Part 7 (1/2)
The _post office_ is a large brick edifice, situated at about an equal distance from the president's house and the capitol. Under the same roof is the patent-office, and the national library, for the use of members of the congress. In 1817 there were, in Was.h.i.+ngton, many brick buildings, two and three stories high. There were also some small wooden houses; though, according to the original plan, no houses were to be built less than three stories high, and all were to have marble steps.
The _river Potomac_, at Was.h.i.+ngton, is navigable only for small craft; but, besides this, there is a river, about the width of the Paddington ca.n.a.l, which is dignified by the name of _Tiber_. The ridiculous, though characteristic vanity displayed in changing its original appellation from ”Goose-creek” to that of ”Tiber,” has been happily exposed by the English poet Moore. Speaking of this city, he says,
In fancy now, beneath the twilight gloom, Come, let me lead thee o'er this modern Rome, Where tribunes rule, where dusky Davi bow, And what was Goose-creek once is Tiber now.
This fam'd metropolis, where fancy sees Squares in mora.s.ses, obelisks in trees.
There are, at Was.h.i.+ngton, four market-days in the week, and negroes are the chief sellers of provisions; but the supplies are neither good nor various. In this city rents are very high; and mechanics are fully employed and well paid. Shopkeepers too are numerous; but its increase cannot be rapid, for it has no decidedly great natural advantages. It has little external commerce, a barren soil, and a scanty population; is enfeebled by the deadly weight of absolute slavery, and has no direct communication with the western country.
With regard to the manners of the _inhabitants_, it is remarked that both s.e.xes, whether on horseback or on foot, carry umbrellas at all seasons: in summer, to keep off the sunbeams; in winter, as a shelter from the rain and snow; and in spring and autumn, to intercept the dews of the evening. At dinner and at tea parties, the ladies sit together, and seldom mix with the gentlemen, whose conversation usually turns upon political subjects. In almost all houses toddy, or spirits and water, is offered to guests a few minutes before dinner. Boarders in boarding-houses, or in taverns, sometimes throw off their coats during the heat of summer; and, in winter, their shoes, for the purpose of warming their feet at the fire; customs which the climate only can excuse. The barber always arrives on horseback, to perform the operation of shaving; and here, as in some towns of Europe, he is the organ of all the news and scandal of the place.
In the year 1817, when Mr. Fearon was in Was.h.i.+ngton, the congress was sitting, and that gentleman several times attended the debates. The place of meeting was a temporary one: it had been designed for an hotel, and was in the immediate vicinity of the capitol. The congress a.s.sembled at eleven o'clock in the morning, and adjourned at four in the afternoon. Mr. Fearon's first visit was to the _senate_. This body is composed of forty members, the states having increased their original number of thirteen to that of twenty; and each state, regardless of its population, sends two. The gallery of the senate-house is open to all; and the only form observed, is that of taking off the hat. When Mr.
Fearon was at Was.h.i.+ngton, the chairman's seat was central, under a handsome canopy; and the members were seated, on rich scarlet cus.h.i.+ons, some at double, and some at single desks. There were two large fires; and the room was carpeted, as was also the gallery. In the congress, the forms of business, with a few minor exceptions, are taken from those of the British parliament. There is, however, one point of variation: every speech is apparently listened to; and all the speeches, whether good or bad, seem regarded with equal apathy, and with a complete lifeless endurance, neither applause nor censure being allowed.
The _Representative Chamber_ was in the same building, and about twice the extent. A gallery was here also open to the public of both s.e.xes.
This a.s.sembly consists of nearly two hundred members. These want, in appearance, the age, experience, dignity, and respectability, which an Englishman a.s.sociates with the idea of legislators, and which are possessed by the superior branch of the congress. The members sat on very common chairs, and at unpainted desks, which were placed in rows. A few of the speakers commanded attention; but others talked on as long they pleased, while the rest were occupied in writing letters or reading newspapers. A spitting-box was placed at the feet of each member, and, contrary to the practice of the upper house, both the members and visitors wore their hats.
During the sitting of congress, the president, or rather his lady, holds a drawing-room weekly. He takes by the hand all those persons who are presented to him; shaking of hands being here considered more rational and more manly than kissing them.
_George Town_ may be described as a suburb of Was.h.i.+ngton. It is finely situated, on the north-east side of the Potomac river, and is divided, from Was.h.i.+ngton, by the Rock Creek, over which are two bridges. The houses are chiefly of brick, and have a neat appearance. Several of them were built before the streets were formed, which gave rise to an observation by a French lady, that ”George Town had houses without streets; Was.h.i.+ngton, streets without houses.”
_Alexandria_, formerly called Belhaven, is a small, but peculiarly neat town, on the western side of the Potomac, and about six miles south of Was.h.i.+ngton. Its streets, like those of Philadelphia, run in straight lines, and intersect each other at right angles. The houses are of neat construction. The public buildings are an episcopal church, an academy, a court-house, a bank, and gaol. This place carries on a considerable trade; and the warehouses and wharfs are very commodious. The distance from Alexandria to George Town is about ten miles; and there is a daily communication between the two places, by means of a packet-boat.
