — Washington — Willard's Hotel— Mr. Seward — 
North and South — The "State Department" at AVasU- 
ington— President Lincoln — Dinner at Sir. Seward's. 

After our pleasant breakfast came that ne- 
cessity for activity which makes such meals dis- 
guised as mere light morning repasts take their 
revenge. I had to pack up, and I am bound to 
say the moral aid aflrorded me by the waiter, 
who stood with a sympathising expression of 
face, and looked on as I wrestled with boots, 
books, and great coats, was of a most compre- 
hensive character. At last I conquered, and at 
six o'clock p. SI. I left the Clarendon, and was 
conveyed over the roughest and most execrable 
pavements through several miles of unsympa- 
thetic, gloomy, dirty streets, and crowded" thor- 
oughfares, over jaw-wrenching street-railway 
tracks, to a large wooden shed covered with in- 
scriptions respecting routes and destinations on 
the bank of the river, which as far as the eye 
could see, was bordered by similar establish- 
ments, where my baggage was deposited in the 
mud. There were no porters, none of the rec- 
ognised and established aides to locomotion to 
which we are accustomed in Europe, but a num- 
ber of amateurs divided the spoil, and carried it 
into the ofiices, whilst I was directed to struggle 
for my ticket in another little wooden box, from 
which I presently received the necessary docu- 
ment, full of the dreadful warnings and condi- 
tions, which railway companies inflict on the 
public in all free countries. 

The whole of my luggage, except a large bag, 
was taken charge of by a man at the New York 
side of the ferry, who "checked it through" to 
the capital — giving me a slip of brass with a 
number corresponding with a brass ticket for each 
piece. When the boat arrived at tlie stage at 
the other side of the Hudson, in my innocence I 
called for a porter to take my bag. The passen- 
gers were moving out of the capacious feny-boat 
in a steady stream, and the steam throat and bell 



of the engine were going whilst I was looking 
for my porter ; but at last a gentleman passing 
said, "I guess y'ill remain here a considerable 
time before y'ill get any one to come for that 
bag uf yours," and taking the hint, I just got ofi' 
in time to stumble into a long box on wheels, 
with a double row of most uncomfortable seats, 
and a passage down the middle, where I found 
a place beside Mr. Sanford, the newly-appoint- 
ed United States Minister to Belgium, who was 
kind enough to take me under his charge to 
Wasliington. 

The night was closing in very fast as the train 
started, but such glimpses as I had of the contin- 
uous line of pretty-looking villages of wooden 
liouscs, two stories high, painted white, each with 
its Corinthian portico, gave a most favourable 
impression of the comfort and prosperity of the 
people. The rail passed through the main street 
of most of these iiamlets and villages, and the 
bell of the engine was tolled to warn the inhab- 
itants, who drew up on the side walks and let 
us go by. Soon the white houses faded away 
into faint blurred marks on the black giound of 
the landscape, or twinkled with starlike lights, 
and there was nothing more to see. The pas- 
sengers were crowded as close as they could pack, 
and as there was an immense iron stove in the 
centre of the car, the heat and stuffiness became 
most trying, althougli I had been undergoing the 
ordeal of the stove-heated New York houses for 
nearly a week. Once a minute, at least, the door 
at either end of the carriage was opened, and 
then closed with a sharp crashing noise, that 
jarred the nerves, and effectually prevented sleep. 
It generally was done by a man whose sole ob- 
ject seemed to be to walk up the centre of the 
carriage in order to go out of the opposite door 
— occasionally it was the work of the newspaper 
boy, with a sheaf of journals and trashy illus- 
trated papers under his arm. Now and then it 
was the conductor ; but the periodical visitor 
was a young gentleman with a chain and rings, 
who bore a tray before him, and solicited orders 
for "gum drops," and ''lemon drops," which, 
with tobacco, apples, and cakes, were consumed 
in great quantities by the passengers. 

At 10 o'clock, P.M., we crossed the river by a 
ferry boat to Philadeljjhia, and drove through 
the streets, stopping for supper a few moments 
at the La Pierre Hotel. To judge from the vast 
extent of the streets, of small, low, yet snug-look- 
ing houses, through which we passed, Philadel- 
phia must contain in comfort the largest number 
of small householders of any city in the world. 
At the other terminus of the rail, to which we 
drove in a carriage, we procured for a small 
sum, a dollar I think, berths in a sleeping car, 
an American institution of considerable merit. 
Unfortunately a party of prize-fighters had a 
mind to make themselves comfortable, and the 
result was anything but conducive to sleep. 
They had plenty of whiskey, and were full of 
song and fight, nor was it possible to escape their 
urgent solicitations "to take a drink," by feign- 
ing the soundest sleep. One of these, a big man, 
with a broken nose, a mellow eye, and a very 
large display of rings, jewels, chains and pins, 
was in very high spirits, and informed us he was 
" Going to Washington to pet a foreign mission 
from Bill Seward. He wouldn't take Paris, as 
he didn't care much about French or French- 



20 



MT DIAEY NOETH AND SOUTH. 



mem ; but he'd jnst like to show John Bull how 
to do it ; or he'd take Japan if they were very 
pressing."' Another told us he was '-Going to 
the bosom of Uncle Abe" (meaning the Fvesi- 
i^t) — "'that he knew him well in Kentucky 
years ago, and a high toned gentleman he was." 
Any attempts to persuade them to retire to rest 
made by the conductors were treated with sover- 
eign contempt, but at last whiskey asserted its i 
supremacy, and having established the point that , 

they '• would not sleep unless they pleased,"' i 

they slept and snored. 

At six, A.M., we were roused np by the arrival | 
of the train at Washington, having crossed great 
rivers and traversed cities without knowing it 
during the night. I looked out and saw a vast 
mass of white marble towering above us on the 
left, stretching out in colonnaded porticoes, and 
long flanks of windowed masonry, and surmount- 
ed by an unfinished cupola, from which scaffold 
and cranes raised their black arms. This was 
the Capitol. To the right was a cleared space 
of mud, sand, and fields studded with wooden 
sheds and huts, beyond which, again, could be 
seen rudimentary streets of sn^ill red brick 
houses, and some church-spires above them. 

Emerging from the station, we found a vocif- 
erous crowd of blacks, who were the hackney- 
coachmen of the place : but Mr. Sanford had his 
carnage in waiting, and drove me straight to 
Willards Hotel, where he consigned me to the 
landlord at the bar. Our route lay through 
Pennsvlvania avenue — a street of much breadth 
and length, lined with ielanthus trees, each in a 
white-washen wooded sentry box, and by most 
irregularlv-built houses in all kinds of material, 
from deal plank to marble — of all heights, and 
every sort of trade. Few shop-windows were 
open, and the principal population consisted of 
blacks, who were moving about on domestic af- 
fairs. At one end of the long Yista there is the 
Capitol : and at the other, the Treasury build- 
ings — a fine block in marble, with the usual 
American classical colonnades. 

Close to these rises the great pile of "Willard's 
Hotel, now occupied by applicants for office, and 
by the members of the newly-assembled Con- 
gress. It is a quadrangular mass of rooms, six 
stories high, and some hundred yards square ; 
and it probably contains at this moment more 
scheming, plotting, planning heads, more aching 
and joyful hearts, than any building of the same 
size ever held in the world. I was ushered into 
a bed-room which had just been vacated by some 
candidate — whether he succeeded or not I can- 
not teU, but if his testimonials spoke truth, he 
ought to have been selected at once for the high- 
est oflSce. The room was littered with printed 
copies of letters testifying that J. Smith, of Hart- 
ford, Conn., was about the ablest, honestest, clev- 
erest, and best man the writers ever knew. Up 
and down the long passages doors were opening 
and shutting for men with papers bulging out of 
their pockets, who hurried as if for their life in 
and out, and the building almost shook with the 
tread of the candidature, which did not always 
in its present aspect justify the correctness of the 
original appellation. 

It was a remarkable sight, and difficult to un- 
derstand unless seen. From California, Texas, 
from the Indian Reserves, and the Mormon ter- 
ritory, from Nebraska, as from the remotest bor- 



ders of Minnicsota, from erery portion of the 
vast territories of the Union, except from the Se- 
ceded States, the triumphant republicans had 
winged their way to the prey. 

There were crowds in the hall through which 
one could scarce make his way — the writing- 
room was crowded, and the rustle of pens rose to 
a little breeze — the smoking-room, the bar, the 
barbers, the reception-room, the ladies' drawing- 
room — all were crowded. At present not less 
than 2,500 people dine in the public room every 
day. On the kitchen floor there is a vast apart- 
ment, a hall without carpets or any furniture but 
plain chairs and tables, which are ranged in close 
rows, at which flocks of people are feeding, or 
discoursing, or from which they are flying away. 
The servants never cease shoving the chairs to 
and fro with a harsh screeching noise over the 
floor, so that one can scarce hear his neighbour 
speak. If he did, he would probably hear as I 
did, at this very hotel, a man order breakfast, 
"Black tea and toast, scrambled eggs, fresh 
spring shad, wild pigeon, pigs' feet, two robins 
on toast, oysters," and a quantity of breads and 
cakes of various denominations. The waste con- 
sequent on such orders is enormous — and the. 
ability required to conduct these enormous es- 
tablishments successfully is expressed by the 
common phrase in the States, "Brown is a clev- 
er man, but he can't manage an hotel." The 
tumult, the miscellaneotis nature of the company 
— my friends the prize-fighters are already in 
possession of the doorway — the heated, muggy 
rooms, not to speak of the great abominableness 
of the passages and halls, despite a most liberal 
provision of spiittoons, conduce to render these 
institutions by no means agreeable to a Euro- 
pean. Late in the day I succeeded in obtaining 
a sitting-room with a small bed-room attached, 
which made me somewhat more independent 
and comfortable — but you must pay highly for 
any departure from the routine life of the na- 
tives. Ladies enjoy a handsome drawing-room, 
with piano, sofas, and easy-chairs, all to them- 
selves. 

I dined at Mr. Sanford's, where I was intro- 
duced to Mr. Seward, Secretary of State ; Mr. 
Truman Smith, an ex-senator, inuch respected 
among the Eepnblican party; ]Mr. Antony, a sen- 
ator of the L'nited States, a journalist, a very in- 
telligent-looking man, with an Israelitish cast of 
face ; Colonel Foster of the Illinois railway, of 
I reputation in the States as a geologist ; and' one 
or two more gentlemen. Mr. Seward is a slight, 
middle-sized man, of feeble build, with the stoop 
I contracted from sedentary habits and application 
> to the desk, and has a peculiar attitude when 
seated, which immediately attracts attention. A 
well-formed and large head is placed on a long, 
slender neck, and projects over the chest in an 
I argumentative kind of way, as if the keen eyes 
were seeking for an adversary ; the mouth is re- 
markably flexible, large but well-formed, the nose 
prominent and aquiline, the eyes secret, but pene- 
trating, and lively with humour of some kind 
I twinkling about them ; the brow bold and broad, 
' but not remarkably elevated : the white hair sil- 
very and fine — a subtle, quick man, rejoicing in 
power, given to perorate and to oracular ntter- 
! ances, fond of badinage, bursting with the im- 
portance of state mysteries, and with the dignity 
! of directing the foreign policy of the greatest 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



81 



country — as all Americans think — in the world. 
After dinner he told some stories of the pressure 
on the President for place, which very much 
amused the guests who knew the men, and talked 
freely and pleasantly of many things — stating, 
however, few facts positively. In reference to an 
assertion in a New York paper, that orders had 
been given to evacuate Sumter, "That," he said, 
" is a plain lie — no such orders have been given. 
We will give up nothing we have — abandon noth- 
ing that has been entrusted to tis. If people 
would only read these statements by the light of 
the President's inaugural, they would not be de- 
ceived." He wanted no extra session of Congress. 
"History tells us that kings wiio call extra par- 
liaments lose their heads," and he informed the 
company he had impressed the Pjesident with 
his historical parallels. 

All through this conversation his tone was that 
of a man very sanguine, and with a supreme con- 
tempt for those who thought there was anything 
serious in secession. "Why," said he, "I my- 
self, my brothers, and sisters, have been all seces- 
sionists — we seceded from home when we were 
young, but we all went back to it sooner or later. 
These States will all come back in the same way." 
I doubt if he was evcj in the South ; but he af- 
firmed that the state of living and of society there 
was something like that in the State of New York 
sixty or seventy years ago. In the North all was 
life, enterprise, industry, mechanical skill. In the 
South there was dependence on black labour, and 
an idle extravagance which was mistaken for ele- 
gant luxury — tumble-down old hackney-coaches, 
such as had not been seen north of the Potomac 
for half a century, harness never cleaned, un- 
groomed horses, worked at the mill one day and 
sent to town the next, badly furnished houses, 
bad cookery, imperfect education. No parallel 
conld be drawn between them and the Northern 
States at all. "You are all very angry," he said, 
"about the Morrill tariff". You must, however, 
let us be best judges of our own affairs. If we 
judge rightly, you have no right to complain ; if 
we judge wrongly, we shall soon be taught by the 
results, and shall correct our error. It is evident 
that if the Morrill tariff" fulfils expectations, and 
raises a revenue, British manufacturers suffer 
nothing, and we suff"er nothing, for the revenue 
is raised here, and trade is not injured. If the 
tariff" fails to create a revenue, we shall be driven 
to modify or repeal it." 

The company addressed him as "Governor," 
which led to Mr. Seward's mentioning that when 
he was in England he was induced to put his 
name down with that prefix in a hotel book, and 
caused a discussion among the waiters as to 
whether he was the " Governor" of a prison or 
of a public company. I hope the great people of 
England treated Mr. Seward with the attention 
due to his position, as he would assuredly feel and 
resent verj- much any slight on the part of those 
in high places. From what he said, however, I 
infer that he was satisfied with the reception he 
had met in London. Like most Americans who 
can afford it, he has been up the Nile. The weird 
old stream has great fascinations for the people 
of the Mississippi — as far at least as the first cata- 
ract. 

March 27th. — This morning, after breakfast, 
Mr. Sanford called, according to promise, and 
took me to the State department. It is a very 



humble — in fact, dingy — mansion, two stories 
high, and situated at the end of the magnificent 
line of colonnade in white marble, called the 
Treasury, which is hereafter to do duty as the 
head-quarters of nearly all the public depart- 
ments. People familiar with Downing Street, 
however, cannot object to the dinginess of the 
bureaux in which the foreign and state aff'airs of 
the American Republic arc transacted. A flight 
of steps leads to the hall-door, on which an an- 
nouncement in writing is affi.xed, to indicate the 
days of reception for the various classes of per- 
sons who have business with the Secretary of 
State ; in the hall, on the right and left, are small 
rooms, with the names of the diff'erent officers on 
the doors — most of them persons of importance ; 
half-way in the hall a fiiglit of stairs conducts us 
to a similar corridor, rather dark, with doors on 
each side opening into the bureaux %f the chief 
clerks. All the appointments were very quiety 
and one would see much more bustle in the pas- 
sage of a Poor Law Board or a parish vestry. 

In a moderately sized, but very comfortable, 
apartment, surrounded with book-shelves, and or- 
namented with a few engravings, we found the 
Secretary of State seated at his table, and enjoy- 
ing a cigar ; he received me with great courtesy 
and kindness, and after a time said he would 
take occasion to present me to the President, who 
was to give audience that day to the minister of 
the new kingdom of Italy, who had hitherto only 
represented the kingdom of Sardinia. 

I have already described Mr. Seward's per- 
sonal appearance ; his son, to whom he intro- 
duced me, is the Assistant-Secretary of State, 
and is editor or proprietor of a journal in the 
State of New York, which has a reputation for 
ability and fairness. Mr. Frederick Seward is 
a slight delicate-looking man, with a high fore- 
head, thoughtful brow, dark eyes, and amiable 
expression ; his manner is very placid and mod- 
est, and, if not reserved, he is by no means lo- 
quacious. As we were speaking, a carriage 
drove up to the door, and Mr. Seward exclaim- 
ed to his father, with something like dismay in 
his voice, "Here comes the Chevalier in full 
miiform!" — and in a few seconds in eff'ect the 
Chevalier Bertinatti made his appearance, in 
cocked hat, white gloves, diplomatic suit of blue 
and silver lace, sword, sash, and riband of the 
cross of Savoy. I thought there was a quiet 
smile on Mr. Seward's foce as he saw his bril- 
liant companion, who contrasted so strongly 
with the more than republican simplicity of his 
own attire. "Fred, do you take Mr. Russell 
round to the President's, whilst I go with the 
Chevalier. We will meet at the White House." 
We accordingly set out through a private door 
leading to the grounds, and within a few sec- 
onds entered the hall of the moderate mansion. 
White House, which has very much the air of 
a portion of a bank or public office, being pro- 
vided with glass doors and plain heavy chairs 
and forms. The domestic wlio was in attend- 
ance was dressed like any ordinary citizen, and 
seemed perfectly indiff'erent to the high position 
of the great personage witli whom he conversed, 
when Mr. Seward asked him, "Where is the 
President?" Passing through one of the doors 
on the left, we entered a handsome spacious 
room, richly and rather gorgeously furnislied, 
and rejoicing in a kind of *' demi-jour," whick 



22 



MY DIAKY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



gave increased effect to the gilt cliairs and or- 
molu ornaments. Mr. Seward and the Cheva- 
lier stood in the centre of the room, whils his 
son and I remained a little on one side : " For," 
said Mr. Seward, "you are not to be supposed 
to be here." 

Soon afterwards there entered, with a sham- 
bling, loose, irregular, almost unsteady gait, a 
tall, lank, lean man, considerably over six feet 
in height, with stooping shoulders, long pendu- 
lous arms, terminating in hands of extraordina- 
ry dimensions, which, however, were far exceed- 
ed in proportion by his feet. He was dressed 
in an ill-fitting, wrinkled suit of black, whicli 
put one in mind of an undertaker's uniform at 
a funeral ; round his neck a rope of black silk 
was knotted in a large bulb, with flying ends 
projecting beyond the collar of his coat; his 
turned -down shirt -collar disclosed a sinewy 
fnuscular yellow neck, and above that, nestling 
in a great black mass of hair, bristling and com- 
pact like a ruff of mourning pins, rose tlie 
strange quaint face and head, covered with its 
thatch of wild republican hair, of President Lin- 
coln. The impression produced by the size of 
his extremities, and by his flapping and wide 
projecting ears, may be removed by the appear- 
ance of kindliness, sagacity, and the awkward 
bonhommie of his face ; the mouth is absolutely 
prodigious ; the lips, straggling and extending 
almost from one line of black beard to the other, 
are only kept in order by two deep furrows from 
the nostril to the chin; the nose itself — a prom- 
inent organ — stands out from the face with an 
inquiring, anxious air, as though it were snif- 
ftng for some good thing in the wind ; the eyes 
dark, full, and deeply set, are penetrating, but 
full of an expression which almost amounts to 
tenderness ; and above them projects the shaggy 
brow, running into the small hard frontal space, 
the development of which can scarcely be esti- 
mated accurately, owing to tlie irregular flocks 
of thick hair carelessly brushed across it. One 
would say that, although the mouth was made 
to enjoy a joke, it could also utter the severest 
sentence which the head could dictate, but that 
Mr. Lincoln would be ever more willing to tem- 
per justice with mercy, and to enjoy what he 
considers the amenities of life, than to take a 
harsh view of men's nature and of the world, 
and to estimate things in an ascetic or puritan 
spirit. A person who met Mr. Lincoln in the 
street would not take him to be what — accord- 
ing to the usages of European society — is called 
a "gentleman;" and, indeed, since I came to 
the United States, I have heard more dispara- 
ging allusions made by Americans to him on 
that account than I could have expected among 
simple republicans, where all should be equals ; 
but, at the same time, it would not be possible 
for the most indifferent observer to pass him in 
the street without notice. 

As he advanced through the room, he evi- 
dently controlled a desire to shake hands all 
round with everybody, and smiled good-humour- 
edly till he was suddenly brought up by the 
staid deportment of Mr. Seward, and by the 
profound diplomatic bows of the Chevalier Ber- 
tinatti. Then, indeed, he suddenly jerked him- 
self back, and stood in front of the two minis- 
ters, with his body slightly drooped forward, 
and his hands behind his back, his knees touch- 



ing, and his feet apart. Mr. Seward formally 
presented the minister, whereupon the President 
made a prodigiously violent demonstration of his 
body in a bow which had almost the effect of a 
smack in its rapidity and abruptness, and, recov- 
ering himself, proceeded to give his utmost at- 
tention, whilst the Chevalier, with another bow, 
read from a paper a long address in presenting 
the royal letter accrediting him as "minister 
resident;" and when he said that "the king 
desired to give, under your enlightened admin- 
istration, all possible strength and extent to 
those sentiments of frank sympathy which do 
not cease to be exhibited every moment between 
the two peoples, and whose origin dates back as 
far as the exertions which have presided over 
their commasi destiny as self-governing and free 
nations," the President gave another bow still 
more violent, as much as to accept the allusion. 

The minister forthwith handed his letter to 
the President, who gave it into the custody of 
Mr. Seward, and then, dijiping his hand into his 
coat-pocket, Mr. Lincoln drew out a sheet of 
paper, from which he read his reply, the most 
remarkable part of which was his doctrine "that 
the United States were bound by duty not to 
interfere with the differences of foreign govern- 
ments and countries." After some words of 
compliment, the President shook hands with 
the minister, who soon afterwards retired. ]\Ir. 
Seward then took me by the hand and said — 
" Mr. President, allow me to present to you Mr. 
Russell, of the London 'Times.'" On which 
Mr. Lincoln j)ut out his hand in a very friendly 
manner, and said, "Mr. Russell, I am very 
glad to make your acquaintance, and to see you 
in this country. The London 'Times' is one 
of the greatest powers in the world, — in fact, I 
don't know anything which has much more pow- 
er, — except perhaps the Mississijipi. I am glad 
to know you as its minister." Conversation en- 
sued for some minutes, which the President en- 
livened by two or three peculiar little sallies, 
and I left agrccalily impressed with his shrewd- 
ness, humour, and natural sagacity. 

In the evening I dined with Mr. Seward, in 
comjjany with his son, Mr. Seward, junior, Mr. 
Sanford, and a quaint, natural specimen of an 
American rustic lawyer, who was going to Brus- 
sels as Secretary of Legation. His chief, jNIr. 
Sanford, did not appear altogether ha])py when 
introduced to his secretary, for he found that he 
had a very limited, knowledge (if any) of French, 
and of other things M'hich it is generally consid- 
ered desirable that secretaries should know. 

Very naturally, conversation turned on poli- 
tics. Although no man can foresee the nature 
of the crisis which is coming, nor the mode in 
which it is to be encountered, the faith of men 
like Mr. Sanford and Mr. Seward in the ulti- 
mate success of their princijiles, and in the in- 
tegrity of the Republic, is very remaikable ; and 
the boldness of their language in reference to 
foreign powers almost amounts to arrogance and 
menace, if not to temerity. Mr. Seward assert- 
ed that the Ministers of England or of France 
had no right to make any allusion to the civil 
war which appeared imminent ; and that the 
Southern Commissioners who had been sent 
abroad could not be received by the Governmeni 
of any foreign power, officially or otherwise, even 
to hand in a document or to make a representa- 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



23 



tion, without incurring the risk of breaking off 
relations with the Government of the United 
States. As regards the great object of public 
curiosity, the relief of Fort Sumter, Mr. Seward 
maintains a profound silence, be^-ond the mere 
declaration, made with a pleasant twinkle of the 
eye, that "the whole policy of the Government, 
on that and other questions, is put forth in the 
President's inaugural, from which there will be 
no deviation." Turning to the inaugural mes- 
sage, however, there is no such very certain indi- 
caVion, as Mr. Seward pretends to discover, of 
the course to be pursued by Mr. Lincoln and the 
cabinet. To an out.side observer, like myself, it 
seems as if they were waiting for events to de- 
velop themselves, and rested their policy rather 
upon acts that had occurred, than upon any def- 
inite principle designed to control or direct the 
future. 

I should here add that Mr. Sewaixl spoke in 
high terms of the ability, dexterity, and personal 
qulilities of Mr. Jeffirson Davis, and declared his 
belief that but for him th6 Secession movement 
never could have succeeded as far as it has gone, 
and would, in all probability, indeed, have never 
taken place at all. After dinner cigars were in- 
troduced, and a quiet little rubber of whist fol- 
lowed. The Secretary is given to expatiate at 
large, and told us many anecdotes of foreign 
travel ; — if I am not doing him injustice, I would 
say further, that he remembers his visit to Eng- 
land, and the attention he received there, with 
peculiar satisfaction. He cannot be found fault 
with because he has formed a most exalted no- 
tion of the superior intelligence, virtue, happi- 
ness, and prosperity of his own people. He said 
that it would not be proper for him to hold any 
communication with the Southern Commission- 
ers then in Washington ; which rather surprised 
me, after what I had heard from their friend, 
Mr. Banks. On returning to my hotel, I found 
a card from the President, inviting me to dinner 
the following day. 



CHAPTER VI. 

A state dinner at the White House— Mrs. Lincoln— The 
Cabinet Ministers — A newspaper correspondent — Good 
Friday at Waahington. 

March 28th. — I was honoured to-day by visits 
from a great number of Members of Congress, 
journalists, and others. Judging from the ex- 
pressions of most of the Washington people, they 
would gladly see a Southern Cabinet installed 
in their city. The cold shoulder is given to Mr. 
Lincoln, and all kinds of stories and jokes are 
circulated at his expense. People take partic- 
ular pleasure in telling how he came towards 
the seat of his Government disguised in a Scotch 



character. There was no parade or display, no 
announcement — no gilded staircase, with its liv- 
eried heralds, transmitting and translating one's 
name from landing to landing. From the un- 
pretending ante-chamber, a walk across the lofty 
hall led us to the reception-room, which was the 
same as that in which the President held his in- 
terview yesterday. 

Mrs. Lincoln was already seated to receive her 
guests. She is of the middle age and height, of 
a plumpness degenerating to the emlonpoud nat- 
ural to her years ; her features are plain, her 
nose and mouth of an ordinary type, and her 
manners and appearance homely, stiffened, how- 
ever, by the consciousness that her position re- 
quires her to be something more than plain Mrs. 
Lincoln, the wife of the Illinois lawyer ; she is 
profuse in the introduction of the word " sir" in 
every sentence, which is now almost an Ameri- 
canism confined to certain classes, although it 
was once as common in England. Her dress I 
shall not attempt to describe, though it was very 
gorgeous and highly coloured. She handled a 
fan with much energy, displaying a round, well- 
proportioned arm, and was adorned with some 
simple jewellery. Mrs. Lincoln struck me as be- 
ing desirous of making herself agreeable ; and I 
own I was agreeably disappointed, as the Seces- 
sionist ladies at Washington had been amusing 
themselves by anecdotes which could scarcely 
have been founded on fact. 

Several of the Ministers had already arrived; 
by-and-by all had come, and the party only wait- 
ed for General Scott, who seemed to be the rep- 
resentative man in Washington of the monarch- 
ical idea, and to absorb some of the feeling which 
is lavished on the pictures and memory, if not on 
the monument, of Washington. Whilst we were 
waiting, Mr. Seward took me round, and intro- 
duced me to the Ministers, and to their wives 
and daughters, among the latter. Miss Chase, 
who is very attractive, agreeable, and sprightly. 
Her father, the Finance Minister, struck me as 
one of the most intelligent and distinguished per- 
sons in the whole assemblage ; tall, of a good 
presence, with a well-formed head, fine forehead, 
and a face indicating energy and power. There 
is a peculiar droop and motion of the lid of one 
eye, which seems to have suffered from some in- 
jurv, that detracts from the agreeable effect of 
his "face ; but, on the whole, he is one who would 
not pass quite unnoticed in a European crowd 
of the same description. 

In the whole assemblage there was not a scrap 
of lace or a piece of ribbon, except the gorgeous 
epaulettes of an old naval oificer who had served 
against us in the last war, and who represented 
some branch of the naval department. Nor 
were the Ministers by any means remarkable for 
their personal appearance. 

Mr. Cameron, the Secretary for War, a slight 



cap and cloak, whatever that may mean 

In the evening I repaired to the White House. _ _ 
The servant who took my hat and coat was par- man, above the middle height, with grey hair. 



ticularly inquisitive as to my name and condi- ■ deep-set keen grey eyes, and a thin mouth, gave 
tion in life ; and when he heard I was not a me the idea of a person of ability and adroitness, 
minister, he seemed inclined to question my His colleague, the Secretary of the Navy, a small 



right to be there at all: "for," said he, "there 
are none hut members of the cabinet, and their 
wives and daughters, dining here to-day." Eveur 
tually he relaxed — instructed me how to place 
my hat so that it woirld be exposed to no indig- 
nity, and informed me that I was about to par- 
ticipate in a prandial enjoyment of no ordinaiy 



man, with a great long grey beard and specta- 
cles, did not look like one of much originality or 
ability ; but people who know Mr. Welles de- 
clare that he is possessed of administrative pow- 
er, although they admit that he does not know 
the stem from the stern of a ship, and are in 
doubt whether he ever saw the sea in his life. 



24 



MY DIAKY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



Mr. Smith, the Minister of the Interior, is a 
bright-e3'ecl, smart (I use the word in the Eng- 
lish sense) gentleman, with the reputation of be- 
ing one of the most conservative members of the 
cabinet. Mr. Blair, the Postmaster-General, is 
a person of much greater iniiuence than his po- 
sition would indicate. He has the reputation of 
being one of the most determined republicans in 
the Ministry ; but he held peculiar notions with 
reference to the black and the white races, 
which, if carried out, would not by any means 
conduce to the comfort or happiness of free ne- 
groes in the United States. He is a tall, lean 
man, with a hard, Scotch, practical-looking head 
— an anvil for ideas to be hammered on. His 
eyes are small and deeply set, and have a rat- 
like expression ; and he speaks with caution, as 
though he weighed every word before he uttei'ed 
it. The last of the Ministers is Mr. Bates, a 
stout, thick-set, common-looking man, with a 
large beard, who fills the office of Attorney-Gen- 
eral. Some of the gentlemen were in evening 
dress ; others wore black frock coats, which it 
seems, as in Turkey, are considered to be en re- 
gie, at a Republican Ministerial dinner. 

In the conversation which occurred before din- 
ner, I was amused to observe the manner in 
which Mr. Lincoln used the anecdotes for which 
he is famous. Where men bred in courts, ac- 
customed to the world, or versed in diplomacy, 
would use some subterfuge, or would make a po- 
lite speech, or give a shrug of the shoulders as 
the means of getting out of an embai-rassing po- 
sition, Mr. Lincoln raises a laugh by some bold 
west-country anecdote, and moves otf in the 
. cloud of merriment produced by his joke. Thus, 
when Mr. Bates was remonstrating apparently 
against the appointment of some indifferent law- 
yer to a place of judicial importance, the Presi- 
dent interposed with, " Come now. Bates, he's 
not half as bad as you think. Besides that, I 
must tell you, he did me a good turn long ago. 
When I took to the law, I was going to court 
one morning, with some ten or twelve miles of 
bad road before me, and I had no horse. The 
judge overtook me in his wagon. 'Hollo, Lin- 
coln ! Are you not going to the court-house ? 
Come in and I'll give you a seat.' Well, I got 
in, and the judge went on reading his papers. 
Presently the waggon struck a stump on one 
side of the road ; then it hopped off to the oth- 
er. I looked out, and I saw the driver was jerk- 
ing from side to side in his seat ; so says I, 
'Judge, I think your coachman has been taking 
a little drop too much this morning.' ' Well I 
declare, Lincoln,' said he, 'I should not much 
wonder if you are right, for he has nearly upset 
me half-a-dozen of times since starting.' So, 
putting his head out of the window, he shouted, 
'Why, you infernal scoundrel, you are drunk !' 
Upon which, pulling up his horses, and turning 
*■ round with great gravity, the coachman said, 
' By gorra ! that's the first rightful decision you 
have given for the last twelvemonth.' " Whilst 
the company were laughing, the President beat 
a quiet retreat from the neighborhood of the 
Attorney-General. 

It was at last announced that General Scott 
was unable to be present, and that, although 
actually in the house, he had been compelled to 
retire from indisposition, and we moved in to the 
banquetting-haU, The first "state dinner," as 



it is called, of the President was not remarkable 
for ostentation. No liveried servants, no Persic 
splendour of ancient plate, or chefs cC avvre of 
art glittered round the board. Vases of flowers 
decorated the table, combined with dishes in 
what may be called the " Gallo-American" style, 
with wines which owed their parentage to France, 
and their rearing and education to the United 
States, which abound in cunning nurses for such 
productions. The conversation was suited to 
the state dinner of a cabinet at which women 
and strangers M'ere present. I was seated next 
Mr. Bates and the very agreeable and lively Sec- 
retary of the President, ]\Ir. Hay, and except 
when there was an attentive silence caused by 
one of the President's stories, there was a Babel 
of small talk round the table, in which I was 
surprised to find a diversity of accent almost as 
great as if a number of foreigners had been 
speaking English. I omitted the name of Mr. 
Hamlin, the Vice-President, as well as those of 
less remarkable people who were present ; but it 
would not be becoming to pass over a man dis- 
tinguished for notliing so much as his persistent 
and unvarying adhesion to one political doctrine, 
which has made him, in combination with the 
belief in his honesty, the occupant of a post 
which leads to the Presidency, in event of any 
occurrence which may remove Mr. Lincoln. 

After dinner the Unlies and gentlemen retired 
to the drawing-room, and the circle was increased 
by the addition of several politicians. I had an 
opportunity of conversing with some of the Min- 
isters, if not with all, from time to time, and I 
was struck by the uniform tendency of their re- 
marks in reference to the policy of Great Britain. 
They seemed to think that England was bound 
by her anti-slavery antecedents to discourage to 
the utmost any attempts of the South to estab- 
lish its independence on a basis of slavery, and 
to assume that they were the representatives of 
an active war of emancipation. As the veteran 
Commodore Stewart passed the chair of the young 
lady to whom I was speaking, she said, "I sup- 
pose, Mr. Russell, you do not admire that offi- 
cer?" "On the contraiy," I said, "I think he 
is a very fine-looking old man." "I don't mean 
that," she replied; "but you know he can't be 
very much liked by you, because he fought so 
gallantly against you in the last war, as you must 
know." I had not the courage to confess igno- 
rance of the Captain's antecedents. There is a 
delusion among more than the fair American 
who spoke to me, that we entertain in England 
the sort of feeling, morbid or wholesome as it 
may be, in reference to our reverses at New Or- 
leans and elsewhere, that is attributed to French- 
men respecting Waterloo. 

On returning to Willard's Hotel, I was accost- 
ed by a gentleman who came out from the crowd 
in front of the office. " Sir," he said, " you have 
been dining with our President to-night." I 
bowed. "Was it an agreeable party?" said he. 
" What do you think of Mr. Lincoln ?" ' ' May 
I ask to whom I have the pleasure of speaking ?" 
" My name is Mr. , and I am the corre- 
spondent of the New York ." "Then, sir," 

I replied, "it gives me satisfaction to tell you 
that I think a great deal of Mr. Lincoln, and 
that I am equally pleased with my dinner. I 
have the honour to bid you good evening." The 
same gentleman informed me afterwards that he 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



25 



had created the office of "Washington Correspond- 
ent to the New York papers. "At first," said 
he "I merely wrote news, and no one cared 
much ; then I spiced it up, squibbcd a little, and 
let off stories of my own. Congress men contra- 
dicted me — issued cards — said they were not 
facts. The public attention was attracted, and 
I was told to go on ; and so the Washington cor- 
respondence became a feature in all the New 
York papers by degrees." The hum and bustle 
in the hotel to-night were wonderful. All the 
office seekers were in the passages, hungering 
after senators and representatives, and the ladies 
in any way related to influential people, had an 
entourage of courtiers sedulously paying their re- 
spects. Miss Chase, indeed, laughingly told me 
that she was pestered by applicants for her fa- 
ther's good offices, and by persons seeking intro- 
duction to her as a means of making demands 
on " Uncle Sam." 

As I was Yisiting a book-shop to-day, a pert, 
smiling young fellow, of slight figure and boyish 
appearance, came up and introduced himself to 
me as an artist who had contributed to an illus- 
trated London paper during the Prince of Wales's 
tour, and who had become acquainted with some 
of my friends ; and he requested permission to 
call on me, which I gave without difficulty or 
hesitation. He visited me this evening, poor 
lad ! and told me a sad story of his struggles, 
and of the dependence of his family on his ertbrts, 
as a prelude to a request that I would allow him 
to go South when I was making the tour there, 
of which he had heard. He was under an en- 
gagement with the London paper, and had no 
doubt that if he was with me his sketches would 
all be received as illustrations of the places to 
•which my letters were attracting public interest 
in England at tbe time. There was no reason 
■why I should be averse to his travelling with me 
in the same train. He could certainly go if he 
pleased. At the same time I intimated that I 
was in no way to be connected with or responsi- 
ble for him. 

March 2dth, Good Friday. — The religious ob- 
servance of the day was not quite as strict as it 
would be in England. The Puritan aversion to 
ceremonials and formulary observances has ap- 
parently affected the American world, even as far 
south as this. The people of colour were in the 
streets dressed in their best. The first impres- 
sion produced by fine bonnets, gay shawls, bright- 
ly-coloured dresses, and silk brodequins, on black 
faces, flat figures, and feet to match, is singular ; 
but, in justice to the backs of many of the gaudi- 
ly-dressed women, who, in little groups, were go- 
ing to church or chapel, it must be admitted that 
this surprise only came upon one when he got a 
front view. The men generally affected black 
coats, silk or satin waistcoats, and parti-coloured 
pantaloons. They carried Missal or Prayer- 
book, pocket-handkei'chief, cane or parasol, vv'ith 
infinite affectation of correctness. 

As I was looking out of the window, a very 
fine, tall young negro, dressed irreproachably, 
save as to hat and boots, passed by. "I won- 
der what he is?" I exclaimed inquiringly to a 
gentleman who stood beside me. "Well," he 
said, " that fellow is not a free nigger ; he looks 
too respectable. I daresay you could get him for 
1500 dollars, without his clothes. You know," 
continued he, "what our Minister said when 



he saw a nigger at some Court in Europe, and 
was asked what he thought of him : ' Well, I 
guess,' said he, 'if you take off his fixings, he 
may be worth 1000 dollars down.' In the course 
of the day, Mr. Banks, a corpulent, energetic 
young Virginian, of strong Southern views, again 
called on me. As the friend of the Southern 
Commissioners, he complained vehemently of the 
refusal of Mr. Seward to hold intercourse with 
him. "These fellows mean treachery, but we 
will baulk them." In answer to a remark of 
mine, that the English Minister would certainly 
refuse to receive Commissioners from any part 
of the Queen's dominions which had seized upon 
the forts and arsenals of the empire and menaced 
war, he replied: "The case is quite different. 
The Crown claims a right to govern the whole 
of your empire ; but the Austrian Government 
could not refuse to receive a deputation from 
Hungary for an adjustment of grievances ; nor 
could any State belonging to the German Diet 
attempt to claim sovereignty over another, be- 
cause they were members of the same Confeder- 
ation." I remarked "that his views of the ob- 
ligations of each State of the Union were per- 
fectly new to me, as a stranger ignorant of the 
controversies which distracted them. An En- 
glishman had nothing to do with a Virginian 
and New Yorkist, or a South Carolinian — he 
scarcely knew anything of a Texan, or of an Ar- 
kansasian ; we only were conversant with the 
United States as an entity ; and all our dealings 
were with citizens of the United States .of North 
America." This, however, only provoked logic- 
ally diffuse dissertations on the Articles of the 
Constitution, and on the spirit of the Federal 
Compact. 

Later in the day, I had the advantage of a con- 
versation with Mr. Truman Smith, an old and 
respected representative in former days, who gave 
me a very different account of the matter; and 
who maintained that by the Federal Compact 
each State had delegated irrevocably the essence 
of its sovereignty to a Government to be estab- 
lished in pei'petuity for the benefit of the whole 
body. The Slave States, seeing that the prog- 
ress of free ideas, and the material power of the 
Nortli, were obtaining an influence which must 
be subversive of the supremacy they had so long 
exercised in the Federal Government for their 
own advantage, had developed this doctrine of 
States' Rights as a cloak to treason, preferring 
the material advantages to be gained by the ex- 
tension of their system to the grand moral posi- 
tion which they would occupy as a portion of the 
United States in the face of all the world. 

It is on such radical differences of ideas as 
these, that the whole of the quarrel, which is 
widening every day, is founded. The Federal 
Compact, at the very outset, was written on a 
torn sheet of paper, and time has worn away the 
artificial cement by which it was kept together. 
The corner stone of the Constitution had a crack 
in it, which the heat and fury of faction hav# 
widened into a fissure from top to bottom, never 
to be closed again. 

In the evening I had the pleasure of dining 
with an American gentleman who has seen much 
of the world, travelled far and wide, who has 
read much and beheld more, a scholar, a politi- 
cian, after his way, a poet, and an ologist — one 
of those modern Groeculi, who is unlike his pro- 



26 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



totype in Juvenal only in this, that he is not 
hungry, and that he will not go to heaven if you 
order him. 

Sucli men never do or can succeed in the 
United States ; they are far too refined, philo- 
sophical, and cosmopolitan. From what I see, 
success here may be obtained by refined men, if 
they are dishonest, never by philosophical men, 
unless they be corrupt— not by cosmopolitan jnen 
under any circumstances whatever ; for to have 
sympathies with any people, or with any nation 
in the world, except his own, is to doom a states- 
man with the American public, unless it be in 
the form of an aft'cctation of ])ity or good will, 
intended really as an oftence to some allied peo- 
ple. At dinner there was the very largest naval 
officer I liave seen in company, although I must 
own that our own service is not destitute of 
some good specimens, and I have seen an Aus- 
trian admiral at Pola, and the superintendent of 
the Arsenal at Tophaneh, who were not unfit to 
be marshals of France. This Lieutenant, named 
Nelson, was certainly greater in one sense than 
his British namesake, for he weighed 260 pounds. 
It may be here remarked, j>assi»i and obiter, 
that the Americans are much more precise thati 
ourselves in the enumeration of weights and 
matters of this kind. They speak of pieces of 
artillery, for example, as being of so many pounds 
vireight,"^ and of so many inches long, where we 
would use cwts. and feet. With a people ad- 
dicted to vertical rather than lateral extension in 
every thing but politics and morals, precision is 
amatter of importance. I was amused by a de- 
scription of some popular personage I saw in one 
of the papers the other day, which after an enu- 
meration of many high mental and physical at- 
tributes, ended thus: "In fact, he is a remark- 
ably fine, high-toned gentleman, and weighs 210 
pounds." 

The Lieutenant was a strong Union man, and 
he inveighed fiercely, and even coarsely, against 
the members of his profession who had thrown 
up their commissions. The superintendent of 
the Washington N.avy Yard is supposed to be 
very little disposed in favour of this present Gov- 
ernment ; in fact, Capt. Buchanan may be called 
a Secessionist, nevertheless, I am invited to the 
wedding of his daughter, in order to see the 
President give away the bride. Mr. Nelson 
says, Sumter and Pickens are to be reinforced. 
Charleston is to be reduced to order, and all 
traitors hanged, or he will know the reason why ; 
and, says he, "I have some weight in the coun- 
try." In the evening, as we were going home, 
notwithstanding the cold, we saw a number of 
ladies sitting out on the door -steps, in white 
dresses. The streets were remarkably quiet and 
deserted ; all the coloured population had been 
sent to bed long ago. The fire-bell, as usual, 
made an alarm or two about midnight. 



* CHAPTER VII. 

Barbers' shops — Place-hunting — The Navy Yard — Dinner 
Rt Lord Lyons' — Estimate of Washington among his 
countrymen — Washington's house and tomb — The 
Southern Commissioners — Dinner with the Southern 
Commissioners — Feeling towards England among the 
Southerners— Animosity between North and South. 

March oOth. — Descended into the barber's shop 
off the hall of the hotel ; all the operators, men 



of colour, mostly mulattoes, or yellow lads, good- 
looking, dressed in clean white jackets and 
aprons, were smart, quick, and attentive. Some 
seven or eight shaving chairs were occupied by 
gentlemen intent on early morning calls. Shav- 
ing is carried in all its accessories to a high de- 
gree of publicity, if not of perfection, in America; 
and as the poorest, or as I may call them with- 
out offence, the lowest orders in England have 
their easy shaving for a penny, so the highest, 
if there be any in America, submit themselves in 
public to the inexpensive operations of the negro 
barber. It must be admitted that the chairs are 
easy and well-arranged, the fingers nimble, sure, 
and light; but the affectation of French names, 
and the corruption of foreign languages, in which 
the hairdressers and barbers delight, are exceed- 
ingly amusing. On my way down a small street 
near the Capitol, I observed in a shop window, 
"Rowland's make easier paste," which I attrib- 
ute to an imperfect view of the etymology of the 
great "Macassar;" on another occasion, I was 
asked to try Somebody's "Curious Elison," which 
I am afraid was an attempt to adapt to a shav- 
ing paste, an address not at all suited to profane 
uses. It appears that the trade of barber is al- 
most the birthright of the free negro or coloured 
man in the United States. There is a striking 
exemplification of natural equality in the use of 
brushes, and the senator flops down in the seat, 
and has his noble nose seized by the same fingers 
which the moment before were occupied by the 
person and chin of an unmistakeable rowdy. 

In the midst of the divine calm produced by 
hard hand rubbing of my head, I was aroused by 
a stout gentleman who sat in a chair directly op- 
posite. Through the door which opened into 
the hall of the hotel, one could see the great 
crowd passing to and fro, throaging the passage 
as though it had been the entrance to the Forum, 
or the "Salle de pas perdus." I had observed 
my friend's eye gazing fixedly through the open- 
ing on the outer world. Suddenly, with his face 
half-covered with lather, and a bib tucked under 
his chin, he got up from his seat exclaiming, 
"Senator! Senator! hallo!" and made a dive 
into the passage — whether he received a stern 
rebuke, or became aware of his impropriety, I 
know not, but in an instant he came back again, 
and submitted quietly, till the work of the barber 
was completed. 

The great employment of four-fifths of the peo- 
ple at Willard's at present seems to be to hunt 
senators and congress men through the lobbies. 
Every man is heavy with documents — those 
which he cannot carry in his pockets and hat, 
occupy his hands, or are thrust under his arms. 
In the hall are advertisements announcing that 
certificates, and letters of testimonial, and such 
documents, are printed with expedition and neat- 
ness. From paper collars, and cards of address 
to carriages, and new suites of clothes, and long 
hotel bills, nothing is left untried or uninvigor- 
ated. The whole city is placarded with an- 
nouncements of facilities for assaulting the pow- 
ers that be, among which must not be forgotten 
the claims of the " excelsior card-writer," at 
Willard's, who prepares names, addresses, styles, 
and titles in superior penmanship. The men 
who have got places, having been elected by the 
people, must submit to the people, who think 
they have established a claim on them by their 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



27 



favours. The majority confer power, but they j 
seem to forget that it is only the minority who : 
can enjoy the first fruits of success. It is as if i 
the whole constituency of Marylebone insisted , 
on getting some office under the Crown the mo- 
ment a member was returned to Parliament. 
There are men at Willard's who have come lit- 
erally thousands of miles to seek for places which 
can only be theirs for four years, and who with 
true American facility have abandoned tlie call- 
ing and pursuits of a lifetime for this doubtful 
canvas ; and I was told of one gentleman, who 
having been informed that he could not get a 
judgeship, condescended to seek a place in the 
Post Office, and finally applied to Mr. Chase to 
be appointed keeper of a "lighthouse," he was 
not particular where. In the forenoon I drove 
to the Washington Navy Yard, in company with 
Lieutenant Nelson and two friends. It is about 
two miles outside the city, situated on a fork of 
land projecting between a creek and the Potomac 
river, which is here three-quarters of a mile 
broad. If the French had a Navy Yard at Par- 
is it could scarcely be contended that English, 
Russians, or Austrians would not have been jus- 
tified in destroying it in case they got possession 
of the city by force of arms, after a pitched bat- 
tle fought outside its gates. I confess I would 
not give much for Deptford or Woolwich if an 
American fleet succeeded in forcing its way up 
the Thames ; but our American cousins, — a lit- 
tle more than kin and less than kind, who speak 
with pride of Paul Jones and of their exploits 
on the Lakes, — aftect to regard the burning of 
the Washington Navy Yard by us, in the last 
war, as an unpardonable outrage on the law of 
nations, and an atrocious exercise of power. 
For all the good it did, for my own part, I think 
it were as well had it never happened, but no 
jurisconsult will for a moment deny that it was 
a legitimate, even if extreme, exercise of a bel- 
ligerent right in the case of an enemy who did 
not seek terms from the conqueror; and who, 
after battle lost, fled and abandoned the proper- 
ty of their state, which might be useful to them 
in war, to the power of the victor. Notwith- 
standing all the unreasonableness of the Ameri- 
can people in reference to their relations with 
foreign powers, it is deplorable such scenes should 
ever have been enacted between members of the 
human family so closely allied by all that shall 
make them of the same household. 

