"Before us visions come
Of slave-ships on Virginia's coast,
Of mothers in their childless home,
Like Rachel, sorrowing o'er the lost;
The slave-gang scourged upon its way.
The bloodhound and his human prey."—WHITTIER.

Florida produces oranges, peaches, plums, a species of cocoa-nut, and musk and water-melons in abundance. The more open portions of the country are dotted over with clumps of gnarled pines, of a very resinous nature, white and red oak, hiccory, cedar, and cypress, and is in general scantily clad with thin grass, fit only for deer to browse upon. The dreary sameness of the interior of this desolate country is distressing to the traveller; and the journey from one settlement to another, through pine-forests, seems almost interminable.

One morning, a short time prior to my intended departure for Tallahassee, I was roused before daybreak by a rifle-shot, which was instantly followed by the cry of "Guard, turn out!" and much hubbub. As this was no unusual occurrence, from the constant apprehension we were in of an attack by the Indians on the stockade, and as it had several times occurred before during my stay, I resolved to lie and listen awhile before I rose. The earnest conversation and the noise of horses soon after satisfied me it was only a friendly arrival. I, however, felt anxious to obtain intelligence as to the success of a treaty then pending between the United States Government and the Indians; the favourable termination of which would not only render my return to Tallahassee more safe, but put a stop, perhaps for ever, to those constant scenes of blood and depredation that were by this time become quite sickening to me. This feeling was much enhanced at the time by the express between Fort Andrews and Deadman's Bay, being shot by a party of the common enemy. The body of this poor fellow was never found, but traces of blood were to be seen near the spot where he had been attacked; and the saddle and bridle of his horse were found cut into a thousand pieces; the probability being that he was wounded and taken prisoner, doubtless to be tortured to death, a practice common with all Indian tribes in time of war.

On my proceeding to a house used as officers' quarters, outside the stockade, I found the stir had been caused by the arrival of two companies of light-horse soldiers from St. Marks, escorting several couples of bloodhounds, to aid the army, operating in that part of Florida, to exterminate the Indians. These dogs were very ferocious, and, on approaching the leashmen, who had them in charge, they opened in full yell, and attempted to break loose. The dogs had just arrived from Cuba with their keepers, their importation having been caused by the supposition, that, like the Maroons in Jamaica, who, for nearly thirty years, defied the colonists there, the Indians would be terrified into submission. This, however, turned out to be erroneous; for, on their first trial, the Indians killed several, and the scheme was very properly abandoned a short time after.

Such barbarous means were very unjustifiable, although many (to use the language of the Earl of Chatham, when deprecating a similar course in the English House of Lords) considered that every means that God and nature had placed in their hands, were allowable in the endeavour to bring to a close a war that had cost the Federal Government an immense amount of blood and treasure. I am of opinion, however, from what I afterwards heard, that the step was not an altogether popular one in the eastern and northern states, although it certainly was so in the southern; it being argued in the public prints there, that as dogs had been used in hunting down fugitive negroes from time immemorial, the mere fact of bloodhounds being used instead of mastiffs was a peccadillo unworthy of name.

The tobacco plant, though growing in many parts of Florida spontaneously, like the broad-leafed dock in England, is often cultivated in garden-ground for domestic use, some of the finer kinds being as aromatic as those of Cuba. The soil in such places is rich; indeed, the plant will not thrive in many parts where this is not the case. The method of propagation, generally followed by the large growers, is that recommended by Loudon, in his incomparable Encyclopedia of Agriculture, and is as follows:—The soil selected is in general loamy and deep; this is well broken up before planting, and frequently stirred to free it from the rich growth of weeds that, in Florida in particular, choke the growth of all plants if neglected. The seeds being small, they are lightly covered with earth, and then the surface is pressed down with a flat instrument used for the purpose. In two months after, the seedlings are ready to transplant, and are placed in drills, three feet apart every way. These are frequently watered, if there happens to be but little rain, which, in that arid climate, is often the case for weeks together, and the plants regularly looked over, to destroy a species of worm winch, if not removed, plays great havoc with the young buds. When four inches high, the plants are moulded up like potatoes in England; when they have six or seven leaves, and are just putting out a stalk, the top is nipped off, to make the leaves stronger and more robust. After this, the buds, which show themselves at the joints of the leaves, are plucked, and then the plants are daily examined, to destroy a caterpillar, of a singular form and grey in colour, which makes its appearance at this stage, and is very destructive to narcotic plants. When fit for cutting, which is known by the brittleness of the leaves, the plants are cut close to the ground, and allowed to lie some time. They are then put in farm-houses, in the chimney-corner, to dry; or, if the crop is extensive, the plants are hung upon lines in a drying-house, so managed that they will not touch each other. In this state, they are left to sweat and dry. When this takes place, the leaves are stripped off and tied in bundles; these are put in heaps, and covered with a sort of matting, made from the cotton-fibre or seaweed, to engender a certain heat to ripen the aroma, care being taken lest a fermentation should occur, which injures the value of the article; to avoid which the bundles are exposed and spread about now and then in the open air. This operation is called ventilating by the planters, and is continued until there is no apparent heat in the heaps. The plant is quite ornamental, and its blossoms form a pleasing feature in a garden of exotic productions.

