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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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 to Columbus.--Fire in the Mountains.--Mr. Tyson's Stories.--Columbus.--Penitentiary.--Capitol--Governor Chase.--Charitable Institutions.--Arrival at Cincinnati 168
LETTER X.
Cincinnati.--Mr. Longworth.--German Population.--"Over the Rhine."--Environs of Cincinnati.--Gardens.--Fruits.--Common Schools.--Journey to St. Louis 202
LETTER XI.
St. Louis.--Jefferson City.--Return to St. Louis.--Alton.-- Springfield.--Fires on the Prairies.--Chicago--Granaries.--Packing Houses.--Lake Michigan.--Arrival at Indianapolis 224
LETTER XII.
Indianapolis.--Louisville.--Louisville and Portland Canal.-- Portland.--The Pacific Steamer.--Journey to Lexington.--Ashland.-- Slave Pens at Lexington.--Return