The Navy Yard is surrounded by high brick 
walls ; in the gateway stood two sentries in dark 
blue tunics, yellow facings, with eagle buttons, 
brightly polished arms, and white Berlin gloves, 
wearing a cap something like a French kepi, all 
very clean and creditable. Inside are some few 
trophies of guns taken from us at York Town, 
and from the Mexicans in the land of Cortez. 
The interior inclosure is surrounded by red brick 
houses and stores and magazines, picked out with 
white stone ; and two or three green grass-plots, 
fenced in by pillars and chains and bordered by 
trees, give an air of agreeable freshness to the 
place. Close to the river are the workshops : 
of course there is smoke an<J noise of steam and 
machinery. In a modest office, surrounded by 
books, papers, drawings, and models, as well as 
by shell and shot and racks of arms of difterent 
descriptions, we found Capt. Dahlgren, the act- 
ing superintendent of the yard, and the inventor 



of the famous gun which bears his name, and is 
the favourite armament of the American navy. 
By our own sailors they are irreverently term- 
ed "soda-water bottles," owing to their shape. 
Capt. Dahlgren contends that guns capable of 
throwing the heaviest shot may be constructed 
of cast-iron, carefully prepared and moulded so 
that the greatest thickness of metal may be placed 
at the points of resistance, at the base of the gun, 
the muzzle and forward portions being of very 
moderate thickness. 

All inventors, or even adapters of systems, 
must be earnest self-reliant persons, full of con- 
fidence, anil, above all, impressive, or they will 
make little way in the conservative, status-quo- 
loving world. Captain Dahlgren has certainly 
most of these characteristics, but he has to fight 
with his navy department, with the army, with 
boards and with commissioners, — in fact, with 
all sorts of obstructors. When I was going over- 
the yard, he deplored the parsimony of the de- 
partment, which refused to yield to his urgent 
entreaties for additional furnaces to cast guns. 

No large guns are cast at Washington. The 
foundries are only capable of turning out brass 
field -pieces and boat -guns. Capt. Dahlgren 
obligingly got one of the latter out to practice 
for us — a'l2-pounder howitzer, which can be car- 
ried in a boat, run on land on its carriage, which 
is provided with wheels, and is so light that the 
gun can be drawn readily about by the crew. 
He made some good practice with shrapnel at a 
target 1200 yards distant, firing so rapidly as to 
keep three shells in the air at the same time. 
Compared with our establishments, this dock- 
yard is a mere toy, and but few hands are em- 
jployed in it. One steam sloop, the "Pawnee," 
was under the shears, nearly ready for sen : the 
frame of another was under the building-shed. 
There are no facilities for making iron ships, or 
putting on plate-armour here. Everything was 
shown to us with the utmost frankness. The 
fuse of the Dahlgren shell is constructed on the 
vis inertia principle, and is not unlike that of the 
Armstrong. 

On returning to the hotel, I found a magnifi- 
cent bouquet of fluwers, with a card attached to 
them, with Mrs. Lincoln's compliments, and an- 
other card announcing that she had a "recep- 
tion" at 3 o'clock. It was rather late before I 
could get to the White House, and there were 
only two or three ladies in the drawing-room 
when I arrived. I was informed afterwards 
that the attendance was very scanty. The Wash- 
ington ladies have not yet made up their minds 
that Mrs. Lincoln is the fashion. They miss 
their Southern friends, and constantly draw com- 
parisons between them and the vulgar Yankee 
women and men who are now in power. I do 
not know enough to say whether the aff"ectation 
of superiority be justified ; but assuredly if New 
York be Yankee, there is nothing in which it 
does not far surpass this preposterous capital. 
The impression of homeliness produced by Mrs. 
Lincoln on first sight, is not diminished by closer 
acquaintance. Few women not to the manner 
born there are, whose heads would not be disor- 
dered, and circulation disturbed, by a rapid tran- 
sition, almost instantaneous, from a condition of 
obscurity in a country town to be mistress of the 
White House. Her smiles and her frowns be- 
comc a matter of consequence to the whole 



28 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



American world. As the wife of the country 
lawyer, or even of the congress man, lier move- 
ments were of no consequence. The journals of 
Springfield would not have wasted a line upon 
them. Now, if she but drive down Pennsylvania 
Avenue, the electric wire thrills the news to every 
hamlet in the Union which has a newspaper; 
and furtunate is the correspondent who, in a spe- 
cial despatch, can give authentic particulars of 
her destination and of her dress. The lady is 
surrounded by flatterers and intriguers, seeking 
for influence or such places as she can give. As 
Selden savs, " Those who wish to set a house on 
fire beginwith the thatch." 

March 31s<, Easter Sunday. — I dined with 
Lord Lyons and the members of the Legation ; 
the only stranger present being Senator Sumner. 
Politics were of cour§e eschewed, for Mr. Sum- 
ner is Chairman of the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate, and Lord Lyons is a 
very discreet Minister ; but still there crept in a 
word of Pickens and Sumter, and tliat was all. 
Mr. Fox, formerly of the United States' Navy, 
and since that a master of a steamer in the com- 
mercial marine, who is related to Mr. Blair, has 
been sent on some mission to Fort Sumter, and 
has been allowed to visit Major Anderson by the 
authorities at Charleston ; but it is not known 
what was the object of his mission. Everywhere 
there is Secession resignation, in a military sense 
of the word. The Southern Commissioners de- 
clare they will soon retire to Montgomery, and 
that any attempt to reinforce or supply the forts 
will be a casus belli. There is the utmost anx- 
iety to know what Virginia will do. General 
Scott belongs to the State, and it is feared he 
may be shaken if the State goes out. Already 
the authorities of Richmond have intimated they 
will not allow the foundry to furnish guns to the 
seaboard forts, such as IVIonroe and Norfolk in 
Virginia. This concession of an autonomy is 
really a recognition of States' Rights. For if a 
State can vote itself in or out of the Union, why 
can it not make war or peace, and accept or re- 
fuse the Federal Government? Inf;ict, the Fed- 
eral system is radically defective against internal 
convulsion, however excellent it is or may be for 
purposes of external polity. I walked home with 
Mr. Sumner to his rooms, and heard some of his 
views, which were not so sanguine as those of 
Mr. Seward, and I thought I detected a desire 
to let the Southern States go out with their 
slavery if they so desired it. Mr. Chase, by the 
wav, expressed sentiments of the same kind more 
decidedly the other day. 

April \st. — On Easter jNIonday, after breakfast 
with Mr. Olmsted, I drove over to visit Senator 
Douglas. Originally engaged in some mechan- 
ical avocation, by his ability and eloquence he 
has raised himself to the highest position in the 
State short of the Presidency, which might have 
been his but for the extraordinary success of his 
opponent in a fortuitous suffrage scramble. He 
is called the Little Giant, being modo hipedali 
staiurd, but his head entitles him to some recog- 
nition of intellectual height. His sketch of the 
causes which have led to the present disruption 
of parties, and the hazard of civil war, was most 
vivid and able ; and for more than an hour he 
spoke with a vigour of thought and terseness of 
phrase which, even on such dreary and unin- 
viting themes as squatter sovereignty and the 



Kansas-Nebraska question, interested a foreigner 
in the man and the subject. Although his sym- 
pathies seemed to go with the South on the ques- 
tion of slavery and territorial extension, he con- 
demned altogether the attempt to destroy the 
Union. 

April 2nd. — The following day I started ear- 
ly, and performed my pilgrimage to "the shrine 
of St. Washington," at Mount Vernop, as a for- 
eigner on board called the place. Mr. Bancroft 
has in his possession a letter of the General's 
mother, in which she expresses her gratification 
at his leaving the British army in a manner 
which implies that he had been either extrava- 
gant in his expenses or wild in his manner of 
living. But if he had any human frailties in 
after life, they neither offended the morality of 
his age, or shocked the susceptibility of his coun- 
trymen ; and from the time that the much ma- 
Ijgned and unfortunate Braddock gave scope to 
his ability, down to his retirement into private 
life, after a career of singular trials and extraor- 
dinary successes, his character acquired each 
day greater altitude, strength, and lustre. Had 
his work failed, had the Republic broken up into 
small anarchical states, we should hear now lit- 
tle of Washington. But the principles of liber- 
ty founded in the original Constitution of the 
colonies themselves, and in no degree derived 
from or dependent on the revolution, combined 
with the sufferings of the Old and the bounty of 
nature in the New World to carry to an unprec- 
edented degree the material prosperity, which 
Americans have mistaken for good government 
and the physical comforts which have made some 
States in the Union the nearest approach to Uto- 
pia. The Federal Government hitherto "let the 
])eoplc alone," and they went on their way sing- 
ing and praising their Washington as the author 
of so much greatness and happiness. To doubt 
his superiority to any man of woman born, is to 
insult the American jieople. They are not con- 
tent with his being great — or even greater than 
the great: he must be greatest of all; — "first 
in peace, and first in war.'' The rest of the 
world cannot find fault with the assertion, that 
he is "first in the hearts of his countrymen." 
But he was not possessed of the highest military 
qualities, if we are to judge from most of the reg- 
ular actions, in which the British had the best 
of it; and the final blow, when Cornwallis sur- 
rendered at York Town, was struck by the arm 
of France, by Rochambeau and the French fleet, 
rather than by Washington and his Americans. 
He had all the qualities for the work for which 
he was designed, and is fairly entitled to the po- 
sition his countnmen have given him as the im- 
mortal czar of the United States. His pictures 
are visible everywhere — in the humblest inn, in 
the Minister's bureau, in the millionaire's galle- 
ry. There are far more engravings of Wash- 
ington in America than there are of Napoleon 
in France, and that is saying a good deal. 

What have we here ? The steamer, which has 
been paddling down the gentle current of the 
Potomac, here a mile or more in breadth, bank- 
ed in by forest, through which can be seen home- 
steads and white farm-houses, in the midst of 
large clearings and corn-fields — has moved in 
towards a high bluff, covered with trees, on the 
summit of which is visible the trace of some sort 
of building — a ruined summer-house, rustic tern- 



MY DIAKY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



29 



p]e — whatever it may be ; and the bell on deck 
begins to toll solemnly, and some of the pilgrims 
■uncover their heads for a moment. The boat 
stops at a rotten, tumble-down little i)ier, which 
leads to a waste of mud, and a path rudely cut 
through the wilderness of briars on the hill-side. 
The pilgrims, of whom there are some thirty or 
forty, of both sexes, mostly belonging to the low- 
er classes of citizens, and comprising a few for- 
eigners like myself, proceed to climb this steep, 
which seemed "in a state of nature covered with 
primeval forest, and tangled weeds and briars, 
till the plateau, on which stands the house of 
Washington and the domestic offices around it, 
is reached. It is an oblong wooden house, of 
two stories in height, with a colonnade towards 
the river face, and a small balcony on the top 
and on the level of the roof, over which rises a 
little paltry gazebo. There are two windows, a 
glass door at one end of the oblong, and a wood- 
en alcove extending towards the slave quarters, 
which are very small sentry-box huts, that have 
been recently painted, and stand at right angles 
to the end of the house, with dog-houses and 
poultry-hutches attached to them. There is no 
attempt at neatness or order about the place ; 
though the exterior of the house is undergoing 
repair, the grass is unkempt, the shrubs untrim- 
med, — neglect, squalor, and chicken feathers 
have marked the lawn for their own. The house 
is in keeping, and threatens to fall to ruin. I 
entered the door, and found myself in a small 
hall, stained with tobacco juice. An iron railing 
ran across the entrance to the stairs. Here stood 
a man at a gate, who presented a book to the 
visitors, and pointed out the notice therein, that 
"no person is permitted to inscribe his name in 
this book who does not contribute to the Wash- 
ington Fund, and that any name put down with- 
out money would be erased." Notwithstanding 
the warning, some patriots succeeded in record- 
ing their names without any pecuniarj' mulct, 
and others did so at a most reasonable rate. 
When I had contributed in a manner which 
must have represented an immense amount of 
Washingtoniolatry, estimated by the standard of 
the day, I was informed I could not go upstairs, 
as the rooms above were clused to the public, and 
thus the most interesting portion of the house was 
shut from the strangers. The lower rooms pre- 
sented nothing worthy of notice — some lumber- 
,ing, dusty, decayed furniture; a broken harpsi- 
chord, dust, cobwebs — no remnant of the man 
himself. But over the door of one room hung 
the key of the Bastille. * The gardens, too, were 
tabooed ; but through the gate I could see a wil- 
derness of neglected trees and shrubs, not un- 
mingled with a suspicion of a present kitchen- 
ground. Let us pass to the Tomb, which is some 
distance from the house, beneath the shade of 
some fine trees. It is a plain brick mausoleum, 
with a pointed arch, barred by an iron grating, 
through which the light penetrates a chamber or 
small room containing two sarcophagi of stone. 
Over the arch, on a slab let into the brick, are 
the words: "Within this enclosure rest the re- 
mains of Gen. George Washington." The fallen 

• Since borrowed, it is supposed, by Mr. Seward, and 
handed over by him to Mr. Stanton. Lafayette gave it to 
Washington, he also gave hia name to the Fort which has 
played so conspicuous a part in the war for liberty — " La 
liberte des deux mondes," might well sigh iXhe could see 
his work, aad what it has led to. 



leaves which had drifted into the chamber rested 
thickly on the floor, and were piled up on the sar- 
cophagi, and it was difficult to determine which 
was the hero's grave without the aid of an expert, 
but there was neither guide nor guardian on the 
spot. Some four or five gravestones, of various 
members of the family, stand in the grouiMl out- 
side the little mausoleum. The place was most 
depressing. One felt angry with a people whose 
lip service was accompanied by so little of actual 
respect. The owner of this property, inherited 
from the "Pater PatriiE," has been abused in 
good set terms because he asked its value from 
the country which has been so very mindful of 
the services of his ancestor, and which is now 
erecting by slow stages the overgrown Cleopatra's 
needle that is to be a Washington monument 
when it is finished. Mr. Everett has been lec- 
turing, the Ladies' Blount Vernon Association 
has been working, and every one has been ad- 
juring everybody else to give liberally; but the 
result so lately achieved is by no means worthy 
of the object. Perhaps the Americans think it is 
enough to say — " Si monumentum qucms, circuin- 
spice." But, at all events, there is a St. Paul's 
round those words. 

On the return of the steamer I visited Fort 
Washington, which is situated on the left bank 
of the Potomac. I found everything in a state 
of neglect — gun-caiTiages rotten, shot-piles rusty, 
furnaces tumbling to pieces. The place might 
be made strong enough on the river front, but 
the rear is weak, though there is low marshy 
land at the back. A company of regulars were 
on duty. The sentries took no precautions 
against surprise. Twenty determined men, arm- 
ed with revolvers, could have taken the whole 
work ; and, for all the authorities knew, we might 
have had that number of Virginians and the fa- 
mous Ben McCullough himself on board. Aft- 
erwards, when I ventured to make a remark to 
General Scott as to the carelessness of the garri- 
son, he said; "A few weeks ago it might have 
been taken with a bottle of whiskey. The whole 
garrison consisted of an old Irish pensioner." 
Now at this very moment Washington is full of 
rumours of desperate descents on the capital, and 
an attack on the President and his Cabinet. 
The long bridge across the Potomac into Vir- 
ginia is guarded, and the militia and volunteers 
of the District of Columbia are to be called out 
to resist McCullough and his Richmond despera- 
does. 

April 5rd. — I had an interview with the South- 
ern Commissioners to-day, at their hotel. For 
more than an hour I heard, from men of position 
and of diff"erent sections in the South, expres- 
sions which satisfied me the Union could never 
be restored, if they truly represented the feelings 
and opinions of their fellow-citizens. They have 
the idea they are ministers of a foreign power 
treating witli Yankeedom, and their indignation 
is moved by the refusal of Government to nego- 
tiate with them, armed as they are with full au- 
thority to arrange all questions arising out of an 
amicable separation — such as the adjustment of 
Federal claims for property, forts, stores, public 
works, debt, land purchases, and the like. One 
of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the Uni- 
ted States, Mr. Campbell, is their intermediaiy, 
and of course it is not known what hopes Sir. 
Seward has held out to him ; but there is some 



30 



MY DIAEY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



imputation of Punic faith against the Govern- 
ment on account of recent acts, and there is no 
doubt the Commissioners hear, as I do, that 
there are preparations at the Navy Yard and at 
New York to relieve Sumter, at any rate, with 
provisions, and that Pickens has actually been 
reinfbrced by sea. In the evening I dined at the 
British Legation, and went over to the house of 
the Russian minister, M. de Stoeckl, in the even- 
ing. The diplomatic body in Washington con- 
stitute a small and very agreeable society of 
their own, in which few Americans mingle ex- 
cept at the recejftions and large evening assem- 
blies. As the people now in power are ?iovi hom- 
ines, the wives and daughters of ministers and at- 
taches are deprived of their friends who belong- 
ed to the old society in Washington, and who 
have either gone off to Secession, or sympathise 
so deeply with the Southern States that it is 
scarcely becoming to hold very intimate relations 
with them in the face of Government. From 
the house of M. de Stoeckl I went to a party at 
the residence of M. Tassara, the Spanish JNIinis- 
ter, where there was a crowd of dijjlomats, young 
and old. Diplomatists seldom or never talk pol- 
itics, and so Pickens and Sumter were unheard 
of; but it is stated nevertheless that Virginia is 
on the eve of secession, and will certainly go if 
the President attempts to use force in relieving 
and strengthening the Federal forts. 

April itk. — I had a long interview with Mr. 
Seward to-day at the State Department. He 
set forth at great length the helpless condition 
in which the President and the cabinet found 
themselves when they began the conduct of pub- 
lic affairs at Washington. The last cabinet had 
tampered with treason, and had contained trait- 
ors ; a miserable imbecility had encouraged the 
leaders of the South to mature their plans, and 
had furnished them with the means of carrying 
out their design. One Minister had purposely 
sent away the navy of the United States to dis- 
tant and scattered stations; another had pur- 
posely placed the arms, ordnance, and munitions 
of war in undue proportions in the Southern 
States, and had weakened the Federal Govern- 
ment so that they might easily fall into the 
hands of the traitors and enable them to secure 
the war viaterid of the Union ; a Minister had 
stolen the public funds for traitorous purposes — 
in every port, in every department of the State, at 
home and abroad, on sea and by land, men were 
placed who were engaged in this deep conspir- 
acy — and when the voice of the people declared 
Mr. Lincoln President of the United States, they 
set to work as one man to destroy the Union un- 
der the most flimsy ])retexts. The President's 
duty was clearly defined by the Constitution. He 
had to guard what he had, and to regain, if pos- 
sible, what he had lost. He would not consent 
to any dismemberment of the Union nor to the 
abandonment of one iota of Federal property — 
nor could he do so if he desired. 

These and many more topics were presented 
to me to show that the Cabinet were not account- 
able for the temporising policy of inaction, which 
was forced upon them by circumstances, and that 
they would deal vigorously with the Secession 
movement — as vigorously as Jackson did with 
nullification in South Carolina, if they had the 
means. But what could they do M'hen such 
men as Twiggs surrendered his trust and sacri- 



ficed the troops to a crowd of Texans ; or when 
naval and military officers resigned en masse, that 
they might accept service in the rebel forces? 
All this excitement would come right in a very 
short time — it Mas a brief madness, which would 
pass away when the people had opportunity for 
reflection. Meantime the danger was that for- 
eign powers would be led to imagine the Federal 
Government was too weak to defend its rights, 
and that the attempt to destroy the Union and 
to set up a Southern Confederacy was success- 
ful. In other words, again, Mr. Seward fears 
that, in this transition state between their forced 
inaction and the coup by which they intend to 
strike down Secession, Great Britain may recog- 
nise the Government established at Montgomery, 
and is ready, if needs be, to threaten Great Brit- 
ain with war as the consequence of such recog- 
nition. But he certainly assumed the existence 
of strong Union sentiments in many of the se- 
ceded States, as a basis for his remarks, and ad- 
mitted that it would not become the spirit of the 
American Government, or of the Federal system, 
to use armed force in subjugating the Southern 
States against the will of the majority of the peo- 
])le. Therefore if the majority desire Secession, 
Mr. Seward would let them have it — but he can- 
not believe in anything so monstrous, for to him 
the Federal Government and Constitution, as in- 
terpreted by his party, are divine, heaven-born. 
He is fond of repeating that the Federal Govern- 
ment never yet sacrificed any man's life on ac- 
count of his political opinions, but if this strug- 
gle goes on it will sacrifice thousands — tens of 
thousands, to the idea of a Federal Union. 
"Any attempt against us," he said, "would re- 
volt the good men of the South, and arm all men 
in the North to defend their Government." 

But I had seen that day an assemblage of men 
doing a goose-step march forth dressed in blue 
tunics and grey trowsers, shakoes and cross-belts, 
armed with musket and bayonet, cheering and 
hurrahing in the square before the War Depart- 
ment, who were, I am told, the District of Co- 
lumbia volunteers attd militia. They had in- 
deed been visible in various forms parading, 
marching, and trumpeting about the town with 
a poor imitation of French pas and dan, but they 
did not, to the eye of a soldier, give any appear- 
ance of military efficiency, or to the eye of the 
anxious statesman any indication of the animus 
piignandi. Starved, washed-out creatures most 
of them, interpolated with Irish and flat-footed, 
stumpy Germans. It was matter for wonder- 
ment that the Foreign Minister of a nation 
which was in such imminent danger in its very 
capital, and which, with its chief and his cabi- 
net, was almost at the mercy of the enemy, should 
hold the language I was aware he had transmit- 
ted to the most powerful nations of Europe. 
Was it consciousness of the strength of a great 
people, who would be united by the first appre- 
hension of foreign interference, or was it the pe- 
culiar emptiness of a bombast which is called 
Buncombe? In all sincerity I think Mr. Sew- 
ard meant it as it was written. 

When I arrived at the hotel, I found our young 
artist waiting for me, to entreat I would permit 
him to accompany me to the South. I had been 
annoyed by a paragraph which had appeared in 
several papers, to the effect that "The talented 
young artist, our gifted countryman, Mr. Deo- 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



31 



dore F. Moses, was about to accompany Mr. &c. 
&.C., in his tour through the South." I had in- 
formed the young gentleman that I could not 
sanction such an announcement, whereupon he 
assured me he had not in any way authorised it, 
hut having mentioned incidentally to a person 
connected with the press that he was going to 
travel southwards with me, the injudicious zeal 
of his friend had led him to think he would do a 
service to the youth by making the most of the 
very trifling circumstance. 

I dined with Senator Douglas, where there 
was a large party, among whom were Mr. Chase, 
Secretary of the Treasury; Mr. Smith, Secretary 
of the Interior ; Mr. Forsyth, Southern Commis- 
sioner ; and several members of the Senate and 
Congress. Mrs. Douglas did the honours of her 
house with grace and charming goodnature. I 
observe a great tendency to abstract si>eculation 
and theorising among Americans, and their 
after-dinner conversation is apt to become didac- 
tic and sententious. Few men speak better than 
Senator Douglas : his words are well chosen, the 
flow of his ideas even and constant, his intellect 
vigorous, and thoughts well cut, precise, and vig- 
orous — he seems a man of great ambition, and 
he told me he is engaged in preparing a sort of 
ZoUverein scheme for the North American con- 
tinent, including Canada, which will fix public 
attention everywhere, and may lead to a settle- 
ment of the Northern and Southern controver- 
sies. For his mind, as for that of many Amer- 
icans, the aristocratic idea embodied in Russia 
is very seductive ; and he dwelt with jdeasure on 
the courtesies he had received at the court of the 
Czar, implying that he had been treated differ- 
ently in England, and perhaps France. And 
yet, had Mr. Douglas become President of the 
United States, his goodwill towards Great Brit- 
ain might have been invaluable, and surely it had 
been cheaply purchased by a little civility and 
attention to a distinguislied citizen and states- 
man of the Republic. Our Galleos very often 
care for none of these things. 

April 6th. — Dined with the Southern Com- 
missioners and a small party at Gautier's, a 
French restaurateur in Pennsylvania Avenue. 
The gentlemen present were, I need not say, all 
of one way of thinking ; but as these leaves will 
see the light before the civil war is at an end, it 
is advisable not to give their names, for it would 
expose persons resident in AVashington, who may 
not be suspected by the Government, to those 
marks of attention which they have not yet ceased 
to pay to their political enemies. Although I 
confess that in my judgment too much stress has 
been laid in England on the severity with which 
the Federal authorities have acted towards their 
political enemies, who were seeking their de- 
struction, it may be candidly admitted, that they 
have forfeited all claim to the lofty position they 
once occupied as a Government existing by mor- 
al force, and by the consent of the governed, to 
which Bastilles and leltris de cachet, arbitrary 
arrests, and doubtful, illegal, if not altogether 
unconstitutional, suspension of habeas corpus and 
of trial by juiw were unknown. 

As Col. Pickett and Mr. Banks are notorious 
Secessionists, and Mr. Phillijis has since gone 
South, after the arrest of his wife on account of 
her anti-federal tendencies, it may be permitted 
to mention that they were among the guests. I 



had pleasure in making the acquaintance of 
Governor Roman. Mr. Crawford, his brother 
commissioner, is a much younger man, of con- 
siderably greater energy and determination, but 
probably of less judgment. The third commis- 
sioner, Mr. Forsyth, is fanatical in his oi)posi- 
tion to any suggestions of compromise or recon- 
struction ; but, indeed, ujjon that point, there is 
little difference of opinion amongst any of the 
real adherents of the South. Mr. Lincoln they 
spoke of with contempt ; Mr. Seward they evi- 
dently regarded as the ablest and most unscru- 
pulous of their enemies ; but the tone in which 
they alluded to the whole of the Northern people 
indicated the clear conviction that trade, com- 
merce, the pursuit of gain, manufacture, and the 
base mechanical arts, had so degraded the whole 
race, they would never attempt to strike a blow 
in fair fight for what they jtrizcd so higlily in 
theory and in words. Whether it be in conse- 
quence of some secret infiucnce which slavery 
has upon the minds of men, or that the aggres- 
sion of the North upon their institutions has been 
of a nature to excite the deepest animosity and' 
most vindictive hate, certain it is there is a de- 
gree of something like ferocity in the Southern 
mind towards New England which exceeds be- 
lief. I am persuaded that these feelings of con- 
tempt are extended towards England. They be- 
lieve that we, too, have had the canker of peace 
upon us. One evidence of this, according to 
Southern men, is the abolition of duelling. This 
practice, according to them, is highly wholesome 
and meritorious ; and, indeed, it may be admit- 
ted that in the state of society which is reported 
to exist in the Southern States, it is a useful 
check on such men as it restrained in our own 
islands in the last century. In the course of 
conversation, one gentleman remarked, that he 
considered it disgraceful for any man to take 
money ftn- the dishonour of his wife or his daugh- 
ter. '"'With us," he said, "there is but one mode 
of dealing known. The man who dares tamper 
with the honour of a white woman, knows what 
he has to expect. We shoot him down like a 
dog, and no jury in the South will ever find any 
man guilty of murder for punishing such a scoun- 
drel." An argument which can scarcely be al- 
luded to was used by them, to show that these 
offences in slave States had not the excuse which 
might be adduced to diminish their gravity when 
they occurred in States where all the population 
were white. Indeed, in this, as in some other 
matters of a similar character, slavery is their 
summum bomim of morality, physical excellence, 
and social purity. I was inclined to question 
the correctness of the standard which tliey had 
set up, and to inquire whether the virtue which 
needed this murderous use of the pistol and the 
dagger to defend it, was not open to some doubt ; 
but I found there was very little sympathy with 
my views among the company. 

"The gentlemen at table asserted that the white 
men in the slave States are physically superior 
to the men of the free States; and indulged in 
curious theories in morals and physics to which 
I was a stranger. Disbelief of anything a North- 
ern man— that is, a Republican— can saj,', is a 
fixed principle in their minds. I could not help 
remarking, when the conversation turned on the 
duplicity of Mr. Seward, and the wickedness of 
the Federal Government in refusing to give the 



82 



MY DIAEY NOKTH AND SOUTH. 



assurance Sumter would not be relieved by force 
of arms, that it must be of veiy little consequence 
wbat promises Mr. Seward made, as, according 
to them, not the least reliance was to be placed 
on his word. The notion that the Northern men 
are cowards is justified by instances in which 
Congress-men have been insulted by Southern 
men without calling them out, and Mr. Sumner's 
case was quoted as the type of the affairs of the 
kind between the two sides. 

I happened to say that I always understood 
Mr. Sumner had been attacl^ed suddenly and un- 
expectedly, and struck down before he could rise 
from his desk to defend himself; whereupon a 
warm refutation of that version of the story was 
given, and I was assured that Mr. Brooks, who 
was a very slight man, and much inferior in 
height to Mr. Sumner, struck him a slight blow 
at first, and only inflicted the heavier strokes 
when irritated by the Senator's cowardly de- 
meanor. In reference to some remark made 
about the cavaliers and their connection with the 
South, I reminded the gentlemen that, after all, 
the descendants of the Puritans were not to be 
despised in battle ; and that the best gentry in 
England were worsted at last by the train-bands 
of London, and the "rabbledom" of Cromwell's 
Independents. 

Mr., or Colonel Pickett, is a tall, good-looking 
man, of pleasant manners, and well educated. 
But this gentleman was a professed buccaneer, 
a friend of Walker, the grey-eyed man of destiny 
— his comrade in his most dangerous razzie. He 
was a newspaper writer, a soldier, a filibuster ; 
and he now threw himself into the cause of the 
South with vehemence ; it was not difficult to 
imagine he saw in that cause the realisation of 
the dreams of empire in the south of the Gulf, 
and of conquest in the islands of the sea, which 
have such a fascinating influence over the imag- 
ination of a large portion of the American peo- 
ple. He referred to Walker's fate with much 
bitterness, and insinuated he was betrayed by the 
British officer who ought to have protected him. 

The acts of jNIr. Floyd and jMr. Howell Cobb, 
which must be esteemed of doubtftd morality, 
are here justified by the States' Rights doctrine. 
If the States had a right to go out, they M'ere 
quite right in obtaining their quota of the na- 
tional property which would not have been given 
to them by the Lincolnitcs. Therefore, their 
friends were not to be censured because they had 
sent arms and money to the South. 

Altogether the evening, notwithstanding the 
occasional warmth of the controversy, was ex- 
ceedingly instructive ; one could understand from 
the vehemence and force of tJie speakers the full 
meaning of the phrase of "firing the Southern 
heart," so often quoted as an illustration of the 
peculiar force of political passion to be brought 
to bear against the Republicans in the Secession 
contest. Mr. Forsyth struck me as being the 
most astute, and perhaps most capable, of the 
gentlemen whose mission to Washington seems 
likely to be so abortive. His name is historical 
in America — his father filled high office, and his 
son has also exercised diplomatic function. Des- 
potisigs and Republics of the American model 
approach each other closely. In Turkey the 
Pasha unemployed sinks into insignificance, and 
the son of the Pasha deceased is literally nobody. 
JMr. Forsyth was not selected as Southern Com- 



missioner on account of the political status ac- 
quired by his father ; but the position gained by 
his own ablility, as editor of "The Mobile Reg- 
ister," induced the Confederate authorities to se- 
lect him for the post. It is quite possible to have 
made a mistake in such matters, but I am almost 
certain that the coloured waiters who attended 
us at table looked as sour and discontented as 
could be, and seemed to give their service with a 
sort of protest. I am told that the tradespeople 
of Washington are strongly inclined to favour 
the Southern side. 

April 6th. — To-day I paid a second visit to 
General Scott, who received me very kindly, and 
made many inquiries respecting the eventsin the 
Crimea and the Indian mutiny and rebellion. 
He professed to have no apprehension for the 
safety of the capital; but in reality there are 
only some 700 or 800 regulars to protect it and 
the Navy Yard, and two field - batteries, com- 
manded by an officer of very doubtful attach-, 
ment to the Union. The head of the Navy Yard 
is openly accused of treasonable sympathies. 

Mr. Seward has definitely refused to hold any 
intercourse whatever with the Southern Commis. 
sioners, and they will retire almost immediately 
from the capital. As matters look very threat- 
ening, I must go South and see Miih my own 
eyes how affairs stand there, before the two sec- 
tions come to open rupture. Mr. Seward, the 
other day, in talking of the South, described 
them as being in every respect behind the age, 
with fashions, habits, level of thought, and modes 
of life, belonging to the worst part of the last 
century. But still he never has been there him- 
self! The Southern men come up to the North- 
ern cities and springs, but the Northerner rarely 
travels southwards. Indeed, I am informed, that 
if he were a well-known Abolitionist, it would 
not be safe for him to appear in a Southern city. 
I quite agree Mith my thoughtful and earnest 
friend, Olmsted, that the United States can nev- 
er be considered as a free country till a man can 
sjieak as freely in Charleston as hie can in New 
York or Boston. 

I dined with Mr. Riggs, the banker, who had 
an agreeable party to meet me. Mr. Corcoran, 
his former partner, who was present, erected at 
his own cost, and presented to the city, a fine 
building, to be used as an art gallery and muse- 
um ; but as yet the arts which are to be found 
in Washington are political and feminine only. 
Mr. Corcoran has a private gallery of pictures, 
and a collection, in which is the much-praised 
Greek Slave of Hiram Powers. The gentry of 
Columbia are thoroughly Virginian in sentiment, 
and look rather south than north of the Potomac 
for political results. The President, I hear this 
evening, is alanned lest Virginia should become 
hostile, and his policy, if he has any, is tempor- 
ising and timid. It is perfectly wonderful to 
hear people using the word " Government" at 
all, as applied to the President and his cabinet — 
a body which has no power "according to the 
Constitution" to save the country governed or it- 
self from destruction. In fact, from the circum- 
stances under which the Constitution was framed, 
it was natural that the principal point kept in 
view should be the exhibition of a strong front 
to foreign powers, combined with the least possi- 
ble amount of constriction on the internal rela- 
tions of the different States. 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



In the hotel the roar of office-seekers is un- 
abated. Train after train adds to their numbers. 
They cumber the passages. The hall is crowd- 
ed to such a degree that suffocation might de- 
scribe the degree to which the pressure reaches, 
were it not that tobacco-smoke invigorates and 
sustains the constitution. As to the condition 
of the floor it is beyond description. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

New York P^esa — Rumours as to the Southerners — Visit to 
the Smithsonian Institute — Pythons— Evening at Mr. 
Sewari's — Rough draft of official dispatch to Lord J. 
Russell— Estimate of its effect in Europe — The attitude 
of Viiginia. 

April 7th. — Raining all day, cold and wet. I 
am tired and weary of this perpetual jabber about 
Fort Sumter. Men here jvho know nothing at 
all of what is passing send letters to the New 
York papers, which are eagerly read by the peo- 
ple in Washington as soon as the journals reach 
the city, and then all these vague surmises are 
taken as gospel, and argued upon as if they were 
facts. The "Herald" keeps up the courage and 
spirit of its Southern friends by giving the most 
florid accounts of their prospects, and making 
continual attacks on Mr. Lincoln and his Gov- 
ernment ; but the majority of the New York pa- 
pers are inclined to re.sist Secession and aid the 
Government. I dined with Lord Lyons in the 
evening, and met Mr. Sumner, Mr. Blackwell, 
the manager of the Grand Trunk Railway of 
Canada, his wife, and the members of the Lega- 
tion. After dinner I visited M. de Stoeckl, the 
Russian Minister, and M. Tassara, the Minister 
of Spain, who had small receptions. There were 
few Americans present. As a rule, the diplo- 
matic circle, which has, by-the-by, no particular 
centre, radii, or circumference, keeps its mem- 
bers pretty much within itself. The great peo- 
ple here "are mostly the representatives of the 
South American powers, who are on more inti- 
mate relations with the native families in Wash- 
ington than are the transatlantic ministers. 

April 8th. — How it does rain! Last night 
there were torrents of water in the streets liter- 
ally a foot deep. It still runs in muddy whirl- 
ing streams through the channels, and the rain 
is falling incessantly from a dull leaden sky. 
The air is warm and clammy. There are all 
kind of rumours abroad, and the barbers' shops 
shook with "shaves" this morning. Sumter, of 
course, was the main topic. Some reported that 
the President had promised the Southern Com- 
missioners, through their friend Mr. Campbell, 
Judge of the Supreme Court, not to use force in 
respect to Pickens or Sumter. I wrote to Mr. 
Seward, to ask him if he could enable me to 
make any definite statement on these important 
matters. The Southerners are alarmed at the 
accounts- they have received of great activity and 
preparations in the Brooklyn and Boston navy 
yards, and declare that " treachery" is meant. 
I find myself quite incapable of comprehending 
their position. How can the United States Gov- 
ernment be guilty of "treachery" towards sub- 
jects of States which are preparing to assert their 
independence, unless that Government has been 
guilty of falsehood or admitted the justice of the 
decision to which the States had arrived ? 
C 



As soon as I had finished my letters, I drove 
over to the Smithsonian Institute, and was most 
kindly received by Professor Henry, who took 
me through the library and museum, and intro- 
duced me to Professor Baird, who is great in 
natural history, and more jjarticularly in orni- 
thology. I promised the professors some skins of 
Himalayan pheasants, as an addition to the col- 
lection. In the library we were presented to two 
very fine and lively rock snakes, or pythons, I 
believe, some six feet long or more, which moved 
about with much grace and agility, putting out 
their forked tongues and hissing sharply when 
seized by the hand or menaced with a stick. I 
was told that some persons doubted if serpents 
hissed ; I can answer for it that rock snakes do 
most audibly. They are not venomous, but their 
teeth are sharp and needle like. The eye is 
bright and glistening ; the red forked tongue, 
when protruded, has a rapid vibratory motion, 
as if it were moved by the muscles which pro- 
duce the quivering hissing noise. I was much 
interested by Professor Henry's remarks on the 
large map of the continent of North America in 
his study : he pointed out the climatic conditions 
which determined the use, profits, and necessity 
of slave labour, and argued that the vast increase 
of population anticijjated in the valley of the Mis- 
sissippi, and the prophecies of imperial greatness 
attached to it, were fallacious. He seems to be 
of opinion that most of the good land of Ameri- 
ca is already cultivated, and that the crops which 
it produces tend to exhaust it, so as to compel 
the cultivators eventually to let it go to fallow or 
to use manure. The fact is, that the influence 
of the great mountain-chain in the west, which 
intercepts all the rain on the Pacific side, causes 
an immense extent of country between the east- 
ern slope of the chain and the Mississippi, as 
well as the district west of Minnesota, to be per- 
fectly dry and uninhabitable ; and, as far as we 
know, it is as worthless as a moor, except for the 
pasturage of wild cattle and the like. 

On returning to my hotel, I found a note from 
Mr. Seward, asking me to visit him at nine 
o'clock. On going to his house, I was shown to 
the drawing-room, and found there only the Sec- 
retary of State, his son, and Mrs. Seward. I 
made apai-ti carre for a friendly rubber of whist, 
and Mr. Seward, who was my partner, talked as 
he played, so that the score of the game was not 
favourable. But his talk was very interesting. 
"All the preparations of wiiich you hear mean 
this only. The Government, finding the prop- 
erty of the State and Federal forts neglected and 
left without protection, are determined to take 
steps to relieve them from that neglect, and to 
protect them. But we are determined in doing 
so to make no aggression. The President's in- 
augural clearly shadows out our policy. We 
will not go beyond it — we have no intention of 
doing so — nor will we withdraw from it." After 
a time Mr. Seward put down his cards, and told 
his son to go for a portfolio which he would find 
in a drawer of his table. Mrs. Seward lighted 
the drop light of the gas, and on her husband's 
return with the paper left the room. The Sec- 
retary then lit his cigar, gave one to me, and pro- 
ceeded to read slowly and with marked empha- 
sis, a very long, strong, and able dispatch, which 
he told me was to be read by Mr. Adams, the 
American minister in London, to Lord John Rus- 



84 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTl? 



sell. It struck me that the tone of the paper 
was hostile, that there was an undercurrent of 
menace through it, and that it contained insinu- 
ations that Great Britain would interfere to split 
up the Republic, if she could, and was pleased at 
the prospect of the dangers which threatened it. 

At all the stronger passages Mr. Seward raised 
his voice, and made a pause at their conclusion 
as if to challenge remark or approval. At length 
I could not help saying, that the dispatch would, 
no doubt, have an excellent effect when it came 
to light in Congress, and that the Americans 
would think highly of the writer ; but I ventured 
to express an opinion that it would not be quite 
so acceptable to the Government and people of 
Great Britain. This Mr. Seward, as an Ameri- 
can statesman, had a right to make but a sec- 
ondary consideration. By affecting to regard 
Secession as a mere political heresy which can 
be easily confuted, and by forbidding foreign 
countries alluding to it, Mr. Seward thinks he 
can establish the supi-emacy of his own Govern- 
ment, and at tlie same time gratify the vanity 
of the people. Even war with us may not be out 
of the list of those means which would be avail- 
able for re-fusing the broken union into a mass 
once more. However, the Secretary is quite con- 
fident in what he calls ' ' re-action . " " When the 
Southern States," he says, "see that we mean 
them no wrong — that we intend no violence to 
persons, rights, or things — that the Federal Gov- 
ernment seeks only to fulfil obligations imposed 
on it in respect to the national property, they will 
see their mistake, and one after another they will 
come back into the union." Mr. Seward antici- 
pates this process will at once begin, and that 
Secession will all be done and over in three 
months — at least, so he says. It was after mid- 
night ere our conversation was over, much of 
which of course I cannot mention in these pages. 

April dth. — A storm of rain, thunder, and 
lightning. The streets are converted into water- 
courses. From the country we hear of bridges 
washed away by inundations, and roads render- 
ed impassable. Accounts from the South are 
gloomy, but the tu7-ba Remi in Willard's are as 
happy as ever, at least as noisy and as greedy of 
place. By-the-by, I observe that my prize-fight- 
ing friend of the battered nose has been reward- 
ed for his exertions at last. He h^ been stand- 
ing drinks all round till he is not able to stand 
himself, and he has expressed his determination 
never to forget all the people in the passage. I 
dined at the Legation in the evening, where there 
was a small party, and returned to the hotel in 
torrents of rain* 



CHAPTER IX. 



Dinner at General Scott's— Anecdotes of General Scott's 
early life — The startling dispatch — Insecurity of the 
Capital. 

April IQth. — To-day I devoted to packing up 
such things as I did not require, and sending 
them to New York. I received a characteristic 
note from General Scott, asking me to dine with 
him to-morrow, and apologising for the short- 
ness of his invitation, which arose from his only 
having just heard that I was about to leave so 
soon for the South. The General is much ad- 
mired by his countrymen, though they do not 
spare some "amiable weaknesses;" but, in my 



mind, he can only be accused ot a little vanity, 
which is often found in characters of the high- 
est standard. He likes to display his reading, 
and is troubled with a desire to indulge in fine 
writing. Some time ago he wrote a long letter 
to the "National Intelligencer," in which he 
quoted Shakspeare and Paley to prove that Pres- 
ident Buchanan ought to have garrisoned the 
forts at Charleston and Pensacola, as he advised 
him to do ; and he has been the victim of poetic 
aspirations. The General's dinner hour was 
early ; and when I arrived at his modest lodg- 
ings, which, however, were in the house of a fa- 
mous French cook, I found a troop of mounted 
volunteers of the district i)arading up and down 
the street. They were not bad of their class, and 
the horses, though light, were active, hardy, and 
spirited ; but the men put on their uniforms bad- 
ly, wore long hair, their coats and buttons and 
boots were unbrushed, and the horses' coats and 
accoutrements bore evidence of neglect. The 
General, who wore an undress blue frock-coat, 
with eagle-covered brass buttons, and velvet col- 
lar and cuffs, was with Mr. Seward and Mr. 
Bates, the Attorney-General, and received me 
verj' courteously. He was interrupted by cheer- 
ing from the soldiers in the street, and by clam- 
ours for "General Scott." He moves with dif- 
ficulty, owing to a fall from his horse, and from 
the pressure of increasing years ; and he evident- 
ly would not have gone out if he could have 
avoided it. But there is no privacy for public 
men in America. 

Out the General went to them, and addressed 
a few words to his audience in the usual style 
about " rallying round," and "dying gloriously," 
and "old flag of our country," and'all that kind 
of thing ; after which, the band struck up " Yan- 
kee Doodle." Mr. Seward called out "General, 
make them play the 'Star-Spangled Banner,' 
and 'Hail Columbia.'" And so I was treated 
to the strains of the old bacchanalian chant, 
"When Bibo," &c., which the Americans have 
impressed to do duty as a national air. Then 
came an attempt to i)lay " God save the Queen," 
which I duly appreciated as a compliment ; and 
then followed dinner, which did credit to the 
cook, and wine, which was most excellent, from 
France, Spain, and Madeira. The onlv addi- 
tion to our party was Major Cullum, aide-de- 
camp to General Scott, an United States' en- 
gineer, educated at West Point. The General 
underwent a little badinage about the jihrase "a 
hasty plate of soup," which he used in one of his 
despatches during the Mexican War, and he ap- 
pealed to me to decide whether it was so eiTO- 
neous or ridiculous as Mr. Seward insisted. I 
said I was not a judge, but certainly similar lib- 
eral usage of a well-known figure of prosody 
might be found to justify the phrase. The only 
attendants at table were the General's English 
valet and a coloured servant ; and the table ap- 
paratus which bore such good things was simple 
and unpretending. Of course the conversation 
was of a general character, and the General, 
evidently picking out his words with great pre- 
cision, took the lead in it, telling anecdotes of 
great length, graced now and then with episodes, 
and fortified by such episodes as — "Bear with 
me, dear sir, for a while, that I may here diverge 
from the main current of my story, and proceed 
to mention a curious — " &c., and so on. 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH, 



35 



To me his conversation was very interesting, 
particularly that portion which referred to his 
part in the last war, where he was wounded and 
taken prisoner. He gave an account of the Bat- 
tle of Chippewa, which was, he said, fought on 
true scientihc principles ; and in the ignorance 
common to most Englishmen of reverses to their 
arms, I was injudicious enough, when the battle 
was at its height, and whole masses of men were 
moving in battalions and columns over the table, 
to ask how many men were engaged. • The Gen- 
eral made the most of his side: "We had, sir, 
twenty-one hundred and seventy-five men in 
the field.'' He told us how, when the British 
men-of-war provoked general indignation in 
Virginia by searching American vessels for de- 
serters in the Chesapeake, the State of Virginia 
organised a volunteer force to guard the shores, 
and, above all things, to prevent the country peo- 
ple sending down supplies to the vessels, in pur- 
suance of the orders of the Legislature and Gov- 
ernor. Young Scott, then reading for the bar, 
became corporaFof a troop of these patrols. One 
night, as they were on duty by the banks of the 
Potomac, they heard a boat with muffled oars 
coming rapidly down the river, and soon saw her 
approaching quite close to the shore under cover 
of the trees. When she was abreast of the troop- 
ers, Scott challenged "What boat is |^at?" 
"It's His Majesty's ship 'Leopard,' and what 

the d is that to you ? Give way, my lads ! " 

"I at once called on him to surrender," said 
the General, "and giving the word to charge, 
we dashed into the water. Fortunately, it was 
not deep, and the midshipman in charge, taken 
by surprise by a superior force, did not attempt 
to resist us. We found the boat manned by four 
sailors, and filled with vegetables and other sup- 
plies, and took possession of it ; and I believe it 
is the first instance of a man-of-war's boat being 
captured by cavalry. The Legislature of Vir- 
ginia, however, did not approve of the capture, 
and the officer was given up accordingly. 

"Many years afterwards, when I visited Eu- 
rope, I happened to be dining at the hospitable 
mansion of Lord Holland, and observed during 
the banquet that a gentleman at table was scru- 
tinising my countenance in a manner indicative 
of some special curiosity. Several times, as my 
eye wandered in his direction, I perceived that 
he had been continuing his investigations, and 
at length I rebuked him by a continuous glance. 
After dinner, this gentleman came round to me 
atid said, ' General Scott, I hope you will pardon 
my rudeness in staring at you, but the fact is 
that you bear a most remarkable resemblance to 
a great overgrown, clumsy, country fellow of the 
same name, who took me prisoner in my boat 
when I was a midshipman in the " Chesapeake," 
at the head of a body of mounted men. He was, 
I remember quite well. Corporal Scot.' 'That 
Corporal Scott, sir, and the individual who ad- 
dresses you, are identical one with the other.' 
The officer whose acquaintance I thus so auspi- 
ciously renewed, was Captain Fox, a relation of 
Lord Holland, and a post-captain in the British 
navy." • 

Whilst he was speaking, a telegraphic dispatch 
was brought in, which the General perused with 
evident uneasiness. He apologised to me for 
reading it by saying the dispatch was from the 
President on Cabinet business, and then handed 



it across the table to Mr. Seward. The Secretary 
read it, and became a little agitated, and raised 
his eyes inquiringly to the General's face, who 
only shook his head. Then the paper was given 
to Mr. Bates, who read it, and gave a grunt, as 
it were, of surprise. The General took back the 
pai>er, read it twice over, and then folded it up 
and put it in his pocket. "You had better not 
put it there. General," interposed Mr. Seward; 
"it will be getting lost, or into some other hands." 
And so the General seemed to think, for he im- 
mediately threw it into the fire, before which 
certain bottles of claret were gently mellowing. 
The communication was evidently of a very un- 
pleasant character. In order to give the Minis- 
ters opportunity for a conference, I asked Major 
Cullum to accompany me into the garden, and 
lighted a cigar. As I was walking about in the 
twilight, I observed two figures at the end of the 
little enclosure, standing as if in concealment 
close to the wall. Major Cullum said " The men 
you see are sentries I have thought it expedient 
to place there for the protection of the General. 
The villains might assassinate him, and would 
do it in a moment if they could. He would not 
hear of a guard, nor anything of the sort, so, 
without his knowing it, I have sentries posted all 
round the house all night." This was a curious 
state of things for the commander of the Ameri- 
can army, in the midst of a crowded city, the 
capital of the free and enlightened Republic, to 
be placed in ! On our return to the sitting-room, 
the conversation was continued some hour or so 
longer. I retired with Mr. Seward in his car- 
riage. As we were going up Pennsylvania Ave- 
nue — almost lifeless at that time — I asked Mr. 
Seward whether he felt quite secure against any 
irruption from Virginia, as it was reported that 
one Ben McCullough, the famous Texan despe- 
rado, had assembled .500 men at Richmond for 
some daring enterprise : some said to carry off 
the President, cabinet, and all. He replied that, 
although the capital was almost defenceless, it 
must be remembered that the bold bad men who 
were their enemies were equally unprepared for 
active measures of aggression. 