After a brief stay at Fort Andrews, subsequent to the last sad offices for my deceased friend, I left that spot on horseback for Tallahassee, in company with four settlers. We soon reached the more populated districts, without being molested by the Indians. Here they had committed sad devastations; we saw many farms without occupants, the holders having been either murdered by midnight assassins, or having fled in alarm. Adjoining these habitations, we found line peach orchards, teeming with fruit of the richest description, which lay in bushels on the ground, and with which we regaled ourselves. Enclosed maize fields overgrown with brambles, and cotton fields with the gins and apparatus for packing the produce in bales for the market, presented to the eye the very picture of desolation.

Owing to cross roads we were at one time completely at fault, and there being no house in sight, I volunteered to ride off to the right and endeavour to obtain the information we were in need of. After riding about half-a-mile, I heard voices through a road-side coppice, which I took to be those of field-hands at work; going farther on I dismounted, and climbing the zigzag rail fence approached a negro at work in the field. I inquired if he could put me on the road to Tallahassee; he appeared much frightened at the intrusion, but stated he did not know, but his mas'r did, at the same time pointing to the plantation-house, situate the greater part of a mile distant; being averse to going there, for fear of impudent interrogation, I offered him money to go with me to the point where I had left my companions, and show us the way to the next house; he did not even know what it was I offered him, and in apparent amazement inquired what that was for; I explained, buy tobacco, buy whiskey; he appeared totally ignorant of its use, and I have no doubt he had never had money in his possession, or learned its use. Still, he refused to leave the field, a wise precaution, as I afterwards found, both for himself and me. The negro being resolute, there was now no alternative but to go to the house, on arriving at which, I met with such a reception as I had feared and anticipated. Three fierce dogs of the mastiff breed, regularly trained to hunting fugitive negroes, rushed out upon me. I had only a small riding whip with me, having left my fire-arms with a friend at Fort Andrews, and much dreaded laceration. Their noise soon brought out a ferocious, lank-visaged-looking man, about forty years of age, who immediately called off the dogs; but before I had time to make the inquiry that brought me there, he began in about the following strain,

"What dye yer waunt up yar, stranger? Arter no good, I guess; you'd better put it 'bout straight. I see'd yer torking to the hands yonder—none o' yer 'mancipator doctrines yar."

The fellow's address "struck me all of a heap," as he would himself have said, had he been in my situation; he spoke so fast, that I could not edge in a word; at last I stated the cause of my intrusion, but he would not believe a word, ordered me to quit the plantation or he would set the dogs on me, and was getting into such an ungovernable rage, that I thought it would be wise to follow his advice. So I slowly retreated to the yard entrance by which I had come in. Returning to my companions at the cross-roads, I found that, in my absence, a passer-by had given them the wished-for information, and we pushed on to a house of call, a few miles distant.

As the ride was a long one, we halted at this house for refreshment, and, after baiting our horses, regaled ourselves upon some choice ham and eggs. At the table, three little negroes, one girl and two boys, under fourteen years of age, served as waiters. Their clothing was supplied by nature, being solely the primitive habiliments worn in Eden before the fall. This is quite customary in the south, where the rules of decency are commonly set at defiance, as if the curse of Adam's transgression applied not in this respect to the African race. The little creatures did not seem to be in the least aware of their degraded state; they were as agile as fawns, and their tact in administering to the wants of the company was quite remarkable.

Just as we were about to proceed on our journey, a party of some half-a-dozen planters or overseers of neighbouring estates, mounted on fine mules, who had been searching for fugitive field-hands, rode up. I could see they were greatly excited, and one of them had a negro lassoed by the neck, one end of the rope being fastened to his high Spanish saddle. On coming up to the entrance gate, the one most in advance dismounted to open it; the mule, eager, perhaps, to get to a crib, or, what is more likely, to evade a brutal kick or blow, trotted through; this did not please its owner, who bellowed loudly to it to stop. The mule, however, still kept on, when the ruffian, in demoniac anger, drew from his belt a long bowie knife, and darting after the animal, hurled it at him with all his force. The blade of the weapon, which was six or seven inches long, entered and stuck fast in the abdomen of the agonized creature, which, for about twenty yards, ran on furiously, with the murderous knife in its vitals. It then fell-with a deep groan, while the fiend who had perpetrated this wanton act of barbarity and his companions watched its fall, and loudly exulted in it. I noticed that there was a deep scowl of hatred on the countenance of the negro prisoner as this drama was being enacted, and when the knife struck the poor mule he cried out, "Oh, mas'r, mas'r!" Societies for the suppression of cruelty to animals, are, as might be supposed, unknown in such remote situations, nor do they exist in any of the slave States and territories of America; so that redress in such a case was out of the question. I therefore consoled myself that the outrage had brought its own punishment in the loss of the mule, which was at least worth from eighty to one hundred dollars.

