Part 11 (2/2)
There is a strong body of police here, and some of their powers are autocratically autocratic: thus, a person once committed as a vagrant is liable to be re-imprisoned by them if met in the street unemployed. Now, as it is impossible to expect that people in business will take the trouble to hunt up vagrants, what can be conceived more cruelly arbitrary than preventing them from hunting up places for themselves?
Yet such is the law in this democratic city.[V] A gentleman told me of a vagrant once coming to him and asking for employment, and, on his declining to employ him, begging to be allowed to lie concealed in his store during the day, lest the police should re-imprison him before he could get on board one of the steamers to take him up the river to try his fortunes elsewhere. At the same time, a person in good circ.u.mstances getting into difficulties can generally manage to buy his way out.
The authorities, on the return of Christmas, having come to the conclusion that the letting off of magazines of crackers in the streets by the juvenile population was a practice attended with much inconvenience and danger to those who were riding and driving, gave orders that it should be discontinued. The order was complied with in some places, but in others the youngsters set it at defiance. It will hardly be credited that, in a nation boasting of its intelligence and proud of its education, the press should take part with the youngsters, and censure the magistrates for their sensible orders. Yet such was the case at New Orleans. The press abused the authorities for interfering with the innocent amus.e.m.e.nts of the children, and expressed their satisfaction at the latter having a.s.serted their independence and successfully defied the law. The same want of intelligence was exhibited by the press in censuring the authorities for discontinuing the processions on the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans--”a ceremony calculated to excite the courage and patriotism of the people.” They seem to lose sight of the fact, that it is a reflection on the courage of their countrymen to suppose that they require such processions to animate their patriotism, and that the continuance of such public demonstrations parading the streets betokens rather pride of past deeds than confidence in their power to re-enact them. Although such demonstrations may be readily excused, or even reasonably encouraged, in an infant community struggling for liberty, they are childish and undignified in a powerful nation. What would be more ridiculous than Scotland having grand processions on the anniversary of Bannockburn, or England on that of Waterloo? Moreover, in a political point of view, it should not be lost sight of, that if such demonstrations have any effect at all on the community, it must be that of reviving hostile feelings towards those to whom they are united most closely by the ties of blood, sense, and--though last, not least--cents. I merely mention these trivial things to show the punyizing effects which the democratic element has on the press.
Formerly, duels were as innumerable here as bales of cotton; they have considerably decreased latterly, one cause of which has been, the State of Louisiana pa.s.sing a law by which any person engaging in a duel is at once deprived of his vote, and disabled from holding any state employment. John Bull may profit by this hint.
I was much amused, during my stay at New Orleans, by hearing the remarks of the natives upon the anti-slavery meeting at Stafford House, of which the papers were then full. If the poor d.u.c.h.ess and her lady allies had been fiends, there could scarcely have been more indignation at her ”presumptuous interference” and ”mock humility.” Her ”sisters, indeed!
as if she would not be too proud to stretch out her hand to any one of them,” &c. Then another would break out with, ”I should like to know by what right she presumes to interfere with us and offer advice? If she wants to do good, she has opportunities enough of exercising her charity in London. Let any one read _The Times_, and then visit a plantation here, and say whether the negroes are not happier and better off than one-half of the lower cla.s.ses in England,” &c. If every animadversion which the d.u.c.h.ess and her colleagues' kind intentions and inoffensive wording of them called forth in America had been a pebble, and if they had all been gathered together, the monument of old Cheops at Ghizeh would have sunk into insignificance when contrasted with the gigantic ma.s.s; in short, no one unacquainted with the sensitiveness of the American character can form a conception of the violent state of indignation which followed the perusal of the proceedings of that small conclave of English lady philanthropists. Mrs. Jones, Smith, Adams, and Brown might have had their meeting on the same subject without producing much excitement; but when the aristocratic element was introduced, it acted as a spark in a barrel of gunpowder. As an ill.u.s.tration of the excitement produced, I subjoin an extract from one of their daily papers, under the heading of ”Mrs. Stowe in Great Britain:”--
”The principles of free government developed here, and urging our people on with unexampled rapidity in the career of wealth and greatness, have always been subjects of alarm to monarchs and aristocracies--of pleasure and hope to the people. It has, of course, been the object of the former to blacken us in every conceivable way, and to make us detestable in the eyes of the world. There has been nothing since the revolution so well calculated to advance this end, as the exhibition which Mrs. Stowe is making in England.