CHAPTER X. 



Preparations for war at Charleston — My own departure 
for the .Southern States — AiTival at Baltimore — Com- 
mencement of hostilities- at Fort Sumter— Bombardment 
of the Fort— General feeling as to North and South — 
Slavery— First impressions of the City of Baltimore — 
Departure by steamer. 

April \2th. — This morning I received an in- 
timation that the Government had resolved on 
taking decisive steps which would lead to a de- 
velopment of events in the South and test the 
sincerity of Secession. The Confederate general 
at Charleston, Beauregard, has sent to the Fed- 
eral ofiicer in command at Sumter, Major Ander- 
son, to say, that all communication between his 
garrison and the city must cease ; and, at the 
same time, or probably before it, the Government 
at Washington informed the Confederate authori- 
ties that they intended to forward supplies to Ma- 
jor Anderson, peaceably if permitted, but at all 
hazards to send them. The Charleston people are 
manning the batteries they have erected against 
Sumter, have fired on a vessel under the United 



36 



MY DIAEY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



States flag, endeavoring to communicate with the i such attempt to the last, and make it a casus 
fort, and have called out and organized a large and causa belli. 



force in the islands opposite the place and in the 
city of Charleston. 

I resolved therefore to start for the Southern 
States to-dav, proceeding by Baltimore to Norfolk 
instead of going by Richmond, which was cut off 
by the floods. Before leaving, I visited Lord 
Lyons, Mr. Seward, the French and Russian Min- 
isters ; left cards on the President, Mrs. Lincoln, 
General Scott, Mr. Douglas, Mr. Sumner, and 
others. There was no appearance of any excite- 
ment in Washington, but Lord Lyons mentioned, 
as an unusual circumstance, that he had received 
no telec;raphic communication from IMr. Bunch, 
the British Consul at Charleston. Some ladies 
said to me that when I came back I would find 
some nice people at Washington, and that the 
rail-splitter, his wife, the Sewards, and all the rest 
of them, would be driven to the place where they 
ought to be: "Varina Davis is a lady, at all 
events, not like the other. We can't put up witli 
such people as these!" A naval officer wliom I 
met, told me, "if the Government are really go- 
ing to try force at Charleston, you'll see they'll be 
beaten, and we'll have a war between the gentle- 
men and the Yankee rowdies ; if they attempt 
violence, you know how that will end." The Gov- 
ernment are so uneasy that they have put soldiers 
into the Capitol, and are preparing it for defence. 
At 6 P.M. I drove to the Baltimore station in 
a storm of rain, accompanied by Mr. Warre, of 
the British Legation. In the train there was a 
crowd of people,manyof them disappointed place- 
hunters, and much discussion took place respect- 
ing the propriety of giving supplies to Sumter by 
force, the weight of opinion being against the 
propriety of such a step. The tone in which the 
President and his cabinet were spoken of was 
very disrespectful. One big man, in a fur coat, 
who was sitting near me, said, "Well, darn me 
if I wouldn't dra%v a head on Old Abe, Seward 
— aye, or General Scott himself, though I've got 
a perty good thing out of them, if they due try to 
use their soldiers and sailors to beat down States' 
Rights. If they want to go they've a right to 
go." To which many said, " That's so ! That's 
true !" 

When we arrived at Baltimore, at 8 p.m., the 
streets were deep in water. A coachman, see- 
ing I was a stranger, asked me two dollars, or 
8s. 4d., to drive to the Eutaw House, a quarter 
of a mile distant ; but I was not surprised, as I 
had paid three-and-a-half and four dollars to go 
to dinner and return to the hotel in Washing- 
ton. On my arrival, the landlord, no less a 
person than a major or colonel, took me aside, 
and asked me if I had heard the news. "No, 
what is it?'' "The President of the Telegi-aph 
Company tells me he has received a message 
from his clerk at Charleston that the batteries 
have opened fire on Sumter because the Gov- 
ernment has sent down a fleet to force in sup- 
plies." The news had, however, spread. The 
hall and bar of the hotel were full, and I was 
asked by many people whom I had never seen 
in my life, what my opinions were as to the au- 
thenticity of the rumour. There was nothing 
surprising in the fact that the Charleston people 
had resented any attempt to reinforce the forts, 
as I was aware, from the language of the South- 
ern Commissioners, that they would resist any 



April 14. — The Eutaw House is not a very 
good specimen of an American hotel, but the 
landlord does his best to make his guests com- 
fortable, when he likes them. The American 
landlord is a despot who regulates his domin- 
ions by ukases afiBxed to the walls, by certain 
state departments called "oflices" and "bars," 
and who generally is represented, whilst he is 
away on some military, political, or commercial 
undertaking, by a lieutenant ; the deputy being, 
if possible, a greater man than the chief. It 
requires so much capital to establish a large ho- 
tel, that there is little fear of external competi- 
tion in the towns. And Americans are so gre- 
garious that they will not patronise small estab- 
lishments. 

I was the more complimented by the land- 
lord's attention this morning when he came to 
the room, and in much excitement informed me 
the news of Fort Sumter being bombarded by 
the Charleston batteries was confirmed; "And 
now," said he, "there's no saying where it will 
all end." 

After breakfast I was visited by some gentle- 
men of Baltimore, who were highly delighted 
with the news, and I learned from them there 
was improbability of their State joining those 
whicn had seceded. The whole f^eeling of the 
landed and respectable classes is with the South. 
The dislike to the Federal Government at Wash- 
ington is largely spiced with personal ridicule 
and contempt of Mr. Lincoln. Your Mary- 
lander is very tenacious about being a gentle- 
man, and what he does not consider gentleman- 
ly is simply unfit for anything, far less for place 
and authority. 

The young draughtsman, of whom I spoke, 
turned "up this morning, having pursued me 
from Washington. He asked me whether I 
would still let him accompany me. I observed 
that I had no objection, but that I could not 
permit such paragraphs in the papers again, and 
suggested there would be no difficulty in his 
travelling by himself, if he pleased. He rejjlied 
that his former connection with a Black Repub- 
lican paper might lead to his detention or mo- 
lestation in the South, but that if he was allow- 
ed, to come with me, no one would doubt that 
he was employed by an Illustrated London pa- 
per. The young gentleman will certainly never 
lose anything for the want of asking. 

At the black barber's I was meekly interro- 
gated by my attendant as to my belief in the 
story of the "bombardment. He was astonished 
to find a stranger could think the event was 
probable, "De gen'lmen of Baltimore will be 
quite glad ov it. But maybe it'l com^ bad after 
all." I discovered my barber had strong ideas 
that the davs of slavery were drawing to an end. 
" And wha't will take place then, do you think?" 
"Wall, sare, 'spose coloured men will be good 
as white mem" That is it. They do not un- 
derstand what a vast gulf flows between them 
and the equality of position \vith the white race 
\^^ch most of those who have aspirations ini- 
agine to be meant by emancipation. He said 
the town slave-owners were very severe and 
harsh in demanding larger sums than the slaves 
could earn. The slaves are sent out to do jobs, 
to stand for hire, to work on the quays and 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



37 



docks. Their earnings go to the master, who 
punishes them if they do not bring home enough. 
Sometimes the master is content with a fixed 
sum, and all over that amount which the slave 
can get may be retained for his private pur- 
poses. 

Baltimore looks more ancient and respectable 
than the towns I have passed through, and the 
site on which it stands is undulating, so that the 
houses have not that flatness and uniformity of 
height which make the streets of New York and 
Philadelphia resemble those of a toy city mag- 
nified. Why Baltimore should be called the 
"Monumental City" could not be divined by a 
stranger. He would never think that a great 
town of 250,000 inhabitants could derive its 
name from an obelisk cased in white marble to 
George Washington, even though it be more 
than 200 feet high, nor from the grotesque col- 
umn called "Battle Monument," erected to the 
memory of those who fell in the skirmish out- 
side the city in which the British were repulsed 
in 1814. I could not procure any guide to the 
city worth reading, and strolled about at discre- 
tion, after a visit to the Maryland Club, of which 
I was made an honorary member. At dark I 
started for Norfolk, in the steamer " Georgi- 
anna." 



CHAPTER XI. 

Scenes on board an American steamer— The " Merrimac" 
— Iriih sailor3 in America — Norfolk — A telegram on 
Sunday ; news from the seat of war — American "chaff" 
and our Jack Tars. 

Sunday, April 14. — A night of disturbed sleep, 
owing to the ponderous thumping of the walking 
beam close to my head, the whizzing of steam, 
and the roaring of the steam-trumpet to warn 
vessels out of the way — musquitoes, too, had a 
good deal to say to me in spite of my dirty gauze 
curtains. Soon after dawn the vessel ran along- 
side the jetty at Fortress Monroe, and I saw in- 
distinctly the waterface of the work which is in 
some danger of being attacked, it is said, by the 
Virginians. There was no flag on the staff above 
the walls, and the place looked dreary and deso- 
late. It has a fine bastioned profile, with moat 
and armed lunettes — the casemates were bricked 
up or occupied by glass windows, and all the 
guns I could make out were on the parapets. 
A few soldiers were lounging on the jetty, and 
after we had discharged a tipsy old officer, a few 
negroes, and some parcels, the steam-pipe brayed 
— it does not whistle — again, and we proceeded 
across the mouth of the channel and James' 
River towards Elizabeth River, on which stand 
Portsmouth and Gosport. 

Just as I was dressing, the door opened, and a 
tall, neatly dressed negress came in and asked 
me for my ticket. She told me she was ticket- 
collector for the boat, and that she was a slave. 
The latter intelligence was given without any re- 
luctance or hesitation. On my way to the upper 
deck I observed the bar was crowded by gentle- 
men engaged in consuming, or waiting for, cock- 
tails or mint-juleps. The latter, however, could 
not be had just now in such perfection as usual, 
owing to the inferior condition of the mint. In 
the matter of drinks, how hospitable the Ameri- 
cans are ! I was asked to take as many as would 
have rendered me incapable of drinking again ; 
my excuse on the plea of inability to grapple 



with cocktails and the like before breakfast, was 
heard with surprise, and I was urgently entreat- 
ed to abandon so bad a habit. 

A clear, fine sun rose from the waters of the 
bay up into the purest of pure blue skies. On 
our right lay a low coast fringed with trees, and 
wooded densely with stunted forest, through 
which creeks could be seen glinting far through 
the foliage. Anxious-looking little wooden light- 
houses, hard set to preserve their equilibrium in 
the muddy waters, and bent at various angles, 
marked the narrow channels to the towns and 
hamlets on the banks, the principal trade and 
occupation of which are oyster selling and oyster 
eating. We are sailing over wondrous deposit* 
and submarine crops of the much-loved bivalve. 
Wooden houses painted white appear on the 
shores, and one large building with wings and a 
central portico surmounted by a belvedere, des- 
tined for the reception of the United States' 
sailors in sickness, is a striking object in the 
landscape. 

The steamer in a few minutes came alongside 
a dirty, broken down, wooden quay, lined with 
open booths, on which a small crowd, mostly of 
negroes, had gathered. Behind the shed there 
rose tiled and shingled roofs of mean dingy 
houses, and we could catch glimpses of the line 
of poor streets, narrow, crooked, ill-paved, sur- 
mounted by a few church-steeples, and the large 
sprawling advertisement-boards of the tobacco- 
stores and oyster-sellers, which was all we could 
see of Portsmouth or Gosport. Our vessel was 
in a naiTOW creek ; at one side was the town — 
in the centre of the stream the old "Pennsyl- 
vania," intended to be of 120 guns, but never 
commissioned, and used as receiving ship, was 
ancliored — alongside the wall of the Navy Yard 
below us, lay the "Merrimac," apparently in or- 
dinary. The only man-of-war fit for sea was a 
curiosity — a stumpy bluff-bowed, Dutch-built- 
looking sloop,. called the "Cumberland." Two 
or three smaller vessels, dismasted, were below 
the " Merrimac," and we could just see the build- 
ing-sheds in which were one or two others, I be- 
lieve, on the stocks. A fleet of oyster-boats an- 
chored, or in sailless observance of the Sunday, 
dotted the waters. There w^as an ancient and 
fishlike smell about the town worthy of its ap- 
pearance and of its functions as a seaport. As 
the vessel came close alongside, there was the 
usual greeting between friends, and many a cry, 
"Well, you've heard the news? The Yankees 
out of Sumter! Isn't it fine?" There were 
few who did not participate in that sentiment, 
but there were some who looked black as night 
and said nothing. 

Whilst we were waiting for the steam ferry- 
boat, which plies to Norfolk at the other side of 
the creek, to take us over, a man-of-war-boat 
pulled alongside, and the coxswain, a handsome, 
fine-looking sailor, came on deck, and, as I hap- 
pened to be next him, asked me if Captain Blank 
had come down with us? I rephed that I did 
not know, but that the captain could tell him no 
doubt. "He?" said the sailor, pointing with 
great disgust to the skipper of the steamer, 
"Why he knows nothin' of his passengers, ex- 
cept how many dollars they come to," and start- 
ed off to prosecute his inquiries among the other 
passengers. The boat alongside was clean, and 
was manned bv six as stout fellows as ever han- 



38 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



died an oar. Two I made sure of were English- 
men, and when the coxswain was retiring from 
his fruitless search, I asked him where he hailed 
from. "The Cove of Cork. I was in the navy 
nine years, but when 1 got on the West Ingy 
Station, I heerd how Uncle Sam treated his fel- 
lows, and so I joined him." '"Cut and run, I 
suppose?" "Well, not exactly. I got away, 
sir. Emigrated, you know!" "Are there any 
other Irishmen or Englishmen on board ?" " I 
should think there was. That man in the bow 
there is a mate of mine, from the sweet Cove of 
Cork, Driscoll by name ; and there's a Belfast 
man pulls number two ; and the stroke, and the 
chap that pulls next to him is Englishmen, and 
fine sailors they are, Bates and Rookey. They 
were in men-of-war too." " What ! five out of 
seven, British subjects !" " Oh, aye, that is — we 
onst was — most of us now are 'JNIericans, I think. 
There's plenty more of us aboard the sliip." 

The steam ferry was a ricketty affair, and 
combined with the tumble-down sliods and quays 
to give a poor idea of Norfolk. The infliction 
of tobacco-juice on board was remarkable. Al- 
though it was but seven o'clock every. one had 
his quid in working order, and the air was filled 
with yellowish-brown rainbows and liquid para- 
bolas, which tumbled in spray or in little flocks 
of the weed on the foul decks. As it was Sun- 
day, some of the numerous flagstaft's which adorn 
the houses in both cities displayed the United 
States' bunting ; but nothing could relieve the 
decayed air of Norfolk. The omnibus which was 
waiting to receive us must have been the earliest 
specimen of carriage building in that style on the 
Continent; and as it lunged and flopped over 
the prodigious bad pavement, the severe nature 
of which was aggravated by a street railway, it 
opened the seams as if it Avere going to fall into 
firewood. The shops were all closed, of course ; 
but the houses, wooden and brick, were covered 
with signs and placards indicative of large trade 
in tobacco and oysters. 

Poor G. P. R. James, who spent many years 
here, could have scarce caught a novel from 
such a place, spite of great oysters, famous wild 
fowl, and the lauded poultry and vegetables 
which are produced in the surrounding districts. 
There is not a hill for the traveller to ascend to- 
wards the close of a summer's day, nor a moated 
castle for a thousand miles around. An execra- 
ble, tooth-cracking drive ended at last in front 
of the Atlantic Hotel, where I was doomed to 
take up my quarters. It is a dilapidated, un- 
cleanly place, with tobacco-stained floor, full of 
flies and strong odours. The waiters were all 
slaves : untidy, slip-shod, and careless creatures. 
I was shut up in a small room, with the usual 
notice on the door, that the proprietor would not 
be responsible for anything, and that you were 
to lock your doors for fear of robbers, and that 
you must take your meals at certain hours, and 
other matters of the kind. My umbra went over 
to Gosport to take some sketches, he said ; and 
after a poor meal, in a long room filled with 
"citizens," all of them discussing Sumter, I 
went out into the street. 

The people, I observe, are of a new and 
marked type, — very tall, loosely yet powerfully 
made, with dark complexions, strongly-marked 
features, prominent noses, large angular mouths 
in square jaws, deep-seated bright eyes, low, nar- 



row foreheads, — and arc all of them much given 
to ruminate tobacco. The bells of the churches 
were tolling, and I turned into one ; but the 
heat, great enough outside, soon became nearly 
intolerable ; nor was it rendered more bearable 
by my proximity to some blacks, who wcj-e, I 
presume, servants or slaves of the great people 
in the forward pews. The clergyman or minis- 
ter had got to the Psalms, when a bustle arose 
near the door which attracted his attention, and 
caused all to turn round. Several persons were 
standing up and whispering, whilst others were 
stealing on tiptoe out of the church. The influ- 
ence extended itself gradually, and all the men 
near the doors were leaving rapidly. The min- 
ister, obviously interested, continued to read, 
raising his eyes towards the door. At last the 
persons near him rose up and walked boldly 
forth, and I at length followed the examjile, and 
getting into the street, saw men running towards 
the hotel. "What is it?" exclaimed I to one. 
" Come along, the telegraph's in at the Day 
Book. The Yankees are whijiped !" and so con- 
tinued. I came at last to a crowd of men, strug- 
gling, with their faces toward the wall of a shab- 
by house, increased by fresh arrivals, and dimin- 
ished by those who, having satisfied their curios- 
ity, came elbowing forth in a state of much ex- 
citement, exultation, and perspiration. "It's 
all right enough!" "Didn't I tell you so?" 
"Bully for Beauregard and the Palmetto State?" 
I shoved on, and read at last the programme of 
the cannonade and bombardment, and of the ef- 
fects u])on the fort, on a dirty piece of yellowish 
paper on the wall. It was a terrible writing. 
At all the street corners men were discussing the 
news with every symptom of joy and gratifica- 
tion. ISow I confess I could not share in the 
excitement at all. The act seemed to me the 
prelude to certain war. 

I walked up the main street, and turned up 
some of the alleys to have a look at the town, 
coming out on patches of water and bridges over 
the creeks, or sandy lanes shaded by trees, and 
lined here and there by pretty wooden villas, 
painted in bright colours. Everywhere negroes, 
male and female, gaudily dressed or in rags ; 
the door-steps of the narrow lanes swarming 
with infant niggerdom — big-stomached, curve- 
legged, rugged-headed, and happy — tumbling 
about dim-eyed toothless hags, or thick-lijiped 
mothers. Not a word were they talking about 
Sumter. "Any news to-day?" said I to a re- 
spectable-looking negro in a blue coat and brass 
buttons, wonderful hat, and vest of amber silk, 
check trowsers, and very broken-down shoes. 
"Well, sare, I tink nothin' much occur. Der 
hem a fire at Squire Nichol's house last night; 
leastway so I hear, sare." Squire, let me say 
parenthetically, is used to designate justices of 
the peace. Was it a very stupid poco-curante, 
or a very cunning, subtle Sambo ? 

In my walk I arrived at a small pier, covered 
with oyster-shells, which projected into the sea. 
Around it, on both sides, were hosts of schooners 
and pungys, smaller half-decked boats, waiting 
for their load of the much-loved fish for Wash- 
ington, Baltimore, and Richmond. Some brigs 
and large vessels lay alongside the wharves and 
large warehouses higher up the creek. Observ- 
ing a small group at the end of the pier I walk- 
ed on, and found that they consisted of fifteen or 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



89 



twenty well-dressed mechanical kind of men, 
busily engaged in " chaffing," as Cockneys would 
call it, the crew of the man-of-war boat I had 
seen in the morning. The sailors were stretched 
on the thwarts, some rather amused, others sul- 
len at the ordeal. "You better just pull down 
that cussed old rag of yours, and bring your old 
ship over to the Southern Confederacy. I guess 
we can take your 'Cumberland' whenever we 
like ! Why d"on't you go, and touch off your 
guns at Charleston?" Presently the coxswain 
came down with a parcel under his arm, and 
stepped into the boat. "Give way, my lads;" 
and the oars dipped in the water. When the 
boat had gone a few yards from the shore, the 
crowd cried out: "Down with the Yankees! 
Hurrah for the Southern Confederacy!" and 
some among them threw oyster-shells at the 
boat, one of which struck the coxswain on the 
head. "Backwater! Backwater all. Hard!" 
he shouted ; and as the boat's stern neared the 
land, he stood up and made a leap in among the 

crowd like a tiger. " You cowardly d d set. 

Who threw the shells ?" No one answered at 
first, but a little wizened man at last squeaked 
out : "I guess you'll have shells of another kind 
if you remain here much longer." The sailor 
howled with rage : "Why, you poor devils, I'd 
whip any half dozen of you, — teeth, knives, and 
all — in five minutes ; and my boys there in the 
boat would clear your whole town. What do 
you mean by barking at the Stars and Stripes ? 
bo you see that ship ?" he shouted, pointing to- 
wards the "Cumberland." "Why the lads 
aboard of her would knock every darned seceder 
in your State into a cocked hat in a brace of 
shakes ! And now who's coming on ?" The in- 
vitation was not accepted, and the sailor with- 
drew, with his angry eyes fixed on the people, 
who gave him a kind of groan ; but there were 
no oyster shells this time. "In spite of his 
blowing, I tell yer," said one of them, "there's 
some good men from old Virginny abo'rd o' that 
ship that will never fire a shot agin us." " Oh, 
we'll fix her right enough," remarked another, 
"when the time comes." I returned to my 
room, sat down, and wrote for some hours. The 
dinner in the Atlantic Hotel was of a description 
to make one wish the desire for food had never 
been invented. My neighbour said he was not 
" quite content about this Sumter business. 
There's nary one killed nor wounded." 

Sunday is a very dull day in Norfolk — no 
mails, no post, no steamers ; and, at the best, 
Norfolk must be dull exceedingly. The super- 
intendent of the Seaboard and Roanoke Railway, 
having heard that I was about proceeding to 
Charleston, called upon me to offer every facili- 
ty in his power. Sent Moses with letters to post- 
office. At night the musquitoes were very ag- 
gressive and successful. "This is the first place 
in which the bedrooms are unprovided with gas. 
A mutton dip almost made me regret the fact. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Portsmouth — Railway journey through the forest — The 
great Dismal Swamp — American ncwppapcrs — Cattle 
on the line— Negro labour — On through the I'ine Forest 
— The Confederate flag— Goldsborough ; popular excite- 
jnent — Weldon— Wilmington — The Vigilance Commit- 
tee. 
Monday, April 15. — Up at dawn. Crossed by 



ferry to Portsmouth, and arrived at railway sta- 
tion, which was at no place in particular, in a 
street down which the rails were laid. jNIr. Rob- 
inson, the superintendent, gave me permission to 
take a seat in the engine car, to which 1 mount- 
ed accordingly, was duly introduced to, and shook 
hands with the engineer and the stoker, and took 
my seat next the boiler. Can any solid reason 
be given why we should not have those engine 
sheds or cars in England ? They consist of a 
light frame placed on the connection of the en- 
gine with the tender, and projecting so as to in- 
clude the end of tlie boiler and the stoke-hole. 
They protect the engineer from rain, storm, sun, 
or dust. Windows at each side afford a clear 
view in all directions, and the engineer can step 
out on the engine itself by the doors on the front 
part of the shed. There is just room for four 
persons to sit uncomfortably, the persons next 
the boiler being continually in dread of roasting 
their logs at the furnace, and those next the ten- 
der being in danger of getting logs of wood from 
it shaken down on their feet. Nevertheless I 
rarely enjoyed anything more than that trip. It 
is true one's enjoyment was marred by want of 
breakfast, for I could not manage the cake of 
dough and the cup of bitter, sour, greasy nasti- 
ness, called coffee, jvhich were presented to me 
in lieu of that meal this morning. 

But the novelty of the scene through which I 
passed atoned for the small privation. I do not 
speak of the ragged streets and lines of sheds 
through which the train passed, with the great 
bell of the engine tolling as if it were threaten- 
ing death to the early pigs, cocks, hens, and ne- 
groes and dogs which walked between the rails 
— the latter, by-the-bye, were always the first to 
leave — the negroes generally divided with the 
pigs the honour of making the nearest stand to 
the train — nor do I speak of the miserable sub- 
urbs of wooden shanties, nor of the expanse of 
inundated lands outside the town. Passing all 
these, we settled down at last to ottr work : the 
stoker fired up, the engine rattled along over the 
rugged lane between the trees which now began 
to sweep around us from the horizon, where they 
rose like the bank of a river or the shores of a 
sea, and presently we plunged into the gloom of 
the primeval forest, struggling as it were, with 
the last wave of the deluge. 

The railroad, leaving the land, boldly leaped 
into the air, and was can-ied on frailest cobweb- 
seeming tracery of wood far above black waters, 
from which ros'e a thick growth and upshooting 
of black stems of dead trees, mingled with the 
trunks and branches of others still living, throw- 
ing out a most luxuriant vegetation. The tres- 
tle-work over which the train was hung, judged 
by the eve, was of the slightest possible construc- 
tion. Sometimes one series of trestles was placed 
above another, so that the cars ran on a level 
with the tops of the trees ; and, looking down, 
we could see before the train passed the inky sur- 
face of the waters, broken into rings and agitated, 
round the beams of wood. The trees were draped 
with long creepers and shrouds of Spanish moss, 
which fell from branch to branch, smothering 
the leaves in their clammy embrace, or waving 
in pendulous folds in the air. Cvpress, live oak, 
the dogwood, and pine struggled for life with the 
water, and about their stems floated balks of 
timber, waifs and strays carried from the rafts 



40 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



by flood or the forgotten spoils of the lumberer. 
On these lay tortoises, turtles, and enormous 
frogs, which lifted their heads with a lazy curi- 
osity when the train rushed by, or flopped into 
the water as if the sight and noise were too much 
for their nerves. Once a dark body of greater 
size plashed into the current which marked the 
course of a river. "There's many allygaitors 
come up here at times," said the engineer, in re- 
ply to my question ; "but I don't take much ac- 
count of them." 

When the trestle-work ceased, the line was con- 
tinued through the same description of scenery, 
generally in the midst of water, on high embank- 
ments which were continually cut by black rapid 
streams, crossed by bridges on trestles of great 
span. The strange tract we are passing through 
is the "Dismal Swamp," a name which must 
have but imperfectly expressed its horrors before 
the railway had traversed its outskirts, and the 
canal, which is constructed in its midst, left traces 
of the presence of man in that remnant of the 
world's exit from the flood. In the centre of this 
vast desolation there is a large loch, called "Lake 
Drummond," in the jungle and brakes around 
which the runaway slaves of the plantations long 
harboured, and once or twice assembled bands 
of depredators, which were h^mted down, broken 
up, and destroyed like wild beasts. 

Mr. Robinson, a young man some twenty-seven 
years of age, was an excellent representative of 
the young American — full of intelligence, well- 
read, a little romantic in spite of his practical 
habits and dealings with matters of fact, much 
attached to the literature, if not to the people, 
of the old country ; and so far satisfied that En- 
glish engineers knew something of their business, 
as to be anxious to show that American engi- 
neers were not behind them. He asked me about 
Washington politics with as much interest as if 
he had never read a newspaper. I made a re- 
mark to that effect. "Oh, sir, we can't believe," 
exclaimed he, "a word we read in our papers. 
They tell a story one day, to contradict it the 
next. We never know when to trust them, and 
that's one reason, I believe, you find us all so 
anxious to ask questions and get information 
from gentlemen we meet travelling." Of the 
future he spoke with apprehension; "but," said 
he, "I am here representing the interests of a 
large number of Northern shareholders, and I 
will do my best for them. If it comes to blows 
after this, they will lose all, and I must stand by 
my own friends down South, though I don't be- 
long to it." 

So we rattle on, till the scene, at first so at- 
tractive, becomes dreary and monotonous, and I 
tire of looking out for larger turtles or more al- 
ligators. The silence of these woods is oppress- 
ive. There is no sign of life where the train 
passes through the water, except among the am- 
phibious creatures. After a time, however, when 
we draw out of the swamp and get into a dry 
patch, wild, ragged-looking cattle may be seen 
staring at us through the trees, or tearing across 
the rail, and herds of porkers, nearly in the wild- 
boar stage, scuttle over the open. Then the en- 
gineer opens the valve ; the sonorous roar of the 
engine echoes through the woods, and now and 
then there is a little excitement caused by a race 
between a pig and the engine, and a piggy is oc- 
casionally whipped off his legs by the cow-lifter, 



and hoisted volatile into the ditch at one side. 
When a herd of cattle, however, get on the line 
and show fight, the matter is serious. The steam 
horn is sounded, the bell rung, and steam is eased 
otf, and every means used to escape collision ; for 
the railway company is obliged to ])ay the owner 
for whatever animals the trains kill, and a cow's 
body on one of these poor rails is an impediment 
stifiicient to throw the engine off, and "send us 
to immortal smash." 

It was long before we saw any workmen or 
guards on the line ; but at one place I got out 
to look at a shanty of one of the road watchmen. 
It was a building of logs, some 20ft. long by 
12ft. broad, made in the rudest manner, with an 
earthen roof, and mud stufted and jilastered be- 
tween the logs to keep out the rain. Although 
the day was exceedingly hot, there were two 
logs blazing on the hearth, over which was sus- 
pcnded a pot of potatoes. The air inside was 
stifling, and the black beams of the roof glisten- 
ed with a clammy sweat from smoke and un- 
wholesome vapours. There was not an article 
of furniture, excei)t a big deal chest and a small 
stool, in the place ; a mug and a teacup stood on 
a rude shelf nailed to the wall. The owner of 
this establishment, a stout negro, was busily en- 
gaged with others in "wooding up" the engine 
from the pile of cut timber by the roadside. 
The necessity of stopping caused by the rapid 
consumption is one of the d^sagremens of wood 
fuel. The wood is cut down and stacked on 
platforms, at certain intervals along the line; 
and the quantity used is checked otf against the 
company at the rate of so much per cord. The 
negro was one of many slaves let out to the com- 
pany. White men would not do the work, or 
were too expensive ; but the overseers and gangs- 
men M'ere whites. "How can they bear that 
fire in the hut?" " Well. If you went into it 
in tho very hottest day in summer, you would 
find the niggers sitting close up to blazing pine 
logs, and they sleep at night, or by day when 
they've fed to the full, in the same way." My 
friend, nevertheless, did not seem to understand 
that any country could get on without negro la- 
bourers. 

By degrees we got beyond the swamps, and 
came upon patches of cleareld land — that is, the 
forest had been cut down, and the only traces 
left of it were the stumps, some four or five feet 
high, "snagging"' up above the ground; or the 
trees had been girdled round, so as to kill them, 
and the black trunks and stiff' arms gave an air 
of meagre melancholy and desertion to the place, 
which was quite opposite to their real condition. 
Here it was that the normal forest and swamp 
had been subjugated by man. Presently we 
came in sight' of a flag fluttering from a lofty 
pine, which had been stripped of its branches, 
throwing broad bars of red and white to the air, 
with a blue square in the upper quarter contain- 
ing seven stars. "That's our flag," said the 
engineer, who was a quiet man, much given to 
turning steam cocks, examining gauges, wiping 
his hands in fluffy impromptu handkerchiefs, 
and smoking tobacco — "That's our flag ! And 
long may it wave — o'er the land of the free and 
the hom'e of the ber-rave !" As we passed, a 
small crowd of men, women, and children, of all 
colours, in front of a group of poor broken-down 
shanties or log huts, cheered — to speak more cor- 



RIY DIAJIY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



41 



rectly — whooped and yelled vehemently. The 
cry was returned by the passengers in the train. 
" We're all right sort hereabouts," said tlie engi- 
neer. " Hurrah for JefT Davis !" The right 
sort were not particularly flourishing iu outward 
aspect, at all events. The women, pale-faced, 
weVe tawdry and ragged ; the men, yellow, seedy 
looking. For the iirst time in the JStates, I no- 
ticed bare-footed people. 

Now began another phase of scenery— an in- 
terminable pine forest, far as the eye could i-each, 
shutting out the light on each side by a wooden 
wall. From this forest came the strongest odour 
of turpentine ; presently black streaks of smoke 
floated out of the wood, and here and there we 
passed clearer spaces, where in rude-looking fur- 
naces and factories peo])le more squalid and mis- 
erable looking than before were preparing ])itch, 
tar, turpentine, resin, and other naval stores, for 
which this part of North Carolina is famous. 
The stems of the trees around are marked by 
white scars, where the tappings for the turpen- 
tine take place, and many dead trunks testified 
how the process ended. 

Again, over anotlier log village, a Confederate 
flag floated in the air; and the people ran out, 
negroes and all, and cheered as before. The 
new flag is not so glaring and gaudy as the Stars 
and Stripes ; but, at a distance, when the folds 
hang together, there is a considerable resem- 
blance in the general effect of the two. If ever 
there is a real sentiment Ju drapeau got up in the 
South, it will be difficult indeed for the North to 
restore the Union. These pieces of coloured 
bunting seem to twine themselves through heart 
and brain. 

The stations along the roadside now gradual- 
ly grew in proportion, and instead of a small 
sentry-box beside a wood-pile, there were three 
or four wooden houses, a platform, a booking of- 
fice, an "exchange" or drinking room, and gen- 
eral stores, like the shops of assorted articles in 
an Irish town. Around these still grew the 
eternal forest, or patches of cleared land dotted 
with black stumps. These stations have very 
grand names, and the stores are dignified by 
high-sounding titles; nor are "billiard saloons" 
and " restaurants" wanting. We generally found 
a group of people waiting at each ; and it really 
was most astonishing to see well-dressed, respect- 
able-looking men and women emerge out of the 
"dismal swamp," and out of the depths of the 
forest, with silk parasols and crinoline, bandbox- 
es and portmanteaux, in the most civilised style. 
There were always some negroes, male and fe- 
male, in attendance on the voyagers, handling 
the baggage or the babies, and looking comfort- 
able enough, but not happy. The only evidence 
of the good spirits and happiness of these people 
which I saw was on the part of a number of men 
who were going off from the plantation for the 
fishing on the coast. They and their wives and 
sisters, arrayed in their best — which means their 
brightest, colours — were grinning from ear to 
ear as they bade good-bye. The negro likes the 
mild excitement of sea fishing, and in pursuit of 
it he feels for the moment free. 

At Goldsborough, which is the first place of 
importance on the line, the wave of the secession 
tide struck us in full career. The station, the 
hotels, the street through which the rail ran was 
filled with an excited mob, all carrying arms, 



with signs here and there of a desire to get up 
some Kind of uniform — flushed faces, wild eyes, 
screaming mouths, hurrahing for "Jeff Davis" 
and "the Southern Confederacy," so that the 
yells overpowered the discordant bands which 
were busy with "Dixie's Land." Here was the 
true revolutionary furor in full sway. The men 
hectored, swore, cheered, and slapped each other 
on the backs; the women, in their best, waved 
handkerchiefs and flung down garlands from the 
windows. All was noise, dust, and jmtriotism. 

It was a strange sight and a wonderful event 
at which we were assisting. These men were a 
levy of the people of North Carolina called out 
by the Governor of the State for the purpose of 
seizing upon forts Caswell and Macon, belong- 
ing to the Federal Government, and left unpro- 
tected and undefended. The enthusiasm of the 
" citizens" was unbounded, nor was it quite free 
from a taint of alcohol. Many of the Volunteers 
had flint firelocks, only a few had rifles. All 
kinds of head-dress were visible, and caps, belts 
and pouches of infinite variety. A man in a 
large wide-awake, with a cock's feather in it, a 
blue frockcoat, with a red sash and a pair of cot- 
ton trowsers thrust into his boots, came out of 
Griswold's hotel with a sword under his arm, 
and an article, which might have been a napkin 
of long service, in one hand. He waved the ar- 
ticle enthusiastically, swaying to and fro on his 
legs, and ejaculating " H'ra for Jeff Dav's — H'ra 
for S'thern E'r'rights !" and tottered over to the 
carriage through the crowd amid the violent vi- 
bration of all the ladies' handkerchiefs in the 
balcony. Just as lie got into the train, a man 
in uniform dashed after him, and caught him by 
the elbow, exclaiming, "Them's not the cars, 
General! The cars this way. General !" The 
military dignitaiy, however, felt that if he per., 
mitted such liberties in the hour of victory he 
was degraded for ever, so, screwing up his lips 
and looking grave and grand, he proceeded as 

follows: "Sergeant, you go be . I say 

these are my cars ! They're all my cars ! I'll 

send them where I please — to if I like, sir. 

They shall go where I please — to New York, 
sir, or New Orleans, sir ! And sir, I'll ar- 
rest you." This famous idea distracted the Gen- 
eral's attention from his project of entering the 
train, and muttering, "I'll arrest you," he tack- 
ed backwards and forwards to the hotel again. 

As the train started on its journey, there was 
renewed yelling, which split the ear — a savage 
cry many notes higher than the most ringing 
cheer. At the wayside inn, where we dined — 
piece de resistance being pig — the attendants, 
comely, well-dressed, clean negresses, were slaves 
— "worth a thousand dollars each." I am not 
favourably impressed by either the food or the 
mode of living, or the manners of the company. 
One man made very coarse jokes about "Abe 
Lincoln" and "negro wenches," which nothing 
but extreme party passion and bad taste could 
tolerate. Several of the passengers had been 
clerks in Government offices at Washington, and 
had been dismissed because they would not take 
the oath of allegiance. They were hurrying off 
full of zeal and patriotism to tender their serv- 
ices to the Montgomery Government. 

***** 

I had been the object of many attentions and 
civilities from gentlemen in the train during my 



42 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



journey. One of them, who told me he was a 
municipal dignitary of Weldon, having exhaust- 
ed all the inducements that he could think of to 
induce me to spend some time there, at last, in 
desperation, said he would be happy to show me 
"the antiquities of the place." Weldon is a re- 
cent uprising in wood and log houses from the 
swamps, and it would puzzle the archaeologists 
of the world to find anything antique about it. 

At nightfall the train stojqied at Wilmington, 
and I was shot out on a platform under a shed, 
to do the best I could. In a long, lofty, and 
comfortless room, like a barn, which abutted on 
the platform, there was a table covered with a 
dirty cloth, on which lay little dishes of pickles, 
fish, meat, and potatoes, at which were seated 
some of our fellow-passengers. The equality of 
all men is painfully illustrated when your neigh- 
bour at table eats v/ith his knife, dips the end of 
it into the salt, and disregards the object and end 
of napkins. But it is carried to a more disa- 
greeable extent when it is held to mean that any 
man who comes to an inn has a right to share 
your bed. I asked for a room, but I was told 
that there were so many people moving about 
just now that it was not possible to give me one 
to myself; but at last I made a bargain for ex- 
clusive possession. When the next train came 
in, however, the woman very coolly inquired 
whether I had any objection to allow a passen- 
ger to divide my bed, and seemed very much dis- 
pleased at my refusal ; and I perceived three 
big-bearded men snoring asleep in one bed in 
the next room to me as I passed through the 
passage to the dining-room. 

The "artist" Moses, who had gone with my 
letter to the post, returned, after a long absence, 
pale and agitated. He said he had been pounced 
upon by the Vigilance Committee, who were 
rather drunk, and verj' inquisitive. They were 
haunting the precincts of the Post-ofiice and 
the railway station, to detect Lincolnites and 
Abolitionists, and were obliged to keep them- 
selves wide awake by frequent visits to the ad- 
jacent bars, and he had with difficulty dissuaded 
them from paying me a visit. They cross-ex- 
amined him respecting my opinion of secession, 
and desired to have an audience M'ith me in or- 
der to give me any information which might be 
required. I cannot say what reply was given 
to their questioning ; but I certainly refused to 
have any interview with the Vigilance Commit- 
tee of Wilmington, and was glad they did not 
disturb me. Rest, however, there was little or 
none. I might have as well slept on the plat- 
form of the railway station outside. Trains 
coming in and going out shook the room and 
the bed on which I lay, and engines snorted, 
puffed, roared, whistled, and rang bells close to 
my keyhole. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Sketches round Wilmington — Public opinion — Approach 
to Charleston and Fprt Sumter — Introduction to Gen- 
eral Beauregard — Ex-Governor Manning — Conversa- 
tion on the chances of the war — " King Cotton" and 
England — Visit to Fort Sumter — Market-place at 
Charleston. 

Early next morning, soon after dawn, I 
crossed the Cape Fear River, on which Wil- 
mington is situated, by a steam ferry-boat. On 



the quay lay quantities of shot and shell. " How 
came these here?" I inquired. "They're aUti- 
abolition pills," said my neighbour ; " they've 
been waiting here for two months back, but 
now that Sumter's taken, I guess they won't be 
M-anted." To my mind, the conclusion was by 
no means legitimate. From the small glance I 
had of Wilmington, with its fleet of schooners 
and brigs crowding the broad and rapid river, I 
should think it was a thriving place. Confed- 
erate flags waved over the public buildings, and 
I was informed that the Forts had been seized 
without opposition or difficulty. I can see i o 
sign here of the "afi'ection to the Union," which, 
according to Mr. Seward, underlies all "seces- 
sion proclivities." 

As we traversed the flat and uninteresting 
country, through which the rail passes. Confed- 
erate flags and sentiments greeted us eveiy- 
where; men and women repeated the national 
cry ; at every station militia men and volun- 
teers were Avaiting for the train, and the ever- 
lasting word " Sumter"' ran through all the con- 
versation in the cars. 

The Carolinians are capable of turning out a 
fair force of cavalr}'. At each stopping-place I 
observed saddle-horses tethered under the trees, 
and light driving vehicles, drawn by wiry mus- 
cular animals, not remarkable for size, but 
strong-looking and active. Some farmers in 
bluejackets, and yellow braid and facings, hand- 
ed round their swords to be admired by the com- 
pany. A few blades had flashed in obscure 
Mexican skirmislies — one, however, had been 
borne against "the Britishers." I inquired of 
a fine, tall, fair-haired young fellow whom they 
expected to fight. "That's more than I can 
tell,'' quoth he. " The Yankees ain't such 
cussed fools as to think they can come here and 
whip us, let alone the British." "Why, what 
have the British got to do with it?" "They 
are bound to take our part : if they don't, we'll 
just give them a hint about cotton, and that will 
set matters right." This was said very much 
with the air of a man who knows what he is 
talking about, and who was quite satisfied " he 
had you there." I found it was still displeasing 
to most people, particularly one or two of the 
fair sex, that more Yankees were not killed at 
Sumter. All the people who addressed me pre- 
fixed my name, which they soon found out, by 
"Major" or "Colonel" — "Captain" is very 
low, almost indicative of contempt. The con- 
ductor who took our tickets was called "Cap- 
tain." 

At the Peedee river the rail is carried over 
marsh and stream on trestle work for two miles. 
"This is the kind of country we'll catch the 
Yankees in, if they come to invade us. They'll 
have some pretty tall swimming, and get knock- 
ed on the head, if ever they gets to land. I 
wish there was ten thousand of the cusses in it 
this minute." At Nichol's station on the fron- 
tiers of South Carolina, our baggage was regu- 
larly examined at the Custom House, but I did 
not see any one pay duties. As the train ap- 
proached the level and marshy land near Charles- 
ton, the square block of Fort Sumter was seen 
rising above the water with the "stars and bars" 
flying over it, and the spectacle created great 
enthusiasm among the passengers. The smoke 
was still rising from an angle of the walls. Out- 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



43 



side the village-like suburbs of the city a regi- 
ment was marching for old Virginny amid the 
cheeis of the people — cavalry were picketed in 
the fields and gardens — tents and men were vis- 
ible in the byways. 

It was nearly dark when we reached the sta- 
tion. I was recommended to go to the Mills 
House, and on arriving tiiere found Mr. Ward, 
whom I had already met in New York and 
Washington, and who gave me an account of 
the bombardment and surrender of the fort. 
The hotel was full of notabilities. I was intro- 
duced to ex-Governor Manning, Senator Ches- 
nut, Hon. Porcher Miles, on the staff of General 
Beauregard, and to Colonel Lucas, aide-de-camp 
to Governor Pickens. I was taken after dinner 
and introduced to General Beauregard, -who was 
engaged, late as it was, in his room at the Head 
Quarters writing despatches. The General is 
a small, compact man, about thirty-six years of 
age, with a quick and intelligent eye and ac- 
tion, and a good deal of the Frenchman in his 
manner and look. He received me in the most 
cordial manner, and introduced me to his en- 
gineer oflScer, Major Whiting, whom he assigned 
to lead me over the works next day. 

After some general conversation I took my 
leave ; but befure I went, the General said, 
♦'You shall go everywhere and see everything; 
we rely on your discretion, and knowledge of 
what is fair in dealing with what you see. Of 
course you don't expect to find regular soldiers 
in our camps, or very scientific works." I an- 
swered the General, that he might rely on my 
making no improper use of what I saw in this 
country, but, "unless you tell me to the contra- 
ry, I shall write an account of all I see to the 
other side of the water, and if, when it comes 
back, there are things you would rather not have 
known, you must not blame me." He smiled, 
and said, "I dare say we'U have great change? 
by that time." 

That night I sat in the Charleston club with 
John Manning. Who that has ever met him 
can be indifferent to the charms of manner and 
of personal appearance, which render the ex- 
Governor of the State so attractive? There 
were others present, senators or congressmen, 
like Mr. Chesnut, and Mr. Porcher Miles. We 
talked long, and at last angrily, as might be be- 
tween friends, of political affairs. 

I own it was a little irritating to me to hear 
men indulge in extravagant broad menace and 
rhodomontade, such as came from their lips. 
"They Avould welcome the world in arms with 
hospitable hands to bloody graves." "They 
never could be conquered." "Creation could 
not do it," and so on. I was obliged to handle 
the question quietly at first — to ask them ' ' if 
they admitted the French were a brave and war- 
like people ?" " Yes, certainly." " Do you think 
you could better defend j-ourselves against inva- 
sion than the people of France?" "Well, no; 
but we'd make it a pretty hard business for the 
Yankees." " Suppose the Yankees, as you call 
them, come with such preponderance of men and 
materiel, that they are three to your one, will you 
not be forced to submit?" "Never." "Then 
either you are braver, better disciplined, more 
warlike than the people and soldiers of France, 
or you alone, of all the nations in the world, 
possess the means of resisting physical laws 



which prevail in war, as in other affairs of life." 
"No. The Yankees are cowardly rascals. We 
have proved it by kicking and cuffing them till 
we are tired of it ; besides, we know John Bull 
very well. He will make a great fuss about 
non-interference at first, but when he begins to 
want cotton he'll come off his perch." 1 found 
this was the fixed idea everywhere. The doc- 
trine of "cotton is king," — to us who have not 
much considered the question a grievous delu- 
sion or an unmeaning babble — to them is a live- 
ly all-powerful faith witliout distracting heresies 
or schisms. They have in it enunciated their 
full belief, and indeed there is some truth in it, 
in so far as we year after year, by the stimulants 
of coal, capital, and machinery, have been work- 
ing up a manufacture on which four or five mil- 
lions of our population depend for bread and life, 
which cannot be carried on without the assist- 
ance of a nation, that may at any time refuse us 
an adequate supply, or be cut off from giving it 
by war. 

Political economy, we are well aware, is a fine 
science, but its followers are capable of tremen- 
dous absurdities in practice. 'I'he dependence 
of such a large proportion of the English people 
on this sole article of American cotton is fraught 
with the utmost danger to our honour and to our 
prosperity. Here were these Southern gentle- 
men exulting in their power to control the policy 
of Great Britain, and it was small consolation to 
me to assure them they were mistaken ; in case 
we did not act as they anticipated, it could not 
be denied Great Britain would plunge an im- 
mense proportion of her people — a nation of 
manufacturers — into pauperism, which must 
leave them dependent on the national funds, or 
more properly on the property and accumulated 
capital of the district. 

About 8.30 P.M., a deep bell began to toll. 
"What is that?" "It's for all the coloured 
people to clear out of the streets and go home. 
The guards will arrest any who are found out 
without passes in half an hour." There was 
much noise in the streets, drums beating, men 
cheering, and marching, and the hotel is cram- 
med full with soldiers. 

