school at the time, has left a manuscript diary of a trip to Liverpool and Manchester in 1831, but his attitude is chiefly one of pity for the exploited poor in the two cities. Alvan Stewart, a New York lawyer, has, however, somewhat more to say." He made what was probably a pleasure trip to England, in the same year. His journal, most of it still in manuscript, is a blunt, straightforward narrative of events and an equally frank criticism of English society. To those who would have a fuller account than he chose to give he recommends Carter's Travels, then recently published, and probably his own guide book. Samuel Topliff is another of the same sort. He was in England for his health in 1828, the year of Green's trip, but his life-long concern as librarian of the Merchants' News Room in the Exchange Coffee House in Boston made his interests lie in a mercantile direction. His travel commentaries have been since published as Letters from Abroad in the Years 1828-29 (1906). Their author was conspicuous for his bashfulness, having only made one public speech in his life and that much to his own surprise. He therefore does not imbue his pages with any degree of eloquence. He saw most of the things one would expect him to see in the way of industrial and tourist sights, and he was particularly impressed with charitable institutions such as the blind asylum at Liverpool. From the factories, the heat and the "unhealthy state of the atmosphere" made him retreat very quickly, but he thoroughly enjoyed a dinner at the home of a wealthy Liverpool merchant, Mr. Humberston. It consisted, he says, "of a roasted leg of mutton, and breast of veal; boiled ham; boiled and roasted (whole) mackerel, with fennel and 8 Ms. in the possession of the N. Y. Public Library. Ms. in the possession of the N. Y. Historical Society. 200 THE AMERICAN IN ENGLAND gooseberry sauce, variety of pickles, a real English plum pudding (very nice I guess), tait pie, variety of cake, red and white radishes, lettuce, green peas, cauliflower, new potatoes, cherries, oranges, etc., washed down by bottled ale, sherry wine, raspberry brandy, Scotch whiskey, and old cognac. It was all of the best quality, and the cookery was not to be sneezed at." This repast kept them at the table from six-thirty until eight, and, to top it off, they were served tea at ten. These later men, however, are not very significant, as their impressions were not intended for print. The long line of tourists from Watson to Green shows certain definite developments. From an eager admiration for the high state of perfection of English industrial life immediately after the Revolution had grown the desire to learn, and, in spite of a thorough awareness of the evils of the system, there developed on top of this a desire to copy and rival. Mechanics had been imported from England, factories had been set up, and by 1825 America was well on the way toward a rivalry of the mother country in the "useful arts" as she had already rivaled her in painting. Behind Watson and behind Green were very different countries, the one entirely agricultural and having chiefly raw products to offer to the world, the other well on the road toward self-sufficiency in the manufacture of the necessities of life. Thus, when the American merchant arrived in England in 1830 or thereafter, he was not an agent from an undeveloped wilderness, but a business or scientific man on an equal footing with his social equals in a foreign land. CHAPTER VI THE PHILANTHROPIC TRAVELER Religion and Philanthropy; The Quakers-Parental Es- Union I The charge that Americans were either dominated by a religious ideal or were altogether ungodly was hurled at them more than once by English critics in these early days of independence. This is perhaps more true of the Colonial than of the Revolutionary era, but there is no doubt that religion and philanthropy occupied a much larger share of America's cultural life then than they do to-day. At all events, there were more travelers of the time dominated by these motives than by any other. The Quakers were the first Americans to keep formal records of travels in England with the idea of publishing their impressions and thoughts in journal form. Hannah Logan Smith, who in 1839 compiled a list of these travelers,' mentions fifty-four of them between the years 1783 and 1835, some of whom made as many as six separate journeys, and many of whom crossed two and three times. The earliest mission was in 1693 and the practice is still followed to some extent. During the same time there were an equal number of English Friends in America on like missions, as it has always been the custom, or rather religious duty, of those professing this faith constantly to visit 1 In a volume without date or title page, marked "From H. L. S." 201 their fellow believers in all parts of the world. In a sense, it is the missionary spirit which impels them, but far more frequently it is merely the feeling of brotherhood, the exalted social side of religious life. Thus, although many of the Friends who visited England made excursions to such remote parts of the country as the Orkney Islands off the north shore of Scotland, where there were no established meetings, the majority of them considered their work completed after they had visited all, or nearly all, the active meetings in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, or as large a field as their "concern" prompted them to cover. The amount of ground actually covered by these tireless travelers and the hardships they endured are sometimes almost unbelievable. Christopher Healy states that in a little less than a year, July 29, 1831 to May 12, 1832, he had traveled 3,714 miles and attended 285 meetings in England, Scotland, and Ireland. When we consider that this was still in the days of coaches, chaises, and horse-back riding, his figures become little short of phenomenal. Yet his record is far from uncommon. Most of the Quakers take such labor, for such it was, entirely for granted as a part of the religious work to which they were called, and they mention these facts in the most general and incidental terms. In addition to this visiting of meetings, they likewise spent much time at the homes of English Friends, and inspected schools and prisons, but they did almost no touring or sight-seeing. The result of this singleness of purpose is a marked similarity in their travel journals, many of which were published immediately upon their return. These are almost wholly subjective meditations upon the state of mind of the traveler, and matter of fact records of meetings held; outside events and places are seen only dimly through the ever-present religious fervor and absorption of the writer. Seldom has any group of travel books given a clearer insight into the point of view of the travelers; seldom has such a mass of record given less objective information about the places and things recorded. The interest in these books lies entirely in the self-sacrifice, dangers, and hardships of a group of men and women whose lives were wholly consecrated to a cause. A few like Benjamin West, Lindley Murray, the grammarian,2 and one or two others, settled permanently in England and a number of them, including John Woolman and Job Scott, died there, unquestionably martyrs to their faith; but most of them returned to Christian duties in their own country. Woolman's is perhaps the highest type of the humanitarian and international mind. His death was in 1772 and he was constantly before the minds of all later Quaker travelers as the ideal to which they might attain. His will was so submissive to his faith, and his rejection of the luxuries of this world so firm, that he refused, even in petty things, to allow himself the least indulgence. Feeling that the post boys were unjustly treated, he refused to employ them to carry a letter; because of a similar attitude of disapproval of all means of travel then in vogue, he crossed the ocean in the steerage and walked all the way from London to York; and when he had contracted smallpox and was at the point of death, he refused to call a doctor, but accepted the medicine of an apothecary who gave it and his advice in the spirit of friendliness. Twenty years later Job Scott died at Ballitore, also of smallpox, after an experience strikingly similar to Woolman's. His Journal is chiefly concerned with his disgust at the worldliness of most religious efforts in England. "My 2 E. Frank, Memoirs... of Lindley Murray, York, 1826. |