”It is because they have a deep and abiding hostility to this country, and to republicanism in general, that the aristocracy, not only of England, but of all Europe, have seized with so much avidity upon _Uncle Tom_, and have been at so much pains to procure a triumphal march for its author through all the regions she may choose to visit.
They are delighted to see a native of the United States--of that republic which has taught that a people can flourish without an aristocracy or a monarch--of that republic, the example of whose prosperity was gradually undermining thrones and digging a pit for privileged cla.s.ses--describing her country as the worst, the most abandoned, the most detestable that ever existed. Royalty draws a long breath, and privilege recovers from its fears. Among the people of the continent, especially among the Germans, Italians, and Russians, there are thousands who believe that murder is but a pastime here--that the bowie-knife and pistol are used upon any provocation--that, in fact, we are a nation of a.s.sa.s.sins, without law, without morality, and without religion. They are taught to believe these things by their newspapers, which, published under the eye of Government, allow no intelligence but of murders, bowie-knife fights, &c., coming from America, to appear in their columns. By these, therefore, only is America known to their readers; and they are very careful to instil the belief, that if America is a land of murderers, it is so because it has had the folly to establish a republican form of government.
”These ideas are very general in England, even where the hostility is greater than it is on the Continent. To British avarice we owe slavery in this country. To British hatred we owe the encouragement of anti-slavery agitation now. The vile hypocrisy which has characterised the whole proceeding is not the least objectionable part of it. The English care not one farthing about slavery. If they did, why do they keep it up in such a terrific form in their own country?
Where was there ever true charity that did not begin at home? It is because there is a deep-rooted hostility to this country pervading the whole British mind, that these things have taken place.”
The wounded sensitiveness, however, which the foregoing paragraph exhibits, found some consolation from an article which appeared in _The Times_. They poured over its lines with intense delight, soothing themselves with each animadversion it made upon the meeting, and deducing from the whole--though how, I could never understand--that they had found in the columns of that journal a powerful advocate for slavery. Thus was peace restored within their indignant b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and perhaps a war with the ladies of the British aristocracy averted. Of two facts, however, I feel perfectly certain; one is, that the animadversions made in America will not in the least degree impair her Grace's healthy condition; and the other is, that the meeting held at Stafford House will in no way improve the condition of the negro.
There are two or three clubs established here, into one of which strangers are admitted as visitors, but the one which is considered the ”first chop” does not admit strangers, except by regular ballot; one reason, I believe, for their objecting to strangers, is the immense number of them, and the quality of the article. Their ideas of an English gentleman, if formed from the ma.s.s of English they see in this city, must be sufficiently small: there is a preponderating portion of the ”cotton bagman,” many of whom seek to make themselves important by talking large. Although probably more than nine out of ten never have ”thrown their leg” over anything except a bale of cotton, since the innocent days of the rocking-horse, they try to impress Jonathan by pulling up their s.h.i.+rt-collar consequentially, and informing him,--”When I was in England, I was used to 'unt with the Dook's 'ounds; first-rate, sir, first-rate style--no 'ats, all 'unting-caps.” Then, pa.s.sing his left thumb down one side of his cheek, his fingers making a parallel course down the opposite cheek, with an important air and an expression indicative of great intimacy, he would condescendingly add,--”The Dook wasn't a bad chap, after all: he used to give me a capital weed now and then.” With this style of John Bull in numerical ascendency, you cannot wonder at the club-doors not being freely opened to ”the Dook's friends,” or at the character of an English gentleman being imperfectly understood.