April \lth. — The streets of Charleston present 
some such aspect as those of Paris in the last revo- 
lution. Crowds of armed men singing and prom- 
enading the streets. The battle-blood running 
through their veins — that hot oxygen which is 
called "the flush of victory" on the cheek; res- 
taurants full, revelling in bar-rooms, club-rooms 
crowded, orgies and carousings in tavern or pri- 
vate house, in tap-room, from cabaret — down 
narrow alleys, in the broad highway. Sumter 
has set them distraught ; never was such a vic- 
tory ; never such brave lads ; never such a fight. 
There are pamphlets already full of the incident. 
It is a bloodless Waterloo or Solferino. 

After breakfast I went down to the quay, with 
a party of the General's staff, to visit Fort Sum- 
ter. The senators and governors turned soldiers 
wore blue military caps, with "palmetto" trees 
embroidered thereon ; blue froekcoats, with up- 
right collars, and shoulder-straps edged with lace, 
and marke 1 ^^•ith two silver bars, to designate 
their rank of captain ; gilt buttons, with the pal- 
metto in relief; blue trowsers, with a gold-lace 
cord, and brass spurs — no straps. The day was 
sweltering, but a strong breeze blew in the bar- 



u 



MY DIAKY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



bour, and puffed the dust of Charleston, coating 
our clothes, and filling our eyes with powder. 
The streets were crowded with lanky lads, clank- 
ing spurs, and sabres, with awkward squads 
marching to and fro, with drummers beating 
calls, and ruffles, and points of war; around 
them groups of grinning negroes delighted with 
the glare and glitter, a holiday, and a new idea 
for them — secession flags waving out of all the 
windows— little Irish boys shouting out, "Battle 
of Fort Sumter ! New edishun !" — As we walked 
towards the quay, where the steamer was lying, 
numerous traces' of the unsettled state of men's 
minds broke out in the hurried conversations of 
the various friends who stopped to speak for a 
few moments. "Well, governor, the old Union 
is gone at last!" "Have you heard what Abe 
is going to do?" "I don't think Beauregard 
will have much more fighting for it. What do 
you think?" And so on. Our little Creole 
friend, by the bye, is popular beyond description. 
There are all kinds of doggerel rhymes in his 
honour — one with a refrain^ 

"With cannon and musket, with shell and petard, 
We salute the North with our Beau-regard"— 

is much in favour. 

We passed through the market, where the 
stalls are kept by fat negresses and old " unkeys." 
There is a sort "of vulture or buzzard here, much 
encouraged as scavengers, and — but all the world 
has heard of the Charleston vultures — so we will 
leave them to their garbage. Near the quay, 
where the steamer was lying, there is a very fine 
building in white marble, which attracted our 
notice. It was unfinished, and immense blocks 
of the glistening stone destined for its comple- 
tion lay on the ground. " What is that ?" I in- 
quired. "Why, it's a custom-house Uncle Sam 
was building for our benefit, but I don't think 
lie'll ever raise a cent for his treasury out of it." 
"Will you complete it?" " I should think not. 
We'll lay on few duties; and what we want is 
free-trade, and no duties at all, except for public 
purj50ses. The Yankees have plundered us with 
their custom-houses and duties long enough." 
An old gentleman here stopped us. "You will 
do me the greatest favour," he said to one of our 
party who knew him, "if you will get me some- 
thing to do for our glorious cause. Old as I am, 
I can carry a musket — not far, to be sure, but I 
can kill a Yankee if he comes near." When he 
had gone, my friend told me the speaker was a 
man of fortune, two of whose sons were in camp 
at Morris' Island, but that he was suspected of 
Union sentiments, as he had a Northern wife, 
and hence his extreme vehemence and devotion. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Sonthem volunteers— rnpopul.irity of the press — Charles- 
ton—Fort Sumter — Morris' Island — Anti-union enthu- 
siasm — Anecdote of Colonel Wigfall — Interior view of 
the fort— North versus South. 

There was a large crowd around the pier 
staring at the men in uniform on the boat, 
•which was filled with bales of goods, commis- 
sariat stores, trusses of hay, and hampers, sup- 
plies for the volunteer army on Morris' Island. 
I was amused by the names of the various corps, 
"Tigers," "Lions," "Scorpions," "Palmetto 
Eaglos," "Guards, "of Pickens, Sumter, Marion, 



and of various other denominations, painted on 
the boxes. The original formation of these vol- 
unteers is in companies, and they know nothing 
of battalions or regiments. The tendency in 
volunteer outbursts is sometimes to gratify the 
greatest vanity of the greatest number. These 
companies do not muster more than fifty or six- 
ty strong. Some were " dandies," and "swells," 
and affected to look down on their neighbours 
and comrades. Major Whiting told me there 
was difficulty in getting them to obey orders at 
first, as each man had an idea that he was as 
good an engineer as any body else, "and a good 
deal better, if it came to that." It was easy to 
perceive it was the old story of volunteer and 
regular in this little army. 

As we got on deck, the major saw a number 
of rough, long-haired-looking fellows in coarse 
gray tunics, with pewter buttons and worsted 
braid lying on the hay-bales smoking their ci- 
gars. "Gentlemen," quoth he, very courteous- 
ly, "you'll oblige me by not smoking over the 
hay. There's powder below." "I don'c be- 
lieve we're going to burn the hay this time, ker- 
nel," was the reply, "and anyway, we'll ]jut it 
out afore it reaches the 'bustibles," and they 
went on smoking. The major grumbled, and 
worse, and drew off. 

Among the passengers were some brethren of 
mine belonging to the New York and local pa- 
pers. I saw a short time afterward a descrip- 
tion of the trip by one of these gentlemen, in 
which he described it as an affair^ot up special- 
ly for himself, probably in order to avonge him- 
self on his military persecutors, for he had com- 
plained to me the evening before that the chief 
of General Beauregard's staff told him to go to 

, when he applied to head-quarters for some 

information. I found, from the tone and looks 
of my friends, that these literary gentlemen were 
received with great disfavour, and Major Whit- 
ing, who is a bibliomaniac, and has a very great 
liking for the best English writers, could not 
conceal his repugnance and antipathy to my un- 
fortunate confreres. " If I had my way, I would 
fling them into the water; but the General has 
given them orders to come on board. It is these 
fellows who have brought all this trouble on our 
countrj-." 

The traces of dislike of the freedom of the 
press, which I, to my astonishment, discovered 
in the North, are broader and deeper in the 
South, and they are not accompanied by the 
signs of dread of its power which exist in New 
York, where men speak of the chiefs of the most 
notorious journals very much as people in Italian 
cities of past time might have talked of the most 
infamous bravo or the chief of some band of 
assassins. Whiting comforted himself by the re- 
flection that they would soon have their fingers 
in a vice, and then pulling out a ragged little 
sheet, turned suddenly on the representative 
thereof, and proceeded to give the most unquali- 
fied contradiction to most of the statements con- 
tained in "the full and accurate particulars of 
the Bombardment and Fall of Fort Sumter," in 
the said journal, which the person in question 
listened to with becoming meekness and contri- 
tion. " If I knew who wrote it," said the major, 
" I'd make him eat it." 

I was presented to many judges, colonels, and 
others of the mass of society on board, and, ' ' aft- 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



45 



er compliments," as the Orientals say, I was gen- 
erally asked, in the first place, what I thought of 
the capture of Sumter, and in the second, what 
England would do when the news reached the 
other side. Already the Carolinians regard the 
Northern States as an alien and detested enemy, 
and entertain, or profess, an immense affection 
for Great Britain. 

When we had shipped all our passengers, nine- 
tenths of them in uniform, and a larger propor- 
tion engaged in chewing, the whistle blew, and 
the steamer sidled off from the quay into the yel- 
lowish muddy water of the Ashley River, which ^ 
is a creek from the sea, with a streamlet running*' 
into the head waters some distance up. 

The shore opposite Charleston is more than a 
mile distant, and is low and sandy, covered here 
and there with brilliant patches of vegetation, 
and long lines of trees. It is cut up with creeks, 
which divide it into islands, so that passages out 
to sea exist between some of them for light craft, 
though the navigation is perplexed and difiScult. 
The city lies on a spur or promontory between 
the Ashley and the Cooper rivers, and the land 
behind it is divided in the same manner by sim- 
ilar creeks, and is sandy and light, bearing, nev- 
ertheless, very fine crops, and trees of magnifi- 
cent vegetation. The steeples, the domes of pub- 
lic buildings, the rows of massive warehouses and 
cotton stores on the wharfs, and the bright colours 
of the houses, render the appearance of Charles- 
ton, as seen from the river front, rather impos- 
ing. From the mastheads of the few large ves- 
sels in harbour floated the Confederate flag. 
Looking to our right, the same standard was 
visible, waving on the low, white parapets of the 
earth-works which had been engaged in reducing 
Sumter. 

That much-talked-of fortress lay some two 
miles ahead of us now, rising up out of the water 
near the middle of the passage out to sea between 
James' Island and Sullivan's Island. It struck 
me at first as being like one of the smaller forts 
off Cronstadt, but a closer inspection very much 
diminished its importance ; the material is brick, 
not stone, and the size of the place is exaggera- 
ted by the low back ground, and by contrast with 
the sea-line. The l^.nd contracts on both sides 
opposite the fort, a projection of Morris' Island, 
called "Cumraing's Point," running out on the 
left. There is a similar promontory from Sulli- 
van's Island, on which is erected Fort Moultrie, 
on the right from the sea entrance. Castle Pinck- 
ney, which stands on a small island at the exit 
of the Cooper River, is a place of' no importance, 
and it was too far from Sumter to take any share 
in the bombardment : the same remarks apply to 
Fort Johnson on James' Island, on the right bank 
of the Ashley River below Charleston. The works 
which did the mischief were the batteries of sand 
on Morris' Island, at Cumming's Point, and Fort 
Moultrie. The floating battery, covered with 
railroad-iron, lay a long way off, and could not 
have contributed much to the result. 

As we approached Morris' Island, which is an 
accumulation of sand covered with mounds of 
the same material, on which there is a scanty veg- 
etation alternating with salt-water marshes, we 
could perceive a few tents in the distance among 
the sand-hills. The sand-bag batteries, and an 
ngly black parapet, with guns peering through 
port -holes as if from a ship's side, lay before us. 



Around them men were swarming like ants, and 
a crowd in uniform were gathered on the beach 
to receive us as we landed from the boat of the 
steamer, all eager for n^'ws, and provisions, and 
newspajiers, of wiiich an immense flight imme- 
diately fell upon them. A guard with bayonets 
crossed in a very odd sort of manner, prevented 
any unauthorised persons from landing. They 
wore the universal coarse gray jacket and trou- 
sers, with worsted braid and yellow facings, un- 
couth caps, lead buttons stamped with the pal- 
metto-tree. Their unbronzed firelocks were cov- 
ered with rust. The soldiers lounging about were 
mostly tall, well-grown men, young and old, some 
with the air of gentlemen ; others coarse, long- 
haired fellows, without any semblance of military 
bearing, but full of fight, and burning with enthu- 
siasm, not unaided, in some instances, by coarser 
stimulus. 

The day was exceedingly warm and unpleas- 
ant, the hot wind blew the fine white sand into 
our faces, and wafted it in minute clouds inside 
eyelids, nostrils, and clothing ; but it was neces» 
sary to visit the batteries, so on we trudged into 
one and out of another, walked up parapets, ex- 
amined profiles, looked along guns, and did ev- 
erything that could be required of us. The result 
of'the examination was to establish in my mind 
the conviction, that if the commander of Sumter 
had been allowed to open his guns on the island, 
the first time he saw an indication of throwing 
up a battery against him, he could have saved 
his fort. Moultrie, in its original state, on the 
opposite side, could have been readily demolished 
by Sumter. The design of the works was better 
than their execution — the sand-bags were rotten, 
the sand not properly rivetted or banked up, and 
the traverses imperfectly constructed. The bar- 
bette guns of the fort looked into many of the 
embrasures, and commanded them. 

The whole of the island was full of life and ex- 
citement. Officers were galloping about as if on 
a field-day or in action. Commissariat carts were 
toiling to and fro between the beach and the 
camps, and sounds of laughter and revelling came 
from the tents. These were pitched without or- 
der, and were of all shapes, hues, and sizes, many 
being disfigured by rude charcoal drawings out- 
side, and inscriptions such as "The Live Tigers," 
" Rattlesnake's-hole," "Yankee Smashers," &c. 
The vicinity of the camps was in an intolerable 
state, and on calling the attention of the medical 
officer who was with me, to the danger arising 
from such a condition of things, he said with a 
sigh, " I know it all. But we can do nothing. 
Remember they're all volunteers, and do just as 
they please." 

In every tent was hospitality, and a hearty wel- 
come to all comers. Cases of champagne and 
claret, French pates, and the like, were piled out- 
side the canvas walls, when there was no room 
for them inside. In the middle of these excited 
gatherings I felt like a man in the full posses- 
sion of his senses coming in late to a wine party. 
"Won't you drink with me, sir, to the— (some- 
thing awful)— of Lincoln and all Yankees?" 
" No ! if you'll be good enough to excuse me." 
"Well, I think you're the only Englishman who 
won't." Our Carolinians are very fine fellows, 
but a little given to the Bobadil style— hectoring 
after a cavalier fashion, which they fondly be- 
lieve to be theirs by hereditary right. They as- 



46 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



sume that the British crown rests on a cotton 
bale, as the Lord Chancellor sits on a pack of 
wool. 

In one long tent there -was a party of roystering 
young men, opening claret, and mixing "cup" 
in large buckets ; whilst others were helping the 
servants to set out a table for a banquet to one 
of their generals. Such heat, tobacco-smoke, 
clamour, toasts, drinking, hand-shaking, vows of 
friendship ! Many were the excuses made for the 
more demonstrative of the Edonian youths by 
their friends. " Tom is a little cut, sir ; but he's 
a splendid fellow — he's worth half a million of 
dollars." This reference to a money standard 
of value was not unusual or perhaps unnatural, 
but it was made repeatedly ; and I was told won- 
derful tales of the riches of men who were loung- 
ing round, dressed as privates, some of whom at 
that season, in years gone by, were looked for at 
the watering-places as the great lions of Ameri- 
can fashion. Bat Secession is the fashion here. 
Y'oung ladies sing for it ; old ladies pray for it ; 
young men are dying to fight for it ; old men are 
ready to demonstrate it. The founder of the 
school was St. Calhoun. Here his ])upils cany 
out their teaching in thunder and fire. States' 
Rights are displayed after its legitimate teaching, 
and the Palmetto flag and the red bars of the 
Confederacy are its exposition. The utter con- 
tempt and loathing for the venerated Stars and 
Stripes, the abhorrence of the very words United 
States, the intense hatred of the Yankee on the 
part of these people, cannot be conceived by any 
one who has not seen them. I am more satisfied 
than ever that the Union can never be restored 
as it was, and that it has gone to pieces, never to 
be put together again, in the old shape, at all 
events by any power on earth. 

After a long and tiresome promenade in the 
dust, heat, and fine sand, through the tents, our 
party returned to the beach, where we took boat, 
and pushed off for Fort Sumter. The Confed- 
erate flag rose above the walls. On near ap- 
proach the marks of the shot against the pain 
coiipi, and the embrasures near the salient were 
visible enough ; but the damage done to the hard 
brickwork was trifling, except at the angles : the 
edges of the parapets were ragged and pock- 
marked, and the quay wall was rifted here and 
there by shot ; but no" injury of a kind to render 
the work untenable could be made out. The 
greatest damage inflicted was, no doubt, the burn- 
ing of the barracks, which were culpably erected 
inside the fort, close to the flank wall facing 
Cumming's Point. 

As the boat touched the quay of the fort, a 
tall, powerful -looking man came through the 
shattered gateway, and with uneven steps strode 
over the rubbish towards a skiff which was wait- 
ing to receive him, and into whicli he jumped 
and rowed off. Recognising one of my compan- 
ions as he passed our boat, he suddenly stood up, 
and with a leap and a scramble tumbled in among 
us, to the imminent danger of upsetting the par- 
ty. Our new friend was dressed in the blue 
frockcoat of a civilian, round which he had tied 
a red silk sash — his waistbelt supported a straight 
sword, something like those worn with Court 
dress. His muscular neck was surrounded with 
a loosely-fastened silk handkerchief; and wild 
masses of black hair, tinged with grey, fell from 
under a civilian's hat over his collar; his un- 



strapped trousers were gathered up high on his 
legs, displaying ample boots, garnished with for- 
midable brass spurs. But his face was not one 
to be forgotten — a straight, broad brow, from 
which the hair rose up like the vegetation on a 
river bank, beetling black eyebrows — a mouth 
coarse and grim, yet full of power, a square jaw 
r-a thick argumentative nose — a new growth of 
scrubby beard and moustache — these were re- 
lieved by eyes of wonderful depth and light, such 
as I never saw before but in the head of a wild 
beast. If you look some day when the sun is 
not too bright into the eye of the Bengal tiger, 
in the Regent's Park, as the keeper is coming 
round, you will form some notion of the expres- 
sion I mean. It was flashing, fierce, yet calm — 
with a well of fire burning behind and spouting 
through it, an eye pitiless in anger, which now 
and then sought to conceal its expression beneath 
half-closed lids, and then burst out with an an- 
gry glare, as if disdaining concealment. 

This was none other than Louis T. Wigfall, 
Colonel (then of his own creation) in the Con- 
federate army, and Senator from Texas in the 
United States — a good type of the men whom 
the institutions of the country produce or throw- 
off — a remarkable man, noted for his ready, nat- 
ural eloquence ; his exceeding ability as a quick, 
bitter debater; the acerbity of his taunts; and 
his readiness for personal encounter. To the 
last he stood in his place in the Senate at Wash- 
ington, when nearly every other Southern man 
had seceded, lashing with a venomous and in- 
stant tongue, and covering with insults, ridicule, 
and abuse, such men as Mr. Chandler, of Michi- 
gan, and other Republicans: never missing a 
sitting of the House, and seeking out adversaries 
in the bar rooms or the gambling tables. The 
other day, when the fire against Sumter was at 
its height, and the fort, in flames, was reduced 
almost to silence, a small boat put ott' from the 
shore, and steered through the shot and the 
splashing waters right for the w-alls. It bore 
the colonel and a negro oarsman. Holding up 
a white handkerchief on the end of his sword, 
Wigfall landed on the quay, clambered through 
an embrasure, and presented himself before the 
astonished Federals with a proposal to surren- 
der, quite unauthorized, and "on his own hook," 
which led to the final capitulation of Major An- 
derson. 

I am sorry to say, our distinguished friend had 
just been paying his respects sans homes to Bac- 
chus or Bourbon, for he was decidedly unsteady 
in his gait and thick in speech ; but his head was 
quite clear, and he was determined I should know 
all about his exploit. Major Whiting desired to 
show me round the work, but he had no chance. 
"Hei-e is where I got in," quoth Colonel Wig- 
fall. " I found a Yankee standing here by the 
traverse, out of the way of our shot. He was 
pretty well scared when he saw me, but I told 
him not to be alanned, but to take me to the of- 
ficers. There they were, huddled up in that cor- 
ner behind the brickwork, for our shells were 
tumbling into the yard, and bursting like—" &c. 
(The Colonel used strong illustrations and strange 
expletives in narrative.) Major Whiting shook 
his military head, and said something uncivil to 
me, in private, in reference to volunteer colonels 
and the like, which gave him relief; whilst the 
mai-tial Senator— I forgot to say that he has the 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



47 



name, particularly in the North, of having killed 
more than half a dozen men in duels — (I had an 
escape of being another) — conducted me through 
the casemates with uneven steps, stopping at ev- 
ery traverse to expatiate on some phase of his 
personal experiences, with his sword dangling 
between his legs, and spurs involved in rubbish 
and soldiere' blankets. 

In my letter I described the real extent of the 
damage inflicted, and the state of the fort as I 
found it. At first the batteries thrown up by 
the Carolinians were so poor, that the United 
States' officers in the fort were mightily amused 
at them, and anticipated easy work in enfilading, 
ricocheting, and battering them to pieces, if they 
ever dared to open fire. One morning, howev- 
er. Captain Foster, to whom really belongs the 
credit of putting Sumter into a tolerable condi- 
tion of defence with the most limited means, was 
unpleasantly surprised by seeing through his glass 
a new work" in the best possible situation for at- 
tacking the place, growing up under tlie strenu- 
ous labours of a band of negroes. "I knew at 
once," he said, "the rascals had got an engineer 
at last." In fact, the Carolinians were actually 
talking of an escalade when the officers of the 
regular army, who had "seceded," came down 
and took the direction of affairs, which otherwise 
might have had very different results. 

There was a working party of Volunteers 
clearing away the rubbish in the place. It was 
evident they were not accustomed to labour. 
And on my asking why negroes were not em- 
ployed, I was informed: "The niggers would 
blow us all up, they're so stupid ; and the State 
would have to pay the owners for any of them 
who were killed and injured." " In one respect, 
then, white men are not so valuable as negroes ?" 
"Yes, sir, — that's a fact." 

Very few shell craters were visible in the terre- 
plein ; the military mischief, such as it was, 
showed most conspicuously on the parapet plat- 
form, over which shells had been burst as heav- 
ily as could be, to prevent the manning of the 
barbette guns. A very small affair, indeed, that 
shelling of Fort Sumter. And yet who can tell 
what may arise from it? "Well, sir," exclaim- 
ed one of my companions, " I thank God for it, 
if it's only because we are beginning to have a 
history for Europe. The universal Yankee na- 
tion swallowed us up." 

Never did men jilunge into unknown depth of 
peril and trouble more recklessly than these Cai-- 
olinians. They fling themselves against the 
grim, black future, as the cavaliers under Rupert 
may have rushed agaiugt the grim, black Iron- 
sides. Will they carry the image farther ? 
Well ! The exploration of Sumter was finished 
at last, not till we had visited the officers of the 
garrison, who lived in a windowless, shattered 
room, reached by a crumbling staircase, and who 
produced whiskey and crackers, many pleasant 
stories and boundless welcome. One young fel- 
low grumbled about pay. He said: "I have 
not received a cent since I came to Charleston 
for this business." But Major Whiting, some 
days afterwards, told me he had not got a dollar 
on account of his pay, though on leaving the 
United States' army he had abandoned nearly 
all his means of subsistence. These gentlemen 
were quite satisfied it would all be right eventu- 
ally ; and no one questioned the power or incli- 



nation of the Government, which had just been 
inaugurated under such strange auspices, to per- 
petuate its principles and reward its servants. 

After a time our party went down to the boats, 
in which we were rowed to the steamer that lay 
waiting for us at Morris' Island. The original 
intention of the officers was to carry us over to 
Fort Moultrie, on the opposite side of the Chan- 
nel, and to examine it and the floating iron bat- 
tery ; but it was too late to do so when we got 
off, and the steamer only ran across and swept 
around homewards by the other shore. Below, 
in the cabin, there was spread a lunch or quasi 
dinner ; and the party of Senators, past and 
present, aides-de-camp, journalists, and flaneurs, 
were not indisposed to join it. For me there 
was only one circumstance which marred the 
pleasure of that agreeable reunion. Colonel and 
Senator Wigfall, who had not sobered himself 
by drinking deeply, in the plenitude of his ex- 
ultation alluded to the assault on Senator Sum- 
ner as a type of the manner in which the South- 
erners would deal with the Northerners general- 
ly, and cited it as a good exemplification of the 
fashion in which they would bear their "whip- 
ping." Thence, by a natural digression, he ad- 
verted to the inevitable consequences of the mag- 
nificent outburst of Southern indignation against 
the Yankees on all the nations of the world, and 
to the immediate action of England in the matter 
as soon as the news came. Suddenly reverting 
to Mr. Sumner, whose name he loaded with ob- 
loquy, he spoke of Lord Lyons in terms so coarse, 
that," forgetting the condition of the speaker, I 
resented the language applied to the English 
Minister in a very unmistakeable manner ; and 
then rose and left the cabin. In a moment I 
was followed on deck by Senator Wigfall : his 
manner much calmer, his hair brushed back, his 
eye sparkling. There was nothing left to be de- 
sired, in his apologies, which were repeated and 
energetic. We were joined by Mr. Manning, 
Major Whiting, and Senator Chesnut, and oth- 
ers, to whom I expressed my complete content- 
ment with Mr. Wigfall's explanations. An,d so 
we returned to Charleston. The Colonel and 
Senator, however, did not desist from his atten- 
tions to the good — or bad — things below. It 
was a strange scene — these men, hot and red- 
handed in rebellion, with their lives on the cast, 
trifling and jesting, and carousing as if they had 
no care on earth — all excepting the gentlemen 
of the local press, who were assidtious in note 
and food taking. It was near nightfall before 
we set foot on the quay of Charleston. The city 
was indicated by the blaze of lights, and by the 
continual roll of drums, and the noisy music, 
and the yelling cheers which rose above its 
streets. As I walked towards the hotel, the 
evening drove of negroes, male and female, shuf- 
fling through the streets in all haste, in order to 
escape the patrol and the last peal of the curfew 
bell, swept by me ; and as I passed the guard- 
house of the police, one of my friends pointed 
out the armed sentries pacing up and down be- 
fore the porch, and the gleam of arms in the 
room inside. Further on, a squad of mounted 
horsemen, heavily armed, turned up a bye-street, 
and with jingling spurs and sabres disappeared 
in the dust and darkness. That is the horse 
patrol. They scour the country around the city, 
and meet at certain places during the night to 



48 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



see if the niggers are all right. Ah, Fuscus ! 
these are signs of trouble. 

" Integer vitse, scelerjsque purua 
Non eget Mauri jaculis ne^iue arcu, 
Nee venenatis gravida sagittis, 
Fusee, pharetra." 
But Fuscus is going to his club ; a kindly, pleas- 
ant, chatty, card -playing, cocktail -consuming 
place. Pie nods proudly to an old white-wooled 
negro steward or head-waiter — a slave — as a 
proof which I cannot accept, with the curfew toll- 
ing in my ears, of the excellencies of the domes- 
tic institution. The club was filled with officers , 
one of them, Mr. Ransome Calhoun,* asked me 
what was the object which most struck me at 
Morris' Island ; I tell him — as was indeed the 
case — that it was a letter-copying machine, a 
case of official stationery, and a box of Red Tape, 
lying on the beach, just landed and ready to 
grow with the strength of the young independ- 
ence. 

But listen! There is a great tumult, as of 
many voices coming up the street, heralded by 
blasts of music. It is a speech-making from the 
front of the hotel. Such an agitated, lively mul- 
titude! How they cheer the pale, frantic man, 
limber and dark-haired, with uplifted arms and 
clenched fists, who is perorating on the balcony ! 
"What did he say?" "Who is he?" "Why 
it's he again!" "That's Roger Pryor — he says 
that if them Yankee trash don't listen to reason, 
and stand from under, we'll march to the North 
and dictate the terms of peace in Faneuil Hall! 
Yes, sir — and so we will, certa-i-n su-re !" "No 
matter, for all that ; we have shown we can whip 
the Yankees whenever we meet them — at Wash- 
ington or down here." How much I heard of 
all this to-day — how much more this evening! 
The hotel as noisy as ever — more men in uni- 
form arriving every few minutes, and the hall 
and passages crowded with tall, good-looking 
Carolinians. ' 



CHAPTER XV. 

Slav? s, their mastere and mistresses — Hotels — Attempted 
boat-journey to Fort Sloultrie — Excitement at Charles- 
ton against New York — Preparations for War — General 
Beauregard— Southern opinion as to the policy of the 
North, and estimate of the effect of the war on England, 
through the cotton market — Aristocratic feeling in the 
South. 

'April IStk. — It is as though we woke up in a 
barrack. No ! There is the distinction, that in 
the passages slaves are moving up and down with 
cups of iced milk or water for their mistresses in 
the early morning, cleanly dressed, neatly clad, 
with the conceptions of Parisian millinery adum- 
brated to their condition, and transmitted by the 
white race, hovering round their heads and bod- 
ies. They sit outside the doors, and chatter in 
the passages ; and as the Irish waiter brings in 
my hot water for shaving, ^here is that odd, 
round, oily, half-strangled, chuckling, gobble of 
a laugh peculiar to the female Ethiop, coming 
in through the doorway. 

Later in the day, their mistresses sail out from 
the inner harbours, and launch all their sails 
along the passages, down the stairs, and into the 
long, hot, fluffy salle-a-manger, where, blackened 
with flies which dispute the viands, they take 
their tremendous meals. They are pale, pretty, 



* Since killed in a duel hy Mr. Khett. 



svelte — ^just as I was about to say they were rath- 
er small, there rises before me the recollection 
of one Titanic dame — a Carolinian Juno, with 
two lovely peacock daughters — and I refrain 
from generalising. Exceedingly proud these la- 
dies are said to be — for a generation or two of 
family suffice in this new country, if properly 
supported by the possession of negroes and acres, 
to give pride of birth, and all the grandeur which 
is derived from raising raw produce, cereals, and 
cotton — sua terra. Their enemies say that the 
grandfathers of some of these noble people were 
mere pirates and smugglers, who dealt in a cav- 
alier fashion with the laws and with the flotsam 
and jetsam of fortune on the seas and reefs here- 
abouts. Cotton suddenly — almost unnaturally, 
as far as the ordinary laws of commerce are 
concerned, grew up whilst land was cheap, and 
slaves were of moderate price — the pirates, and 
piratesses had control of both, and in a night the 
gourd swelled and grew to a prodigious size. 
These are Northern stories. What the South- 
erners say of their countrymen and women in 
the upper part of this "blessed Union" I have 
written for the edification of people at home. 

The tables in the eating-room are disposed in 
long rows, or detached so as to suit private par- 
ties. When I was coming down to Charleston, 
one of my fellow-passengers told me he was 
quite shocked the first time he saw white people 
acting as servants ; but no such scruples existed 
in the Mills House, for the waiters were all Irish, 
except one or two Germans. The carte is mucli 
the same at all American hotels, the variations 
depending on local luxuries or tastes. Marvel- 
lous exceedingly is it to see the quantities of but- 
ter, treacle, and farinaceous matters prepared in 
the heaviest form — of fish, of many meats, of 
eggs scrambled or scarred or otherwise prepared, 
of iced milk and water, which an American will 
consume in a few minutes in the mornings. 
There is, positively, no rest at these meals — no 
repose. The guests are ever passing in and out 
of the room, chairs are for ever pushed to and 
fro with a harsh grating noise that sets the teeth 
on edge, and there is a continual clatter of ])lates 
and metal. Every man is reading his paper, or 
discussing the news with his neighbour. I was 
introduced to a vast number of people and was 
asked many questions respecting my views of 
Sumter, or what I thought " old Abe and Sew- 
ard would do ?" The proclamation calling out 
75,000 men issued by said old Abe, they treat 
with the most profound contempt or unsparing 
ridicule, as the case may be. Five out of six of 
the men at table wore uniforms this morning. 

Having made the acquaintance of several war- 
riors, as well as that of a Russian gentleman, 
Baron Sternberg, who .was engaged in looking 
about him in Charleston, and was, like most for- 
eigners, impressed with the conviction that actnm 
este de Eepublica, I went out with Major Whit- 
ing* and Mr. Ward, the former of whom Mas 
anxious to show to me Fort Moultrie and the 
left side of the Channel, in continuation of my 
trip yesterday. It was arranged that we should 
go off as quietly as possible, "so as to prevent 
the newspapers knowing anything about it." 
The major has a great dislike to the gentlemen 
of the press, and Genei-al Beauregard had sent 



• Now Confederate General. 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



49 



orders for the staff-boat to be prepared, so as to 
be quiet and private, but the fates were against 
lis. On going down to the quay, we learned 
that a gentleman had come down with an officer 
and gone off in our skiff, the boat-keepers believ- 
ing they were the persons for whom it was in- 
tended. In fact, our Russian friend. Baron 
Sternberg, had stolen a march upon us. 

After a time, the major succeeded in securing 
the services of the very smallest, most untrust- 
worthy, and ridiculous-looking craft ever seen by 
mortal eyes. If Charon had put a two-horse 
power engine into his skiff, it might liave borne 
some resemblance to this egregious cymbalus, 
which had once been a flat-bottomed, open deck- 
ed cutter or galley, into the midst of which the 
owner had forced a small engine and paddle- 
wheels, and at the stern had erected a roofed 
caboose, or oblong pantry, sacred to oil-cans and 
cockroaches. The crew consisted of the first cap- 
tain and the second captain, a lad of tender years, 
and that was all. Into the pantry we scrambled, 
and sat down knee to knee, whilst the engine 
was getting up its steam : a very obstinate and 
anti-caloric little engine it was — puffing and 
squeaking, leaking, and distilling drops of water, 
and driving out blasts of steam in imexpected 
places. 

As long as we lay at the quay all was right. 
The major was supremely happy, for he could 
talk about Thackeray and his writings — a theme 
of which he never tired — nay, on which his en- 
thusiasm reached the height of devotional fer- 
vour. Did I ever know any one like Major Pen- 
dennis? Was it known who Becky Sharp was? 
Who was the O' Mulligan ? These questions were 
mere hooks on which to hang rhapsodies and de- 
lighted dissertation. He might have got down 
as far as Pendennis himself, when a lively swash 
of water flying over the preposterous little gun- 
wales, and dashing over our boots into the cabin, 
announced that our bark was under weigh. 
There is, we were told, for several months in the 
year, a brisk breeze from the southward and east- 
ward in and oft' Charleston Harbour, and there 
was to-day a small joggle in the water which 
would not have aftected anything floating except 
our steamer ; but as we proceeded down the nar- 
row channel by Castle Pinckney, the little boat 
rolled as if she would capsize every moment, and 
made no pretence at doing more than a mile an 
hour at her best ; and it became evident that our 
voyage would be neither pleasant, prosperous, nor 
speedy. Still the major went on between the 
lurches, and drew his feet up out of the water, 
in order to have "a quiet chat," as he said, 
"about my favourite author." My companion 
and myself could not condense ourselves or fore- 
shorten our nether limbs quite so deftly. 

Standing out from the shelter towards Sumter, 
the sea came rolling on our beam, making the 
miserable crafc oscillate as if some great hand 
had caught her by the funnel — Yankeeice, smoke- 
stack — and was rolling her backwards and for- 
wards, as a preliminarv to a final keel oyer. The 
water came in plentifully, and the cabin was 
flooded with a small sea : the latter partook of 
the lively character of the external fluid, and 
made violent efforts to get overboard to join it, 
which generally were counteracted by the better 
sustained and directed attempts of the external 
to get inside. The captain seemed very unhap- 
D 



py ; the rest of the crew — our steerer — had dis- 
covered that the steamer would not steer at all, 
and that we were rolling like a log on the water. 
Certainly neither Pinckney, nor Sumter, nor 
Moultrie altered their relative bearings and dis- 
tances towards us for half an hour or so, though 
they bobbed up and down continuously. "But 
it is," said the major, "in the character of Col- 
onel Newcome that Thackeray has, in my ojnn- 
ion, exhibited the greatest amount of power ; the 

tenderness, simplicity, love, manliness, and " 

Here a walloping muddy gr6en wave came "all 
aboai'd," and the cymbalus gave decided indica- 
tions of turning turtle. We were wet and mis- 
erable, and two hours or more had now passed 
in making a couple of miles. The tide was set. 
ting more strongly against us, and just oft' Moul- 
trie, in the tideway between its walls and Sum- 
ter, could be seen the heads of the sea-horses un- 
pleasantly crested. I know not what of eloquent 
disquisition I lost, for the major was evidently in 
his finest moment and on his best subject, but I 
ventured to suggest that we should bout ship and 
return — and thus aroused him to a sense of his 
situation. And so we wore round — a very deli- 
cate operation, which, by judicious management 
in getting side bumps of the sea at favourable 
moments, we were enabled to effect in some fif- 
teen or twenty minutes ; and then we became so 
parboiled by the heat from the engine, that con- 
versation was impossible. 

How glad we were to land once more I need 
not say. As I gave the captain a small votive 
tablet "of metal, he said, "I'm thinkin' it's very 
well yes turned back. Av we'd gone any fur- 
ther, devil aback ever we'd have come. " ' ' Why 
didn't you say so before?" "Sure I didn't like 
to spoil the trip." My gifted countryman and I 

parted to meet no more. 

K * * * * * 

Second and third editions and extras ! News 
of Secession meetings and of Union meetings ! 
Every one is filled with indignation against the 
city of New York, on account of the way in which 
the news of the reduction of Fort Sumter has 
been received there. New England has acted 
just as was expected, but better things were an- 
ticipated on the part of the Empire city. There 
is no sign of shrinking from a contest : on the 
contrary, the Carolinians are full of eagerness to 
test their force in the field. "Let them come I" 
is their boastful mot dordre. 

The anger which is reported to exist in the 
North only adds to the fury and animosity of the 
Carolinians. They are determined now to act 
on their sovereign rights as a state, cost what it 
may, and uphold the ordinance of secession. 
The answers of several State Governors to Pres- 
ident Lincoln's demand for troops have delight- 
ed our friends. Beriah Magoffin, of Kentucky, 
declares he won't give any men for such a wick- 
ed purpose ; and another gubernatorial digni- 
tary laconically replied to the demand for so 
many thousand soldiers, "Nary one." Letcher, 
Governor of Virginia, has also sent a refusal. 
From the North comes news of mass-meetings, 
of hauling down Secession colours, mobbing Se- 
cession papers, of military bodies turning out, 
banks subscribing and lending. 

Jefferson Davis has met President Lincoln's 
proclamation by a counter manifesto, issuing let- 
ters of marque and reprisal — on all sides prep- 



50 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



arations for war. The Southern agents are buy- 
ing steamers, but thev fear the Northern states 
will use their navy to enforce a blockade, which 
is much dreaded, as it will cut off supplies and 
injure the commerce, on which they so much de- 
pend. Assuredly Mr. Seward cannot know any- 
thing of the feeling of the South, or he would not 
be so confident as he was that all would blovy 
over, and that the states, deprived of the cai*e and 
fostering influences of the general Government, 
would get tired of their Secession ordinances, 
and of their experiment to maintain a national 
life, so that the United States will be re-estab- 
lished before long. 

I went over and saw General Beauregard at 
his quarters. He was busy with papers, order- 
lies, and despatches, and the outer room was 
.crowded with officers. His present task, he told 
me, was to put Sumter in a state of defence, and 
to disarm the works bearing on it, so as to get 
their fire directed on the harbour approaches, 
as "the North in its madness" might attempt a 
naval attack on Charleston. His manner of 
transacting business is clear and rapid. Two 
vases filled with flowers on his table, flanking 
his maps and plans ; and a little hand bouquet 
of roses, geraniums, and scented flowers lay on 
a letter which he was writing as I came in, by 
way of paper weight. He offered me every as- 
sistance and facility, relying, of course, on my 
strict observance of a neutral's duty. I remind- 
ed him once more, that as the representative of 
an English journal, it would be my duty to write 
freely to England respecting what I saw ; and 
that I must not be held accountable if, on the re- 
turn of my letters to America, a month after thej'^ 
were written, it was found they contained in- 
formation to which circumstances might attach 
an objectionable qharacter. The General said, 
"I quite understand you. We niust take our 
chance of that, and leave you to exercise your 
discretion." 

In the evening I dined with our excellent Con- 
sul, Mr. Bunch, who had a small and very agree- 
able party to tncet me. One very venerable old 
gentleman, named Huger (pronounced as Hu- 
gee), was particularly interesting in appearance 
and conversation. He formerly held some offi- 
cial appointment under the Federal Government, 
but had gone out with his state, and had been 
confirmed in his appointment by the Confederate 
Government. Still he was not happy at the 
prospect before him or his country. "I have 
lived too long," he exclaimed ; "I should have 
died 'ere these evil days arrived. " What thoughts, 
indeed, must have troubled his mind when he re- 
flected that his country was but little Older than 
himself; for, he was one who had shaken hands 
with the framers of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. But though the tears rolled down his 
cheeks when he spoke of the prospect of civil 
war, there was no symptom of apprehension for 
the result, or indeed of any regret for the con- 
test, which he regarded as the natural conse- 
quence of the insults, injustice, and aggression, 
of the North against Southern rights. 

Only one of the company, a most lively, quaint, 
witty old lawyer named Petigru, dissented from 
the doctrines of Secession ; but he seems to be 
treated as an amiable, harmless person, who has 
a weakness of intellect or a "bee in his bonnet" 
on this particular matter. 



It was scarcely very agreeable to my host or 
myself to find that no considerations were be- 
lieved to be of consequence in reference to En- 
gland except her material interests, and that 
these worthy gentlemen regarded her as a sort of 
appanage of their cotton kingdom. "Why, sir, 
we have only to shut off your supply of cotton 
for a few weeks, and we can create a revolution 
in Great Britain. There are four millions of 
your people depending on us for their bread, not 
to speak of the many millions of dollars. No, sir, 
we know that England must recognise us," &c. 

Liverpool and Manchester have obscured all 
Great Britain to the Southern eye. I confess 
the tone of my friends irritated me. I said so to 
Mr. Bunch, who laughed, and remarked, "You'll 
not mind it when you get as much accustomed 
to this sort of thing as I am." I could not help 
saying, that if Great Britain were such a sham 
as they supposed, the sooner a hole was drilled 
in her, and the whole empire sunk under water, 
the better for the world, the cause of truth, and 
of liberty. 

These tall, thin, fine -faced Carolinians are 
great materialists. Slavery ])erhaps has aggra- 
vated the tendency to look at all the world 
through parapets of cotton bales and rice bags, 
and though more stately and less vulgar, the 
worshippers here are not less prostrate before the 
" almighty dollar" than the Northevners. Again 
cropping out of the dead level of hate to the 
Yankee, grows its climax in the profession from 
nearly every one of the guests, that he would 
prefer a return to the British rule to any reunion 
with New England. "The names in South 
Carolina show our origin — Charleston, and Ash- 
ley, and Cooper, &c. Our Gadsden, Sumter, and 
Pinckney were true cavaliers," &c. They did 
not say anything about Pedee, or Toml)igbee, or 
Sullivan's Island, or the like. We all have our 
little or big weaknesses. 

I see no trace of cavalier descent in the names 
of Huger, Rose, Manning, Chesnut, Pickens; but 
there is a profession of faith in the cavaliers and 
their cause among them because itisfiishionable 
in Carolina. They aft'ect the agricultural faith 
and the belief of a landed gentry. It is not 
only over the wine-glass — why call it cup? — that 
they ask for a Prince to reign over them ; I have 
heard the wish repeatedly expressed within the 
last two days that wc could spare them one of 
our young Princes, but never in jest or in any 
frivolous manner. 

On my way home again I saw the sentries on 
their march, the mounted patrols starting on 
their ride, and other evidences that though the 
slaves are " the hqjpiest and most contented race 
in the world," they require to be taken care of 
like less favoured mortals. The city watch- 
house is filled every night with slaA'es, who are 
confined there until reclaimed by their owners, 
whenever they are found out after nine o'clock, 
P.M., without special passes or permits. Guns 
are firing for the Ordinance of Secession in Vir- 
ginia. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Charleston ; the Market-place — Irishmen at Charle3ton — 
Governor Pickens : his political economy and theories 
— Newspaper offices and counting-houses — Rumours as 
to the war policy of the South. 

April Idtk. — An exceeding hot day. The sun 



IMY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



51 



ponrs on the bioad sandy street of Charleston 
with immense power, and when tho wind blows 
down the thoroughfare it sends before it vast 
masses of hot dust. The houses are generally 
detached, surrounded by small gardens, well pro- 
vided with verandahs to protect the windows from 
the glare, and are sheltered with creepers and 
shrubs and flowering plants, through which flit 
humming-birds and fly-catchers. In some places 
the streets and roadways are covered with plank- 
ing, and as long as the wood is sound they are 
pleasant to walk or drive upon. 

I paid a visit to the markets; the stalls are 
presided over by negroes, male and female ; the 
coloured people engaged in selling and buying 
are well clad ; the butchers' meat by no means 
tempting to the eye, but the fruit and vegetable 
stalls well filled. ' Fish is scarce at present, as 
the boats are not permitted to proceed to sea 
lest they should be whipped up by the expected 
Yankee cruisers, or carry malcontents to com- 
municate with the enemy. Around the flesh- 
market there is a skirling crowd of a kind of 
turkey-buzzard ; these are useful as scavengers 
and are protected by law. They do their nasty 
work very zealously, descending on the oft'al 
thrown out to them with the peculiar crawling, 
puffy, soft sort of flight which is the badge of all 
their tribe, and contending with wing and beak 
against the dogs which dispute the viands with 
the harpies. It is curious to watch the expres- 
sion of their eyes as with outstretched necks they 
peer down from the ledge of the market roof on 
the stalls and scrutinise the operations of the 
butchers below. They do not prevent a dis- 
agreeable odour in the vicinity of the markets, 
nor are they deadly to a fine and active breed of 
rats. 

Much drumming and marching through the 
streets to-day. One very ragged regiment whSh 
had been some time at Morris' Island halted in 
the shade near me, and I was soon made aware 
they consisted, for the great majority, of Irish- 
men. The Emerald Isle, indeed, has contributed 
largely to the population of Charleston. In the 
principal street there is a large and fine red sand- 
stone building with the usual Greek-Yankee-com- 
posite portico, over which is emblazoned the 
crownless harp and the shamrock wreath proper 
to a St. Patrick's Hall, and several Roman Catho- 
lic churches also attest the Hibernian presence. 

I again called on General Beauregard, and 
had a few moments' conversation with him . He 
told me that an immense deal depended on yir- 
ginia, and that as yet the action of the people in 
that State had not been as prompt as might have 
been hoped, for the President's proclamation was 
a declaration of war against the South, in which 
all would be ultimately involved. He is going 
to Montgomery to confer with Mr. Jefferson Davis. 
I have no doubt there is to be some movement 
made in Virginia. Whiting is under orders to 
repair there, and he hinted that he had a task of 
no common nicety and diflSeulty to perform. He 
is to visit the forts which had been seized on the 
coast of North Carolina, and probably will have 
a look at Portsmouth. It is incredible that the 
Federal authorities should have neglected to se- 
cure this place. 

Later 1 visited the Governor of the State, Mr. 
Pickens, to' whom I was conducted by Colonel 
Lucas, his aide-de-camp. His palace was a very 



humble shed-like edifice with large rooms, on tho 
doors of which were pasted pieces of paper with 
sundry high-reading inscriptions, such as "Ad- 
jutant General's Dept., Quartermaster-General's 
Dept., Attorney General of State," &c., and 
tlirough the doorways could be seen men in uni- 
form, and grave, earnest people busy at their 
desks with pen, ink, paper, tobacco, and spit- 
toons. The governor, a stout man, of a big 
head, and a large important looking face, with 
watery eyes and flabby features, was seated in a 
barrack-like room, furnished in the plainest way 
and decorated by the inevitable portrait of George 
Washington, close to which was the "Ordinance 
of Secession of the State of South Carolina" of 
last year. 

Governor Pickens is considerably laughed at 
by his subjects, and I was amused by a little 
middy, who described with much unction the 
governor's alarm on his visit to Fort Pickens, 
when he was told that there were a number of 
live shells and a quantity of powder still in the 
place. He is said to have commenced one of 
his speeches with " Born insensible to fear," &c. 
To me the governor was very courteous, but I 
confess the heat of the day did not dispose me to 
listen with due attention to a lecture 6n political 
economy with which he favoured me. I was told, 
however, that he had practised with success on 
the late Czar when he was United States Minis- 
ter to St. Petersburg, and that he does not suft'er 
his immediate staff to escape from having their 
minds improved on the relations of capital to la- 
bour, and on the vicious condition of capital and 
labour in the North. 

"In the North, then, you will perceive, Mr. 
Russell, they have maximised the hostile condi- 
tion of opposed interests in the accumulation of 
capital and in the employment of labour, whilst 
we in the South, by the peculiar excellence of 
our domestic institution, have minimised their 
opposition and maximised the identity of inter- 
est by the investment of capital in the labourer 
himself," and so on, or something like it. I could 
not help remarking it struck me there was " an- 
other difference betwixt the North and South 
which he had overlooked — the capital of the 
North is represented by gold, silver, notes, and 
other exponents, which are good aJl the world 
over and are recognised as such ; your capital 
has power of locomotion, and ceases to exist the 
moment it crosses a geographical line." "That 
remark, sir," said tho Governor, "requires that 
I should call your attention to the fundamental 
principles on which the abstract idea of capital 
should be formed. In order to clear the ground, 
let us first inquire into the soundness of the ideas 
put forward by your Adam Smith" — I had to 
look at my watch and to promise I would come 
back to be illuminated on some other occasion, 
and huiTied oft' to keep an engagement with my- 
self to write letters by the next mail. 

