England uniformly mentioned by enlightened men with admiration and respect; and the evils of despotism, whether political or religious, are so manifest and pervading, that few points of similarity can be discovered, to afford footing even for comparison. He therefore speaks and thinks of these countries with perfect impartiality, their defects he is disposed to consider less as crimes than misfortunes, and he regards them generally with those feelings of charitable benevolence, which men conscious of their own strength can afford to extend to the failings of their weaker brethrend in short, he ture of society which can excite jealousy; he is not called upon to resign a single prejudice or opinion, and the slumber of his self-love remains unbroken. But in the United States, the case is very different. For the first time he mingles with a people, who, so far from possessing any reverence for the British Constitution, do not hesitate to pronounce it a very bungling and unworkmanlike contrivance, while they point to their own institutions as the proudest effort of human genius, and to their own laws as embodying every thing of excellence

sees nothing in condition

in legisla

tion which human wisdom has yet been able to devise. It is an old proverb, that he who claims too much stands a fair chance of getting too little. The Englishman feels little disposed to accord a praise, somewhat too imperiously demanded, by men who scruple not to express their contempt for all that from his very infancy he has been accustomed to hold sacred. His prejudices and selflove are up in arms. He not only sees all the defects in the American character, but he becomes blind to

its virtues. He writes a book, and represents them as a nation of disgusting savages; and, under the semblance of love of country, gives vent

to the whole volume of his spleen

and bigotry. The Americans, on their part, are by no means patient

under such inordinate chastisement.

They have recourse to recrimination, rake up all the filth from British newspapers, and array it in the form of national charges, and thus is the foundation laid, for a rooted antipathy between two countries, whose

strous inconsistency of necessary to expose. The A are, par excellence, a free Unlimited freedom of opini the very corner-stone of the tution, and yet the liberty w stitutes their national boast, they

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would willingly deny to othe right have the Americans t that an Englishman should their institutions to those of free, great, and glorious which he has been taught rence from his very crad under which the whole habi life have been formed? W American visits England, so unreasonable as to demand any such sacrifice of opinion. He is left free as air, to approve or disapprove, to praise or censure, to app condemn; and though his o may possibly be received with thing of mortifying indifference, he will assuredly excite no prejudice, in any quarter, by thei most public expression. No man in this country could regard it as a matter of charge against an American, that he does not think like an Englishman; and why such liberty of thought expression should not be enjoyed by travellers from this side of the water, as well as those from the other, we own ourselves somewhat puzzled to understand. We Englishmen, it will be confessed, are accustomed to write and speak freely enough about our own government and institutions; through France, Italy, or Germany, we travel yet ungagged, and it really seems too much to expect that we should keep our mouths shut, when pleasure or business may lead

us to the United States.

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The fact is, that, wince under it as she may, America must learn to hear the truth. Falsehood and exaggeration sh e may despise; and in this reif in no other, she may advansly take a lesson from John Let her only observe how rfully cool John is, under the resentations of foreign travelThe Chevalier Pillet has deto the world, that the domestions of Englishmen are made the coer of the most disgusting and * degra ing pollution, and that every English lady keeps her private brandy bottle, on the contents of which she gets drunk at least once a-day. A Mo sieur Charles Nodier, of whose bookve remember to have written a review many years ago in this very Magazine, among other statements equally veracious, scrupled not to assert seipso teste, that Scottish ladies always go barefoot; and that though, on occasions of ceremony, shoes are certainly to be seen, the toes of a northern spinster feel exceedingly awkward under their compression, and she uniformly seizes the earliest opportunity of kicking them off. But to come to the present day, let any American take the trouble of reading the travels of Prince Puckler Muskaw, and then glance over the different reviews of the work in the various periodicals, and he will find, we think, that the Prince, whose ✓ strictures on our manners and failings are by no means lenient, gets quite as much credit as he deserves. We are at least certain that the book has awakened no feeling approaching to that intense and extravagant indignation which has been excited in America by the work of Captain Hall, and which, we doubt not, in at least equal measure, is destined to follow the still more amusing volumes of Mrs Trollope, to which it is our present object to direct the attention of our readers.

appears that Miss Wright to whom, in spite of all her failings, it is impossible to deny the praise of active benevolence-had embarked in some visionary project for emancipating negroes; and with this view, had formed an establishment in the state of Tennessee, in which, by judicious preparation, the slaves were not only to become free, but to astonish the world by issuing forth in the character of scholars and gentlemen. Towards the scene of this interesting experiment were the steps of the fair wanderers directed; and accordingly, after a tedious voyage, we are glad to find them safely landed at New Orleans, where Mrs Trollope commences her task of observation. The disgusting immorality by which this city is distinguished above all others in the Union, would, of course, remain in a great measure invisible to the eye of a lady. New Orleans is not French, and it is not American, but a melange of both and the result is, something worse than either. Mrs Trollope is exceedingly struck, however, by the scene of wild desolation which distinguishes the delta of the Mississippi. Nothing but interminable brakes appear on either side, covered by forests of tall canes; and the broad muddy river, with its vast masses of drift wood, completes a picture more sombre and depressing to the heart and imagination, than can well be conceived by any one who has not felt its effect. The city stands upon a bed of diluvial matter some dozen feet below the level of the river, so that should the levée which at present confines its waters give way, New Orleans, " with all its bravery on," may probably, some fine morning, make an aquatic excursion into the Gulf of Mexico. Mrs Trollope admires the Quadroon ladies very much-and no doubt many of them are very pleasing to the eye; but we remember once being present at what is called "a Quad ball," with the thermometer above 90, and we returned with the full conviction that there are worse odours in the world

