First Impressions of the New World

First Impressions of the New
World, by

Isabella Strange Trotter This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere
at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it,
give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg
License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: First Impressions of the New World On Two Travellers from the
Old in the Autumn of 1858
Author: Isabella Strange Trotter
Release Date: June 20, 2006 [EBook #18634]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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IMPRESSIONS OF THE NEW WORLD ***

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS

OF
THE NEW WORLD.
LONDON PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO.
NEW-STREET SQUARE.
[Illustration: Map]
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
OF
THE NEW WORLD
ON
TWO TRAVELLERS FROM THE OLD
IN THE AUTUMN OF 1858.
LONDON LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, &
ROBERTS. 1859
TO
I. L. T.
* * * * *
MY DEAR LITTLE GIRL,
I dedicate this little book to you; the letters it contains were meant to let
you know how your father and I and your brother William fared in a
rapid journey, during the autumn of last year, through part of Canada
and the United States, and are here presented to you in another form
more likely to ensure their preservation.
You are not yet old enough fully to understand them, but the time will,

I trust, come when it will give you pleasure to read them. I can safely
say they were written without any intention of going beyond yourself
and our own family circle; but some friends have persuaded me to
publish them, for which I ought, I suppose, to ask your pardon, as the
letters have become your property.
The reason which has made your father and me consent to this is, that
we scarcely think that travellers in general have done justice to our
good brothers in America. We do not mean to say that we have
accomplished this, or that others have not fairly described what they
have seen; but different impressions of a country are made on persons
who see it under different aspects, and who travel under different
circumstances.
When William, for example, was separated from us he found the
treatment he received very unlike what it was while he travelled in our
company; and as many bachelors pass through the country and record
their experience, it is not surprising if some of them describe things
very differently to what we do.
The way to arrive at truth in this, as in all other cases, is to hear what
every one has to say, and to compare one account with another; and if
these letters to you help others to understand better the nature and
character of the country and the people of America, my object in
making them public will be attained.
With some few alterations, the letters are left just as you received them,
for I have been anxious not to alter in any way what I have told you of
my First Impressions. When, therefore, I have had reason to change my
opinions, I have thought it better to subjoin a foot-note; and in this way,
too, I have sometimes added a few things which I forgot at the time to
mention in the letters themselves.
There is only one thing more to tell you, which is, that though I wrote
and signed all the letters myself many parts are of your father's
dictating. I leave you and others to judge which these are. Without his
help I never could have sent you such full accounts of the engine of the
Newport steamer, or of our journey across the Alleghanies and other

such subjects; and you will, I know, like the letters all the better for his
having taken a part in them.
Believe me ever, Your affectionate Mother.
June, 1859.
CONTENTS.

LETTER I.
Voyage.--Arrival at New York.--Burning of Quarantine
Buildings.--Cable Rejoicings.--Description of the Town Page 1
LETTER II.
West Point.--Steamer to Newport.--Newport.--Bishop Berkeley.--
Bathing.--Arrival at Boston 9
LETTER III.
Journey to Boston.--Boston.--Prison.--Hospital.--Springfield.--
Albany.--Trenton Falls.--Journey to Niagara.--Niagara 28
LETTER IV.
Niagara.--Maid of the Mist.--Arrival at Toronto.--Toronto.--Thousand
Islands.--Rapids of the St. Lawrence.--Montreal.--Victoria Bridge 58
LETTER V.
Journey from Montreal to Quebec.--Quebec.--Falls of Montmorency.--
Island Pond.--White Mountains.--Portland.--Return to
Boston.--Harvard University.--Newhaven.--Yale University.--Return to
New York 76
LETTER VI.

Destruction of the Crystal Palace.--Philadelphia.--Cemetery.--Girard
College.--Baltimore.--American Liturgy.--Return to Philadelphia.--
Penitentiary.--Return to New York 97
LETTER VII.
William's Departure.--Greenwood Cemetery.--Journey to
Washington.-- Arrangements for our Journey to the Far West.--Topsy
108
LETTER VIII.
Washington.--Baptist Class-Meeting.--Public Buildings.--Venus by
Daylight.--Baltimore and Ohio Railway.--Wheeling.--Arrival at
Columbus 119
LETTER IX.
Journey from Wheeling