The Governor writes very good proclamations, 
nevertheless, and his confidence in South Caro- 
lina is unbounded. " If we stand alone, sir, we 
must win. They can't whip us." A gentleman 
named Pringle, for whom I had letters of intro- 
duction, has come to Charleston to ask me to 
his plantation, but there will be no boat from tho 
port till Monday, and it is uncertain then wheth- 
er the blockading vessels, of which we hear so 
I much, may not be down by that time. ,,nic 

UBRARV 



52 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



April 20th. — I visited the editors of the 
Charleston Mercury and the Charleston Courier 
to-day at their othces. The Khett family have 
heen active agitators for secession, and it is said 
they are not over well pleased with Jefferson 
Davis for neglecting their claims to office. The 
elder, a. pompous, hard, ambitious man, possesses 
ability. He is fond of alluding to his English 
connections and predilections, and is intolerant 
of New England to the last degree. I received 
from him, ere I left, a pamphlet on his life, ca- 
reer, and services. In the newspaper offices 
there was nothing worthy of remark ; they were 
possessed of that obscurity which is such a char- 
acteristic of the haunts of journalism — the clouds 
in which the lightning is hiding. Thence to 
haunts more dingy still where Plutus lives — to 
the counting houses of the cotton brokers, up 
many pairs of stairs into large rooms furnished 
with" hard seats, engravings of celebrated clip- 
pers, advertisements of emigrant agencies and of 
lines of steamers, little tlocks of cotton, specimens 
of rice, grain, and seed in wooden bowls, and 
clerks living inside railings, with secluded spit- 
toons, and ledgers, and tumblers of water. 

I called on several of the leading merchants 
und bankers, such as INIr. Rose, Mr. Muir. Mr. 
Trenholm, and others. With all it was the same 
story. Their young men wore off to the wars — 
no business doing. In one office I saw an an- 
nouncement of a company for a direct communi- 
cation by steamers between a southern port and 
Europe. "When do you expect that line to be 
opened?" I asked. "The United States' cruis- 
ers will surely interfere with it." '"Why, I ex- 
pect, sir," replied the merchant, "that if those 
miserable Yankees try to blockade us, and keep 
you from our cotton, you'll just send their ships 
to the bottom and acknowledge us. That will 
be before autumn, I think." It was in vain I 
assured him he would be disappointed. "Look 
out there," he said, pointing to the wharf, on 
which were piled some cotton bales; "there's 
the key will open all our ports, and put us into 
John Bull's strong box as well." 

I dined to-day at the hotel, notwithstanding 
many hospitable invitations, with JMessrs. Man- 
ning, Porcher Miles, Reed, and Pringle. Mr. 
Trescot, who was Under- Secretary-of-St ate in 
Mr. Buchanan's Cabinet, joined us, and I prom- 
ised to visit his plantation as soon as I hav5 re- 
turned from Mr. Pringle's. We heard much the 
same conversation as usual, relieved by Mr. Tres- 
cot's sound sense and philosophy. He sees clear- 
ly the evils of slavery, but is, like all of us, un- 
able to discover the solution and means of avert- 
ing them. 

The Secessionists are in great delight with 
Governor Letcher's proclamation, calling out 
tVciops and volunteers, and it is hinted that 
Washington will be .attacked, and the nest of 
Black Republican vermin which haunt the capi- 
tal driven out. Agents are to be at once de- 
spatched to get up a navy, and every effort made 
to carry out the policy indicated in Jeff Davis's 
issue of letters of marque and reprisal. Norfolk 
harbour is blocked up to prevent the United 
States ships getting away ; and at the same time 
we hear that the United States officer command- 
ing at the arsenal of Harper's Ferry has retired 
into Pennsylvania, after destroying the place by 
fire. How '' old John Brown" would have won- 



dered and rejoiced had he lived a few months 
longer ! 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Visit to a plantation ; hospitable reception — By steamer to 
Georgetown — Description of the town — A country man- 
sion^Masters and slaves — Slave diet — Humming-birds 
— Land irrigation — Negro quarters — Back to George- 
town. 

April 2\st. — In the afternoon I went with Mr. 
Porcher Miles to visit a small farm and planta- 
tion, some miles from the -city, belonging to Mr. 
Crafts. Our arrival was unexpected, but the 
planter's welcome was warm. Mrs. Crafts show- 
ed us round the place, of which the beauties 
were due to nature rather than to art, and so far 
the lady was the fitting mistress of the farm. 

We wandered through tangled brakes and 
thick Indian-like jungle, filled with disagreeable 
insects, down to the edge of a small lagoon. 
The beech was perforated with small holes, in 
which Mrs. Crafts said little crabs, called "fid- 
dlers" from their resemblance in petto to a per- 
former on the fiddle, make their abode; but nei- 
ther them nor "spotted snakes" did we see. 
And so to dinner, for Avhich our hostess made 
needless excuses. "I am afraid I shall have to 
ask you to eke out your dinner with potted 
meats, but I can answer for Mr. Crafts giving 
you a bottle of good old wine." "And what 
better, madam," quoth Mr. ^liles, "what better 
can you offer a soldier ? What do we expect 
but gra])e and canister?" 

Mr. Miles, who was formerly member of the 
United States Congress, and who has now mi- 
grated to the Confederate States of America, 
rendered himself conspicuous a few years ago 
when a dreadful visitation of yellow fever came 
ufion Norfolk and destroyed one-half of the in- 
habitants. At that terrible time, when all who 
could move were flying from the plague-stricken 
spot, Mr. Porcher Jliles flew to it, visited the 
hospitals, tended the sick ; and although a weak- 
ly, delicate man, gave an example of such energy 
and courage as materially tended to save those 
who were left. I never heard him say a word 
to indicate that he had been at Norfolk at all. 

At the rear of the cottage-like residence (to 
the best of my belief built of wood), in which the 
planter's family lived, was a small enclosure, 
surrounded by a palisade, containing a number 
of wooden sheds, which were the negro quarters ; 
and after dinner, as we sat on the steps, the 
chifdren were sent for to sing for us. They 
came very shyly, and by degrees ; first peeping 
round the corners and from behind trees, often- 
times running away in spite of the orders of their 
haggard mammies, till they were chased, cap- 
tured, and brought back by their elder brethren. 
They were ragged, dirty, shoeless urchins of both 
sexes ; the younger ones abdominous as infant 
Hindoos, and wild as if just caught. With much 
difficulty the elder children were dressed into 
line ; tlien they began to shuffle their flat feet, 
to clap their hands, and to drawl out in a monot- 
onous sort of chant something about the "River 
Jawdam," after which Mrs. Crafts rewarded them 
with lumps of sugar, which were as fruitful of 
disputes as the apple of discord. A few fathers 
and mothers gazed at the scene from'a distance. 

As we sat listening to the wonderful song of 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



53 



the mocking-birds, when these young Sybarites 
had retired, a great, big, burly red-faced gentle- 
man, as like a Yorkshire farmer in high perfec- 
tion as any man I ever saw in the old country, 
rode up to the door, and, after the usual cere- 
mony of introduction and the collating of news, 
and the customary assurance "They can't wliip 
us, sir!" invited me then and there to attend a 
■fete champetre at his residence, where there is a 
lawn famous for trees dating from the first set- 
tlement of the colony, and planted by this gen- 
tleman's ancestor. 

Trees are objects of great veneration in Amer- 
ica if they areof any size. There are perhaps 
two reasons for this. In the first place, the in- 
digenous forest trees are rarely of any great 
magnitude. In the second place, it is natural 
to Americans to admire dimension and antiqui- 
ty ; and a big tree gratifies both organs — size 
and veneration. 

I must record an astonisliing feat of this noble 
Carolinian. The heat of the evening was in- 
dubitably thirst-compelling, and we went in to 
"have a drink." Among other things on the 
table were a decanter of cognac and a flask of 
white cura9oa. The planter filled a tumbler 
half full of brandy. "What's in that flat bot- 
tle. Crafts?" "That's white curatjoa."' The 
planter tasted a little, and having smacked his 
lips and exclaimed "first-rate stuff," proceeded 
to icater his brandy with it, and tossed off a full 
brimmer of the mixture without any remarkable 
ulterior results. They are a hard-headed race. 
I doubt if cavalier or puritan ever drank a more 
potent bumper than our friend the big planter. 

April 2'2nd. — To-day was fixed for the visit 
to MA Pringle's plantation, which lies above 
Georgetown near the Peedee River. Our party, 
which consisted of Mr. Mitchell, an eminent 
lawyer of Charleston, Colonel Reed, a neigh- 
bouring planter, Mr. Ward of New York, our 
host, and myself, were on board the Georgetown 
steamer at seven o'clock, a.m., and started with 
a quantity of commissariat stores, ammunition, 
and the like, for the use of the troops quartered 
along the coast. There was, of course, a large 
supply of newspapers also. At that early hour 
invitations to the "bar" were not uncommon, 
where the news was discussed by long-legged, 
gr.ive, sallow men. There was a good deal of 
joking about "old Abe Lincoln's paper block- 
ade," and the report that the Government had 
ordered their cruisers to treat tke crew of Con- 
federate privatders as "pirates" provoked de- 
risive and menacing. comments. The full im- 
pulses of national life are breathing through the 
whole of this people. There is their flag flying 
over Sumter, and the Confederate banner is wav- 
ing on all the sand-forts and headlands which 
guard the approaches to Charleston. 

A civil war and persecution have already 
commenced. "Suspected Abolitionists" are ill- 
treated in the South, and " Suspected Secession- 
ists" are mobbed and beaten in the North. The 
news of the attack on the 6th Massachusetts, and 
the Pennsylvania regiment, by the mob in Balti- 
more, has been received with great delight ; but 
some long-headed people say that it will only 
expose Baltimore and Maryland to the full force 
of the Northern States. The riot took place on 
the anniversary of Lexington. 

The "Nina" was soon in open sea, steering 



northwards and keeping four miles from shore 
in order to clear the shoals and banks which 
fringe the low sandy coasts, and effectually pre- 
vent even light gunboats covering a descent by 
their ordnance. This was one of the reasons 
why the Federal fleet did not make any attempt 
to relieve Fort Sumter during the engagement. 
On our way out we could see the holes made in 
the large hotel and other buildings on Sullivan's 
Island behind Fort Moultrie, by the shot from 
the fort, which caused terror among the negroes 
" miles away." There was no sign of any block- 
ading vessel, but look-out parties were posted 
along the beach, and as the skipper said we 
might have to make our return-journey by land, 
every sail on the horizon was anxiously scanned 
through our glasses. 

Having jiassed the broad mouth of the Santee, 
the steamer in three hours and a half ran up an 
estuary, into which the Maccamaw River and 
the Peedee River pour their united waters. 

Our vessel proceeded along shore to a small 
jetty, at the end of which was a group of armed 
men, some of them being part of a military i)ost, 
to defend the coast and river, established under 
cover of an earthwork and palisades constructed 
with trunks of trees, and mounting three 32- 
pounders. Several posts of a similar character 
lay on the river banks, and from some of these 
we were boarded by men in boats hungry for 
news and newspapers. Most of the men at the 
pier were cavalry troopers, belonging to a volun- 
teer association of the gentry for coast defence, 
and they had been out night and day patrolling 
the shores, and doing the work of common sol- 
diers — very precious material for such work. 
They wore grey tunics, slashed and faced with 
yellow, buff belts, slouched felt hats, ornamented 
with drooping cocks' plumes, and long jack- 
boots, which well became their fine persons and 
bold bearing, and were evidently due to "Cava- 
lier" associations. They were all equals. Our 
friends on board the boat hailed them by their 
Christian names, and gave and heard the news. 
Among the cases landed at the pier were cer- 
tain of champagne and pates, on which Captain 
Blank was wont to regale his company daily at 
his own expense, or that of his cotton broker. 
Their horses picketed in the shade of trees close 
to the beach, the parties of women riding up and 
down the sands, or driving in light tax-carts, 
suggested images of a large pic-nic, and a state 
of society quite indifferent to Uncle Abe's cruis- 
ers and "Hessians." After a short delay here, 
the steamer proceeded on her way to George- 
town, an ancient and once important settlement 
and port, which was marked in the distance by 
the little forest of masts rising above the level 
land, and the tops of the trees beyond, and by a 
solitary church-spire. 

As the "Nina" approaches the tumble-down 
wharf of the old town, two or three citizens ad- 
vance from the shade of shaky sheds to welcome 
us, and a few country vehicles and light phaetons 
are drawn forth from the same shelter to re- 
ceive the passengers, while the negro boys and 
girls who have been playing upon the bales of 
cotton and barrels of rice, which represent the 
trade of the place on the wharf, take up com- 
manding positions for the better obserration of 
our proceedings. 

There is about Georgetown an air of quaint 



54 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



simplicity and old-fashioned quiet, which con- 
trasts refreshingly with the bustle and tumult of 
American cities. While waiting for our vehicle 
we enjoyed the hospitality of Colonel Reed, who 
took us into an old-fashioned, angular, wooden 
mansion, more than a century old, still sound-in 
every timber, and testifying, in its quaint wain- 
' scotings, and the rigid framework of door and 
window, to the durability of its cypress timbera 
and the preservative character of the atmosjihere. 
In early days it was the grand house of the old set- 
tlement, and the residence of the founder of the 
female branch of the family of our host, who now 
only makes it his halting-place when passing to 
and fro between Charleston and his plantation, 
leaving it the year round in charge of an old 
servant and her grandchild. Rose-trees and 
flowering shrubs clustered before the porch and 
filled the garden in front, and the establishment 
gave one a good idea of a London merchant's 
retreat about Chelsea a hundred and fifty years 
ago. 

At length we were ready for our journey, and, 
in two light covered gigs, proceeded along the 
sandy track which, after a while, led us to a 
road cut deep in the bosom of the woods, where 
silence was only broken by the cry of a wood- 
pecker, the screams of a crane, or the sharp chal- 
lenge of the jay. For miles we passed through 
the shades of this forest, meeting only two or 
three vehicles containing female ])lanterdom on 
little excursions of pleasure or business, who 
smiled t'lieir welcome as we passed. Arrived at 
a deep chocolate-coloured stream, called Black 
River, full of fish and alligators, we find a flat 
large enough to accommodate vehicles and ]ias- 
sengers, and propelled by two negroes pulling 
upon a stretched rope, in the manner usual in the 
ferry-boats of Switzerland. 

Another drive through a more open country, 
and we reach a fine grove of j)ine and live-oak, 
which melts away into a shrubbery guarded by a 
rustic gateway : passing through this, we are 
brought by a sudden turn to the ])lanter's house, 
buried in trees, which dispute with the green 
sward and with wild flower-beds the space be- 
tween the hall-door and the waters of the Pee- 
dee; and in a few minutes, as we gaze over the 
expanse of fields marked by the deep water-cuts, 
and bounded by a fringe of unceasing forest, just 
tinged with green by the first life of the early 
rice crops, the chimneys of the steamer y*e had 
left at Georgetown, gliding as it were through 
the fields, indicate the existence of another navi- 
gable river still beyond. 

Leaving the verandah which commanded this 
agreeable foreground, we enter the mansion, and 
are reminded by its low-browed, old-fashioned 
rooms, of the country houses yet to be found in 
parts of Ireland or on the Scottish border, with 
additions, made by the luxury and love of foreign 
travel, of more than one generation of educated 
Southern planters. Paintings from Italy illus- 
trate the walls, in juxta-position with interesting 
portraits of early colonial governors and their 
womankind, limned with no uncertain hand, and 
full of the vigour of touch and naturalness of 
drajiery, of which Copley has left us too few ex- 
emplars ; and one portrait of Benjamin West 
claims for itself such honour as his own pencil 
can give. An excellent library — filled with col- 
lections of French and English classics, and with 



those ponderous editions of Voltaire, Rousseau, 
the " Me'moires pour Servir," books of travel and 
history which delighted our forefathers in the 
last century, and many works of American and 
general history — affords ample occupation for a 
rainy day. 

It was five o'clock before we reached our plant- 
er's house — White House Plantation. My small 
luggage was carried into my room by an old ne- 
gro in livery, who took great pain's to assure me 
of my perfect welcome, and who turned out to be 
a most excellent valet. A low room hung with 
coloured mezzotints, windows covered wiiii creep- 
ers, and an old-fashioned bedstead and quaint 
chairs, lodged me sumptuously; and after such 
toilette as was considered necessary by our host 
for a bachelor's party, we sat down to an excel- 
lent dinner, cooked by negroes and served by ne- 
groes, and aided by claret mellowed in Carolinian 
suns, and by Madeira brought down stairs cau- 
tiously, as in the days of Horace and Maecenas, 
from the cellar between the attic and the thatched 
roof. 

Our party was increased by a neighboring 
planter, and after dinner the conversation re- 
turned to the old channel — all the frogs jiraying 
for a king — anyhow a prince — to rule over them. 
Our good host is anxious to get away to Europe, 
where his wife and children are, and all he fears 
is being mobbed at New York, where Southerners 
are exposed to insult, though they may get oft' 
better in that respect than Black Rcjniblicans 
would down South. Some of our guests talked 
of the duello, and of famous hands with the jiistol 
in these parts. The conversation had altogetlser 
very much the tone whidi would have probably 
characterized the talk of a group of TorJ' Irish 
gentlemen over their wine some sixty years ago, 
and very pleasant it was. Not a man — no, not 
one — will ever join the Union again! "Thank 
God !" they say, "we are freed from that tyranny 
at last." And yet Mr. Seward calls it the most 
beneficent government in the world, which never 
hurt a human being yet ! 

But alas! all the good things which the house 
affords, can be enjoyed but for a brief season. 
Just as nature has ex])anded every charm, devel- 
oped every grace, and clothed the scene with all 
the beauty of opened flower, of rijicning grain, 
and of mature vegetation, on the wings of the 
wind the poisoned breath comes borne to the 
home of the white man, and he must fly before 
it or perish, fhe books lie unopened on the 
shelves, the flower blooms and dies unheeded, 
and, pity 'tis, 'tis true, the old Madeira garnered 
'neath'the roof, settles down for a fresh lease of 
life, and sets about its solitary task of acquiring 
a finer flavour for the infrequent lips of its ban- 
ished master and his welcome visitors. This is 
the story, at least, that we hear on all sides, and 
such is the tale repeated to us beneath tlie porch, 
when the moon, while softening, enhances the 
loveliness of the scene, and the rich melody of 
mocking-birds fills the grove. 

Within these hospitable doors Horace might 
banquet better than he did with Nasidienus, and 
drink such wine as can be only found among the 
descendants of the ancestry who, improvident 
enough in all else, learnt the wisdom of bottling 
up choice old Bual and Sercial, ere the demon 
of oidium had dried up their generous sources 
for ever. To these must be added excellent 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



55 



bread, ingenious varieties of the galette, cona- 
pounded now of rice and now of Indian meal, 
delicious butter and fruits, all good of their kind. 
And is there anything better rising up from the 
bottom of the social bowl ? My black friends 
who attend on me are grave as Mussulman 
Khitmutgars. They are attired in liveries and 
wear white cravats and Berlin gloves. At night 
when we retire, off they go to their outer dark- 
ness in the small settlement of negro -hood, 
which is separated from our house by a wooden 
palisade. Their tidelity is undoubted. The 
house breathes an air of security. The doors 
and windows are unlocked. There is but one 
gun, a fowling-piece, on the premises. No plant- 
er hereabouts has any dread of his slaves. But 
I have seen, within the short time I liave been 
in this part of the world, several dreadful ac- 
counts of murder and violence, in which masters 
sufiered at the hands of their slaves. There is 
something suspicious in the constant never-end- 
ing statement that " we are not afraid of our 
slaves." The curfew and the night patrol in the 
streets, the prisons and watch-houses, and the 
police regulations, prove that strict supervision, 
at all events, is needed and necessary. My host 
is a kind man and a good master. If slaves are 
happy anywhere, they should be so with him. 

Tliese people are fed by their master. They 
have half a pound per diem of fat pork, and corn 
in abundance. They rear poultry and sell their 
chickens and eggs to the house. Tliey are 
clothed by their master. He keeps them in sick- 
ness as in health. Now and then there are gifts 
of tobacco and molasses for the deserving. There 
was little labour going on in the fields, for the 
rice has been just exerting itself to get its head 
above water. These fields yield plentifully; the 
waters of the river are fat, and they are let in 
whenever the planter requires it by means of 
floodgates and small canals through which the 
flats can carry their loads of grain to the river 
for loading the steamers. 

April 2'3rJ. — A lovely morning grew into a 
hot day. After breakfast, I sat in the shade 
watching the vagaries of some little tortoises, or 
terrapins, in a vessel of water close at hand, cr 
trying to follow the bee-like flight of the hum- 
ming-birds. Ah me ! one wee brownie, with a 
purple head and red facings, managed to dash 
into a small grape' or flower conservatory close 
at hand, and, innocent of the ways of the glassy 
wall, he or she — I am much puzzled as to the 
genders of humming-birds, and Mr. Gould, with 
his wonderful mastery of Greek prefixes and 
Latin terminations, has not aided me much — 
dashed up and down from pane to pane, seeking 
to perforate each with its bill, and carrying death 
and destruction among the big spiders and their 
cobweb castles which for the time barred the way. 

The humming-bird had, as the Yankees say, 
a bad time of it, for its efforts to escape were in- 
cessant, and our host said tenderly, through his 
moustaches, " Pooty little thing, don't frighten 
it !" as if he was quite sure of getting oif to Sax- 
ony by the next steamer. Encumbered by cob- 
webs and exhausted, now and then our little 
friend toppled do\^Ti among the green shruhs, 
and lay panting like a living nugget of ore. 
Again he, she, or it took wing an<l resumed that 
mad career ; but at last on some happy turn the 
bright head saw an opening through the door, 



and out wings, body, and legs dashed, and sought 
shelter in a creeper, where the little liutteier lay, 
all but dead, so inanimate indeed, that I could 
have taken the lovely thing and put it in the hol- 
low of my hand. What would poets of Greece 
and Home have said of the humming-bird ? What 
would Hafiz, or Waller, or Spenser have sung, 
had they but seen that §ftspring of the suu and 
flowers ? 

Later in the day, when the sun was a little less 
fierce, we walked out from the belt of trees round 
the house on the plantation itself. At this time 
of the year there is nothing to recommend to the 
eye the great breadth of flat fields, surrounded 
by small canals, which look like the bottoms of 
dried-u]i ponds, for the green rice has barely suc- 
ceeded in forcing its way above the level of the 
rich dark earth. Tlie river bounds the estate, 
and when it rises after the rains, its waters, load- 
ed..with loam and fertilising mud, are let in upon 
the lands tlirough the small canals, which are 
jjrovided with sluices and banks and floodgates 
to control and regulate the supply. 

The negroes had but little to occupy them 
now. The children of both sexes, scantily clad, 
were fishing in the canals and stagnant waters, 
pulling out horrible-looking little catfish. They 
were so shy that tliey generally fled at our ap- 
proach. The men and women were apathetic, 
neither seeking nor shunning us, and I found 
that their master knew nothing about them. It 
is only the servants engaged in household duties 
who are at all on familiar terms with their mas- 
ters. 

The bailiff or steward was not to be seen. 
One big slouching negro, who seemed to be a 
gangsman or something of the kind, followed us 
in our walk, and answered any questions we put 
to him very readily. It was a picture to see his 
face when one of our party, on returning to the 
house, gave him a larger sum of money than he 
had ever probably possessed before in a lump. 
" What will he do with it ?"' Buy sweet things, 
— sugar, tobacco, a penknife, and such things. 
"They have few luxuries, and all their wants 
are provided for." Took a cursory glance at the 
negro quarters, which are not very enticing or 
cleanly. They are surrounded by high palings, 
and the entourage is alive with their poultry. 

Very much I doubt whether Mr. Mitchell is 
satisfied the Southerners are right in their pres- 
ent course, but he and Mr. Petigru are lawyers, 
and do not take a popular view of the question. 
After dinner the conversation again turned on 
the resources and power of the South, and on 
the determination of the people never to go back 
into the Union. Then cropped out again the 
expression of regret for the rebellion of 177G, and 
the desire that if it came to the worst, England 
would receive back her erring children, or give 
them a prince under whom they could secure a 
monarcliical form of government. There is no 
doubt about the earnestness with which these 
things are said. 

As the "Nina" starts down the river on her 
return voyage from Georgetown to-night, and 
Charleston Harbour may be blockaded at any 
time, thus compelling us to make a long detour 
by land, I resolve to leave by her, in spite of 
many invitations and pressure from neiglibour7 
ing planters. At midnigiit our carriage came 
round, and we started in a lovely moonlight to 



56 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



Georgetown, crossing the ferry after some de- 
lay, in consequence of the profound sleep of the 
boatmen in their cabins. One of them said to 
me, "Musn't go too near de edge ob de boat, 
massa." "Why not?" "Becas if massa fall 
ober, he not come up agin likely, — a bad ribber 
for drowned, massa." He informed me it was 
full of alligators, which.are always on the look- 
out for the planters' and negroes' dogs, and are- 
hated and hunted accordingly. 

The "Nina" was blowing the signal for de- 
parture, the only sound we heard all through the 
night, as we drove through the deserted streets 
of Georgetown, and soon after three o'clock, a.m., 
we were on board and in our berths. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Climate of the Southern States— General Beauregard— 
Risk^ of the post-office— Hatred of New England— By 
railway to Sea Island plantation — Sporting in South 
Carolina — An hour on board a canoe in the dark. 

April 2\th. — In the morning we found our- 
selves in chopping little sea-way for which the 
"Nina" was particularly unsuited, laden as she 
was with provisions and produce. Eyes and 
glasses anxiously straining seawards for any trace 
of tlie blockading vessels. Every sail scrutinised, 
but no ' stars and stripes' visible. 

Our captain — a good specimen of one of the 
inland-water navigators, shrewd, intelligent, and 
active — told me a good deal about the country. 
He laughed at the fears of the wliites as regards 
the climate. "Why, here am I," said he, "go- 
ing up the river, and down tlie river all times 
of the vear, and at times of day and night when 
they reckon the air is most deadly, and I've done 
so for years without any bad effects. The plant- 
ers whose houses I pass all run away in May, 
and go off to Europe, or to the pincy wood, or to 
the springs, or they'd all die. There's Captain 
Buck, who lives above here, — he comes from the 
State of Maine. He had only a thousand dol- 
lars to begin with, but he sets to work and gets 
land on the Maccamaw River at twenty cents an 
acre. It was death to go nigh it, but it was 
first-rate rice land, and Captain Buck is now- 
worth a million of dollars. He lives on his 
estate all the j-ear round, and is as healthy a 
man as ever you seen." 

To such hi'storiettes my planting friends turn 
a deaf ear. "I tell you what," said Pringle, 
"just to show you what kind our climate is. I 
had an excellent overseer once, who would in- 
sist on staying near the river, and wouldn't go 
away. He fought against it for more than five- 
and-twenty years, but he went down with fever 
at last." As the overseer was more than thirty 
years of age when he came to the estate, he had 
not been cut off so very suddenly. I thought of 
the quack's advertisement of the "bad leg of 
sixty years standing." The captain says the 
negroes on the river plantations are very well 
off. He can buy enough of pork from the slaves 
on one plantation to last his ship's crew for the 
whole winter. The money goes to them, as the 
hogs are their own. One of the stewards on 
board had bought himself and his family out of 
bondage with his earnings. The State in gen- 
eral, however, does not approve of such practices. 
At three o'clock, p.m., ran into Charleston 
harbour, and landed soon afterwards. 



I saw General Beauregard in the evening ; he 
was very lively and in good spirits, though he 
admitted he was rather surprised by the spirit 
displayed in the North. "A good deal of it is 
got up, however," he said, "and belongs, to that 
washy sort of enthusiasm which is promoted by 
their lecturing and spouting." Beauregard is 
very proud of his personal strength, which for his 
slight frame is said to be very extraordinary, and 
he seemed to insist on it that the Southern men 
had more physical strength, owing to their mode 
of life and their education, than their Northern 
"brethren." In the evening held a sort of tabaks 
con.silitim in tlie hotel, where a number of officers 
— Manning, Lucas, Chesnut, Calhoun, &c. — dis- 
coursed of the affairs of the nation. All my 
friends, except Trescot, I think were elated at 
the prospect of hostilities with the North, and 
overjoyed that a South Carolina regiment had 
already set out for the frontiers of Virginia. 

April 2bth. — Sent off my letters by an English 
gentleman, who was taking despatches from Mr. 
Bunch to Lord Lyons, as the post-office is be- 
coming a dangerous institution. We hear of let- 
ters being tampered with on both sides. Adams's 
Express Company, which acts as a sort of exf- 
press post under certain conditions, is more trust- 
worthy ; but it is doubtful how long communica- 
tions will be permitted to exist between the two 
hostile nations, as they may now be considered. 

Dined with Mr. Petigru, who had most kindly 
postponed his dinner party till my return from 
the plantations, and met there General Beaure- 
gard, Judge King, and others, among whom, dis- 
tinguished for their esprit and accomplishments, 
were Mrs. King and Mrs. Carson, daughters of 
my host. The dislike, which seems innate, to 
New England is universal, and varies only in 
the form of its expression. It is quite true Mr. 
Petigru is a decided Unionist, but he is the sole 
specimen of the genus in Charleston, and he is 
tolerated on account of his rarity. As the wit- 
ty, pleasant old man trots down the street, utter- 
ly unconscious of the world around him, he is 
pointed out proudly by the Carolinians as an in- 
stance of forbearance on their part, and as a 
proof at the same time of popular unanimity of 
sentiment. 

There are also people who regret the dissolu- 
tion of the Union — such as Mr. Huger, who shed 
tears in talking of it the other night; but they 
regard the fact very much as they would the 
demolition of some article which can never be 
restored and reunited, which was valued for the 
uses it rendered and its antiquity. 

General Beauregard is appreliensive of an at- 
tack bv the Northern "fanatics" before the South 
is prepared, and he considers they will carry out 
coprcive measures most rigorously. He dreads 
the cutting of the leve'es, or high artificial works, 
raised along the whole course of the Mississippi, 
for many hundreds of miles above New Orleans, 
which the Federals may resort to in order to 
drown the plantations and ruin the planters. 

We had a good-humoure 1 argument in the 
evening about the ethics of burning the Norfolk 
navy vard. The Southerners consider the ap- 
propriation of the arms, moneys, and stores of 
the United States as rightful acts, inasmuch as 
they represent, according to them, their contribu- 
tion, or a portion of it, to the national stock in 
trade. When a State goes out of the Unioa she 



]VIY DIARY X014TH AND SOUTH. 



57 



should be permitted to carry her forts, arma- 
menrs, arsenals, ^c, along with her, and it was 
a burning shame for the Yankees to desti-oy the 
property of Virginia at Norfolk. These ideas, 
and many like them, have the merit of novelty to 
English people, who were accustomed to think 
there were such things as the Union and the 
people of the United States. 

April 26th. — Bade good-by to Charleston at 
9A5 a.m. this day, and proceeded by i-ailway, in 
company with JMr. Ward, to visit Mr. Trescot's 
Sea Island Plantation. Crossed the river to the 
terminus in a ferry steamer. No blockading 
vessels in sight yet. The water alive with small 
silvery fish, like mullet, which sprang up and 
leaped along the surfece incessantly. An old 
gentleman, who was fishing on the pier, com- 
bined the pursuit of sport with instruction very 
ingeniously by means of a fork of bamboo in his 
rod, just above the reel, into which he stuck liis 
inevitable newspaper, and read gravely in his 
cane-bottomed chair till he had a bite, when the 
fork was unhitched and the fish was landed. 
The negroes are very much addicted to the con- 
templative man's recreation, and they were fish- 
ing in all directions. 

On the move again. Took our places in the 
Charleston and Savannah Railway for Pocotali- 
go, which isfthe station for Barnwell Island. 
Our fellow-passengers were all full of politics — 
the pretty women being the fiercest of all — no ! 
the least good-looking were the most bitterly 
patriotic, as if they hoped to talk themselves into 
husbands by the most unfeminine expressions 
towards the Yankees. 

The country is a dead flat, perforated by riv- 
ers and watercourses, over which the rail is car- 
ried on long and lofty trestle-work. But for the 
fine trees, the. magnolias and live oak, the land- 
scape would be unbearably hideous, for there are 
none of the quaint, cleanly, delightful villages of 
Holland to relieve the monotonous level of rice 
swamps and wastes of land and water and mud. 
At the. humble little stations there were invari- 
ably groups of horsemen waiting under the trees, 
and ladies with their black nurses and servants 
who had driven over in the odd-looking old- 
fashioned vehicles which were drawn up in the 
shade. Those who were going on a long jour- 
ney, aware of the utter barrenness of the land, 
took with them a viaticum and bottles of milk. 
The nurses and slaves squatted down by their 
side in the train, on perfectly well-understood 
terms. No one objected to their presence — on 
the contrary, tlie passengers treated them with a 
certain sort of special consideration, and they 
were on the happiest terms with their charges, 
some of which were in the absorbent condition 
of life, and dived their little white fiices against 
the tawny bosom of their nurses with anything 
but reluctance. 

The train stopped, at 12.20, at Pocotaligo; 
and there we found Mr. Trcscot and a couple 
of neighbouring planters, famous as fishers for 
"drum," of which more by-and-bye. I had met 
old Mr. Elliot in Charleston, and his account of 
this sport, and of the pursuit of an enormous sea 
monster called the devil-fish, which he was one 
of the first to kill in these waters, excited my 
curiosity very much. Mr. Elliot has written a 
most agreeable account of the sports of South 
Carolina, and I had hoped he would have been 



well enough to have been my guide, philosopher, 
and friend in drum fishing in Port Royal ; but 
he sent over his son to say that he was too un- 
well to come, and had therefore dispatched most 
excellent representatives in two members of his 
fomily. It was arranged that they should row 
down from their place and meet us to-morrow 
morning at Trescot's Island, which lies above 
Beaufort, in Port Royal Sound and river. 

Got into Trescot's gig, and plunged into a 
shady lane with wood on each side, through 
which we drove for some distance. The coun- 
try, on each side antl beyond, perfectly flat — all 
rice lands — few hou.-es visible — scarcely a human 
being on the road — drove six or seven miles 
without meeting a soul. After a couple of hours 
or so, I should think,' the gig turned up liy an 
open gateway on a path or road made through a 
waste of rich black mud, "glorious for riee," 
and landed us at the door of a planter, Mr Hey- 
ward, who came out and gave us a most Jiearty 
welcome, in the true Southern style. His house 
is charming, surrounded with trees, and covered 
with roses and creepers, through which birds and 
butterflies are flying, Mr. Hayward took it as 
a matter of course that w^e stopjied to dinner, 
which we were by no means disinclined to do, as 
the day was hot, the road was dusty, and his re- 
ception frank and kindly. A fine specimen of 
the planter man ; and, minus his broad-brimmed 
straw hat and loose clothing, not a bad repre- 
sentative of an English squire at home. 

Whilst we were sitting in the porch, a strange 
sort of booming noise attracted my attention in 
one of the trees. " It is a rain-crow," said Mr. 
Ileyward ; "a bird which we believe to foretell 
rain. I'll shoot it for you." And, going into 
the hall, he took down a double-barreled fowl- 
ing-piece, walked out, and fired into the tree ; 
whence the rain-crow, poor creature, fell flutter- 
ing to the ground and died. It seemed to me a 
kind of cuckoo — the same size, but of darker 
]jlumage. I could gather no facts to account 
for the impression that it's call is a token of rain. 

My attention was also called to a curious kind 
of snake-killing hawk, or falcon, which makes an 
extraordinary noise by putting its wings point 
upwards, close together, above its back, so as to 
offer no resistance to the air, and then, beginning 
to descend from a great height, with fast-increas- 
ing rapidity, makes, by its mshing through the 
air, a strange loud hum, till it is near the ground, 
when the bird stops its downward swoop and flies 
in a curve over the meadow. This I saw two 
of these birds doing repeatedly to-night. 

After dinner, at which Mr. Heyward express- 
ed some alarm lest Secession would deprive the 
Southern States of "ice," we continued oin- jour- 
ney towards the river. There is still a remark- 
able absence of population or life along the road, 
and even the houses are either hidden or lie too 
far off to be seen. The trees are much admired 
by the people, though they would not be thought 
much of in England. 

At length, towards sundown, having taken to 
a track liy a forest, part of which was burning, 
we came to a broad muddy river, with steep clay 
banks. A canoe was lying in a little harbour 
formed by a slope in the bank, and four stout 
negroes, who were seated round a burning log, 
engaged in smoking and eating oysters, rose as 
we approached, and helped the party into the 



58 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



"duK-out," or canoe, a narrow, long, and heavy 
boat, with wall sides and a flat floor. A row of 
one hour, the latter part of it in darkness, took 
•us to the verge of Mr. Trescot's estate, Barnwell 
Island ; and the oarsmen, as they bent to their 
task, beguiled the way by singing in unison a 
real negro melody, which was as unlike the works 
of the Ethiopian Serenaders as anything in song 
could be unlike another. It was a barbaric sort 
of madrigal, in which one singer beginning was 
followed by the others in unison, repeating the 
refrain in chorus, and full of quaint expression 
and melancholy : — 

" Ob, your soul 1 oh, my soul ! I'm going to the church- 
yard to lay this body down ; 
Ob, my soul I oh, your soul ! we're going to the church- 
yard to lay this nigger down." 

And then some appeal to the difficulty of passing 
"the Jawdam," constituted the whole of the 
song, which continued with unabated energy 
during the whole of the little voyage. To me 
it was a strange scene. The stream, dark as 
Lethe, flowing between the silent, houseless, rug- 
ged banks, lig!ited up near the landing by the 
fire in the woods, which reddened the sky — the 
wild strain, and the unearthly adjurations to the 
singers' sou'n, as though they were palpable, put 
me in mind of the fancied voyage across the 
Styx. 

"" Here v/e are at last." All I could see was 
a dark shadow of trees and the tops of rushes 
by the river side. "Mind where you step, and 
follow me close." And so, groping along through 
a thick shrubbery for a short s])ace, I came out 
on a garden and enclosure, in the midst of which 
the white outlines of a house were visible. Lights 
in the drawing-room — a lady to receive and wel- 
come us — a snug library — tea, and to bed: but 
not without more talk about the Southern Con- 
federacy, in which Mrs. Trescot explained how 
easily she could feed an army, from her experi- 
ence in feeding her negroes. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Domestic nct;roes — Negro oarsmen — Off to the fishing- 
grounds— -"The devil-fish — Bad sport — The drum-fish 
Ncgro'quarters— Want of drainage — Thievisb pro- 
pensities of the blacks — A Southern estimate of South- 
erners. 

April 27i/i. — Mrs. Trescot, it seems, spent part 
of her night in attendance on a young gentleman 
of colour, who was introduced into the world in 
a state of servitude by his poor chattel of a moth- 
er. Such kindly acts as these are more common 
than we may suppose ; and it would be unfair to 
put a strict or unfair construction on the motives 
of slave owners in paying such attention to their 
property. Indeed, as Mrs. Trescot says, "When 
people talk of my having so many slaves, I al- 
ways tell tliem it is the slaves who own me. 
Morning, noon, and night, I'm obliged to look 
after them, to doctor them, and attend to them 
in every way." Property has its duties, you see, 
madam, as well as its rights. 

The planter's house is quite new, and was built 
by himself; the principal material being wood, 
and most of the work being done by his own ne- 
groes. Such work as window-sashes and panel- 
lings, however, was executed in Charleston. A 
pretty garden runs at the back, and from the 
windows there are wide stretches of cotton-fields 
visible, and glimpses of the river to be seen. 



After breakfast our little party repaired to the 
river-side, and sat under the shade of some noble 
trees waiting for the boat which was to bear us to 
the fishing-grounds. The wind blew up stream, 
running wit'n the tide, and we strained our eyes 
in vain for the boat. The river is here nearly a 
mile across, — a noble estuary rather, — with low 
banks lined witli forests, into which the axe has 
made deep forays and clearings for cotton-fields. 
It would have astonished a stray English trav- 
eller, if, penetrating the shade, he heard in such 
an out-of-the-way place familiar names and 
things spoken of by the three lazy persons who 
were stretched out — cigar .in mouth — on the ant- 
haunted trunks which lay prostrate by the sea- 
shore. Mr. Trescot spent some time in London 
as attache to the United States Legation, was a 
clubman, and had a large circle of acquaintance 
among the young men about town, of whom he 
remembered many anecdotes and peculiarities, 
and little adventures. Since that time he was 
Under-Secretary of State in Mr. Buchanan's ad- 
ministration, and went out with Secession. He 
is the author of a very agreeable book on a dry 
subject, "The History of American Dijilomacy," 
which is curiohs enough as an unconscious ex- 
position of the anti-British jealousies, and even 
antipathies, which have animated American 
statesmen since they were created. In fact, 
much of American diplomacy means hostilTty to 
England, and the skilful employment of the anti- 
British sentiment at their disposal in their own 
country and elsewhere. Now he was talking 
pleasantly of people he had met — nrany of theiri 
mutual friends. » 

"Here is the boat at last !" I had been sweep- 
ing the broad river with my glass occasionally, 
and at length detected a speck on its broad sur- 
face moving down' towards us, with a white dot 
marking the foam at its bows. Spite of wind 
and tideway, it came rapidly, and soon approach- 
ed us, pulled by six powerful negroes, attired in 
red flannel jackets and white straw hats with 
broad ribands. The craft itself — a kind of mon- 
ster canoe, some forty-five feet long, narrow, 
wall-sided, with high bow and raised stern — lay 
deep in the water, for there were extra negroes 
for the fishing, servants, baskets of provisions, 
water buckets, stone jars of less innocent drink- 
ing, and abaft there was a knot of great strong 
planters — Elliots all — cousins, uncles, and broth- 
ers. A friendly hail as they swept up alongside, 
— an exchange of salutations. 

" Well, Trescot, have you got plenty of crabs?" 
A groan burst forth at his insouciant reply. 
He had been charged to find bait, and he had 
told the negroes to do so, and the negroes had 
not done so. The fishermen looked grievously 
at each other, and fiercely at Trescot, who as- 
sumed an air of recklessness, and threw doubts 
on the existence of fish in the river, and resorted 
to similar miserable subterfuges ; indeed, it was 
subsequently discovered that,he was an utter in- 
fidel in regard to the delights of piscicapture. 

"Now, all aboard! Over, you fellows, and 
take these gentlemen, in !" The negroes were 
over in a moment, waist deep, and, each taking 
one on his back, deposited us diy in the boat. I 
only mention this to record the fact, that I was 
much impressed by a practical demonstration 
from my bearer respecting the strong odour of 
the skin of a heated African. I have been 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



59 



weJged up in a column of infantry on a hot day, 
and have marched to leeward of GlioorI<has in 
India, but the overpowering pungent smell of the 
ncro exceeds everything of the kind I have been 
unfortunate enough to experience. 

The vessel was soon moving again, against a 
ripple, caused by the wind, which blew dead 
against us ; and notwithstanding the praises be- 
stowed on the boat, it was easy to perceive that 
the labour of pulling such a dead-log-like thing 
through tlie water told severely on the rowers, 
who had already come some twelve miles, I think. 
Nevertheless, they were told to sing, and they be- 
gan accordingly one of those wild Baptist chants 
about the Jordan in which they delight, — not 
destitute of music, but utterly uuUke wliat is call- 
ed an Ethiopian melody. 

The banks of tiie river on both sides are low ; 
on the left covered with wood, through which, 
here and there, at intervals, one could see a 
])lauter's or overseer's cottage. The course of 
this great combination of salt and fresh water 
sometimes cliaiiges, so that houses are swept 
away and plantations submerged ; but the land 
is much valued nevertheless, on account of the 
fineness of the cotton grown among the islands. 
" Cotton at 12 cents a pound, and we don't fear 
the world." 

As the boat was going to the fishing-ground, 
whicii lay towards the mouth of the river at Hil- 
ton Head, our friends talked politics and sport- 
ing combined,— tlie first of the usual character, 
the second quite new. 

I heard much of the mighty devil-fish which 
frecpients these waters. One of our party, Mr. 
Elliot, sen., a tall, knotty, gnarled sort of man, 
with a mellow eye and a hearty voice, was a 
famous hand at the sport, and had had some 
hair-breadth escapes in pursuit of it. The fish 
is described as of enormous size nnd strength, a 
monster ray, which possesses fori;udable anten- 
na;-like horns, and a pair of Imge fins, or flap- 
pers, one of which rises above the water as the 
creature moves below the surface. The hunt- 
ers, as they may be called, go out in parties — 
three or four boats, or more, with good store of 
sliarp harpoons and tow-lines, and lances. When 
they perceive the creature, one boat takes the 
lead, and moves down towards it, the others fol- 
hnving, each with a harpooner standing in the 
bow. The devil-fish sometimes is wary, and 
dives, when it sees a boat, taking such a long 
spell below that it is never seen again. At other 
times, however, it backs, and lets the boat come 
so near as to allow of the harpooner striking it, 
or it dives for a short way and comes up near 
the boats again. The moment the harpoon is 
fi.xed, the line is paid out by the rush of the 
creature, which is made with tremendous force, 
and all the boats at once hurry up, so that one 
after another they are made fast to that in which 
the lucky sportsman is seated. At length, when 
the line is run out, checked from time to time as 
much as can be done with safety, the crew take 
their oars and follow the course of the ray, which 
swims so fast, however, that it keeps the line 
taught, and drags the whole flotilla seawards. 
It depends on its size and strength to determ- 
ine how soon it rises to the surface ; by degrees 
the line is warped in and hove short till the 
boats are brought near, and when the ray comes 
up it is attacked with a shower of lances and 



harpoons, and dragged off into shoal water to 
die. 

On one occasion, our Nimrod told us, he was 
.standing in the bows of the boat, harpoon in 
hand, when a devil-fish came up close to him ; 
he threw the harpoon, struck it, but at the same 
time the boat ran against the creature with a 
shock which threw him right forward on its 
back, and in an instant it caught him in its hor- 
rid arms and plunged down with hiui to the 
depths. Imagine the horror of the moment ! 
Imagine the joy of the terrified drowning, dying 
man, when, for some inscrutable reason, the 
devil-fish relaxed its grip, and, enabled him to 
strike for the surface, where he was dragged 
into the boat more dead than alive by his terror- 
smitten companions, — the only man who over 
got out of the embraces of the thing alive. 
"Tom is so tough that even the devil-fish could 
make nothing out of him." 

At last we came to our fishing-ground. Tliere 
was a substitute found for the favourite crab, and 
it was fondly hoped our toils miglit be rewarded 
with success. And these were toils, for the wa- 
ter is deep and the lines heavy. But to alleviate 
them, some hampers were produced from the 
stern, and wonderful jiics from Mrs. Trescot's 
hands, and from those of fair ladies up the river 
whom we shall never see, were spread out, and 
bottles which represented distant cellars in friend- 
ly nooks far away. "No drum here! Up an- 
chor, and pull away a few miles lower down." 
Trescot shook his head, and again asserted his 
disbelief in fishing, or rather in catching, and in- 
deed made a sort of jiretence at arguing that it 
was wiser to remain quiet and talk philosophical 
politics ; but, as judge of appeal, I gave it against 
him, and the negroes bent to their oars, and we 
went tlmmping through the spray, till, rounding 
a ])oint of land, we saw pitched on the sandy 
shore ahead of us, on the right bank, a tent, and 
close by two boats. "There is a party at it I" 
A fire was burning on the beach, and as we came 
near, Tom and Jack and Harry were successive- 
ly identified. "There's no take on, or they 
would not be on shore. This is very unfor- 
tunate." 

All the regret of my friends was on my ac- 
count, so to ease their minds I assured them iP 
did not mind the disappointment much. " Hallo, 
Dick! Caught any drum?" " A few this morn- 
ing ; bad sport now, and will be till tide turns 
again." I was introduced to all the party from 
a distance, and presently I saw one of them i-ais- 
ing from a boat something in look and shape and 
colour like a sack of flour, which he gave to a 
negro, who proceeded to carry it towards us in 
a little skiff. "Thank you, Charley. I just 
want to let Mr. Russell see a drum-fish." And a 
very odd fish it was, — a thick lumpish form, about 
4^ feet long, wi^th enormous head and scales, and 
teeth like the grinders of a ruminant animal, act- 
ing on a great pad of bone in the roof of the 
mouth, — a very unlovely thing, swollen with roe, 
which is the great delicacy. 

"No chance till the tide turned," — but that 
would be too late for our return, and so unwill- 
ingly we were compelled to steer towards home, 
hearing now and then the singular noise like the 
tap on a large unbraced drum, from which the 
fish takes its name. At first, when I heard it, 
I was inclined to think it was made by some one 



GO 



MY DIAKY NOETH AND SOUTH. 



in the boat, so near and close did it sound ; but 
soon it came from all sides of us, and evidently 
from the depths of the water beneath us, — not a 
sharp rat-tat-tap, but a full muffled blow with a 
heavy thud on the sheepskin. Mr. Trescot told 
me tliat on a still evening by the river-side the 
effect sometimes is most curious, — the rolling 
and pattering is audible at a great distance. Our 
friends were in excellent humour with every- 
thing and everybody, except the Yankees, though 
they had caught no fish, and kept the negroes at 
singing and rowing till at nightfall we landed at 
the island, and so to bed after supper and a little 
conversation, in which Mrs. Trescot again ex- 
plained how easily she could maintain a battal- 
ion on the island by her simple commissariat, 
already adapted to the niggers, and that it would 
therefore be very easy for the South to feed an 
army if the people were friendly. 