ther)-was induced, with the approbation of her husband, to accompany that lady to the United States, with what precise object we are not informed, but apparently with the intention of establishing part of her family in these western regions. It

our readers be led to visit New Or

leans, we caution them to beware of crawfish, which they will meet in many tempting forms, at almost every table. These animals are carnivorous, and in vast numbers burrow in the churchyards. Verb. sap. The

Creole ladies are handsome, though Mrs Trollope does not think so. They are indebted for their beauty, we imagine, to the admixture of Spanish blood, and are certainly, in a great measure, exempt from that prematurity of decay which makes sad havoc with the charms of the northern ladies.

1

Having remained long enough at New Orleans to recover from the fatigues of their voyage, Mrs Trollope and her party proceed up the Mississippi in one of those magnificent steamers which are to be found only in the western world. The accommodations of these vessels are on the most superb scale, though, being furnished with high-pressure engines, a trip in them is not unaccompanied with danger. On an average, two or three explosions take place in a season, so that travellers are at least exempt from the dulness of perfect security. The manners of the passengers, however, appear by no means captivating in the eyes of Mrs Trollope. How should they? Slave-dealers, traders from the Western States, land-jobbers and cottongrowers, are no doubt very far from being polished gentlemen. But we shall allow the fair traveller to speak for herself, which she always does far better than we can do for her.

1

"On the first of January, 1828, we embarked on board the Belvidere, a large and handsome boat; though not the largest or handsomest of the many which displayed themselves along the wharfs; but she was going to stop at Memphis, the point of the river nearest to Miss Wright's residence, and she was the first that departed after we had got through the custom-house, and finished our sightseeing. We found the room destined for the use of the ladies dismal enough, as its only windows were below the stern gallery; but both this and the gentlemen's cabin were handsomely fitted up, and the former well carpeted; but oh! that carpet! I will not, I may not describe its condition; indeed it requires the pen of a Swift to do it justice. Let no one who wishes to receive agreeable impressions of American manners, commence their travels in a Mississippi steam-boat; for myself, it is with all sincerity I declare, that I would infinitely prefer sharing the apartment of a party of well-conditioned pigs to the being confined to its cabin.

I hardly know any annoyance so deeply repugnant to English feelings, as the incessant, remorseless spitting of

Americans. I feel that I owe my readers an apology for the repeated use of this, and several other odious words; but

I cannot avoid them, without suffering the fidelity of description to escape me. "We had a full complement of passengers on board. The deck, as is usual, was occupied by the Kentucky flat-boat men, returning from New Orleans, after having disposed of the boat and cargo which they had conveyed thither, with no other labour than that of steering her, the current bringing her down at the rate of four miles an hour. We had about two

hundred of these men on board, but the part of the vessel occupied by them is so distinct from the cabins, that we never saw them, except when we stopped to take in wood; and then they ran, or rather sprung and vaulted over each other's heads to the shore, whence they all assisted in carrying wood to supply the steamengine; the performance of this duty being a stipulated part of the payment of their passage.

"From the account given by a manservant we had on board, who shared their quarters, they are a most disorderly set of persons, constantly gambling and wrangling, very seldom sober, and never suffering a night to pass without giving practical proof of the respect in which they hold the doctrines of equality, and

community of property. The clerk of the vessel was kind enough to take our man under his protection, and assigned him a berth in his own little nook; but as this was not inaccessible, he told him by no means to detach his watch or money from his person during the night. Whatever their moral characteristics may be, these Kentuckians are a very noble-looking race of men; their average height considerably exceeds that of Europeans, and their countenances, excepting when disfigured by red hair, which is not unfrequent, extremely handsome.

"The gentlemen in the cabin (we had no ladies) would certainly neither, from their language, manners, nor appearance, have received that designation in Eu rope; but we soon found their claim to it rested on more substantial ground, for we heard them nearly all addressed by the titles of general, colonel, and major. On mentioning these military dignities to an English friend some time afterwards, he told me that he too had made the voyage with the same description of company, but remarking that there was not a single captain among them: he made the observation to a fellow-passenger, and asked how he accounted for it: Oh, sir, the captains are all on deck,' was the reply. "Our honours, however, were not all military, for we had a judge among us.