Time hurries on, a pa.s.sport must be obtained, and that done, it must be _vised_ before the Spanish consul, as Cuba is my destination. The Filibusteros seem to have frightened this functionary out of his proprieties. A Spaniard is proverbially proud and courteous--the present specimen was neither; perhaps the reason may have been that I was an Englishman, and that the English consul had done all his work for him _gratis_ when the Filibustero rows obliged him to fly. Kindness is a thing which the Spaniards as a nation find it very difficult to forgive.
However, I got his signature, which was far more valuable than his courtesy; most of his countrymen would have given me both, but the one sufficed on the present occasion. Portmanteaus are packed--my time is come.
Adieu, New Orleans!--adieu, kind host and amiable family, and a thousand thanks for the happy days I spent under your roof. Adieu, all ye hospitable friends, not forgetting my worthy countryman the British consul. The ocean teapot is hissing, the bell rings, friends cry, kiss, and smoke--handkerchiefs flutter in the breeze, a few parting gifts are thrown on board by friends who arrive just too late; one big-whiskered fellow with bushy moustache picks up the parting _cadeau_--gracious me!
he opens it, and discloses a paper bag of lollipops; another unfolds a precious roll of chewing tobacco. Verily, extremes do meet. The ”Cherokee” is off, and I'm aboard. Down we go, sugar plantations studding either sh.o.r.e; those past, flat dreary banks succeed; s.h.i.+ps of all nations are coming up and going down by the aid of tugboats; two large vessels look unpleasantly ”fixed”--they are John Bull and Jonathan, brothers in misfortune and both on a bank.
”I guess the pilots will make a good thing out of that job!” says my neighbour.--
”Pilots!” I exclaimed, ”how can that be? I should think they stood a fair chance of losing their licence.”
”Ah! sir, we don't fix things that way here; the pilots are too 'cute, sir.” Upon inquiry, I found that, as the banks were continually s.h.i.+fting, it was, as my friend said, very difficult ”to fix the pilots,”--a fact which these worthies take every advantage of, for the purpose of driving a most profitable trade in the following manner.
Pilot goes to tug and says, ”What do you charge for getting a s.h.i.+p off?”
The price understood, a division of the spoil is easily agreed upon.
Away goes the pilot, runs the s.h.i.+p on sh.o.r.e on the freshest sandbank, curses the Mississippi and everything else in creation; a tug comes up very opportunely, a tidy bargain is concluded; the unfortunate pilot forfeits 100l., his pilotage from the s.h.i.+p, and consoles himself the following evening by pocketing 500l. from the tugman as his share of the spoil, and then starts off again in search of another victim. Such, I was informed by practical people, is a common feature in the pilotage of these waters, and such it appears likely to continue.
The ”Cherokee” is one of those vessels which belong to Mr. Law, of whom I could get no information, expect that he had sprung up like a mushroom to wealth and Filibustero notoriety. He is also the custodian, I believe, of the three hundred thousand stand of arms ordered by Kossuth for the purpose of ”whipping” Russia and Austria, and establis.h.i.+ng the Republic of Hungary, unless by accident he found brains enough to become a Hungarian Louis Napoleon; but Mr. Law's other vessel, called the ”Crescent City,” and the Cuban Black Douglas, yclept ”Purser Smith,” are perhaps better known. Peradventure, you imagine this latter to be a wild hyena-looking man, with radiant red hair, fiery ferret eyes, and his pockets swelled out with revolutionary doc.u.ments for the benefit of the discontented Cubans; but I can inform you, on the best authority, such is not the case, for he was purser of the ”Cherokee” this voyage. He looks neither wild nor rabid, and is a grey-headed man, about fifty years of age, with a dash of the Israelite in his appearance: he may or he may not have Filibustero predilections--I did not presume to make inquiry on the subject. And here I cannot but remark upon the childish conduct of the parties concerned in the ridiculous ”Crescent City and Cuba question,” although, having taken the view they did, the Spaniards were of course perfectly right in maintaining it. It was unworthy of the Spanish nation to take notice of the arrival of so uninfluential a person as Purser Smith; and it was imprudent, inasmuch as it made him a person of importance, and gave the party with whom he was supposed to be connected a peg to hang grievances upon, and thus added to their strength. It was equally unworthy of Mr. Law, when objection was made, and a notification sent that Mr. Smith would not be admitted nor the vessel that carried him, to persist in a course of conduct obnoxious to a friendly power; and it was imprudent, when it must have been obvious that he could not carry his point; thereby eventually adding strength to the Spanish authority. When, all the fuss and vapour was made by Mr. Law and his friends, they seemed to have forgotten the old adage, ”People who live in gla.s.s houses should not throw stones.” President Filmore, in his statesmanlike observations, when the subject was brought before him, could not help delicately alluding to Charleston, a city of America.