April 2Sih. — The church is a long way off", 
only available by a boat and then a drive in a 
carriage. In the morning a child brings in my 
water and boots — an intelligent, curly-headed 
creature, dressed in a sort of sack, without any 
particular waist, barefooted. I imagined it was 
a boy till it told me it was a girl. I asked if she 
was going to church, which seemed to puzzle 
her exceedingly; but she told me finally she 
would hear prayers from "uncle" in one of the 
cottages. The use of the words "uncle" and 
"aunt" for old peoj)le is very general. Is it be- 
cause they have no fathers and mothers ? In the 
course of the day, the child, who was fourteen 
or fifteen years of age, asked me "whether I 
would not buy her. She could wash and sew 
very well, and she thought missus wouldn't want 
much for her." The object she had in view 
leaked out at last. It was a desire to see the 
glories of Beaufort, of which she had heard from 
the fishermen ; and she seemed quite wonder- 
struck when she was informed 1 did not live 
there, and had never seen it. She had never 
been outside the plantation in her life. 

After breakfast we loitered about the grounds, 
strolling through the cotton-fields, which had as 
yet put forth no bloom or flower, and coming 
down others to the thick fringes of wood and 
^dge bordering the marshy banks of the island, 
^he silence was profound, broken only by the 
husky mid-day crowing of the cocks in the negro 
quarters. 

In the afternoon I took a short drive " to see 
a tree," which was not very remarkable, and 
looked in at the negro quarters and the cotton 
mill. The old negroes were mostly indoors, and 
came shambling out to the doors of their wooden 
cottages, making clumsy bows at our approach, 
but not expressing any interest or pleasure at 
the sight of their master and the strangers. They 
were shabbily clad ; in tattered clothes, bad straw 
hats and felt bonnets, and broken shoes. The 
latter are expensive articles, and negroes cannot 
dig without them. Trescot sighed as he spoke 
of the increase of price since the troubles broke 
out. 

The huts stand in a row, like a street, each de- 
tached, with a poultry-house of rude planks be- 
hind it. The mutilations which the poultry un- 
dergo for the sake of distinction are striking. 
Some are deprived of a claw, others have the wat- 
tles cut, and tails and wings suffer in all ways. 
No attempt at any drainage or any convenience 



existed near them, and the same remark applies 
to very good houses of white people in the south. 
Heaps of oyster-shells, broken crockery, old shoes, 
rags, and feathers were found near each hut. 
The huts were all alike windowless, and the aper- 
tures, intended to be glazed some fine day, were 
generally filled up with a deal board. The roofs 
were shingle, and the whitewash which had once 
given the settlement an air of cleanliness, was 
now only to be traced by patches which had es- 
caped the action of the rain. I observed that 
many of the doors were fastened by a padlock 
and chain outside. "Why is that?" "The 
t)wners have gone out, and honesty is not a vir- 
tue they have towards each other. They would 
find their things stolen if they did not lock their 
doors." Mrs. Trescot, however, insisted on it 
that nothing could exceed the probity of the 
slaves in the house, except in regard to sweet • 
things, sugar and the like ; but money and jew- 
els were quite safe. It is obvious that some rea- 
son must exist for this regard to the distinctions 
twixt meum and tuum in the case of masters 
and mistresses, when it does not guide their con- 
duct towards each other, and I think it might 
easily be found in the fact that the negroes could 
scarcely take money without detection. Jewels 
and jewellery would be of little value to them ; 
they could not wear them, could not part with 
them. The system has made the white po] ula- 
tion a police against the black race, and tlie })un- 
ishment is not only sure but grievous. Such 
things as they can steal from each other are not 
to be so readily traced. 

One particularly dirty-looking little hut was 
described to me as " the church." It was about 
fifteen feet square, begrimed with dirt and smoke, 
and windowless. A few benches were ])laced 
across it, and "the preacher," a slave from an- 
other plantation, was expected next week. These 
preachings are not encouraged in many planta- 
tions. They " do the niggers no good" — " they 
talk about things that arc going on elsewhere, 
and get their minds unsettled," and so on. 

On our return to the liouse, I found that Sir. 
Edmund Rhett, one of the active and influential 
political family of that name, had called — a very 
intelligent and agreeable gentleman, but one of 
the most ultra and violent speakers against the 
Yankees I have yet heard. He declared there 
were few persons in South Carolina who would 
not sooner ask great Britain to take back the 
State than submit to the triumph of the Yan- 
kees. " We are an agricultural people, pursuing 
our own system, and working out our own des- 
tiny, breeding up women and men with some 
other purpose than to make them vulgar, fanati- 
cal, cheating Yankees — hypocritical, if as women 
they pretend to real virtue ; and lying, if as men 
they pretend to be honest. We have gentlemen 
and gentlewomen in your sense of it. We have 
a system which enables us to reap the fruits of 
the" earth by a race which we save from barbar- 
ism in restoring them to their real place in the 
world as laborers, whilst we are enabled to cul- 
tivate the arts, the graces, and accomplishments 
of life, to develop science, to apply ourselves to 
the duties of government, and to understand the 
aftairs of the country." 

This is a very common line of remark here. 
The Southerners also take pride to themselves, 
and not unjustly, for their wisdom in keeping in 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



61 



Congress those men who have proved themselves 
useful and capable. "We do not," they say, 
"cast able men aside at the caprices of a mob, 
or in obedience to some low party intrigue, and 
hence we-are sure of the best men, and are served 
bv gentlemen conversant with public aft'airs, far 
superior in every way to the ignorant clowns who 
are sent to Congress by the North. Look at the 
fellows who are sent out by Lincoln to insult 
foreign courts by their presence." I said that I 
understood Mr." Adams and Mr. Drayton were 
very respectable gentlemen, but I did not receive 
any sympathy ; in fact, a neutral who attempts 
to moderate the violence of either side, is very 
like an ice between two hot plates. Mr. Rhett is 
also persuaded that the Lord Chancellor sits on 
a cotton-bale. "You must recognise us, sir, be- 
fore the end of October." In the evening a dis- 
tant thunder-storm attracted me to the garden, 
and I remained out watching the broad flashes 
and sheets of fire worthy of the tropics till it was 
bed- time. 



CHAPTER XX. 

By railway to Savannah — Description of the city — Ru- 
mours of the last few days — .State of affairs at AVashing- 
ton — Preparations for war — Cemetery of Bonaventure — 
Road made of oyster-shells — Appropriate features of the 
Cemetery — Tlie Tatnall family — Dinner-party at Mr. 
Green's — Feeling in Georgia against the North. 

April20th. — This morning up at 6 a.m., bade 
farewell to our hostess and Barnwell Island, and 
proceeded with Trescot back to the Focotaligo 
station, which we reached at 12.20. On our way 
Mr. Heyward and his son rode out of a field, 
looking very like a couple of English country 
squires in all but hats and saddles. The young 
gentleman was good enough to bring over a snake 
hawk he had shot for me. At the station, to 
which the Heywards accompanied us, were the 
Elliots and others, who had come over with in- 
vitations and adieux ; and I beguiled the time 
to Savannah reading the very interesting book 
by Mr. Elliot, senior, on the Wild Sports of Caro- 
lina, which was taken up by some one when I left 
the car-carriage for a moment and not returned 
to me. The country through which we passed 
was flat and flooded as usual, and the rail passed 
over dark deep rivers on lofty trestle-work, by 
pine wood and dogwood tree, by the green planta- 
tion clearing, with mud hank, dyke, and tiny 
canal mile by mile, the train stopping for the 
usual freight of ladies, and^negro nurses, and 
young planters, all very much of the same class, 
till at 3 o'clock p.m., the cars rattled up along- 
side a large shed, and we were told we had ar- 
rived at Savannah. 

Here was waiting for me Mr. Charles Green, 
who had already claimed me and my friend as 
his guests, and I found in his carriage the young 
Americ^ designer, who had preceded me from 
Charleston, and had informed Mr. Green of my 
coming. 

The drive through such portion of Savannah 
as lay between the terminus and 3Ir. Green's 
house, soon satisfied my eyes that it had two pe- 
culiarities. In the fii-st place, it had the deepest 
sand in the streets I have ever seen ; and next, 
the streets were composed of the most odd, 
quaint, green -windowed, many- coloured little 
houses I ever beheld, with an odd population of 
lean, sallow, ill - dressed unwholesome - looking 



whites, lounging about the exchanges and cor- 
ners, and a busy, well-clad, gaily-attired race of 
negroes, working their way tiuough piles of chil- 
dren, under the shade of the trees which border- 
ed all the streets. The fringe of green, and the 
height attained by the live oak. Pride of India, 
and magnolia, give a delicious fresliness and 
novelty to the streets of Savannah, which is in- 
creased by the great number of squares and open- 
ings covered with something like sward, fenced 
round by white rail, and embellished with noble 
trees to be seen at every few hundred yards. It 
is difiBcult to believe you are in the midst of a 
city, and I was repeatedly reminded of the en- 
virons of a large Indian cantonment — the same 
kind of churches and detached houses, with their 
plantations and gardens not unlike. The wealth- 
ier classes, however, have houses of the New York 
Fifth Avenue character : one of the best of these, 
a handsome mansion of rich red sandstone, be- 
longed to my host, who coming out from En- 
gland many years ago, raised himself by industry 
and intelligence to the position of one of the first 
merchants in Savannah. Italian statuary graced 
the hall ; finely carved tables and furniture, 
stained glass, and pictures from Europe set forth 
the sitting-rooms ; and the luxury of bath-rooms 
and a supply of cold fresh water, rendered it an 
exception to the general run of Southern edifices. 
]Mr. .Green drove me through the town, which im- 
pressed me more than ever with its peculiar char- 
acter. We visited Brigadier-General Lawton, 
who is charged with the defences of the place 
against the expected Yankees, and found him 
just setting out to inspect a band of volunteers, 
whose drums we heard in the distance, and whose 
bayonets were gleaming through the clouds of 
Savannah dust, close to the statue erected to the 
memory of one Pulaski, a Pole, who was mortal- 
ly wounded in the unsuccessful defence of the 
city against the British in the war of Independ- 
ence. He turned back and led us into his house. 
The hall was filled with little round rolls of 
flannel. "These," said he, "are cartridges for 
cannon of various calibres, made by the ladies 
of Jlrs. Lawton's ' cartridge class. ' " There were 
more cartridges in the back parlour, so that the 
house was not quite a safe place to smoke a ci- 
gar in. The General has been in the United 
States' army, and has now come forward to head 
the people of this State in their resistance to the 
Yankees. 

We took a stroll in the park, and I learned the 
news of the last few days. The people of the 
South, I find, are delighted at a snubbing which 
Mr. Seward has given to Governor Hicks of 
Mflryland, for recommending the arbitration of 
Lord Lyons, and he is stated to have informed 
Governor Hicks that "our troubles could not be 
referred to foreign arbitration, least of all to that 
of the representatives of a European monarchy." 
The most terrible accounts are given of the state 
of things in Washington. Mr. Lincoln consoles 
himself for his miseries by drinking. INIr. Seward 
follows suit. The White House and capital are 
full of drunken border ruffians, headed by one 
Jim Lane of Kansas. But, on the other hand, 
the Yankees, under one Butler, a Massachusetts 
lawyer, have arrived at Annapolis, in Maryland, 
secured the "Constitution" man-of-war, and are 
raising masses of men for the invasion of the 
South all over the States. The most important 



62 



MY DIAEY NOKTH AKD SOUTH. 



thing, as it strikes me, i§ the proclamation of the 
Governor of Georgia, forbidding citizens to pay 
any money on account of debts due to North- 
erners, till the end of the war. General Robert 
E. Lee has been named Commander-in-Chief of 
the Forces of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 
and troops are flocking to that State from Ala- 
bama and other States. Governor Ellis has 
called out 30,000 volunteers in North Carolina, 
and Governor Rector of Arkansas has seized the 
United States' military stores at Napoleon. 
There is a rumour that Fort Pickens has been 
taken also, but it is very probably untrue. In 
Texas and Arkansas the United States regulars 
have not made an attempt to defend any of the 
forts. 

In the midst of all this warlike work, volun- 
teers drilling, bands playing, it was pleasant to 
walk in the shady park, with its cool fountains, 
and to see the children playing about — many of 
them, alas I "playing at soldiers" — in charge of 
their nurses. Returning, sat in the verandah 
and smoked a cigar; but the musquitoes were 
ver}- keen and numerous. My host did not mind 
them, but my cuticle will never be sting-proof. 

Ajiril oOtk. — At 1 .30 P.M., a small party start- 
ed from ]Mr. Green's to visit the cemetery of Bon- 
avcnture, to which every visitor to Savannah 
milst pay his pilgrimage ; difficihs aditus primos 
habet — a deep sandy road which strains the horses 
and the carriages; but at last "the shell road" 
is reached — a highway several miles long, con- 
sisting of oyster-shells — the pride of Savannah, 
which eats as many oysters as it can to add to 
the length of this wonderful road. There is no 
stone in the whole of the vast alluvial ranges 
of South Carolina and Maritime Georgia, and 
the only substance available for making a road 
is the oyster-shell. There is a toll-gate at each 
end to aid the oyster-shells. Remember they 
are three times the size of any European crus- 
tacean of the sort. 

A pleasant drive through the shady hedgerows 
and bordering trees lead to a dilapidated porter's 
lodge and gateway, within which rose in a tower- 
ing mass of green one of the finest pictures of 
forest architecture possible ; nothing to be sure 
like Burnham Beeches, or some of the forest 
glades of ^Yindsor, but possessed, nevertheless, 
of a character quite its own. What we gazed 
upon was, in fact, the ruin of grand avenues of 
live oak, so well-disposed that their peculiar 
mode of growth afforded an unusual develop- 
ment of the " Gothic idea," worked out and elab- 
orated by a superabundant fall from the over- 
lacing arms and intertwined branches of the til- 
landsia, or Spanish moss, a weeping, droopmg, 
plumaceous parasite, which does to the tree what 
its animal type, the yellow fever — vomiio prieto — 
does to man — clings to it everlastingly, drying 
up sap, poisoning blood, killing the principle of 
life till it dies. The only differ, as they say in 
Ireland, is, that the tillandsia all the time looks 
very pretty, and that the process lasts very long. 
Some there are who praise this tillandsia, hang- 
ing like the tresses of a witch's hair oVer an in- 
visible face, but to me it is a paltry parasite, 
destroying the grace and beauty of that it preys 
upon, and letting fall its dull tendrils over the 
fresh lovely preen, as clouds drop over the face 
of some beautiful landscape. Despite all this, 
Bonaventure is a scene of remarkable interest ; 



I it seems to have been intended for a place of 
I tombs. The Turks would have filled it with 
j turbaned white pillars, and with warm ghosts at 
night. The French would have decorated it 
I with interlaced hands of stone, with tears of red 
I and black on white ground, with wreaths of im- 
' mortelles. I am not sure that we would have 
l-done much more than have got up a cemetery 
i company, interested Shillibeer, hired a beadle, 
and erected an iron paling. The Savannah peo- 
I pie not following any of these fashions, all of 
' which are adopted in Northern cities, have left 
everj-thing to nature and the gatekeeper, and to 
j the o«Tier of one of the hotels, who has got up a 
grave-yard in the ground. And there, scattered 
I up and down under the grand old trees, which 
drop tears of Spanish moss, and weave wreaths 
of Spanish moss, and shake plumes of Spanish 
moss over them, are a few monumental stones to 
certain citizens of Savannah. There is a mel- 
ancholy air about the place independently of 
these emblems of our mortality, which might rec- 
ommend it specially for picnics. There never 
was before a cemetery where nature seemed to 
aid the effect intended by man so thoroughly. 
Every one knows a weeping willow Mill cry over 
a wedding party if they sit under it, as Mell as 
over a grave. But here the Spanish moss looks 
like weepers wreathed by some fantastic hand 
out of the crape of Dreamland. Lucian's Ghost- 
lander, the son of Skeleton of the Tribe of the 
Juiceless, could tell us something of such weird 
trappings. They are known indeed as the best 
bunting for yellow fever to fight under. "Wher- 
ever their flickering horsehair tresses wave in the 
breeze, taper ends downwards, Squire Black Jack 
is bearing lance and sword. One great green 
oak says to the other, "This fellow is killing me. 
Take his deadly robes off my limbs!"' "Alas! 
See how he is ruining me ! I have no life to 
help you." It is, indeed, a strange and very 
ghastly place. Here are so many querci virentes, 
old enough to be strong, and big, and great, sap- 
full, lusty, wide-armed, green-honoured — all dj'- 
ing out slowly beneath tillandsia, as if they were 
so many monarchies perishing of decay — or so 
many youthful republics dying of buncombe brng, 
richness of blood, and other diseases fatal to over- 
grown bodies politic. 

The void left in the midst of all these designed 
walks and stately avenues, by the absence of any 
suitable centre, increases the seclusion and soli- 
tude. A house ought to be there somewhere 
you feel — in fact there was once the mansion of 
the Tatnalls, a good old English famiily, whose 
ancestors came from the old country, ere the 
rights of man were talked of, and lived among 
the Oglethorpes, and such men of the pigtail 
school, who would have been greatly astonished 
at finding themselves in company with Benja- 
min Franklin or his kind. I don't kpow any- 
thing of old Tatnall. Indeed who does? But 
he had a fine idea of planting trees, which he 
never got in America, where he would have re- 
ceived scant praise for anything but his power to 
plant cotton or sugar-cane just now. In his 
kneebreeches and top boots, I can fancy the old 
gentleman reproducing some home scene, and 
boasting to himself, "I will make it as fine as 
Lord Nihilo's park." Could he see it now? — A 
decaying army of the dead. The mansion was 
burned down during a Christmas merrj-making, 



in: DIARY .NORTH AND SOUTH. 



63 



and was never built again, and the young trees 
have grown up despite the Spanish moss, and 
now they stand, as it were in cathedral aisles, 
around the ruins of the departed house, shading 
the ground, and enshrining its memories in an 
antiquity which seems of the remotest, although 
it is noCas ancient as that of the youngest oak in 
the Squire's park at home. 

I have bafore oftentimes in my short voyages 
here, wondered greatly at the reverence bestow- 
ed on a tree. In fact, it is because a tree of any 
decent growth is sure to be older than anything 
else around it ; and although young America rev- 
els in her future, she is becoming old enough to 
think about her past. 

In the evening Mr. Green gave a dinner to 
some very agreeable people, Mr. ^Yard, the Chi- 
nese Minister — (who tried, by-the-bye, to make 
it appear that his wooden box w^s the Pekin 
State carriage for distinguished foreigners) — Mr. 
Locke, the clever and intelligent editor of the 
principal journal in Savannah, Brigadier Law- 
ton, .one of the Judges, a Britisher, owner of the 
once renowned America which, under the name 
of Camilla, was now lying in the river (not per- 
haps without reference to a little speculation in 
running the blockade, hourly expected), Mr. 
Ward, and Commodore Tatnall, so well known 
to us in England for his gallant conduct in the 
Peiho affair, when he otfered and gave our ves- 
sels aid, though a neutral, and uttered the excla- 
mation in doing so, — in his despatch at all events, 
— "that blood was thicker than water." Of our 
party was also Mr. Hodgson, well known to most 
of our Mediterranean travellers some years back, 
when he was United States' Consul in the East. 
He amuses his leisure still by inditing and read- 
ing monographs on the languages of divers bar- 
barous tribes in Numidia and Mauritania. 

The Georgians are not quite so vehement as 
the South Carolinians in their hate of the North- 
erners ; but they are scarcely less determined to 
fight President Lincoln and' all his men. And 
that is the test of this rebellion's strength. I 
did not hear any profession of a desire to become 
subject to England, or to borrow a prince of ns ; 
but I have nowhere seen stronger determination 
to resist any reunion with the New England 
States. "They can't conquer us, Sir?" "If 
they try it, we'll whip them." 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The river at Savannah— Commodore Tatnall — Fort Pulas- 
ki — Want of a fleet to the Soathernera— Strong feeling 
of the women — Slavery considered in its results — Cot- 
ton and Georgia — Oflf for Montgomery — The Bishop of 
Georgia — The Bible and Slavery — Macon— Dislike of 
United States' gold. 

May Lay. — Not unworthy ot the best effort of 
English fine weather before the change in the 
kalendar robbed the poets' of twelve days, but 
still a little warm for choice. The young Amer- 
ican artist Moses, who was to have called our 
party to mfeet the officers who were going to 
Fort Pulaski, for some reason known to himself 
remained on board the Camilla, and when at last 
we got down to the river-side I found Commo- 
dore Tatnall and Brigadier Lawton in full uni- 
form waiting for me. 

The river is about the width of the Thames 
below Gravesend, very muddy, with a strong car- 



rent, and rather fetid. That effect might have 
been produced from the rice-swamps at the oth- 
er side of it, where the land is quite low, and 
stretches away as far as the sea in one level 
green, smooth as a billiard-cloth. The bank at 
the city side is higher, so that the houses stand 
on a little eminence over the stream, attbrding 
convenient wharfage and slips for merchant ves- 
sels. 

Of these there were few indeed visible — nearly 
all had cleared out for fear of the blockade ; 
some coasting vessels were lying idle at the quay 
side, and in the middle of the stream near a 
floating dock the Camilla was moored, with her 
club ensign flying. These are the times for bold 
ventures, and if Uncle Sam is not very quick with 
his blockades, there will be plenty of privateers 
and the like under C. S. A. colours looking out 
for his fat merchantmen all over the world. 

I have been trying to persuade my friends here 
they will find very few Englishmen willing to 
take letters of marque and reprisal. 

The steamer which was waiting to receive us 
had the Confederate flag flying, and Commodoi'e 
Tatnall, pointing to a young ofiicer in a naval 
uniform, told me he had just "come over from 
the other side," and that he had pressed hard to 
be allowed to hoist a Commodore or flag-officer's 
ensign in honour of the visit and of the occasion. 
I was much interested in the fine white-headed, 
blue-eyed, ruddy-cheeked old man- — -who sud- 
denly found himself blown into the air by a great 
political explosion, and in doubt and wonder- 
ment was floating to shore, under a strange flag 
in unknown waters. He was full of anecdote 
too, as to strange flags in distant waters and 
well-known names. The gentry of Savannah 
had a sort of Celtic feeling towards him in re- 
gard of his old name, and seemed determined to 
support him. 

He has served the Stars and Stripes for three 
fourths of a long life — his friends are in the 
North, his wife's kindred are there, and so are 
all his best associations — but his State has gone 
out. How could he fight against the countiy 
that gave him birth ! The United States is no 
countrj', in the sense we understand the words. 
It is a corporation or a body corporate for cer- 
tain purposes, and a man might as well call him- 
self a native of the common council of the city 
of London, or a native of the Swiss Diet, in the 
estimation of our Americans, as say he is a citi- 
zen of the United States ; though it answei-s very 
well to say so when he is abroad, or for purposes 
of a legal character. 

Of Fort Pulaski itself I wrote on my return a 
long account to the "Times." 

When I was venturing to point out to General 
Lawton the weakness of Fort Pulaski, placed as 
it is in low land, accessible to boats, and quite 
open enough for approaches from the city side, 
he said, "Oh, that is true enough. All our sea- 
coast works are liable to that remark, but the 
Commodore will take care of the Yankees at sea, 
and we shall manage them on land." These 
peojile all make a mistake in referring to the 
events of the old war. "We beat off the Brit- 
ish fleet at Charleston by the militia — ergo, we'll 
sink the Yankees now." They do not under- 
stand the nature of the new shell and heavy ver- 
tical fire, or the effect of projectiles from great 
distances falling into open works. The Com- 



64 



MY DIARY NORTH AlfD SOUTH. 



raodore afterwards, smiling, remarked, "I have 
no fleet. Long before tiie Southern Confedera- 
cy has a fleet that can cope with the Stars and 
Stripes, my bones will be white in the grave." 

We got back by eight o'clock p.m., after a 
pleasant day. What I saw did not satisfy me 
that Pulaski was strong, or Savannah very safe. 
At Bonaventure yesterday I saw a poor fort call- 
ed "Thunderbolt," on an inlet from which the 
city was quite accessible. It could be easily 
menaced from that point, while attempts at land- 
ing were made elsewhere as soon as Pulaski was 
reduced. At dinner met a very strong and very 
well informed Southerner — there are some who 
are neither — or either — whose name was spelled 
Gourdin and pronounced Go-dine — just as Hu- 
ger is called Hugee — and Tagliaferro, Telfer in 
these parts. 

May 2nd. — Breakfasted with Mr. Hodgson, 
where I met Mr. Locke, Mr. Ward, Mr. Green, 
and Mrs. Hodgson and her sister. There were 
in attendance some good-looking little negro 
boys and men dressed in liveries, which smacked 
of our host's Orientalism, and they must have 
heard our discussion, or rather allusion, to the 
question which would decide whether we thought 
they are human beings or black two-legged cat- 
tle, with some iutei-est, unless indeed the boast 
of their masters, that slavery elevates the char- 
acter and civilises the mind of a negro, is anoth- 
er of the false pretences on which' the institution 
is rested by its advocates. The native African, 
poor M'retch, avoids being carried into slavery 
totis viribus, and it would argue ill for the eftect 
on his mind of becoming a slave if he prefers a 
piece of gaudy calico even to his loin-cloth and 
feather head-dress. This question of civilising 
the African in slavery is answered in the asser- 
tion of the slave-owners themselves, that if the 
negroes were left to their own devices by eman- 
cipation, they would become the worst sort of 
barbarians — a veritable Quasheedom, the like of 
which was never thought of by Mr. Thomas Car- 
lyle. I doubt if the aboriginal is not as civilised, 
in the true sense of the word, as any negro, after 
three' degrees of descent in servitude, whom I 
have seen on any of the plantations — even 
though the latter h.ave leatlier shoes and fustian 
or cloth raiment, and felt hat, and sings about 
the Jordan. He is exempted from any bloody 
raid indeed, but he is liable to be carried from 
his village and borne from one captivity to an- 
other, and his family are exposed to the same 
exile in America as in Africa. The extreme 
anger with which any unfavourable comment is 
met publicly, shows the sensitiveness of the slave- 
owners. Privately, they affect philosophy ; and 
the blue books, and reports of Education Com- 
missions and Mining Comiilittees, furnish them 
with an inexhaustible souixe of argument if 3'ou 
once admit that the summum honuin lies in a cer- 
tain rotundity of person and a regular supply of 
coarse food. A long conversation on the old 
topics — old to me, but of only a f(% weeks' birth. 
People are swimming with the tide. Hei-e are 
many men who would willingly stand aside i^ 
they could, and see the battle between the Yan- 
kees, whom they hate, and the Secessionists. 
But there are no women in this party. Wo be- 
tide the Northern Pyrrhus whose head is within 
reach of a Southern tile and a Southern wom- 
an's arm ! 



I re-visited some of the big houses afterwards, 
and found the merchants not cheerful, but fierce 
and resolute. There is a considerable j)opula- 
tion of Irish and Germans in Savannah, who to 
a man are in favour of the Confederacy, and will 
fight to support it. Indeed, it is exjiected they 
will do so, and there is a pressure brougli-t to 
IJear on them by their employers which they can- 
not well resist. The negroes will be forced into 
the place the whites hitherto occupied as labour- 
ers — only a few useful mechanics will be kept, 
and the white population will be obliged by a 
moral force draughting to go to the wars. The 
kingdom of cotton is most essentially of this 
world, and it will be fought for vigorously. On 
the quays of Savannah, and in the warehouses, 
there is not a man who doubts that he ought to 
strike his hardest for it, or apprehends fivilure. 
And then, what a career is before them ! All 
the world aslcing for cotton, and England de- 
pendent on it. What a change since Whitney 
fii'st set his cotton gin to work in this state close 
by us ! Georgia, as a vast country only partial- 
ly reclaimed, yet looks to a magnificent future. 
In her past liistory the Florida wars, and the 
treatment of the unfortunate Cherokee Indians, 
who were expelled from their lands as late as 
1838, show the people who descended from old 
Oglethorpe's band were fierce and tyrannical, 
and apt at aggression, nor will slavery improve 
them. I do not sjieak of the cultivated and hos- 
pitable citizens of the large towns, but of the bulk 
of the slaveless whites. 

May 3rd. — I bade good-by to Mr. Green, who 
with several of his friends came down to see me 
off', at the terminus or "depot" of the Central 
Railway, on my way to Montgomery — and look- 
ed my last on Savannah, its squares and leafy 
streets, its churches, and institu^tes with a feeling 
of regret that I could not see more of them, and 
that I was forced to be content with the outer as- 
pect of the public buildings. I had been sere- 
naded and invited out in all directions, asked to 
visit plantations and big trees, to make excur- 
sions to famous or beautiful spots, and specially 
warned not to leave the State without visiting 
the mountain district in the northern and west- 
ern portion ; but the march of events called me 
to Montgomery. 

From Savannah to Macon, 191 miles, the road 
passes through level country only partially clear- 
ed. That is, there are patches of forest still in- 
truding on the green fields, where the jagged 
black teeth of the destroyed trees rise from above 
the maize and cotton. There were but few ne- 
groes visible at work, nor did the land appear 
rich, but I was told the rail was laid along the 
most barren part of the country. The Indians 
had roamed in these woods little more than twen- 
ty }-ears ago — now the wooden huts of the plant- 
ers' slaves and the larger edifice with its veran- 
dah and timber colonnade stood in the place of 
their wigwam. 

Among the passengers to whom I was intro- 
duced was the Bishop of Georgia, the Rev. Mr. 
Elliott, a man of exceeding fine presence, of great 
stature, and handsome face, with a manner easy 
and graceful, but we got on the unfortunate sub- 
ject of slavery, and I rather revolted at hearing 
a Christian prelate advocating the institution on 
scriptural grounds. 

This application of biblical sanction and ordi- 



MY DIARY NOKTH AND SOUTH. 



65 



nance as the basis of slavery was not new to me, 
though it is not much known at the other side 
of the Atlantic. I had read in a work on sla- 
ver)-, that it was permitted by both the Scriptures 
and the Constitution of the United States, and 
that it must, therefore, hz doubly right. A na- 
tion that could ap])rove of such intei-pretations 
of the Scriptures and at the same time read the 
"New York Herald," seemed ripe for destruc- 
tion as a corporate existence. The malum pro- 
hibitiim was the only evil its crass senses could 
detect, and the malum per se was its good, if it 
only came covered with cotton or gold. The 
miserable sophists who expose themselves to the 
contem)it of the world by their paltry thesicles 
on the divine origin and uses of slavery, are in- 
finitely more c.:)ntemptible than the wretched 
bigots who published themes long ago on the 
propriety of burning witches, or on the necessity 
for the offices of the Inquisition. 

Whenever the Southern Confederacy shall 
achieve its independence — no matter what its 
resources, its allies, or its aims — it will have to 
stand face to face with civilized Europe on this 
question of slavery, and the strength wliich it de- 
rived from the aegis of the Constitution — "the 
league with the devil and covenant with Hell" 
— will be withered and gone. 

I am well aware of the danger of drawing 
summary conclusions off-hand from the windows 
of a railway, but there is also a right of sight 
which exists under all circumstances, and so one 
can determine if a man's face be dirty as well 
from a glance as if he inspected it for half an 
hour. For instance, no one can doubt the evi- 
dence of liis ssnses, when he sees from the win- 
dows of the carriages that the children are bare- 
footed, shoeless, stockingless — that the people 
who congregate at the wooden huts and grog- 
shops of the stations are rude, unkempt, but great 
fighting material too — that the villages are mis- 
erable places, compared with the trim, snug set- • 
tlements one saw in New Jei-sey from the car- 
riage-windows. Slaves in the fields looked hap- 
py enough — but their masters certainly were 
rough-looking and uncivilised — and the land was 
but badly cleared. But then we were traversing 
the least fertile portions of the State — a recent 
acquirement — gained only one generation since. 
The train halted at a snug little wood-embow- 
ered restaurant, surrounded by trellis and lattice- 
work, and in the midst of a pretty garden, which 
presented a marked contrast to' the "surround- 
ings" we had seen. The dinner, served by slaves, 
was good of its kind, and the charge not high. 
On tendering the landlord a piece of gold for 
payment, he looked at it with disgust, and asked, 
"Have you no Charleston money? No Con- 
federate notes?" " Well, no ! Why do you ob- 
ject to gold?" "Well, do you see, I'd rather 
have our own paper ! I don't care to take any 
of the United States' gold. I don't want their 
stars and their eagles ; I hate the sight of them." 
The man was quite sincere — my companion gave 
him notes of some South Carolina bank. 

It was dark when the train reached Macon, 
one of the principal cities of the State. We 
drove to the best hotel, but the regular time for 
dinner-hour was over, and that for supper not 
yet come. The landlord directed us to a sub- 
terranean restaurant, in which were a series of 
crypts closed in by dirty curtains, where we made 
E 



a very extraordinary repast, served by a half-clad 
little negress, who watched us at the meal with 
great interest through the curtains — the service 
was of the coarsest description ; thick French 
earthenware, the spoons of pewter, the knives 
and furks steel or iron, with scarce a pretext of 
being cleaned. On the doors were the usual 
warnings against pickpockets, and the customa- 
ry internal police regulations and ukases. Pick- 
pockets and gamblers abound in American cities, 
and thrive greatly at the large hotels and the 
lines of railways. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Slave-pens ; Negroes on sale or lure— Popular feeling aa 
to Secession— Beauregard and speech-making— Arrival 
at Montgomeiy — Bad hotel accommodation— Knights 

of the Golden Circle — Reflections on Slavery Slave 

auction— The Legislative Assembly— A "live chattel" 
knocked down — Rumours from the North (true and 
false) and prospects of war. 

iV«y -Ith.—In the morning I took a drive about 
the city, which is loosely built in detached houses 
over a pretty undulating country covered with 
wood and fruit-trees. Many good houses of daz- 
zling white, with bright green blinds, verandahs, 
and doors, stand in their own grounds or gar- 
dens. In the course of the drive I saw two or 
three signboards and placards announcing that 
" Smith & Co. advanced money on slaves, and 
had constant supplies of Virginian negroes on 
sale or hire." These establishments were sur- 
rounded by high walls enclosing the slave-pens 
or large rooms, in which the slaves are kept for 
inspection. The train for Montgomery started 
at 9 4:5 A.M., but I had no time to stop and visit 
them. 

It is evident we are approaching the Confed- 
erate capital, for the candidates for office begin 
to show, and I detected a printed testimonial in 
my room in the hotel. The country, from Ma- 
con in Georgia to Montgomery in Alabama, of- 
fers no features to interest the traveller which 
are not common to the districts already described. 
It is, indeed, more undulating, and somewhat 
more picturesque, or less unattractive, but, on the 
whole, there is little to recommend it, except the 
natural fertility of the soil. The people are raw- 
er, ruder, bigger — there is the same amount of 
tobacco-chewing and its consequences — and as 
much swearing or use of expletives. The men 
are tall, lean, uncouth, but they are notpeasaats. 
There are, so far as I have seen, no rustics, no 
peasantry in America ; men dress after the same 
type, differing only in finer or coarser material ; 
every man would wear, if he could, a black satin 
waistcoat and a large diamond pin stuck in the 
front of his shirt, as he certainly has a watch 
and a gilt or gold chain of some sort or other. 
The Irish labourer, or the German husbandman 
is the nearest approach to our Giles Jolter or the 
Jacques Bonhomme to be found in the States. 
The mean white affects the style of the large 
proprietor of slaves or capital as closely as he 
can ; he reads his papers — and, by-the-by, they 
are becoming smaller and more whitey-brown as 
we proceed — and takes his drink with the same 
air — takes up as much room, and speaks a good 
deal in the same fashion. 

The people are all hearty Secessionists here — 
the Bars and Stars are flying at the road-stations 



66 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



and from the pine-tops, and there are lusty 
cheers for Jeff Davis and the Southern Confed- 
eracy. Troops are flocking towards Virginia 
from the Southern States in reply to the march 
of Volunteers from Northern States to Washing- 
ton ; but it is felt that the steps taken by the 
Federal Government to secure Bahimore have 
obviated any chance of successfully opposing the 
"Lincolnites" going through that city. There 
is a strong disposition on the part of the South- 
erners to believe they have many friends in the 
North, and they endeavour to attach a factious 
character to the actions of the Government by 
calling the Volunteers and the war party in the 
North "Lincolnites," "Lincoln's Mercenaries," 
"Black Republicans," "Abolitionists," and the 
like. The report of an armistice, now denied 
by JNIr. Seward officially, was for some time cur- 
rent, but it is plain that the South must make 
good its words, and justify its acts by the sword. 
General Scott would, it was fondly believed, re- 
tire from the United States' army, and either re- 
main neutral or take command under the Con- 
federate flag, but now that it is certain he will 
not follow any of these com-ses, he is assailed in 
the foulest manner by the press and in private 
conversation. Heaven help the idol of a democ- 
racy ! 

At one of the junctions General Beauregard, 
attended by Mr. Manning, and others of his staff, 
got into the car, and tried to elude observation, 
but the conductors take great pleasure in unearth- 
ing distinguished passengers for the public, and 
the Gcner.al was called on for a speech by the 
crowd of idlers. The General hates speech-mak- 
ing, he told me, and he had besides been bored 
to death at eveiy station by similar demands. 
But a man must be jiopular or he is nothing. 
So, as next best thing, Governor Manning made 
a speech in the General's name, in which he 
dwelt on Southern Rights, Sumter, victory, and 
abolitiondom, and was carried off from the cheers 
of his auditors by the train in the midst of an 
unfinished sentence. There were a number of 
blacks listening to the Governor, who were ap- 
preciative. 

Towards evening, having thrown out some 
slight outworks against accidental sallies of my 
fellow-passengers' saliva, I went to sleep, and 
woke up at 11 p.m. to hear we were in Mont- 
gomery. A very ricketty omnibus took the party 
to the hotel, which was crowded to excess. The 
General and his friends had one room to them- 
selves. Three gentlemen and myself were cram- 
med into a filthy room which already contained 
two strangers, and as there were only three beds 
in the apartment it was apparent that we were 
intended to "double np considerably;" but aft- 
er strenuous efforts, a little bribery and cajoling, 
we succeeded in procuring mattresses to put on 
the floor, which was regarded by onr neighbours 
as a proof of miserable aristocratic fastidiousness. 
Had it not been for the flies, the fleas would have 
been intolerable, but one nuisance neutralised the 
other. Then, as to food — nothing could be had 
in the hotel — but one of the waiters led us to a 
restaurant, where we selected from a choice bill 
of fare, which contained, I think, as many odd 
dishes as ever I saw, some unknown fishes, oys- 
ter-plants, 'possums, racoons, frogs, and other 
delicacies, and, eschewing toads and the like, 
really made a good meal off dirty plates on a 



vile table-cloth, our appetites being sharpened by 
the best of condiments. 

Colonel Pickett has turned up here, having 
made his escape from Washington just in time 
to escape arrest — travelling in disguise on foot 
through out-of-the-way places till he got among 
friends. 

I was glad, when bed-time approached, that I 
was not among the mattress men. One of the 
gentlemen in the bed next the door was a tre- 
mendous projector in the tobacco-juice line : his 
final rumination ere he sank to repose was a mas-i 
terpiece of art — a perfect liquid pyrotechny, Ro- 
man candles and falling stars. A-horrid thought 
occurred as I gazed and wondered. In case he 
should in a supreme moment turn his attention 
my way ! — I was only seven or eight yards off, 
and that might be nothing to him! — I hauled 
down my musquito curtain at once, and watched 
him till, completely satiated, he slept. 

May 5t/i. — Very warm, and no cold water, un- 
less one went to the river. The hotel baths were 
not promising. This hotel is worse than ISIill's 
House or Willard's. The feeding and the flies 
are intolerable. One of our party comes in to 
say that he could scarce get down to the hall on 
account of the crowd, and that all the people who 
passed him had very hard, sharp bones. He re- 
marks thereupon to the clerk at the bar, who 
tells him that the particular projections he al- 
ludes to are implements of defence or offence, as 
the case may be, rmd adds, "I suppose you and 
your friends are the only people in the house who 
haven't a bowie-knife, or a six-shooter, or Der- 
ringer about them." • The house is full of Con- 
federate Congress men, politicians, colonels, and 
placemen with or without places, and a vast num- 
ber of speculators, contractors, and the like, at- 
tracted by the embryo goverament. Among the 
visitors are many fillihusters, such as Henning- 
sen, Pickett, Tochmnn, Wheat.* I hear a good 
deal about the association called the Knights of 
the Golden Circle, a Protestant association for 
securing the Gulf provinces and states, including 
— which has been largely developed by recent 
events — them in the Southern Confederacy, and 
creating them into an independent government. 

Montgomery has little claims to be called a 
capital. The streets are very hot, unpleasant, 
and uninteresting. I have rarely seen a more 
dull, lifeless place ; it looks like a small Russian 
town in the interior The names of the shop- 
keepers indicate German and French origin. I 
looked in at one or two of the slave magazines, 
which are not unlike similar establishments in 
Cairo and Smyrna. A certain degree of free- 
dom is enjoyed by some of the men, who lounge 
about the doors, and are careless of escape or 
liberty, knowing too well the difficulties of cither. 

It is not in its external aspects generally that 
slavery is so painful. The observer must go 
with Sterne, and gaze in on the captives' dun- 
geons through the bars. The condition of a pig 
in a stye is not, in an animal sense, anything but 
good. Well fed, over fed. covered from the 
winds and storms of heaven, with clothing, food, 
medicine provided, children taken care of, aged 
relatives and old age itself succoured and guard- 
ed — is not this ? Get thee behind us, slave 

philosopher ! The hour comes when the butch- 



* .Since killed in action. 



MY DIAKY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



67 



er steals to the stye, and the knife leaps from the 
sheath. 

Now there is this one thing in being a dvaX 
avcolov, that be the race of men bad as it may, 
a kind of grandiose character is given to tlieir 
leader. The stag which sweeps his rivals from 
his course is the largest of the herd ; but a man 
who drives the largest drove of sheep is no better 
than he who drives the smallest. The flock he 
compels must consist of human beings to devel- 
op the property of which I speak, and so the 
very superiority of the slave master iu the wa3^s 
and habits of command proves that the negro is 
a man. But, at the same time, the law which 
regulates all these relations between man and his 
fellows, asserts itself here. The dominant race 
becomes dependent on some other body of men, 
less martial, arrogant, and wealthy, for its ele- 
gances, luxuries, and necessaries. The poor vil- 
leins round the Norman castle forge the armour, 
make the furniture, and exercise the mechanical 
arts which the baron and his followers are too 
ignorant and too proud to pursue ; if there is no 
population to serve this purpose, some energetic 
race comes in their place, and the Yankee does 
the part of the little hungry Greek to the Roman 
patrician. 

The South has at present little or no -manu- 
factures, takes everything from the Yankee out- 
side or the mean white within her gates, and de- 
spises both. Both ai'e reconciled by interest. 
The one gets a good price for his manufacture 
and the fruit of his ingenuity from a careless, 
spendthrift proprietor ; the other hopes to be as 
good as his master some day, and sees the be- 
ginning of his fortune ia the possession of a ne- 
gro. It is fortunate for our great British Cath- 
erine-wheel, which is continually throwing off 
light and heat to the remotest parts of the world 
— I hope not burning down to a dull red cinder 
iu the centre at last — that it had not to send its 
emigrants to the Southern States, as assuredly 
the emigration would soon have been checked. 
The United States has been represented to the 
British and Irish emigrants by the free States — 
the Northern States and the great West — and 
the British and German emigrant who finds him- 
self in the South, has drifted there through the 
Northern States, and either is a migratory la- 
bourer, or hopes to return with a little money to 
the North and West, if he does not see his way 
to the possession of land and negroes. 

After dinner at the hotel table, which was 
crowded with officei-s, and where I met Mr. How- 
ell Cobb and several senators of the new Con- 
gress, I spent the evening with Colonel Deas, 
Quartermaster - General, and a number of his 
staff, in their quarters. As I was walking over 
to the house, one of the detached villa-like resi- 
dences so common in Southern cities, I per- 
ceived a crowd of very well-dressed negroes, 
men and women, in front of a plain brick build- 
ing which I was informed was their Baptist 
meeting-house, into which white people rarely or 
never intrude. These were domestic seiwants, 
or persons employed in stores, and their general 
appearance indicated much comfort and even 
luxury. I doubted if they all were slaves. One 
of my companions went up to a young woman in 
a ^ straw-hat, with bright red-and-green riband 
trimmings and artificial flowers, a gaudy Paisley 
ahawl, and a rainbow-like gown, blown out over 



her yellow boots by a prodigious crinoline, and 
asked her " Whom do you belong to?" She re- 
plied, "I b'long to Massa Smith, sar." Well, 
we have men who " belong" to horses iu Eng- 
land. I am not sure if Americans, North and 
South, do not consider their superiority to all 
Englishmen so thoroughly established, that they 
can speak of them as if they were talking of in- 
ferior animals. To-night, for example, a gal- 
lant young South Carolinian, one Ransome Cal- 
houn,* was good enough to say that "Great 
Britain was in mortal fear of France, and was 
abjectly subdued by her great rival." Hence 
came controversy, short and acrimonious. 

May Gth. — I forgot to say that yesterday be- 
fore dinner I drove out with some gentlemen and 
the ladies of the family of Mr. George N. Sand- 
ers, once United States' consul at Liverpool, 
now a doubtful man here, seeking some office 
from the Government, and accused by a por- 
tion of the press of being a Confederate spy — 
Porcus de grege epicuii — but a learned pig withal, 
and weather-wise, and mindful of the signs of 
the times, catching straws and whisking them 
upwards to detect the currents. Well, in this 
great moment I am bound to say there was 
much talk of ice. The North owns the frozen 
climates ; but it was hoped that Great Britain, 
to whom belongs the North Pole, might force 
the blockade and send aid. 

The environs of Montgomery £fre agreeable — 
well-wooded, undulating, villas abounding, pub- 
lic gardens, and a large negro and mulatto sub- 
urb. It is not usual, as far as I can judge, to 
see women riding on horseback in the South, 
but on the road here we encountered several. 

After breakfast I walked down with Senator 
Wigfall to the capitol of Montgomery — one of 
the true Athenian Yankeeized structures of this 
novo-classic land, ei'ected on a site worthy of a 
better fate aad edifice. By an open cistern, on 
our way, I came on a gentleman engaged in dis- 
posing of some living ebony carvings to a small 
circle, who had more curiosity than cash, for they 
did not at all respond to the energetic appeals 
of the auctioneer. 

The sight was a bad preparation for an intro- 
duction to the legislative assembly of a Confed 
eracy which rests on the Institution as the cor- 
nerstone of the social and political arch which 
'maintains it. But there they were, the legisla- 
tors or conspirators, in a large room provided 
with benches and seats, and listening to such 
a sermon as a Balfour of Burley might have 
preached to his Covenanters— resolute and mass- 
ive heads, and large frames — such men as must 
have a faith to inspire them. And that is so. 
Assaulted by reason, by logic, argument, philan- 
thropy, progress directed against his peculiar in- 
stitutions, the Southerner at last is di-iven to a 
fanaticism — a sacred faith which is above all rea- 
son or logical attack in the propriety, righteous- 
ness, and divinity of slavery. 

The chaplain, a venerable old man, loudly in- 
voked curses on the heads of the enemy, and 
blessings on the arms and councils of the New 
State. When he was done, Mr. Howell Cobb, a 
fat, double - chinned, mellow - eyed man, rapped 
with his hammer on the desk before the chair on 
which he sat as speaker of the assembly, and the 
hoftse proceeded to busines s. I could fancy that, 
* Since killed. 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



ia all but garments, they were like the men who 
tirst conceived the great rebellion which led to 
the independence of this wonderful country — so 
earnest, so grave, so sober, and so vindictive — at 
least, so embittered against the power which they 
consider tyrannical and insulting. 

The word " liberty" was used repeatedly in the 
short time allotted to the public transaction of 
business and the reading of documents ; the Con- 
gress was anxious to get to its work, and Mr. 
Howell Cobb again thumped his desk and an- 
nounced that the house was going into "secret 
session," which intimated that all persons who 
were not members should leave. I was intro- 
duced to what is called the floor of the house, 
and had a delegate's chair, and of course I moved 
away with the others, and with the disappointed 
ladies and men from the galleries, hut one of the 
members, Mr. Rhett, I believe, said jokingly : "I 
think you ought to retain your seat. If the 
" Times" will support the South, we'll accept you 
as a delegate." I replied that I was afraid I 
could not act as a delegate to a Congress of 
Slave States. And, indeed, I had been much 
affected at the slave auction held just outside the 
hotel, on the steps of the public fountain, which 
I had witnessed on my way to the capitol. The 
auctioneer, who was an ill-favoured, dissipated- 
looking rascal, had his "article" beside him on, 
not in, a deal packing-case — a stout young negro 
badly dressed and ill-shod, who stood with all 
his goods fastened in a small bundle in his hand, 
looking out at the small and listless gathering 
of men, who, whittling and chewing, had moved 
out from the shady side of the street as they saw 
the man put up. The chattel character of slav- 
ery in the States renders it most repulsive. What 
a pity the nigger is not polypoid — so that he 
could be cut up in junks, and each junk should 
reproduce itself! 

A man in a cart, some volunteers in coarse 
uniform, a few Irish labourers in a long van, and 
four or five men in the usual black coat, satin 
waistcoat, and black hat, constituted the audi- 
ence, whom the auctioneer addressed volubly: 
"A prime field-hand ! Just look at him — good- 
natered, well-tempered ; no marks, nary sign of 
bad about him ! En-i-ne hunthered — only nine 
I^n-ther-ed and fifty dol'rs for 'em ! Why, it's 
quite rad-aklous ! Nine hundred and fifty dol'rs ! 