Nine miles below Alexandria, and also on the bank of the Potomac, stands _Mount Vernon_, formerly the country-seat of general Was.h.i.+ngton. The house is of wood, but cut and painted so as to resemble stone. It has a lawn in front; and, when Mr. Weld was here, the garden had the appearance of a nursery-ground.
_Narrative of Mr._ WELD'S _Journey from Was.h.i.+ngton to Richmond in Virginia_.
In proceeding from Was.h.i.+ngton southward, Mr. Weld pa.s.sed through a part of the country which was flat, sandy, and had a most dreary aspect. For many successive miles nothing was to be seen but extensive plains, that had been worn out by the culture of tobacco, and were overgrown with yellow sedge, and interspersed with groves of pine and cedar-trees, the dark green colour of which formed a singular contrast with the yellow of the sedge. In the midst of these plains there were, however, the remains of several good houses, which showed that the country had once been in a flouris.h.i.+ng state.
Mr. Weld crossed the Potomac at a place called _Hoe's Ferry_, The ferry-man told him that, in the river, was a bank of oysters, and that, if he wished it, the men should take up some. The singularity of obtaining oysters from fresh water induced Mr. Weld to stop at the bank; and the men, in a few minutes, collected as many as would have filled a bushel. The oysters were extremely good when cooked, but were disagreeable when eaten raw. The Potomac, as well as the other rivers in Virginia, abounds with excellent fish of various kinds. At the ferry it is about three miles wide.
Mr. Weld prevailed with the ferry-man to take him about ten miles down the river, and land him on the Virginian sh.o.r.e, in a part of the country which appeared to be a perfect wilderness. No traces of a road or pathway were visible on the loose white sand; and the cedar and pine-trees grew so closely together, on all sides, that it was scarcely possible to see further forward, in any direction, than a hundred yards.
Taking a course, as nearly as he could guess, in a direct line from the river, at the end of about an hour, he found a narrow road, which led to a large and ancient brick house. The master of it was from home, and Mr.
Weld was obliged to proceed onward, several miles further, to a wretched hovel which had the name of a tavern. On the ensuing morning he proceeded to the residence of a gentleman, which was between the rivers Potomac and _Rappahannoc_, and where he had been invited to pa.s.s a few weeks.
The princ.i.p.al planters in Virginia possess large estates, and have, on them, nearly every thing they can want. Among their slaves are found tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, smiths, turners, wheelwrights, weavers, and tanners. Woollen cloths and cotton goods, of several kinds, are manufactured at this province. Cotton grows here in great luxuriance: the plants, indeed, are often killed by the frost in winter, but they always produce abundantly, the first year in which they are sown.
The large estates in Virginia are managed by stewards and overseers; and the work is done wholly by slaves. The cottages of the slaves are usually at the distance of a few hundred yards from the dwelling-house, and give the appearance of a village, to the residence of every planter.
Adjoining to these cottages the slaves usually have small gardens, and yards for poultry. They have ample time to attend to their own concerns: their gardens are generally well stocked, and their flocks of poultry numerous. Many of their little huts are comfortably furnished, and they are themselves, in general, well clad. But Mr. Weld remarked, that this cla.s.s of persons is much more kindly treated in Virginia, than in the other states of America.
The part of Virginia in which Mr. Weld was now pa.s.sing his time, was, in general, flat and sandy, and abounded in pine and cedar-trees: some districts, however, were well cultivated, and afforded good crops of corn; but these were intermixed with extensive tracts of waste land, worn out by the culture of tobacco, and almost dest.i.tute of verdure.
The common people, in the lower parts of Virginia, have very sallow complexions, owing to the burning rays of the sun in summer, and the bilious complaints to which they are subject during the fall of the year; but those in the upper parts of the country, towards the mountains, have a healthy and comely appearance.
After Mr. Weld had left the house of his friend, he crossed the _Rappahannoc River_, to a small town called _Tappahannoc_, or _Hob's Hole_, containing about one hundred houses. The river is here about three quarters of a mile wide, and, though the distance from its mouth is seventy miles, sharks are very often seen.
From Tappahannoc to _Urbanna_, another small town on the Rappahannoc, and about twenty-five miles lower down, the country wears but a poor aspect. The road, which is level and sandy, runs, for many successive miles, through woods. The habitations that are seen from it are but few, and these of the poorest description. The woods chiefly consist of black oak, pine, and cedar-trees, which only grow on land of the worst quality.
Mr. Weld observed many traces of fires in the woods. Such fires, he was informed, were frequent in the spring of the year; and they were usually occasioned by the negligence of people who burnt the underwood, for the purpose of clearing the lands. He was himself witness to one of them.