Americans at Charleston claim to exercise the right--what a prost.i.tution of the term right!--of imprisoning any of the free subjects of another nation who may enter their ports, if they are men of colour. Thus, if a captain arrives in a s.h.i.+p with twenty men, of whom ten are black, he is instantly robbed of half his crew during his whole stay in the harbour; and on what plea is this done? Is any previous offence charged against them? None whatever. The only plea is that it is a munic.i.p.al regulation which their slave population renders indispensable. In other words, it is done lest the sacred truth should spread, that man has no right to bind his fellow-man in the fetters of slavery.[W]
Was there ever such a farce as for a nation that tolerates such a munic.i.p.al regulation as this to take umbrage at any of their citizens being, on strong suspicions of unfriendly feeling, denied entry into any port? Why, if there was a Chartist riot in monarchical England, and the ports thereof were closed against the sailors of republican America, they could have no just cause of offence, so long as the present munic.i.p.al law of Charleston exists. What lawful boast of freedom can there ever be, where contact with freemen is dreaded, be their skins black or any colour of the rainbow? Why can England offer an asylum to the turbulent and unfortunate of all countries and climes?--Because she is perfectly free! Don't be angry, my dear Anglo-Saxon brother; you know, ”if what I say bayn't true, there's no snakes in Warginny.” I feel sure you regret it; but then why call forth the observations, by supporting the childish obstinacy in the ”Crescent City” affair.
However, as the housemaids say, in making up quarrels, ”Let bygones be bygones.” Spain has maintained her rights; you have satisfied her, and quiet Mr. Smith enters the Havana periodically, without disturbing the Governor's sleep or exciting the hopes of the malcontents. May we never see the Great Empire States in such an undignified position again!
Here we are still in the ”Cherokee;” she is calculated to hold some hundreds of pa.s.sengers. Thank G.o.d! there are only some sixty on board; but I do not feel equally grateful for their allowing me to pay double price for a cabin to myself when two-thirds of them are empty, not to mention that the single fare is eight guineas. She is a regular old tub of a boat; the cabins are profitably fitted with three beds in each, one above the other; the consequence is, that if you wish to sneeze at night, you must turn on your side, or you'll break your nose against the bed above you in the little jerk that usually accompanies the sternutatory process. The feeding on board is the worst I ever saw--tough, cold, and greasy, the whole unpleasantly accompanied with dirt.
Having parted from my travelling companion at New Orleans, one of my first endeavours was, by the aid of physiognomy, to discover some pa.s.senger on whom it might suit me to inflict my society. Casting my eyes around, they soon lit upon a fair-haired youth with a countenance to match, the expression thereof bespeaking kindness and intelligence; and when, upon further examination, I saw the most indubitable and agreeable evidence that his person and apparel were on the most successful and intimate terms with soap and water, I pounced upon him without delay, and soon found that he was a German gentleman travelling with his brother-in-law, and they both had a.s.sumed an _incognito_, being desirous of avoiding that curious observation which, had their real position in life been known, they would most inevitably have been subject to. Reader, be not you too curious, for I cannot withdraw the veil they chose to travel under; suffice it to know, their society added much to my enjoyment, both on the pa.s.sage and at the Havana. The sailing of the vessel is so ingeniously managed, that you arrive at the harbour's mouth just after sunset, and are consequently allowed the privilege of waiting outside all night, no vessels except men-of-war being allowed to enter between sunset and daybreak. The hopes of the morrow were our only consolation, until at early dawn we ran through the narrow battery-girt entrance, and dropped anchor in the land-locked harbour of Havana.
<script>