I can't ralj' That's good. Thank you, sir. 

Twenty-fire bid — nine hun-therd and seventy- 
five doFrs for this most useful hand." The price 
rose to one thousand dollars, at which the useful 
hand was knocked down to one of the black hats 
near me. The auctioneer and the negro and 
his buyer all walked off together to settle the 
transaction, and the crowd moved away. 

"That nigger went cheap," said one of them 
to a companion, as he walked towards the shade. 
"Yes, Sirr ! , Niggers is cheap now^ — that's a 
fact." I must admit that I felt myself indulging 
in a sort of reflection whether it would not be 
nice to own a man as absolutely as one might 
possess a horse — to hold him subject to my will 
arid pleasure, as if he were a brute beast without 
the power of kicking or biting — to make him 
work for me — to hold his fate in my hands : but 
the thought was for a moment. It was followed 
by disgust. 

I have seen slave markets in the East, wh«re 
the traditions of the race, the condition of family 



and social relations divest slavery of the most 
odious characteristics which pertain to it in the 
States ; but the use of the English tongue in 
such transactions, and the idea of its taking place 
among a civilized Christian people, produced in 
me a feeling of inexpressible loathing and in- 
dignation. Yesterday I was much struck by the 
intelligence, activity, and desire to please of a 
good-looking coloured waiter, who seemed so 
light-hearted and light - coloured I could not 
imagine he was a slave. So one of our party, 
who was an American, asked him : " What are 
yon, boy — a free nigger?" Of course he knew 
that in Alabama it was most unlikely he could 
reply in the affirmative. The young man's smile 
died away from his lips, a flush of blood em- 
browned the face for a moment, and he answered 
in a sad, low tone : "No, sir! Ib'long toMass'i 
Jackson," and left the room at once. As I stood 
at an upper window of the capitol, and looked on 
the wide expanse of richly-wooded, well-culti- 
vated land which sweeps round the hill side aw;iy 
to the horizon, I could not help thinking of the 
misery and cruelty which must have been bo-ne 
in tilling the latid and raising the houses and 
streets of the dominant race before whom one 
nationality of coloured people have perished with- 
in the memoi7 of man. The misery and cruelty 
of the system are established by the advertise- 
ments for runaway negroes, and by the descrij;- 
tion of the stigmata on their persons — whippings 
and brandings, scars and cuts — though these, in- 
deed, are less frequent here than in the border 
States. 

On my return, the Hon. W. M. Browne, As- 
sistant Secretary of State, came to visit me — a 
cadet of an Irish family, who came to America 
some years ago, and having lost his money in 
land speculations, turned his pen to good ac- 
count as a journalist, and gained Mr. Buchan- 
an's patronage and support as a newspaper editor 
in Washington. There he became intimate with 
the Southern gentlemen, with whom he natural- 
ly associated in preference to the Northern mem- 
bers ; and when they went out, he walked over 
along with them. He told me the Government 
had already received numerous — I think he said 
400 — letters from shipowners applying for letters 
of marque and reprisal. !Many of these applica- 
tions were from merchants in Boston, and other 
maritime cities in the New England States. He 
further stated that the President was determined 
to take the whole control of the army, and the 
appointments to command in all ranks of officers 
into his own hands. 

There is now no possible chance of preserving 
the peace or of averting the horrors of war from 
these great and prosperous communities. The 
Southern people, right or wrong, are bent on in- 
dependence and on separation, and they will fight 
to the last for their object. 

The press is fanning the flame on both sides: 
it would be difficult to say whether it or the tel- 
egraphs circulate lies most largely ; but that as 
the papers print the telegrams they must have 
the palm. The Southerners are told there is a 
reign of terror in New York — that the 7th New 
York Regiment has been captured by the Balti- 
more people — that Abe Lincoln is always drunk 
— that General Lee has seized Arlington heights, 
and is bombarding Washington. The New York 
people are regaled with similar stories from the 



IIY DIAKY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



69 



South. The coincidence between the date of [ 
the skirmish at Lexington and of the attack on ■ 
the Gth Massachusetts Regiment at Baltimore is 
not so remarkable as the fact, that the first man 
who was killed at the latter place, 8G years ago, ! 
was a direct descendant of the first of the colo- 
nists who was killed by the royal soldiery. Bal- 
timore may do the same for the South which 
Lexington did for all the Colonies. Head- 
shaving, forcible deportations, tarring and feath- 
ering are recommended and adopted as specifics 
to produce conTcrsion from eiToneous opinions. 
The President of the United States has called 
into service of the Federal Government 42,000 
volunteers, and increased the regular army by 
22,000 men, and the navy by 18,000 men. If 
the South secede, they ought certainly to take 
over with them some Yankee hotel keepers. 
This "Exchange" is in a frightful state — noth- 
ing but noise, dirt, drinking, wrangling. 



CHAPTER XXin. 

Proclamation of war — Jefferson Davis — Interview with 
the President of the Confederacy — Passport and safe- 
conduct — Messrs. Wigfall, Walker, and Benj.amin — Pri- 
vateering and letters of marque — A reception at Jeffer- 
son Davis's— Dinner at Mr. Benjamin's. 
May 9th. — To-day the papers contain a ])roc- 
lamation by the President of the Confederate 
States of America, declaring a state of war be- 
tween the Confederacy and the United States, 
and notifying the issue of letters of marque and 
reprisal. I went out with ^Ir. Wif!;fl\ll in the 
forenoon to pay my respects to Mr. Jefferson 
Davis at the State Department. Mr. Seward 
told me that but for Jeflerson Davis the Seces- 
sion plot could never have been carried out. No 
other man of the party had the brain, or the 
courage and dexterity, to bring it to a successful 
issue. All the persons in the Southern States 
spoke of him with admiration, though their forms 
of speech and thought generally forbid them to 
be respectful to any one. 

There before me was ' ' Jeff Davis's State De- 
partment" — a large brick building, at the corner 
of a street, with a Confederate flag floating above 
it. The door stood open, and "gave" on a large 
hall white-washed, with doors plainly painted 
belonging to small rooms, in which was trans- 
acted most important business, judging by the 
names written on sheets of paper and applied 
outside, denoting bureaux of the highest func- 
tions. A few clerks were passing in and out, 
and one or two gentlemen were on the stairs, 
but there was no appearance of any bustle in the 
building. 

We walked straight np-stairs to the first-floor, 
which was surrounded by doors opening from a 
quadrangular platform. On one of these was 
written simph-, "The President." Mr.Wigfall 
went in, and after a moment returned and said, 
"The President will be glad to see you; walk 
in, sir." When I entered, the President was en- 
gaged with four gentlemen, who were making 
some offer of aid to him. He was thanking them 
"in the name of the Government." Shaking 
hands with each, he saw them to the door, bowed 
them and Mr. Wigfall out, and turning to me 
said, "Mr. Russell, I am glad to welcome you 
here, though I fear your appearance is a symp- 
tom that our affairs are not quite prosperous," 



or words to that effect. He then requested me 
to sit down close to his own chair at his office- 
table, and proceeded to speak on general mat- 
ters, adverting to the Crimean War and the In- 
dian Mutiny, and asking questions about Sebas- 
topol, the Redan, and the Siege of Lucknow. 

I had an opportunity of observing the Presi- 
dent very closely: he did not impress me as fa- 
vourably as I had expected, though he is certainly 
a very different looking man from Mr. Lincoln. 
He is like a gentleman — has a slight, light fig- 
ure, little exceeding middle height, and holds 
himself erect and straight. He was dressed^n 
a rustic suit of slate-coloured stuff, with a black 
silk handkerchief round his neck ; his manner is 
]>lain, and rather reserved and drastic ; his head 
is well formed, with a fine full forehead, square 
and high, covered with innumerable fine lines 
and wrinkles, features regular, though the cheek- 
bones are too high, and the jaws too hollow to be 
handsome ; the lips are thin, flexible, and curved, 
the chin square, well-defined ; the nose very reg- 
ular, with wide nostrils ; and the eyes deep set, 
large and full — one seems nearly blind, and is 
partly covered with a film, owing to excruciating 
attacks of neuralgia and tic. Wonderful to re- 
late, he does not chew, and is neat and clean- 
looking, with hair trimmed and boots brushed. 
The expression of his face is anxious, he has a 
very haggard, care-worn, and pain-drawn look, 
though no trace of anytliing but the utmost con- 
fidence and the greatest decision could be detect- 
ed in his conversation. He asked me some 
questions respecting the route I had taken in the 
States. 

I mentioned that I had seen great military 
preparations through the South, and was aston- 
ished at the alacrity with 'which the people sprang 
to arms. "Yes, sir," he remarked, and his tone 
of voice and manner of speech are rather re- 
markable for what are considered Yankee pe- 
culiarities, "in Eu-rope" (Mr. Seward also in- 
dulges in that pronunciation) "they laugh at us 
because of our fondness for military titles and 
displays. All your travellers in this country 
have commented on the number of generals, and 
colonels, and majors all over the States. But 
the fact is, we are a military people, and these 
signs of the fact were ignored. We are not less 
military because we have had no great standing 
armies. But perhaps we are the only peo])le in 
the world where gentlemen go to a military 
academy, who do not intend to follow the profes- 
sion of arms." 

In the course of our conversation, I asked him 
to have the goodness to direct that a sort of pass- 
port or protection should be given to me, as I 
might possibly fall in with some guerilla leader 
on my way northwards, in whose eyes I might 
not be" entitled to safe conduct. Mr. Davis said, 
"I shall give such instructions to the Secretary 
of War as shall be necessary. But, sir, you are 
among civilised, intelligent people who under- 
stand your position, and appreciate your charac- 
ter. We do not seek the sympathy of England 
by unworthy means, for we respect ourselves, 
and we are glad to invite the scrutiny of men 
into our acts ; as for our motives, we meet the 
eye of Heaven." I thought I could judge from 
his words that he had tlie highest idea of the 
French as soldiers, but that liis feelings and asso- 
ciations were more identified with England, al- 



70 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



though he was quite aware of the difficulty of 
conquering the repugnance whicli exists to slav- 
ery. 

Mr. Davis made no allusion to the authorities 
at Washington, but he asked me if I thought it 
was supposed in England there would be war be- 
tween the two States ? I answered, that I was 
under the impression the public thought there 
would be no actual hostilities. "And yet you 
see we are driven to take up arms for the defence 
of our rights and liberties." 

As I saw an immense mass of papers on his 
t^le, I rose and made my bow, and Blr. Davis, 
seeing me to the door, gave me his hand and 
said, "As long as you may stay among us you 
shall receive every facility it is in our power to 
afford to you, and I shall always be glad to see 
you." Colonel Wigfall was outside, and took 
me to the room of the Secretary of War, Mr. 
Walker, whom we found closeted with General 
Beauregard and two other officers in a room full 
of maps and plans. He is the kind of man gen- 
erally represented in our types of a " Yankee" — 
tall, lean, straight-haired, angular, with fiery, 
impulsive eyes and manner — a ruminator of to- 
bacco and a profuse spitter — a lawyer, I believe, 
certainly not a soldier ; ardent, devoted to the 
cause, and confident to the last degree of its 
speedy success. 

The news that two more States had joined the 
Confederacy, making ten in all, was enough to 
put them in good humour. "Is it not too bad 
these Yankees will not let us go our own ^vay, 
and keep their cursed Union to themselves ? If 
they force us to it, we may be obliged to drive 
them beyond the Susquehanna." Beauregard 
was in excellent spirits, busy measuring oiT miles 
of country with his compass, as if he were divid- 
ing empires. 

From this room I proceeded to the office of 
Mr. Benjamin, the Attorney-General of the Con- 
federate States, the most brilliant perhaps of the 
whole of the famous Southern orators. He is a 
short, stout man, with a full face, olive-coloured, 
and most decidedly Jewish features, with the 
brightest large black eyes, one of which is some- 
what diverse from the other, and a brisk, lively, 
agreeable manner, combined with much vivacity 
of speech and quickness of utterance. He is one 
of the first lawyers or advocates in the United 
States, and had a large practice at Washington, 
where his annual receipts from his profession 
were not less than £8000 to £10,000 a year. 
But his love of the card-table rendered him a 
prey to older and cooler hands, who waited till 
the sponge was full at the end of the session, and 
then squeezed it to the last drop. 

Mr. Benjamin is the most open, frank, and 
cordial of the Confederates whom I have yet met. 
In a few seconds he was telling me all about the 
course of Government with respect to privateers 
and letters of marque and reprisal, in order prob- 
ably to ascertain what were our views in England 
on the subject. I observed it was likely the 
North would not respect their flag, and would 
treat their privateers as pirates. "We have an 
easy remedy for that. For any man under our 
flag whom the authorities of the United States 
dare to execute, we shall hang two of their peo- 
ple." "Suppose, Mr. Attorney - General, En- 
gland, or any of the great powers which decreed 
the abolition of privateering, refuses to recog- 



nise your flag?" "We intend to claim, and do 
claim, the exercise of all the rights and privi- 
leges of an independent sovereign State, and 
any attempt to refuse us the full measure of those 
rights would be an act of hostility to our coun- 
try." "But if England, for example, declared 
your privateers were pirates ?" "As the United 
States never admitted the principle laid down at 
the Congress of Paris, neither have the Confed- 
erate States. If England thinks fit to declare pri- 
vateers under our flag pirates, it would be noth- 
ing more or less than a declaration of war against 
us, and we must meet it as best we can." In 
fact, Mr. Benjamin did not appear afraid of any- 
thing ; but his confidence respecting Great Brit- 
ain was based a good deal, no doubt, on his firm 
faith in cotton, and in England's utter subjection 
to her cotton interest and manufactures. "All 
this coyness about acknowledging a slave power 
will come right at last. We hear our commis- 
sioners have gone on to Paris, which Ic^ks as if 
they had met with no encouragement at Lon- 
don ; but we are quite easy in our minds on this 
point at present." 

So Great Britain is in a pleasant condition. 
Mr. Seward is threatening us with war if we rec- 
ognise the South, and the South declares that if 
we don't recognise their flag, they will take it as 
an act of hostility. Lord Lyons is pressed to 
give an assurance to the Government at Wash- 
ington, that under no circumstances will Great 
Britain recognise the Southern rebels; but,. at 
the same time, Mr. Seward refuses to give any 
assurance whatever that the right of neutrals 
will be respected in the impending struggle. 

As I was going down stairs, Mr. Browne call- 
ed me into his room. He said that the Attor- 
ney-General and himself were in a state of per- 
plexity as to the form in which letters of marque 
and reprisal should be made out. They had con- 
sulted all the books they could get, but found no 
examples to suit their case, and he wished to 
know, as I was a barrister, whether I could aid 
him. I told him.it was not so much my regard 
to my own position as a neutral, as the vafri in- 
scitia juris which prevented me throwing any 
light on the subject. There are not only Yan- 
kee shipowners but English firms ready with sail- 
ors and steamers for the Confederate Govern- 
ment, and the owner of the Camilla might be 
tempted to part with his yacht by the offers made 
to him. 

Being invited to attend a levee or reception 
held by Mrs. Davis, the President's wife, I re- 
turned to the hotel to prepare for the occasion. 
On my way I passed a company of volunteers, 
one hundred and twenty artillerymen, and three 
field-pieces, on their way to the station for Vir- 
ginia, followed by a crowd of "citizens" and ne- 
groes of both sexes, cheering vociferously. The 
band was playing that excellent quick - step 
"Dixie." The men were stout, fine fellows, 
dressed in coarse grey tunics with yellow fac- 
ings, and French caps. They were armed with 
smooth-bore muskets, and their knapsacks were 
unfit for marching, being water-proof bags slung 
from the shoulders. The guns had no caissons, 
and the shoeing of the troops was certainly defi- 
cient in soleing. The Zouave mania is quite as 
rampant here as it is in New York, and the 
smallest children are thrust into baggy red breech- 
es, which the learned Lipsius might have appre- 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



71 



ciated, and are sent out with flags and tin swords 
to impede the highways. 

The modest villa in which the President lives 
is painted white — another "White House" — and 
stands in a small garden. The door was open. 
A coloured servant took in our names, and Air. 
Browne presented me to Mrs. Davis, whom I 
could just make out in the demi-jour of a mod- 
erately-sized parlour, surrounded by a few ladies 
and gentlemen, the former in bonnets, the latter 
in morning dress a la midi. There was no aifect- 
ation of state or ceremony in the reception. Mrs. 
Davis, whom some of her friends call "Queen 
Varina," is a comely, sprightly woman, verging 
on matronhood, of good figure and manners, 
well-dressed, lady-like, and clever, and she seem- 
ed a great favourite with those around her, though 
I did hear one of them say " It must be very nice 
to be the President's wife, and be the first lady 
in the Confederate States." Mrs. Davis, whom 
the President C. S. married en secondes noces, ex- 
ercised considerable social influence in Washing- 
ton, where I met many of her friends. She was 
just now inclined to be angry, because the pa- 
pers contained a report that a reward was offered 
in the North for the head of the arch rebel Jeff 
Davis. " They are quite capable, I believe," she 
said, "of such acts." There were not more than 
eighteen or twenty persons present, as each party 
came in and staid only for a few moments, and, 
after a time, I made my bow and retired, receiv- 
ing from Mrs. Davis an invitation to come in the 
evening, when I would find the President at home. 

At sundown, amid great cheering, the guns in 
front of the State Department fired ten rounds, 
to announce that Tennessee and Arkansas had 
joined the Confederacy. 

In the evening I dined with Mr. Benjamin and 
his brother-in-law, a gentleman of New Orleans, 
Colonel Wigfall coming in at the end of dinner. 
The New Orleans people of French descent, or 
"Creoles," as they call themselves, speak French 
in preference to English, and Mr. Benjamin's 
brother-in-law laboured considerably in trying 
to make himself understood in our vernacular. 
The conversation, Franco-English, very pleasant, 
for Mr. Benjamin is agreeable and lively. He 
is certain that the English law authorities must 
advise the Government that the blockade of the 
Southern ports is illegal so long as the President 
claims them to be ports of the United States. 
"At present," he said, "their paper blockade 
does no harm ; the season for shipping cotton is 
over ; but in October next, when the jNIississippi 
is floating cotton by the thousands of bales, and 
all our wharves are full, it is inevitable that the 
Yankees must come to trouble with this attempt 
to coerce us." Mr. Benjamin walked back to 
the hotel with me, and we found our room full 
of tobacco-smoke, filibusters, and conversation, 
in which, as sleep was impossible, we were obliged 
to join. I resisted a vigorous attempt of Mr. G. 
N. Sanders and a friend of his to take me to visit 
a planter who had a beaver-dam some miles out- 
side Montgomery. They succeeded in captur- 
ing Ml-. Deasy. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Mr. "Wigfall on the Confederacy — Intended departure from 
the South— Northern apathy and Southern activity — 



Future prospects of the Union— South Carolini and cot- 
ton^The theory of slavery — Indifference at New York 
— Departure from Montgomery. 

May Sth. — I tried to write, as I have taken my 
place in the steamer to Mobile to-morrow, and I 
was obliged to do my best in a room full of peo- 
ple, constantly disturbed by visitors. Early this 
morning, as usual, my faithful Wigfall comes in 
and sits by my bedside, and passing his hands 
through his locks, pours out his ideas with won- 
derful lucidity and odd afiectation of logic all 
his own. "We are a peculiar people, sir ! You 
don't understand us, and you can't understand 
us, because we are known to you only by North- 
ern writers and Northern j^apers, who know noth- 
ing of us themselves, or misrepresent what they 
do know. We are an agricultural people ; we 
are a primitive but a civilised people. We have 
no cities — we. don't want them. We have no lit- 
erature — we don't need any yet. We have no 
press — we are glad of it. We do not require a 
press, because we go out and discuss all public 
questions from the stump with our people. We 
have no commercial marine — no navy — we don't 
want them. We are better without them. Your 
ships carry our produce, and you can protect your 
own vessels. We want no manufactures : we de- 
sire no trading, no mechanical or manufacturing 
classes. As long as we have our rice, our sugar, 
our tobacco, and our cotton, we can command 
wealth to purchase all we want from those na- 
tions with which we are in amity, and to lay up 
money besides. But with the Y'ankees we will 
never trade — never. Not one pound of cotton 
shall ever go from the South to their accursed 
cities ; not one ounce of their steel or their man- 
ufactures shall ever cross our border." And so' 
on. What the Senator who is preparing a bill 
for drafting the people into the army fears is, 
that the North will begin active operations be- 
fore the South is ready for resistance. "Give 
us till November to drill our men, and we shall 
be irresistible." He deprecates any offensive 
movement, and is opposed to an attack on Wash- 
ington, which many journals here advocate. 

Mr. Walker sent me over a letter recommend- 
ing me to all officers of the Confederate States, 
and I received an invitation from the President 
to dine with him to-morrow, which I was much 
chagrined to be obliged to refuse. In fact, it is 
most important to complete my Southern tour 
speedily, as all mail communication will soon 
be suspended from the South, and the blockade 
effectually cuts off any communication by sea. 
Rails torn up, bridges broken, telegraphs down — 
trains searched — the war is begun. The North 
is pouring its hosts to the battle, and it has met 
the pagans of the conquering Charlestonians with 
a universal yell of indignation and an oath of 
vengeance. 

I expressed a belief in a letter, written a few 
days after my aiTival (March 27th), that the 
South would never go back into the Union. The 
North think that they can coerce the South, and 
I am not prepared to say they are right or wrong ; 
but I am convinced that the South can only be 
forced back by such a conquest as that which laid 
Poland prostrate at the feet of Russia. It may 
be that such a conquest can be made by the 
North, but success must destroy the Union as it 
has been constituted in times past. A strong 
Government must be the logical consequence of 



72 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



victory, and the tviumpli of the South will be ] 
attended by a similar result, for which, indeed, 
many Southerners are very well disposed. To the 
people of the Confederate States there would be 
no terror in such an issue, for it appears to me 
they are pining for a strong Government exceed- 
ingly. The North must accept it, whether they 
like it or not. 

Neither party— if such a term can be applied 
to the rest of "the United States, and to those 
States which disclaim the authority of the Fed- 
eral Government — was prepared for the aggress- 
ive or resisting power of the other. Already the 
Confederate States perceive that they cannot car- 
ry all before them with a rush, while the North 
have learnt that they must put forth all their 
strength to make good a tithe of their lately ut- 
tered threats. But the JMontgomeiy Government 
are anxious to gain time, and to prepare a regu- 
lar army. The North, distracted by apprehen- 
sions of vast disturbance in their complicated re- 
lations, are clamouring for instant action and 
speedy consummation. The counsels of moder- 
ate men, as they were called, have been utterly 
overruled. 

The whole foundation on which South Caro- 
lina rests is cotton hnd a certain amount of rice ; 
or rather she bases her whole fabric on the ne- 
cessity which exists in Europe for those products 
of her soil, believing and asserting, as she does, 
that England and France cannot and will not do 
without them. Cotton, without a market, is so 
much flocculent matter encumbering the ground. 
Rice, without demand for it, is unsaleable grain 
in store and on the field. Cotton at ten cents 
a pound is boundless prosperity, empire and su- 
periority, and rice or grain need no longer be re- 
garded. 

In the matter of slave-labour. South Carolina 
argues pretty much in the following manner : 
England and France (she says) require our prod- 
ucts. In order to meet their wants, we must 
cultivate our soil. There is only one way of do- 
ing so. The white man cannot live on our land 
at certain seasons of the year ; he cannot work 
in the manner required by the crops. He must, 
therefore, employ a race suited to the labour, 
and that is a race which will only work when it 
is obliged to do so. That race was imported 
from Africa, under the sanction of the law, by 
our ancestors, when we were a British colony, 
and it has been fostered by us, so that its increase 
here has been as great as that of the most flour- 
ishing people in the world. In other places, where 
its labour was not productive or imperatively es- 
sential, that race has been made free, sometimes 
with disastrous consequences to itself and to in- 
dustry. But we will not make it free. We can- 
not do so. We hold that slavery is essential to 
our existence as producers of what Europe re- 
quires; nay more, we maintain it is in the ab- 
stract right in principle , and some of us go so 
far as to maintain that the only proper form of 
society, according to the law of God and the ex- 
igencies of man, is that which has slavery as its 
basis. As to the slave, he is happier far in his 
state of servitude, more civilised and religious, 
than he is or could be if free or in his native Af- 
rica. For this system we will fight to the end. 

In the evening I paid farewell visits, and spent 
an hour with Mr. Toombs, who is unquestionably 
one of the most original, quaint, and earnest of 



the Southern leaders, and whose eloquence and 
power as a debater are greatly esteemed by his 
countrymen. He is something of an Aiiglo- 
maniac, and an Anglo-phobist — a combination 
not unusual in America — that is, he is proud of 
being connected with and descended frum respect- 
able English families, and admires our mixed 
constitution, whilst he is an enemy to what is 
called English policy, and is a strong pro-slavery 
champion. Wigfall and he are very uncnsv about 
the scant supply of gunpowder in" the Southern 
States, and the difficulty of obtaining it. 

In the evening had a little reunion in the bed- 
room as before — Mr. Wigfall, Mr. Keitt, an em- 
inent Southern politician, Colonel Pickett, Mr. 
Browne, Mr. Benjamin, Mr. George Sanders, 
and others. The last-named gentleman was dis- 
missed or recalled from his post at Liverpool, 
because he fraternised with Mazzini and other 
Red Republicans a ce qu' on dit. Here he is a 
slavery man, and a friend of an oligarchy. Your 
"Rights of Man" man is often most inconsistent 
with himself, and is generally found associated 
with the men of force and violence. 

May the 9(k. — My faithful Wigfall was good 
enough to come in early, in order to show me 
some comments on my letters in the "New York 
Times." It appears the papers are angry be- 
cause I said that New York was apathetic when 
I landed, and they try to prove I was wrong by 
showing there was a "glorious outburst of Union 
feeling," after the news of the fall of Sumter. 
But I now know that the very a])athy of which I 
spoke was felt by the Government of Washing- 
ton, and was most weakening and embarrassing 
to them. What would not the value of " the 
glorious outburst" have been, had it taken jdace 
before the Charleston batteries had opened on 
Sumter — when the Federal flag, for example, 
was fired on, flying from the ' Star of the West,' 
or when Beauregard cut off supiplies, or Bragg 
threatened Pickens, or the first shovel of ea'rth 
was thrown up in hostile battery ? But no ! 
New York M-as then engaged in discussing State 
rights, and in reading articles to prove the new 
Government would be traitors if they endeav- 
oured to reinforce the Federal forts, or were pe- 
rusing leaders in favor of the Southern Govern- 
ment. Haply, they may remember one, not so 
many weeks old, in which the " New York Her- 
ald" compared Jc ft' Davis and his Cabinet to the 
"Great Rail Splitter," and Seward, and Chase, 
and came to the conclusion that the former " were 
gentlemen" — (a matter of which it is quite incom- 
petent to judge) — " and would, and ought to suc- 
ceed." The glorious outburst of "Union feel- 
ing" which threatened to demolish the "Herald" 
office, has created a most wonderful change in 
the views of the proprietor, whose diverse-eyed 
vision is now directed solely to the beauties of 
the Union, and whose faith is expiressed in "a 
hearty adhesion to the Government of our coun- 
try." New York must pay the penalty of its in- 
difference, and bear the consequences of listen- 
ing to such counsellors. 

Mr. Deasy, much dilapidated, returned about 
twelve o'clock from his planter, who was drunk 
when he went over, and would not let him go to 
the beaver-dam. To console him, the planter 
stayed up all night drinking, and waking him np 
at intervals, that he might refresh him with a 
glass of whisky. This man was well off, owned 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



73 



land, and a good stock of slaves, but he must 
have bicn a " mean white," who had raised him- 
self in the world. He lived in a three-roomed 
wooden cabin, and in one of the rooms he kept 
his wife shut up from the strangers' gaze. One 
of Ills negroes was unwell, and he took Deasy to 
see him. The result of his examination was, 
"Nigger! I guess you won't live more than an 
hour." His diagnosis was quite correct. 

Before my dejiarture I had a little farewell 
leve'e — :Mr. Toombs, Mr. Browne, Mr. Benjamin, 
Mr. Walker, Major Deas, Colonel Tickett, Major 
Calhoun, Captain Ripley, and others— wlio were 
exceedingly kind with letters of introduction and 
offjrs of service. Dined as usual on a composite 
dinner — Southern meat and poultry bad — at 
three o'clock, and at four p.m. drove down to the 
steep banks of the Alabama River, where the 
castle-like hulk of the " Southern Republic" was 
waiting to receive us. I bade good-by to Mont- 
gonierv without regret. The native people were 
not very attractive, and the city has nothing to 
make up for their deficiency, but of my friends 
tliere I must always retain pleasant memories, 
and, indeed, I hope some day I shall be able to 
kee[i my promise to return and see more of the 
Confederate ministers and their chief. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

The River Alabama — Voy.age hy steamer — Selma — Our 
captain and his slaves — " Running" slaves — Negro 
views of happiaess — Mobile — Hotel — The city — Mr. 
Forsyth. 

The vessel was nothing more than a vast wood- 
en house, of three separate storeys, floating on a 
pontoon which upheld the engine, with a dining- 
hall or saloon on the second storey surrounded 
by sleeping-berths, and a nest of smaller rooms 
up-stairs ; on the metal roof was a "musical" 
instrument called a "calliope," played like a pi- 
ano by keys, which acted on levers and valves, 
admitting steam into metal cups, where it pro- 
duced the requisite notes — high, resonant, and 
not unpleasing at a moderate distance. It is 
■ill miles to Mobile, but at this season the steam- 
er can maintain a good rate of speed, as there is 
very little cotton or cargo to be taken on board 
at the landings, and the stream is full. . 

The river is about 200 yards broad, and of the 
colour of chocolate and milk, with high, steep, 
wooded banks, rising so much above the surface 
of the stream, that a person on the upper deck 
of the towering Southern Republic, cannot get 
a glimpse of the fields and country beyond. 
High banks and bluffs spring up to the height of 
150 or even 200 feet above the river, the breadth 
of which is so uniform as to give the Alabama 
the appearance of a canal, only relieved by sud- 
den bends and rapid curves. The surface is cov- 
ered with masses of drift wood, whole trees, and 
small islands of branches. Now and then a 
sharp, black, fang-like projection standing stiffly 
in the current gives warning of a snag, but the 
helmsman, who commands the whole course of 
the river, from an elevated house amidships on 
the upper deck, can see these in time ; and at 
night pine boughs are lighted in iron cressets at 
the bows to illuminate the water. 

The captain, who was not particular whether 
j)is name was spelt Maher, or Meaher, or Meagh- 
er (&s trois se disent), was evidently a character 



— perhaps a good one. One with a grey eye full 
of cunning and of some humour, strongly-mark- 
ed features, and a very Celtic mouth of the Ker- 
ry tyjic. He soon attached himself to me, and 
favoured me with soine wonderful yarns, which I 
hope he was not foolish enough to think I be- 
lieved. One relating to a wholesale destruction 
and massacre of Indians he narrated with evi- 
dent gusto. Pointing to one of the bluil's, he 
said tliat some thirty years ago the whole of the 
Indians in the district being surrounded by the 
whites, betook themselves to that spot, and re- 
mained there without any means of escajie, till 
they were quite starved out. So they sent down 
to know if the whites would let them go, and it 
was agreed that they should be permitted to 
move down the river in boats. When the day 
came, and they were all afloat, the whites antici- 
pated the boat-massacre of Nana Sahib at Cawn- 
pore, and destroyed the helpless red skins. Many 
hundreds thus perished, and the whole affair was 
very much approved of. 

The value of land on the sides of this river is 
great, as it yields nine to eleven bales of cotton 
to the acre — worth 10/. a bale at present prices. 
The only evidences of this Avealth to be seen by 
us consisted of the cotton sheds on the top of 
the banks, and slides of timber, with steps at 
each side down to the landings, so constructed 
that the cotton bales could be shot down on 
board the vessel. These shoots and staircases 
are generally protected by a roof of planks, and 
lead to unknown regions inhabited by niggers 
and their masters, the latter all talking politics. 
They never will, never can be conquered — noth- 
ing on earth could induce them to go back into 
the Union. They will burn every bale of cot- 
ton, and fire every house, and lay waste every 
field and homestead before they will yield to the 
Yankees. And so they talk through the glim- 
mering of bad cigars for hours. 

The management of the boat is dexterous, — as 
she approaches a landing-place, the helm is put 
hard over, to the screaming of the steam-pipe 
and the wild strains of "Dixie" floating out of 
the'throats of the calliope, and as the engines are 
detached, one wheel is worked forward, and the 
other backs water, so she soon turns head up 
stream, and is then gently paddled up to the 
river bank, to which she is just kept up by steam 
— the plank is run ashore, and the few passengers 
who are coming in or out are lighted on their 
way by the flames of pine in an iron basket, 
swinging above the bow by a long pole. Then 
we see them vanishing into black darkness up the 
steps, or coming down clearer and clearer till 
they stand in the full blaze of the beacon which 
casts dark shadows on the yellow water. The 
air is glistening with fire-flies, Mhich dot the 
darkness with specks and points of flame, just as 
sparks fly through the embers of tinder or half- 
burnt paper. 

Some of the landings were by far more im- 
portant than others. There were some, for ex- 
ample, where an iron rail-road was worked down 
the bank by windlasses for hoisting up goods ; 
others where the negroes half- naked leaped 
ashore, and rushing at piles of firewood, tossed 
them on board to feed the engine, which, all 
uncovered and open to the lower deck, lighted 
up the darkness by the glare from the stoke- 
holes, which cried for ever " Give, give !" as the 



74 



MY DIARY NOETH AND SOUTH. 



negroes ceaselessly thrust the pine-beams into 
their hungry maws. I could understand iiow 
easily a steamer can "burn up," and how hope- 
less escape would be under such circumstances. 
The whole framework of the vessel is of the 
lightest resinous pine, so raw that the turpentine 
oozes out through the paint ; the hull is a mere 
shell. If the vessel once caught fire, all that 
could be done would be to turn her round, and- 
run her to the bank, in the hope of holding there 
long enough to enable the people to escape into 
the trees ; but if she M-ere not near a landing, 
many must be lost ; as the bank is steep down, 
the vessel cannot be run aground ; and in some 
places the trees are in 8 and 10 feet of water. 
A few minutes would suffice to set the vessel in 
a blaze from stem to stern ; and if there were 
cotton on board, the bales would burn almost 
like powder. The scene at each landing was 
repeated, with few variations, ten times till we 
reached Selma, 110 miles distance, at 11.30 at 
night. 

Selma, which is connected with the Tennessee 
and Mississippi rivers by railroad, is built npon 
a steep, lofty bluff, and the lights in the windows, 
and the lofty hotels above us, put me in mind of 
the old town of Edinburgh, seen from Princes 
Street. Beside us there was a huge storied 
wharf, so that our passengers could step on shore 
from any deck they pleased. Here jNIr. Deasy, 
being attacked by illness, became alarmed at 
the idea of continuing his journey without any 
opportunity of medical assistance, and went on 
shore. 

May 10th. — The cabin of one of these steamers, 
in the month of May, is not favourable to sleep. 
The wooden beams of the engines creak and 
scream "consumedly," and the great engines 
themselves throb as if they would break through 
their thin, pulse covers of pine, — and the whistle 
sounds, and the calliope shrieks out "Dixie" in- 
cessantly. So, when I was up and dressed, break- 
fast was over, and I had an op]iortunity of see- 
ing the slaves on board, male and female, acting 
as stewards and stewardesses, at their morning 
meal, which they tgok with much good spirits 
and decorum. They were nicely dressed — clean 
and neat. I was forced to admit to myself that 
their Ashautee grandsires and grandmothers, or 
their Kroo and Dahomey progenitors were cer- 
tainly less comfortable and well clad, and that 
these slaves had other social advantages, though 
I could not recognise the force of the Bishop of 
Georgia's assertion, that from slavery must come 
the sole hope of, and machinery for, the evan- 
gelisation of Africa. I confess I would not give 
much for the influence of the stewards and stew- 
ardesses in Christianising the blacks. 

The river, the scenery, and the scenes were 
jtist the same as yesterday's — high banks, cotton- 
slides, wooding stations, cane-brakes — and a very 
miserable negro population, if the specimens of 
women and children at the landings fairly rep- 
resented the mass of the slaves. They were in 
strong contrast to the comfortable, well-dressed 
domestic slaves on board, and it can well be 
imagined there is a wide difference between the 
classes, and that those condemned to work in the 
open fields must suffer exceedingly. 

A passenger told us the captain's story. A 
number of planters, the narrator among them, 
subscribed a thousand doUai-s each to get up a 



vessel for the purpose of running a cargo of 
slaves, with the understanding they were to pay 
so much for the vessel, and so much per head if 
she succeeded, and so much if she was taken or 
lost. The vessel made her voyage to the coast, 
was laden with native Africans, and in due time 
made her appearance off Mobile. The collector 
heard of hei', but, oddly enough, the sheriff" was 
not about at the time, the United States' IMarshal 
was away, and as the vessel could not be seen 
next morning, it was fair to suppose she had 
gone up the river, or somewhere or another. But 
it so happened that Captain jNIaher, then com- 
manding a river steamer called the Czar (a name 
once very appropriate for the work, but since the 
serf emancipation rather out of place), found him- ' 
self in the neighbourhood of the brig about night- 
fall ; next morning, indeed, the Czar was at her 
moorings in the river; but Captain Maher be- 
gan to grow rich, he had fine negroes fresh run 
on his land,, and bought fresh acres, and finally 
built the "Southern Republic." The planters 
asked him for their share of the slaves. Captain 
Maher laughed pleasantly ; he did not under- 
stand what they meant. If he had done any- 
thing wrong they had their legal remedy. They 
were completely beaten ; for they could not have 
recourse to the tribunals in a case which render- 
ed them liable to capital punishment. And so 
Captain INIaher, as an act of grace, gave them a 
few old niggers, and kept the rest of the cargo. 

It was worth while to see the leer with which 
he listened to this story about himself, "Wall 
now ! You think them niggers I've abord came 
from Africa! I'll show you. Just come up hei'e, 
Bully !" A boy of some twelve years of age, 
stout, fat, nearly naked, came up to us ; his col- 
our was jet black, his wool close as felt, his 
cheeks were marked with regular parallel scars, 
and his teeth very white, looked as if they had 
been filed to a point, his belly was slightly pro- 
tuberant, and his chest was marked with tracings 
of tattoo marks. 

" What's your name, sir ?" 

"My name — Bully." 

"Where were you born?" 

"Me born Sout Karliner, sar!" 

"There, you see he wasn't taken from Afri- 
ca," e^f claimed the Captain, knowingly. "I've 
a lot of these black South Caroliny niggers 
abord, haven't I, Bully?" 

' ' Yas, sar. " 

"Are you happy, Bully ?" 

' ' Yas, sar. " 

" Show how you're happy." 

Here the boy rubbed his stomach, and grin- 
ning with delight, said, "Yummy! yummy! 
plenty belly full." 

"That's what I call a real happy feelosoph- 
ical chap," quoth the Captain. " I guess you've 
got a lot in your country can't pat then- stomaclis 
and say, ' yummy, yummy, plenty belly full ?' " 

"Where did he get those marks on his face?" 

"Oh, them? Wall, it's a way them nigger 
women has of marking their children to know 
them; isn't it. Bully?" 

' ' Yas, sar ! me 'spose so !" 

"And on his chest J" 

"Wall, r'ally I do b'l'eve them's marks agin 
the smallpox." 

"Why are his teeth filed?" ^ 

"Ah, there now! You'd never have guessed 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



75 



it ; Bully done that himself, for the greater ease 
of biting his vittels." 

In fact, the lad, and a good many of the 
hands, were the results of Captain Maher's little 
sail in the Czar. 

"We're obleeged to let 'em in some times to 
keep up the balance agin the niggers you run 
into Canaydy." 

From 1848 to 1852 there were no slaves run ; 
but since the migrations to Canada and the per- 
sonal liberty laws, it has been found profitable to 
run them. There is a bucolic ferocity about 
these Southern people which will stand them 
good stead in the shock of battle. How the 
Spartans would have fought against any bar- 
barians who came to emancipate their slaves, or 
the Romans have smitten those who would 
manumit slave and creditor together! 

To-night, on the lower deck, amid wood fag- 
gots and barrels, a dance of negroes was ar- 
ranged by an enthusiast, who desired to show 
how "happy they were." That is the favourite 
theme of the Southerners ; the gallant Captain 
]Mahor becomes quite eloquent when he points 
to BuUv's prominent "yummy," and descants 
on the misery of his condition if he had been left 
to the precarious chances of obtaining such de- 
velopmants in his native land ; then turns a quid, 
and, as if uttering some sacred refrain to the 
universal hj-mn of the South, says, "Yes, sir, 
they're the 'happiest people on the face of the 
airth !" 

There was a fiddler, and also a banjo-player, 
who played uncouth music to the clumsiest of 
dances, which it would be insulting to compare 
to the worst Irish jig, and the men with immense 
gravity and great effusion of sudor, shuffled, and 
cut, and heeled and buckled to each other with 
an overwhelming solemnity, till the rum-bottle 
warmed them up to the lighter graces of the 
dance, when they became quite overpowering. 
" Yes, sir, jist look at them how they're enjoying 
it ; they're the happiest people on the face of the 
airth."' When "wooding" and firing up they 
don't seem to be in the possession of the same 
exquisite felicity. 

May Wth. — At early dawn the steamer went 
its way through a broad bay of snags bordered 
with drift-wood, and with steam-trumpet and cal- 
liope announced its arrival at the quay of Mo- 
bile, which presented a fringe of tall warehouses, 
and shops alongside, over which were names in- 
dicating Scotch, Irish, English, many Spanish, 
German, Italian, and French owners. Captain 
Maher at once set off to his plantation, and we 
descended the stories of the walled castle to the 
beach, and walked on towards the " Battle 
House," so called from the name of its propri- 
etor, for Mobile has not yet had its fight like 
New Orleans. The quays which usually, as we 
were told, are lined with stately hulls and a forest 
of masts, were deserted ; although the port was 
not actually blockaded, there were squadrons of 
the United States ships at Pensacola on the east, 
and at New Orleans on the west. 

The hotel, a fine building of the American 
stamp, was the seat of a Vigilance Committee, 
and as we put down our names in the book they 
were minutely inspected by some gentlemen 
who came out of the parlour. It was fortunate 
they did not find traces of Lincolnism about us, 
as it appeared by the pajjcrs they were busy de- 



porting "Abolitionists" after certain preliminary 
processes supposed to 

" Give them a rise, and open their eyes 
To a sense of tlieir situation." 
The citizens were busy in drilling, marching, and 
drum-beating, and the Confederate flag flew from 
every spire and steeple. The day ^vas so hot 
that it was little more inviting to go out in the 
sun than it would be in the dog-days at Malaga, 
to which, by-the-bye. Mobile bears some " kiiiuor 
sorter" resemblance, but, nevertheless, I sallied 
forth, and had a drive on a shell road by the 
head of the bay, where there were pretty villa- 
rettes in charming groves of magnolia, orange- 
trees, and lime oaks. Wide streets of similar 
houses spring out to meet the country through 
sandy roads ; some worthy of Streatham or Bal- 
ham, and all surrounded in such vegetation as 
Kew^ might cnxj. 

Many Mobilians called, and among them the 
mayor,"Mr. Forsyth, in whom I recognized the 
most remarkable of the Southern Commissioners 
I had met at Washington. Mr. Magee, the act- 
ing British Consul, was also good enough to wait 
upon me, with offers of any assistance in his 
power. I hear he has most diflScult questions to 
deal with, arising out of the claims of distressed 
British subjects, and disputed nationality. In 
the evening the Consul and Dr. Nott, a savant 
and phj-sician of Mobile, well known to ethnol- 
ogists for his work on the "Types of Mankind," 
written conjointly with the late Isix. Gliddon, 
dined with me, and I learned from them that, 
notwithstanding the intimate commercial rela- 
tions between Mobile and the Great Northern 
cities, the people here are of the most ultra-se- 
cessionist doctrines. The wealth and manhood 
of the city will be devoted to repel the ' ' Lincoln- 
ite mercenaries" to the last. 

After dinner we walked through the city, which 
abounds in oyster saloons, drinking-houses, lager- 
bier and wine-shops, and gambling and dancing 
places. The market was well worthy of a visit 
— something like St. John's at Liverpool on a 
Saturday night, crowded with negroes, mulat- 
toes, quadroons, and mestizos of all sorts, Span- 
ish, Italian, and French, speaking their own 
tongues, or a quaint lingua franca, and dressed 
in very striking and pretty costumes. The fruit 
and vegetable stalls displayed very fine produce, 
and some staples, remarkable for novelty, ugli- 
ness, and goodness. After our stroll we went 
into one of the great oyster saloons, and in a 
room up-stairs had opportunity of tasting those 
great bivalvians in the form of natural fish pud- 
dings, fried in batter, roasted, stewed, devilled, 
broiled, and in many other ways, plus raw. I 
am bound to observe that the Mobile people ate 
them as if there was no blockade, as though 
oysters were a specific for political indigestions 
and civil wars ; a fierce Marseillais are they — 
living in the most foreign-looking city I have 
yet seen in the States. My private room in the 
I hotel was large, well-lighted with gas, and ex- 
ceedingly wellfurnished in the German fashion, 
with French pendule and mirrors. The charge 
! for a private room varies from 1/. to 1^. 5s. a 
i day ; the bed-room and board are charged sepa- 
' rately, from 10s. (,d. to 12s. Qd. a day, but meals 
S served in the private room are charged extra, 
' and heavily too. Exchisiveness is an aristocratic 
1 taste which must be paid for. 



76 



MY DIAEY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



Visit to Forts Gaines and Morgan— War to the knife the 
ci->- of the South— Tlie ''State" and the " States"— Bay 
of .Mohile— The forts and their inmates— (Opinions as to 
an attack on Washington — liumours of actual war. 

May 12th. — Mr. Forsyth liad been good enough 
to invite me to ;in excursion down the Bay of 
Mobile, to the forts built by Uncle Stim and his 
French engineers to sink his Britishers — now' 
turned by "C. S. A." against the hated Stars 
and Stripes. The mayor and the jjrincipal mer- 
chants and many politicians — and are not all 
men politicians in America? — formed the party. 
If any judgment of men's acts can be formed 
from their words, the Mobilites, wdio are the rep- 
resentatives of the third greatest port of the Unit- 
ed States, will perish ere they submit to the Yan- 
kees and j)eople of New York. I have now been 
in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Ala- 
bama, and in none of these great States have I 
found the least indication of the Union senti- 
ment, or of the attachment for the Union which 
Mr. Seward always assumes to exist in the South. 
If there were any considerable amount of it, I 
was in a position as a neutral to have been aware 
of its existence. 

Those who might have at one time opposed 
secession, have now bowed their heads to tlie 
majesty of the majority ; and with the coward- 
ice, which is the result of the irres])onsible and 
cruel tyranny of the muliitude, hasten to swell 
the cry of revolution. But the multitude are 
the law in the United States. "There's a di- 
vinity doth hedge" the mob here, which is om- 
nipotent and all good. The majority in each 
State determines its political status according to 
Southern views. The Northerners are endeav- 
ouring to maintain that the majority of the peo- 
ple in the mass of the States generally shall 
regulate that point for each Stale individually 
and collectively. If there be any party in the 
Southern States which thinks such an attemjjt 
justifiable, it sits silent, and fearful, and hope- 
less, in darkness and sorrow, hid from the light 
of day. General Scott, who was a short time 
ago written of in the usual inflated style, to which 
respectable military mediocrity and success are 
entitled in the States, is now reviled by the South- 
ern papers as an infamous hoary traitor and the 
like. If an officer prefers his allegiance to -the 
United States' flag, and remains in the Federal 
service after his State has gone out, his property 
is liable to confiscation by the State authorities, 
and his family and kindred are exposed to the 
gravest suspicion, and must prove their loyalty 
by extra zeal in the cause of secession. 

Our merry company comprised naval and mili- 
tary officers in the service of the Confederate 
States, journalists, politicians, professional men, 
merchants, and not one of them had a word but 
of hate and execration for the North. The Brit- 
ish and German settlers are quite as vehement as 
the natives in upholding States' rights, and among 
the most ardent upholders of slavery are the Irish 
proprietors and mercantile classes. 

The Bay of Mobile, which is about thirty miles 
long, with a breadth varying from three to seven 
miles, is formed by the outfall of the Alabama 
and of the Tombigbee river, and is shallow and 
dangerous, full of banks and trees, embedded in 
the sands ; but all large vessels lie at the entrance 
between Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines, to the 



satisfaction of the masters, who arc thus spared 
the trouble with their crews which occurs in the 
low haunts of a maritime town. Tiie cotton is 
sent down in lighters, which employ many hands 
at high wages. The shores are low wooded, and 
are dotted here and there with pretty villas, but 
present no attractive scenery. 

The sea-breeze somewhat alleviated the fierce- 
ness of the sun, which was however too hot to 
be quite agreeable. Our steamer, crowded to the 
sponsons, made little way against the tide; but 
at length, after nearly four hours' sail, we hauled 
up alongside a jetty at Fort Gaines, which is on 
the right hand or western exit of the harbour, 
and would command, were it finished, the light 
draft channel ; it is now merely a shell of ma- 
sonry, but Colonel Hardee, who has charge of the 
defences of Mobile, told me that they would finish 
it s]ieedily. 

The Colonel is an agreeable, delicate-looking 
man, scarcely of middle age, and is well-known 
in the States as the author of "The Tactics," 
which is, however, merely a ttTinslation of the 
French manual of arms. He docs not appear to 
be ]iossesscd of any great energy or capacity, 
but is, no doubt, a respectable officer. 

Upon landing we found a small body of men 
on guard in the fort. A few cannon of mod- 
erate calibre were mounted on the sandhills and 
on the beach. "We entered the unfinished work, 
and were received with a salute. The men felt 
difficulty in combining discipline with citizen- 
ship. They were "bored" with their sandhill, 
and one of them asked me when I "thought them 
damned Yankees were coming. He wanted to 
touch off a few ])ills he knew would be good for 
their complaint." I must say I could sympa- 
thise with the feelings of the young officer who 
said he would sooner have a day with the Lin- 
colnites, than a week with the musqiutoes, for 
which this locality is famous. 

From Fort Gaines the steamer ran across to 
Fort Morgan, about three miles distant, passing 
in its way seven vessels, mostly British, at anchor, 
where hundreds may be seen, I am told, during 
the cotton season. This work has a formidable 
sea face, and may give great trouble to Uncle 
Sam, when he wants to visit his loving subjects 
in Mobile in his gunboats. It is the work of 
Bernard, I presume, and like most of his designs 
has a weak long base towards the land ; but it 
is provided with a wet ditch and drawbridge, 
with dcmi lunes covering the curtains, and has 
a regtilar bastioned trace. It has one row of 
casemates, armed with 32 and 42-pouuders. The 
barbette guns are 8-inch and 10-inch guns ; the 
external works at the salients are armed with 
howitzers and field-pieces, and as we crossed the 
drawbridge, a salute was fired from a field bat- 
tery, on a flanking bastion, in our honour. 

inside the work was crammed with men, some 
of whom slept in the casemates — others in tents 
in the parade grounds and enceinte of the fort. 
Tiiey were Alabama Volunteers, and as sturdy 
a lot' of fellows as ever shouldered mufket ; dress- 
ed in homespun coarse grey suits, with blue and 
yellow worsted facings and stripes— to European 
eyes not very respectful to their officers, but very 
obedient, I am told, and very peremptorily or- 
dered about, as I heard. 

There were 700 or 800 men in the work, and 
an undue proportion of officers, all of whom 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



77 



were introduced to the strangers in tiini. The 
officers were a very gentlemanly, nice-looking set 
of young fellows, and some of them had just 
come over from Europe to take up arms for their 
State. I forget tlie name of the othcer in cum- 
mand, though I cannot forget his courtesy, nor 
an excellent lunch he gave us in his casemate 
after a hot walk round the parapets, and some 
practice with solid shot from the barbette guns, 
which did not tend to make me think much of 
the greatly-be-praised Columbiads. 

One of the officers named Maury, a relative 
of "deep-sea Maury," struck me as an ingen- 
ious and clever officer ; the utmost harmony, 
kindliness, and devotion to the cause prevailed 
among the garrison, from the chief down to the 
youngest ensign. In its present state the Fort 
would suffer exceedingly from a heavy bombard- 
ment — the magazines would be in danger, and 
the traverses are inadequate. All the barracks 
and wooden buildings should be destroyed if they 
wish to avoid the fate of Sumter. 

On our cruise homewards, in the enjoyment 
of a cold dinner, we had the inevitable discus- 
sion of the Northern and Southern contest. Mr. 
Forsyth, the editor and proprietor of the "Mo- 
bile Register," is impassioned for the cause, 
though he was not at one time considered a pure 
Southerner. There is difference of opinion rel- 
ative to an attack on Washington. General St. 
George Cooke, commanding the army of Vir- 
ginia on the Potomac, declares there is no in- 
tention of attacking it, or any place outside the 
limits of that free and sovereign State. But then 
the conduct of the Federal Government in Main- 
land is considered by the more fiery Southerners 
to justify the expulsion of " Lincoln and his jNIyr- 
midons," "the Border Ruffians and Cassius M. 
Clay," from the capital. Butler has seized on 
the Relay House, on the junction of the Balti- 
more and Ohio Railroad, with the rail from 
Washington, and has displayed a good deal of 
rigour since his arrival at Annapolis. He is a 
democrat, and a celebrated criminal lawyer in 
Massachusetts. Troops are pouring into New 
York, and are preparing to attack Alexandria, 
on the Virginia side, below Washington and the 
Navy Yard, where a large Confederate flag is fly- 
ing, which can be seen from the President's wiu- 
doAvs in the White House. 

There is a secret soreness even here at the 
small effect produced in England compared with 
what they anticipated by the attack on Sumter ; 
but hopes are excited that Mr. Gregory, who was 
travelling through the States some time ago, will 
have a strong party to support his forthcoming 
motion for a recognition of the South. The next 
conflict which takes place will be more bloody 
than that at Sumter. The gladiators are ap- 
proaching — Washington, Annapolis, Pennsylva- 
nia ai'e military departments, each with a chief 
and Staff, to which is now added that of Ohio, 
under Major G. B. M'Clellan, Major General of 
Ohio Volunteers at Cincinnati. The authorities 
on each side are busy administering oaths of al- 
legiance. 

The harhonr of Charleston is reported to be 
under blockade by the Niagara steam frigate, and 
a force of United States' troops at St. Louis, 
Missouri, under Captain Lyon, has attacked and 
dispersed a body of State Militia under one Brig- 
adier General Frost, to the intense indignation 



of all Mobile. The argument is, that Missouri 
gave up the St. Louis Arsenal to the United 
States' Government, and could take it back if she 
pleased, and was certainly competent to prevent 
the United States' troops stirring beyond the Ar- 
senal. 



CHAPTER XXVIL 

Pensacola and Fort Pickens — Xeutrals and their friends^ 
Coasting — i^harks — Tlie blockading fleet— Tlie stai-s and 
stripes, and stai's and bars — Domestic fends caused by 
tlie war — ( 'aptain Adams and Gtueral Bragg — Interior 
of i'ort Pickens. 

May IZth. — I was busy making arrangements 
to get to Pensacola, and Fort Pickens, all day. 
The land journey was represented as being most 
tedious and exceedingly comfortless in all re- 
spects, through a waste of sand, in which we ran 
the chance of being smothered or lost. And 
then I had set my mind on seeing Fort Pickens 
as well as Pensacola, and it would be difficult, to 
say the least of it, to get across from an enemy's 
camp to the Federal fortress, and then return 
again. The United States' squadron blockaded 
the port of Pensacola, but I thought it likely 
they woidd permit me to run in to visit Fort 
Pickens, and that the Federals would allow me 
to sail thence across to General Bragg, as they 
might be assured I would not communicate any 
information of what I had seen in my character 
as neutral to any but the journal in Europe, 
which I represented, and in the interests of 
which I was bound to see and report all that I 
could as to the state of both parties. It was, at 
all events, worth while to make the attempt, and 
after a long search I heard of a schooner which 
was ready for the voyage at a reasonable rate, 
all things considered. 

Mr. Forsyth asked if I had any objection to 
take with me three gentlemen of Mobile, who 
were anxious to be of the party, as they wanted 
to see their friends at Pensacola, where it was 
believed a "fight" was to come ofl' immediately. 
Since I came South I have seen the daily an- 
nouncement that "Braxton Bragg is ready," 
and his present state of preparation must be be- 
yond all conception. But here was a difficulty. 
I told Mr. Forsyth that I could not possibly as- 
sent to any persons coming with me who were 
not neutrals, or prepared to adhere to the obli- 
gations of neutrals. There was a suggestion 
that I should say these gentlemen were my 
friends, but as I had only seen two of them ou 
board the steamer yesterday, I could not accede 
to that idea. "Then if you are asked if Mr. 
Ravesies is your friend, you will say he is not." 
"Certainly." "But surely you don't wish to 
have Mr. Ravesies hanged?" "No, I do not, 
and I shall do nothing to cause him to be hang- 
ed ; but if he meets that fate by his own act, I 
can't help it. I will not allow him to accompany 
me under false pretences." 

At last it was agreed that Mr. Ravesies and 
his friends Mr. Bartre and I\Ir. Lynes, being in 
no way employed by or connected with the Con- 
federate Government, should have a place in the 
little schooner which we had picked out at the 
quayside and hired for the occasion, and go on 
the voyage with the plain understanding that 
they were to accept all the consequences of being 
citizens of Mobile. 



78 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



Mr. Forsyth, Mr. Ravesies, and a couple of 
gentlemen dined with me in the evening. After- 
dinner, Mr. Forsj'th, who, as mayor of the town, 
is the Executive of the Vigilance Committee, 
took a copy of Harper's Illustrated Paper, which 
is a very poor imitation of the Illustrated London 
Neivs, and called my attention to the announce- 
ment that Mr. Moses, their special artist, was 
travelling with me in the South, as well as to an 
engraving, which purported to he hy Moses afore- 
said. I could only say that I knew nothing of 
the young designer, except what he told me, and 
that he led me to believe he was furnishing 
sketches to the London News. As he was in the 
hotel, though he did not live with me, I sent for 
him, and the young gentleman, who was very 
pale and agitated on being shown the advertise- 
ment and sketch, declared that he had renounced 
all connection with Harper, that he was sketch- 
ing for the Illustrated London News, and that 
the advertisement was contrary to fact, and ut- 
terly unknown to him ; and so he Mas let go 
forth, and retii-ed uneasily. After dinner I went 
to the Bienville Club. "Rule No. 1" is, "No 
gentleman shall be admitted in a state of intoxi- 
cation." The club very social, very small, and 
very hospitable. 

Later paid my respects to Mrs. Forsyth, whom 
I found anxiously waiting for news of her young 
son, who had gone off to join the Confederate 
army. She told me that nearly all the ladies in 
Mobile are engaged in making cartridges, and in 
preparing lint or clothing for the army. Not 
the smallest fear is entertained of the swarming 
black population. 

May lith. — Down to our yacht, the Diana, 
which is to be ready this afternoon, and saw her 
cleared out a little — a broad-beamed, flat-floored 
schooner, some fifty tons burthen, with a centre- 
board, badly caulked, and dirty enough — unfa- 
miliar with paint. The skipper was a long-leg- 
ged, ungainly young fellow, with long hair and 
an inexpressive face, just relieved by the twinkle 
of a very "Yankee" eye ; but that was all of the 
hated creature about liim, for a more earnest se- 
ceder I never heard. 

His crew consisted of three rough, mechanical 
sort of men and a negro cook. Having freight- 
ed the vessel with a small stock of stores, a Brit- 
ish flag, kindly lent by the acting Consul, Mr. 
Magee, and. a tablecloth to serve as a flag of 
truce, our party, consisting of the gentlemen 
previously named, Mr. Ward, and the young art- 
ist, weighed from the quay of Mobile at five 
o'clock in the evening, with the manifest appro- 
bation of the small crowd who had assembled to 
see us oft', the rumour having spread through the 
town that we were bound to see the great fight. 
The breeze w-as favourable and steady ; at nine 
o'clock P.M., the lights of Fort jMorgan were on 
our port beam, and for some time we were ex- 
pecting to see the flash of a gun, as the skipper 
confidently declared they would never allow us 
to pass unchallenged. 

The darkness of the night might possibly have 
favoured us, or the sentries were remiss ; at all 
events, we were soon creeping through the 
"Swash," which is a narrow channel over the 
bar, through which our skipper worked us by 
means of a sounding-pole. The air was delight- 
ful, and blew directly off* the low shore, in a line 
parallel to which we were moving. "\\Tien the 



evening vapours passed away, the stars shone 
out brilliantly, and though the wind was strong, 
and sent us at a good eight knots through the 
water, there was scarcely a ripple on the sea. 
Our course lay within a quarter of a mile of the 
shore, which looked like a white ribbon fringed 
with fire, from the ceaseless play of the phos- 
phorescent surf. Above this belt of sand rose the 
black, jagged outlines of a pine forest, through 
which steal immense lagoons and marshy creeks. 

Driftwood and trees strew the beach, and from 
Fort Morgan, for forty miles, to the entrance of 
Pensacola, not a human habitation disturbs the 
domain sacred to alligators, serpents, pelicans, 
and wild-fowl. Some of the lagoons, like the 
Perdida, swell into inland seas, deep buried in 
pine woods, and known only to the wild creatures 
swarming along its brink and in its waters ; 
once, if report says true, frequented, however, by 
the filibusters and by the pirates of the Spanish 
Main. 

If the musquitoes were as numerous and as 
persecuting in those days as they are at present, 
the most adventurous youth would have soon re- 
pented the infatuation which led him to join the 
brethren of the Main. The musquito is a great 
enemy to romance, and our skipper tells us that 
there is no such place known in the world for 
them as this coast. 

As the Diana flew along the grim shore, we 
lay listlessl}- on the deck admiring the excessive 
brightness of the stars, or watching the trailing 
fire of her wake. Now and then great fish flew 
oif from the shallows, cleaving their path in 
flame ; and one shining gleam came up from 
leeward like a watery comet, till its horrible out- 
line was revealed close to us — a monster shark 
— which accompanied us with an easy play of 
the fin, distinctly visible in the wonderful phos- 
phorescence, now shooting on ahead, now drop- 
ping astern, till suddenly it dashed off' seaward 
with tremendous rapidity and strength on some 
errand of destruction, and vanished in the waste 
of waters. Despite the multitudes of fish on the 
coast, the Spaniards who colonize this ill-named 
Florida must have had a tiwing life of it between 
the Indians, now hunted to death or exiled by 
rigorous Uncle Sarp, the musquitoes, and the 
numberless plagues which abound along these 
shores. 

Hour after hour passed watching the play of 
large fish and the surf on the beach ; one by one 
the cigar-lights died out ; and muffling ourselves 
up on deck, or creeping into the little cabin, the 
party slumbered. I was awoke by the Captain 
talking to one of his hands close to me, and on 
looking np saw that he was staring through a 
wonderful black tube, which he denominated his 
" tallowscope, " at the shore. 

Looking in the direction, I obser^'cd the glare 
of a fire in the wood, which on examination 
through an opera glass resolved itself into a 
steady central light, with some smaller specks 
around it. "Wa'll," said the Captain, "I guess 

it is just some of them d d Yankees as is 

landed from their tarnation boats, and is 'con- 
noitering' for a road to Mobile." There was an ' ; 
old iron cannonade on board, and it struck me 
as a curious exemplification of the recklessness 
of our American cousins, when the skipper said, 
"Let us put a bag of bullets in the ould gun, 
and touch it oflF at them ;" which he no doubt 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



79 



•would hare done, seconded by one of our party, 
who drew his revolver to contribute to the broad- 
side, but that I represented to them it was just 
as liiely to be a party out from the camp at Pen- 
sacola, and that, anyhow, I strongly objected to 
anv belligerent act whilst I was on board. It 
was verv probably, indeed, the watchfire of a 
Confederate patrol", for the gentry of the country 
have formed themselves into a body of regular 
cavalry for such service; but the skipper de- 
clared that our chaps knew better than to be 
showing their lights in that way, when we were 
within ten miles of the entrance to Pensacola. 

The skipper lay-to, as he, very wisely, did not 
like to run into the centre of the United States 
squadron at night; but just at the first glimpse 
of dawn the Diana resumed her course, and 
bowled along merrily till, with the first rays of 
the sun, Fort M'Rae, Fort Pickens, and the 
masts of the squadron were visible ahead, rising 
above the blended horizon of land and sea. We 
drew upon them rapidly, and soon could make 
out the rival flags — the Stars and Bars and Stars 
and Stripes — flouting defiance at each other. 

On the land side on our left is Fort M'Rae, 
and on the end of the sand-bank, called Santa 
Rosa Island, directly opposite, rises the outline 
of the much-talked-of Fort Pickens, which is not 
unlike Fort Paul on a small scale. Through 
the glass the blockading squadron is seen to con- 
sist of a sailing frigate, a sloop, and three steam- 
ers * and as we are scrutinising them, a small 
schooner glides from under the shelter of the 
guardship, and makes towards us like a hawk 
on a sparrow. Hand over hand she comes, a 
great swaggering ensign at her peak, and a gun 
all ready at her bow ; and rounding up alongside 
us, a boat, manned by four men, is lowered, an 
officer jumps in, and is soon imder our counter. 
The officer, a bluff, sailor-like looking fellow, in 
a uniform a little the worse for wear, and wear- 
ing his beard as officers of the United States 
navj generally do, fixed his eye upon the skip- 
per — who did not seem quite at his ease, and 
had, indeed, confessed to us that he had been 
warned off by the Oriental, as the tender was 
named, only a short time before — and said, 
"Hallo, sir, I think I have seen you before: 
what schooner is this?" "The Diana of Mo- 
bile." "I thought so." Stepping on deck, he 
said, "Gentlemen, I am Mr. Brown, IMaster in 
the United States navy, in charge of the boarding 
schooner Oriental." We each gave our names ; 
whereupon Mr. Brown says, "I have no doubt 
it will be all right ; be good enough to let me 
have your papers. And now, sir, make sail, and 
lie-to under the quarter of that steamer there, 
the Powhatan." The Captain did not look at 
all happy when the officer called his attention to 
the indorsement on his papers ; nor did the Mo- 
bile party seem very comfortable when he re- 
marked, "I suppose, gentlemen, you are quite 
well aware there is a strict blockade of this 
port ?" 

In half an hour the schooner lay under the 
guns of the Powhatan, which is a stumpy, thick- 
set, powerful steamer of the old paddle-wheel 
kind, something like our Leopard. We pro- 
ceeded alongside in the cutter's boat, and were 
ushered into the cabin, where the officer com- 
manding. Lieutenant David Porter, received us, 
begged us to be seated, and Uien inquired into 



the object of our visit, which he communicated 
to the flag-ship by signal, in order to get instruc- 
tions as to our disposal. Nothing could exceed 
his courtesy; and I was most favourably im- 
pressed by himself, his officers, and crew. He 
took me over the ship, which is armed with 10- 
inch Dahlgrens and an 11-inch pivot gun, with 
rifled field-pieces and howitzers on the sponsons. 
Her boarding nettings were triced up, bows and 
weak portions padded with dead wood and old 
sails, and everything ready for action. 

Lieutenant Porter has been in and out of the 
harbour examining the enemy's works at all 
hours of the night, and he has marked off on the 
chart, as he showed me, the bearings of tlie vari- 
ous spots where he can sweep or enfilade their 
works. The crew, all things considered, were 
very clean, and their personnel exceedingly fine. 
We were not the only ])rize that was made by 
the Oriental this morning. A ragged little 
schooner lay at the other side of the Powhatan, 
the master of which stood rubbing his knuckles 
into his eyes, and uttering dolorous expressions 
in broken English and Italian, for he was a no- 
ble Roman of Civita Vecchia. Lieutenant Por- 
ter let me into the secret. These small traders 
at jNIobile, pretending great zeal for the Confed- 
ei-ate cause, load their vessels with fruit, vegeta- 
bles, and things of which they know the squadron 
is much in want, as well as the garrison of the 
Confederate forts. They set out with the most 
valiant intention of running the blockade, and 
are duly captured by the squadron, the officers 
of which are only too glad to pay fair prices for 
the cargoes. They return to ^lobile, keep their 
money in their pockets, and declare they have 
been plundered by the Yankees. If they get in, 
they demand still higher prices from the Confed- 
erates, and lay claim to the most exalted patriot- 
ism. 

By signal from the flag-ship Sabine, we were 
ordered to rejjair on board to see the senior offi- 
cer. Captain Adams ; and for the first time since 
I trod the deck of the old Leander in Balaklava 
harbour, I stood on board a 50-gun sailing frig- 
ate. Captain Adams, a grey -haired veteran 
of very gentle manners and great urbanity, re- 
ceived us in his cabin, and listened to my exi'la- 
nation of the cause of my visit with interest. 
About myself there was no difficulty ; but he 
very justly obseiwed he did not think it would be 
right to let the gentlemen from Mobile examine 
Fort Pickens, and then go among the Confeder- 
ate camps. I am bound to say these gentlemen 
scarcely seemed to desire or anticipate such a 
favour. 

Major Vogdes, an engineer officer from the 
fort, who happened to be on board, volunteered 
to take a letter from me to Colonel Harvey 
Browne, requesting permission to visit it ; and I 
finally arranged with Captain Adams that the 
Diana was to be permitted to pass the blockade 
into Pensacola harbour, and thence to return to 
Mobile, my visit to Pickens depending on the 
pleasure of the Commandant of the place. "I 
fear, Mr. Russell," said Captain Adams, "in 
giving you this permission, I expose myself to 
misrepresentation and unfounded attacks. Gen- 
tlemen of the press in our country care little 
about private character, and are, I foar, rather 
unscrupulous in what they say ; but I rely upon 
your character that no improper use shall be 



80 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



made of this permission. You must hoist a flag 
of truce, as General Bragg, who commands over 
there, has sent 'me word he considers our block- 
ade a declaration of war, and will tire upon any 
vessel which approaches him from our fleet. "_ 

In the course of conversation, whilst treating 
me to such man-of-war luxuries as the friendly 
officer had at his disposal, he gave me an illus- 
tration of the miseries of this cruel conflict — of 
the unspeakable desolation of homes, of the bit- 
terness of feeling engendered in families. A 
Pennsylvanian by birth, he married long ago a 
lady of Louisiana, where he resided on his plant- 
ation till his ship was commissioned. He was 
absent on foreign service when the feud first be- 
gan, and received orders at sea, on the Soiith 
American station, to repair direct to blockade 
Pensacola. He has just heard that one of his 
sons is enlisted in the Confederate army, and 
that two others have joined the forces in Vir- 
ginia; and as he said sadly, " God knows, when 
I open my broadside, but that I may be killing 
my own children." But that was not all. One 
of the Mobile gentlemen brought him a letter 
from his daughter, in which she informs him 
that she has heen elected vivandiere to a New 
Orleans regiment, with which she intends to push 
on to Washington, and get a lock of old Abe Lin- 
coln's hair ; and the letter concluded with the 
charitable wish that her father miglit starve to 
death if he jiersisted in his wicked blockade. 
But not the less determined was the gallant old 
sailor to do his duty. 

Mr. Ward, one of my companions, had sailed 
in the Sabine in the Paraguay expedition, and 
I availed myself of his acquaintance with his old 
comrades to take a glance round the ship. 
Wherever thc_y came from, four hundred more 
sailor-like, strong, handy young fellows could 
not be seen than the crew ; and the officers were 
as hospitable as their limited resources in whis- 
ky grog, cheese, and juuk allowed them to be. 

With thanks for his kindness and courtesy, I 
parted from Captain Adams, feeling more than 
ever the terrible and earnest nature of the im- 
pending conflict. May tlie kindly good old man 
be shielded on the day of battle ! 

A ten-oared barge conveyed us to the Orient- 
al, which, with flowing sheet, ran down to the 
Powhatan. There I saw Captain Portet, and 
told him that Captain Adams had given me per- 
mission to visit the Confederate camp, and that 
I had written for leave to go on shore at Fort 
Pickens. An officer was in his cabin, to whom 
I was introduced as Captain Poore, of the Brook- 
lyn. "You don't mean to say, Mr. Russell," said 
he, "that these editors of Southern newspapers 
who are with you have leave to go on shore?" 
This was rather a fishing question. "I assure 
you, Captain Poorc, that there is no editor of a 
Southern newspaper in my company." 

The boat which took us from the Powhatan 
to the Diana was in charge of a young officer 
related to Captain Porter, who amused me by 
the spirit with which he bandied remarks about 
the Mobile men, who had now recovered their 
equanimity, and were indulging in what is call- 
ed chaff about the blockade. "Well," he said, 
"you were the first to begin it ; let us see wheth- 
er you won't be the fii'st to leave it off. I guess 
our Northern ice will pretty soon put out your 
Southern fire.'* 



When we came on board, the skipper heard 
our orders to up stick and away witli an air of 
pity and incredulity ; nor was it till I had re- 
peated it, he kicked up his crew from their sleep 
on deck, and with a " Wa'll, really, I never did 
see sich a thing !" made sail towards the entrance 
to the harbour. 

As we got abreast of Fort Pickens, I ordered 
table-cloth No. 1 to be hoisted to the peak ; and 
through the glass I saw that our appearance at- 
tracted no ordinary attention from the garrison 
of Pickens close at hand on our right, and the 
more distant Confederates on Fort M'Rae and 
the sand-hills on our left. The latter work is 
weak and badly built, quite under the command 
of Pickens, but it is supported by the old Span- 
ish fort of Barrancas upon high ground further 
inland, and by numerous batteries at the water- 
line, and partly concealed amid the woods which 
fringe the shore as far as the navy yard of War- 
rington, near Pensacola. The wind was light, 
but the tide bore us on towards the Confederate 
works. Arms glanced in the blazing sun where 
regiments were engaged at drill, clouds of dust 
rose from the sandy roads, horsemen riding along 
the beach, groups of men in uniform, gave a mar- 
tial appearance to the place in unison with the 
black muzzles of the guns which peeped from the 
white sand batteries from the entrance of the 
harbour to the n.avy yard now cjose at hand. 
As at Sumter Major Anderson permitted the 
Carolinians to erect the batteries he might have 
so readily destroyed in the commencement, so 
the Federal officers here have allowed General 
Bragg to work away at his leisure, mounting 
cannon after cannon, throwing up earthAvorks, 
and strengthening his batteries, till he has as- 
sumed so formidable an attitude, that. I doubt 
very much whether the fort and the fleet com- 
bined can silence his fire. 

On the low shore close to us were numerous 
wooden houses and detached villas, surrounded 
by orange-groves. At last the captain let go his 
anchor off the end of a wooden jetty, which was 
crowded with ammunition, shot, shell, casks of 
provisions, and commissariat stores. A small 
steamer was engaged in adding to the collection, 
and numerous light craft gave evidence that all 
trade had not ceased. Indeed, inside Santa Rosa 
Island, which runs for forty-five miles from Pick- 
ens eastward parallel to the shore, there is a con- 
siderable coasting traffic carried on for the bene- 
fit of the Confederates. 

The skipper went ashore with my letters to 
General Bragg, and speedily returned with an 
orderly, who brought permission for the Diana 
to come alongside the wharf. The Mobile gen- 
tlemen were soon on shore, eager to seek their 
friends ; and in a few seconds the officer of the 
quartermaster - general's department on duty 
came on board to conduct me to the officers' 
quarters, whilst waiting for my reply from Gen- 
eral Bragg. 

The navy yard is surrounded by a high wall, 
the gates closely guarded by sentries ; the houses, 
gardens, workshops, factories, forges, slips, and 
building-sheds are complete of their kind, and 
cover upwards of three hundred acres ; and with 
the forts which protect the entrance, cost the 
United States Government not less than six mil- 
lions sterling. Inside these was the greatest ac- 
tivity and life, — Zouave, Chasseurs, and all kind 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



81 



of military eccentricities — were drilling, parad- 
in^x, exercising, sitting iu the shade, luading tum- 
brils, jilaying cards, or sleeping on the grass. 
Tents were pitched under the trees and on the 
little lawns and grass-covered quadrangles. The 
houses, each numbered and marked with the 
name of the functionary to whose use it was as- 
signed, were models of neatness, with gardens in 
fiont, filled with glorious tropical liowers. Tliey 
were painted green and white, provided with j)or- 
ticoes, Venetian blinds, verandahs, and colon- 
nades, to protect the inmates as much as possible 
from the blazing sun, which in the dog-days is 
worthy of Calcutta. The old Fulton is tlie only 
ship on the stocks. From the naval arsenal 
quantities of shot and shell are constantly pour- 
ing to the batteries. Piles of cannon-balls dot 
the grounds, but the only ordnance I saw were 
two old mortars placed as ornaments in the main 
avenue, one dated 177G. 

The quartermaster conducted me through sha- 
dy walks into one of the houses, then into a long 
room, and presented me en inasse to a body of 
officers, mostly belonging to a Zouave regiment 
from New Orleans, who were seated at a veiw 
comfortable dinner, with abundance of cham- 
pagne, claret, beer, and ice. They were all 
young, full of life and spirits, except three or 
four graver and older men, who were Europe- 
ans. One, a Dane, had fought against the Prus- 
sians and Schleswig-Holsteiners at Idstedt and 
Friederichstadt ; another, an Italian, seemed to 
have been indifferently engaged in fighting all 
over'the South American continent ; a third, a 
Pole, had been at Comorn, and had participated 
in the revolutionary guerilla of 1848. From 
these officers I learned that Mr. Jefferson Davis, 
his wife, Mr. Wigfall, and Mr. Mallory, Secretary 
to the Navy, had come down from Montgomery, 
and had been visiting the works all day. 

Every one here believes the attack so long 
threatened is to come off at last and at once. 

After dinner an aide-de-camp from General 
Bragg entered with a request that I would ac- 
company him to the commanding officer's quar- 
ters. As the sand outside the navy yard was 
deep, and rendered walking very disagreeable, 
the young officer stopped a cart, into which we 
got, and were proceeding on our way, when a 
tall, elderly man, in a blue frock-coat with a gold 
star on the shoulder, trowsers with a gold stripe 
and gilt buttons, rode past, followed by an or- 
derly, who looked more like a dragoon than any- 
thing I have yet seen in the States. "There's 
General Bragg," quoth the aide, and I was duly 
presented to the General, who reined up by the 
waggon. He sent his orderly off at once "for a 
light cart drawn by a pair of mules, in which I 
completed my journey, and was safely decarted 
at the door of a substantial house surrounded by 
trees of lime, oak, and sycamore. 

Led horses and orderlies thronged the front of 
the portico, and gave it the usual head-quarter- 
like aspect. General Bragg received me at the 
steps, and took me to his private room, where we 
remained for a long time in conversation. He 
had retired from the United States army after 
the Mexican war — in which, by the way, he play- 
ed a distinguished part, his name being general- 
ly coupled with the phrase " a little more grape. 
Captain Bragg," used in one of the hottest en- 
counters of that campaign — to his plantation in 
F 



Louisiana ; but suddenly the Northern States de- 
clared their intention of using force to free and 
sovereign states, which were exercising their con- 
stitutional rights to secede from the Federal 
Union. 

Neither he nor his family were responsible for 
the system of slavery. His ancestors found it 
established by law and flourishing, and had left 
him property, consisting of slaves, which was 
granted to him by the laws and constitution of 
the United States. Slaves were necessary for 
the actual cultivation of the soil in the South; 
Europeans and Yankees who settled there sj)ced- 
ily became convinced of that ; and if a Northern 
population were settled in Louisiana to-morrow, 
they would discover tliat they must till the land 
by the labour of the black race, and tliat the 
only mode of making tlie black race work was 
to hold them in a condition of involuntarv serv- 
itude. "Only the other day. Colonel Harvey 
Browne, at Pickens, over tlie waj-, carried off' a 
number of negroes from Tortugas, and put them 
to work at Santa Rosa. Why? Because his 
white soldiers were not able for it. No. The 
North was bent on subjugating the South, and 
as long as he had a drop of blood in his body, he 
would resist such an infamous attem])t." 

Before supper General Bragg opened his maps, 
and pointed out to me in detail the position of 
all his works, the line of fire of each gun, and 
the particular object to be expected from its ef- 
fects. "I know every inch of Pickens," he said, 
" for I happened to be stationed there as soon a.s 
I left West Point, and I don't think there is a 
stone in it that I am not as well acquainted with 
as Harve}' Browne." 

His staff, consisting of four intelligent young 
men, two of them lately belonging to the United 
States army, supped with us, and after a very 
agreeable evening, horses were ordered round to 
the door, and I returned to the navy yard at- 
tended by the General's orderly, and provided 
with a pass and countersign. As a mark of 
complete confidence, General Bragg told me, for 
my private ear, that he had no present intention 
whatever of opening fire, and that his batteries 
were far from being in a state, either as regards 
armament or ammunition, which would justify 
him in meeting the fire of the forts and the ships. 

And so we bade good-by. "To-moiTOw," 
said the General, "I will send down one of my 
best horses and Mr. Ellis, my aide-de-camp, to 
take you over all the works and batteries." As 
I rode home with my honest orderly beside in- 
stead of behind me, for he was of a conversa- 
tional turn, I was much perplexed in my mind, 
endeavouring to determine whicli was right and 
which was wrong in this quarrel, and at last, as 
at Montgomery, I was forced to ask myself if 
right and wrong were geographical expressions 
depending for extension or limitation on certain 
conditions of climate and lines of latitude and 
longitude. Here was the General's orderly be- 
side me, an intelligent middle-aged man, who 
had come to do battle with as much sinceritj- — 
aye, and religious confidence — as ever actuated 
old John Brown or any New England puritan to 
make war against slavery. "I have left my old 
woman and the children to the care of the nig- 
gers ; I have turned up all my cotton land and 
jilanted it with corn, and I don't intend to go 
back alive till I've seen the back of the last Yan- 



82 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



kee in our Southern States." " And are wife 
and children alone with the negroes?" "Yes, 
sir. There's only one white man on the plan- 
tation, an overseer sort of chap." "Are not you 
afraid of the slaves rising ?" "They're ignorant 
poor creatures, to be sure, but as yet they're 
faithful. Any way, I put my trust in God, and 
I know He'll watch over the house while I'm 
away fighting for this good cause !" This man 
came from Mississippi, and had twenty -five 
slaves, which i-epresented a money value of at 
least £5000. He was beyond the age of enthu- 
siasm, and was actuated, no doubt, by strong 
principles, to him unquestionable and sacred. 

Mv pass and countersign, which were only 
once demanded, took me through the sentries, 
and I got on board the schooner shortly before 
midnight, and found nearly all the party on deck, 
enchanted with their reception. More than once 
we were awoke by the vigilant sentries, who 
would not let what Americans call " the bal- 
ance" of our friends on board till they had seen 
my authority to receive them. 



CHAPTER XXVHI, 
Bitters before breakfast — An old Crimean acqtiaintance — 
Kartliworks and batteries — Estimate of cannons — Mag- 
azines — Hospitality — EngUsli and American introduc- 
tions and leave-takings — Fort Pickens; its interior — 
Return towards Mobile — Pursued by a strange sail — 
Running the blockade — Landing at Mobile. 

Maij IGfh. — The re'veille of the Zouaves, note 
for note the same as that which, in the Crimea, 
so often woke up poor fellows who slept the long 
sleep ere nightfall, roused us this morning early, 
and then the clang of trumpets and the roll of 
drums beating French calls summoned the vol- 
unteers to early parade. As there was a heavy 
.dew, and many winged things about last night, 
I turned in to my berth below, where four hu- 
man beings were supposed to lie in layers, like 
mummies beneath a pyramid, and there, after 
contention with cockroaches, sank to rest. No 
wonder I was rather puzzled to know where I 
was now ; for in addition to the music and the 
familiar sounds outside, I was somewhat perturb- 
ed in my mental calculations by bringing my 
head sharjjjy in contact with a beam of the deck, 
which had the best of it ; but, at last, facts ac- 
complished themselves and got into place, much 
aided by the appearance of the negro cook with 
a cup of coffee in his hand, who asked, " Mosieu ! 
Capitaiue vant to ax vedder you take some bit- 
ter, sar! Lisbon bitter, sar." I saw the cap- 
tain on deck busily engaged in the manufacture 
of a liquid which I was adjured by all the party 
on deck to take, if I wished to make a Redan or 
a Malakhoff of my stomach, and accordingly I 
Swallowed a petit verre of a very strong, intense- 
ly bitter preparation of brandy and tonic roots, 
sweetened with sugar, for which Mobile is famous. 

The noise of our arrival had gone abroad ; 
Saply the report of the good things with which 
tlie men of Mobile had laden the craft, for a few 
ofBcers came aboard even at that early hour, and 
we asked two who were known to our friends to 
stay for breakfast. That meal, to which the ne- 
gro cook applied his whole mind and all the gal- 
ley, consisted of an ugly-looking but well-flavor- 
ed fish from tlie waters outside us, fried ham and 
onions, biscuit, coffee, iced water and Bordeaux, 



served with charming simplicity, and no way 
calculated to move the ire of Horace bj^ a dis- 
play of Persic apparatus. 

A more greasy, oniony meal was never better 
enjoyed. One of our guests was a jolly York- 
shire farmer-looking man, up to about IG stone 
weight, with any hounds, dressed in a tunic of 
green baize or frieze, with scarlet worsted braid 
down the front, gold lace on the cuffs and collar, 
and a felt wide-awake, with a bunch of feathers 
in it. He wiped the sweat off his brow, and 
swore that he would never give in, and that the 
whole of the company of riflemen whom he com- 
manded, if not as heavy, were quite as patriotic. 
He was evidently a kindly affectionate man, 
without a trace of malice in his composition, but 
his sentiments were quite ferocious when he came 
to speak of the Yankees. He was a large slave- 
owner, and therefore a man of fortune, and he 
spoke with all the fervour of a capitalist men- 
aced by a set of Red Republicans. 

His companion, who wore a plain blue uni- 
form, sj)oke sensibly about a matter with which 
sense has rarely anything to do — namch' uni- 
form. Many of the United States volunteers 
adopt the same grey colours so much in vogue 
among the Confederates. The officers of both 
armies were similar distinguishing marks of rank, 
and he was quite right in supposing that in night 
marches, or in serious actions on a large scale, 
much confusion and loss would be caused by men 
of the same army firing on each other, or mis- 
taking enemies for friends. 

Whilst we were talking, large shoals of mullet 
and other fish were flying before the porpoises, 
red fish, and other enemies, in the tide-way 
astern of the schooner. Once, as a large white 
fish came Icajiing up to the surface, a gleam of 
something still whiter shot through the waves, 
and a boiling whirl, tinged with crimson, which 
gradually melted oft" in the tide, marked where 
the fish had been. 

" There's a ground sheark as has got his break- 
fast," quoth the Skipper. "There's quite a many 
of them about here." Now and then a turtle 
showed his head, exciting desiderhim tam cari 
capitis, above the envied flood which he honour- 
ed with his jjrcsence. 

Far away, towards Pensacola, floated three 
British ensigns, from as many merchantmen, 
which as yet had fifteen days to clear out from 
the blockaded port. Fort Pickens had hoisted 
the stars and stripes to the wind, and Fort M'Rae, 
as if to irritate its neighbour, displayed a flag al- 
most identical, but for the "lone star," which 
the glass detected instead of the ordinary galaxy 
— the star of Florida. 

Lieutenant Ellis, General Bragg's aide-de- 
camp, came on board at an early hour, in order 
to take mc round the works, and I was soon on 
the back of the General's charger, safely en- 
sconced between the raised pummel and cantle 
of a great brass-bound saddle, Avith emblazoned 
saddle-clotli and mighty stirrups of brass, fit for 
the fattest marshal that ever led an army of 
France to victory ; but General Bragg is longer 
in the leg than the Ditke of Malakhoft" or Marshal 
Canrobert, and all my efforts to touch with my 
toe the wonderful supports which, in consonance 
with the American idea, dangled far beneath, 
were ineffectual. 

As our road lay by head-quarters, the aide- 



MY DIARY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



83 



de-camp took mo into the court and called out 
"Orderly;" and at the summons a smart sol- 
dier-like young fellow came to the front, took me 
three holes up, and as I was riding away touch- 
ed his cap and said, " I beg your pardon, sir, but 
I often saw you in the Crimea." He had been 
in the 11th Hussars, and on the day of Bala- 
klava he was following close to Lord Cardigan 
and Captain Nolan, when his horse was killed 
by a round shot. As he was endeavouring to es- 
cape on foot the Cossacks took him prisoner, and 
he remained for eleven months in captivity in 
Russia, till he was exchanged at Odessa, towards 
the close of the war ; then, being one of two ser- 
geants who were permitted to get their discharge, 
he left the service. "But here you are again," 
said I, "soldiering once more, and merely act- 
ing as an orderly !" " Well, that's true enough ; 
but I came over here, thinking to better myself 
as some of our fellows did, and then the war 
broke out, and I entered one of what they called 
their cavalry regiments — Lord bless you, sir, it 
would just break your heart to see them — and 
here I am now, and the general has made me an 
orderly. He is a kind man, sir, and the pay is 
good, but they are not like the old lot ; I do not 
know what my lord would think of them." The 
man's name was Montague, and he told me his 
father lived "at a place called Windsor," twen- 
ty-one miles from London. Lieutenant Ellis 
said he was a very clean, smart, well-conducted 
soldier. 

From head-quarters we started on our little 
tour of inspection of the batteries. Certainly, 
anything more calculated to shake confidence 
in American journalism could not be seen ; for 
I had been led to believe that the works were 
of the most formidable description, mounting 
hundreds of guns. Wiiere hundreds was writ- 
ten, tens would have been nearer the truth. 

I visited ten out of the thirteen batteries which 
General Bragg has erected against Fort Pick- 
ens. I saw but five hea\y siege guns in the 
whole of the works among the fifty or fifty-five 
pieces with which they were armed. There 
may be about eighty altogether on the lines, 
which describe an arc of 135 degrees for about 
three miles round Pickens, at an average dis- 
tance of a mile and one-third. I was rather in- 
terested with Fort Barrancas, built by the Span- 
iards long ago — an old work on the old plan, 
weakly armed, but possessing a tolerable com- 
mand from the face of fire. 

In all the batteries there were covered galler- 
ies in the rear, connected with the magazines, 
and called "rat-holes," intended by the con- 
structors as a refuge for the men whenever a 
shcdl from Pickens dropped in. The rush to 
the rat-hole does not impress one as being very 
conducive to a sustained and heavy fire, or at 
all likely to improve the morale of the gunners. 
The working parties, as they were called — vol- 
unteers from Mississippi and Alabama, great 
long-bearded fellows in flannel shirts and slouch- 
ed hats, uniformless in all save brightly burnish- 
ed arms and resolute purpose — were lying about 
among the works, or contributing languidly to 
their completion. 

Considerable improvements w'ere in the course 
of execution ; but the officers were not always 
agreed as to the work to be done. Captain A., 
at the wheelbarrows: "Now then, you men. 



wheel up these sandbags, and range them just 
at this corner." Major B. : " My good Cajjtain 
A., what do you want the bags there for? Did 
I not tell^'ou, these merlons were not to be fin- 
ished till we had completed the parapet on the 
front?" Captain A.: "Well, Major, so you 
did, and your order made me think you knew 
darned little about your business ; anil so I am 
going to do a little engineering of my own." 

Altogether, I was quite satisfied General 
Bragg was perfectly correct in refusing to ojien 
his fire on Fort Pickens and on the fleet, which 
ought certainly to have knocked his works about 
his ears, in spite of his advantages of position, 
and of some well-placed mortar batteries among 
the brushwood, at distances from Pickens of 
2.500 and 2800 yards. The magazines of the 
batteries I visited did not contain ammunition 
for more than one day's ordinary firing. The 
shot were badly cast, with projecting flanges 
from the mould, which would be very injurious 
to soft metal puns in firing. As to men, as in 
guns, the Southern papers had lied consumedly. 
I could not say how many were in Pensacola it- 
self, for I did not visit the camp : at the outside 
guess of the numbers there was 2000. I saw, 
however, all the camps here, and I doubt ex- 
ceedingly if General Bragg — who at this time 
is represented to have any number from 30.000 
to 50,000 men under his command — has 8000 
troops to support his batteries, or 10,000, in- 
cluding Pensacola, all told. 

If hospitality consists in the most liberal par- 
ticipation of all the owner has with his visitors, 
here, indeed, Philemon has his type in every 
tent. As we rode along through eveiy battery, 
by every officer's quarters, some great Mississip- 
))ian or Alabamian came forward with " Captain 
Ellis, I am glad to see you." "Colonel," to 
me, "won't you get down and have a drink?" 
Mr. Ellis duly introduces me. The Colonel 
with eff'usion grasps my hand and says, as if he 
had just gained the particular object of his ex- 
istence, "Sir, I am very glad to know you. I 
hope you have been pretty well since you have 
been in our country, sir. Here, Pompey, take 
the colonel's horse. Step in, sir, and have a 
drink." Then comes out the great big whisky 
bottle, and an immense amount of adhesion to 
the first law of nature is required to get you 
off with less than half a pint of "Bourbon;" 
but the most trying thing to a stranger is the 
fact that when he is going away, the officer, 
who has been so delighted to see him, does not 
seem to care a farthing for his guest or his 
health. 

The truth is, these introductions are ceremo- 
nial observances, and compliances with the uni- 
versal curiosity of Americans to know people 
they meet. The Englishman bows frigidly to 
his acquaintance on the first introduction, and 
if he likes him shakes hands with him on leav- 
ing — a much more sensible and justifiable pro- 
ceeding. The American's warmth at the first 
interview must be artificial, and the indifference 
at parting is ill-bred and in bad taste. I had 
already observed this on many occasions, espe- 
cially at Montgomery, where I noticed it to Col- 
onel Wigfall, but the custom is not incompatible 
with the most profuse hospitality, nor with •the 
desire to render service. 

On my return to head-quarters I found Gen- 



84 



MY DIAEY NORTH AND SOUTH. 



eral Bragg in his room, engaged writing an of- 
ficial letter in reply to my request to be permit- 
ted to visit Fort Pickens, in which he gave me 
full permission to do as I pleased. Not only 
tliis, but he had prepared a number of letters 
of introduction to the military authorities, and 
to his personal friends at New Orleans, request- 
ing them to give me every facility and friendly 
assistance in their power. He asked me my 
opinion about the batteries and their arma- 
ment, which I freely gave him quanlum valeat. 
"Well," he said, "I think your conclusions 
are pretty just; but, nevertheless, some fine day 
I shall be forced to try the mettle of our friends 
on the opposite side." All I could say was, 
"May God defend the right." "A good say- 
ing, to which I say. Amen. And drink with 
you to it." 

There was a room outside, full of generals and 
colonels, to whom I was duly introduced ; but 
the time for departure had come, and I bade 
good-by to the general and rode down to the 
wharf. I had always heard, during my brief 
sojourn in the North, that the Southern people 
were exceedingly illiterate and ignorant. It 
may be so, but I am bound to s^iy that I ob- 
served a large proportion of the soldiers, on their 
way to the navy yard, engaged in reading news- 
papers, though they did not neglect the various 
drinking bars and exchanges, which were only 
too numerous in the vicinity of the camps. 

The schooner was all ready for sea, but the 
Mobile gentlemen had gone oft" to Pensacola, 
and as I did not desire to invite them to visit 
Fort Pickens — where, indeed, they would have 
most likely met with a refusal — I resolved to 
sail without them and to return to the navyj'ard 
in the evening, in order to take them back on 
our homeward voyage. "Now then, captain, 
cast loose ; we are going to Fort Pickens." 
The worthy seaman had by this time become ut- 
terly at sea, and did not ajipeai- to know wheth- 
er he belonged to the Confederate States, Abra- 
ham Lincoln, or the British navy. But this or- 
der roused him a little, and looking at me with 
all his eyes, he exclaimed, "Why, you don't 
mean to say you are going to make me bring the 
Diana alongside that darned Yankee Fort!" 
Our tablecloth, somewhat maculated with gravy, 
was hoisted once more to the peak, and, after 
some formalities between the guardians of tlie 
jetty and ourselves, the schooner canted round 
in the tideway, and m ith a fine light breeze ran 
down towards the stars and stripes. 

"\Vliat magical power there is in the colours 
of a piece of bunting ! My companions, I dai-e 
say, felt as proud of their flag as if their ances- 
tors had fought under it at Acre or Jerusalem. 
And yet how fictitious its influence ! Death, 
and dishonor worse than death, to desert it one 
day! Patriotism and glory to leave it in the 
dust, and fight under its rival, the next ! Plow 
indignant would George Washington have been, 
if the Frenchman at Fort Du Quesne had asked 
him to abandon the old rag which Braddock 
lield aloft in the wilderness, and to ser^'e under 
the very Jieur-de-li/s which the same great George 
hailed with so much joy but a few years after- 
wards, when it was advanced to the front at 
Yoik Town, to win one of its few victories over 
the Lions and the Harp. And in this Confed- 
erate flag there is a meaning which cannot die 



— it marks the birthplace of a new nationality, 
and its place must know it for ever. Even the 
flag of a rebellion leaves indelible colours in the 
political atmosphere. The hopes that sustained 
it may vanish in the gloom of night, but the na- 
tional faith still believes that its sun Mill rise on 
some glorious morrow. Hard must it be for Ibis 
race, so arrogant, so great, to see stripe and star 
torn from the fair standard with which they 
would fiiin have shadowed all the kingdoms of 
the world ; but their great continent is large 
enough for many nations. 

"And now," said the skipper, "I think we'd 
best lie to — them cussed Yankees on the beach 
is shouting to us." And so they were. A sen- 
try on the end of a wooden jetty sung out, 
" Hallo you there ! Stand ofl' or I'll fire," and 
"drew a bead-line on us." At the same time 
the skipper hailed, "Please to send a boat oft' to 
go ashore." " No, sir ! Come in your own boat !" 
cried the officer of the guard. Our own boa