Passing onwards, we reached Tallahassee by rather a circuitous route, viÁ Mount Pleasant. Although in an indifferent state of health, from exposure to the poisonous miasma of the country, I, on the whole, felt pleased with my journey, now that its dangers were over, and grateful to the great Dispenser of all good, who had safely conducted me through them. At Tallahassee I saw in the streets, in charge of a ruffianly-looking fellow, two negroes, with heavy iron collars round their necks. These were captured run-aways; the collars, which must have weighed seven or ten pounds, had spikes projecting on either side. One of the poor creatures had hold of the spikes as he walked along to ease the load that pressed painfully on his shoulders.

General Murat resided at the time in this neighbourhood; he is the brother of Jehoiachin, ex-king of Naples, and owns a large plantation, and, I was told, upwards of two hundred negroes, who were described as being humanely treated by him. This, however, is a very indefinite term, where all slave-owners profess to do the same, though the poor wretches over whom by law they impiously assume God's heritage, in ninety cases out of every hundred, are scantily clothed, worse fed than horses or mules, and worked to the utmost extent of human endurance, the humanity being, in most cases, left to the tender mercies of a brutal overseer, who exacts all he can. If the poor, tattered, squalid-looking beings I saw in Tallahassee be a fair specimen of the "humane treatment" I have referred to, heaven help them.

General Murat, some years ago, married an American lady, who delighted in being called the "princess," a little piece of vanity quite in keeping with the aristocratical prejudices of American females in the south, who are devoted worshippers of lordly institutions and usages. I did not see the general myself, but was told he was often to be met lounging about the bars of the principal hotels (being quite Americanized in this respect). He was described as a very garrulous old gentleman, extremely fond of recounting his adventures, particularly his escape when the allied troops entered Paris, about the year of Bonaparte's subjugation.

After remaining a few days in Tallahassee, I took the conveyance to Macon in Georgia, intending to pursue my route overland to Charleston in South Carolina. In the diligence (a clumsy apology for a coach) from Tallahassee to Macon, were several loquacious passengers. One of these amused and disgusted us by turns; for, after giving an epitome of his career, which was a chequered one, he related an incident that had recently occurred on a plantation he had been visiting, and, as it presents a novel feature in the asserted rights of slave-holders—how profane, I will not stop to inquire—I think it worth recording. After a recital of a drunken debauch, in which he had taken a part, described by him as a frolic, and which had been kept up for several days, his host, he said, anxious to show the high sense he entertained of the honour of the visit by making almost any sacrifice (this was said with great conceit), proposed to put a negro up with an apple on his head, in imitation of the ordeal imposed on William Tell, the Swiss patriot, declaring that he who divided the apple, or perforated it with a rifle-ball, should own the slave. This proposal, the gentleman very facetiously observed, the party jumped at, expecting some good sport; but added, "The fellow spoilt it, for he refused to stand still, although we 'used up' a cowhide over him for his obstinacy." The frivolous manner in which this intended outrage was related, filled me and my fellow-passengers with disgust. I thought it was not safe to remark on the proceeding, for I could see he was a very strenuous upholder of that disgraceful system of oppression, which stigmatizes and degrades the Americans as a people, and will continue to do so, until it is utterly abrogated, and their characters retrieved.

This would-be patrician was a pedantic, swaggering bully, who, it was evident, entertained high notions of his importance, and owned, perhaps, large possessions,—in a word, he was an American aristocrat, and the description I have given is a fair one of his class in the south. Pointing to a hill, as we entered a little settlement on our way to Macon, he exclaimed, "See there, gentlemen, twenty years ago I toiled up that hill without a cent in my wallet (purse), but now" he continued, with the air of a potentate, "my niggers are the sleekest in our country. In those days," he went on, "glass inkstands stood on the desks of the bank I now am chief proprietor of; we have nothing but gold ones now." The fellow's bombast lowered him in the esteem of the passengers, who seemed indisposed to listen to him, and the latter part of the journey he said little, being in fact regularly sent to Coventry by us all. He afterwards amused himself much to our annoyance by whistling airs and singing snatches of songs, which caused one of the passengers, a lady, to leave the diligence at the next change of horses. He was quite an adept at whistling the air of "Yankee doodle." This want of deference to the sex, which I must say is an exception to the general behaviour of men there and in other parts of the Union I visited, did not fail to call forth animadversion; the remarks at one time being so pointed, that I began to feel uneasy lest the pugnacious spirit might be aroused in him, which leads so often in the south to serious encounters.

Our conveyance, which more resembled a waggon than, a stage-coach, having by this time stopped at a large hotel at Macon, I alighted with much pleasure, for the roughness of the road, the disagreeable loquacity of the passenger I have described, and the recklessness of the driver, made the journey excessively unpleasant.

The negro population in Georgia is very numerous, and their constant attempts to escape to the everglades in Florida, make unceasing vigilance on the part of their owners necessary for the safety of their property. In many instances where suspicion exists, they are never allowed on any pretence, to leave the estate or residence of the owner.

At the Greensborough Railway Terminus, I noticed two negroes on their way to Charleston. Before being allowed to take their seat in an open carriage in the rear of the train, the clerk at the station stepped up to them, and with an air of great effrontery demanded to see their passes; these were instantly shown with an alacrity that plainly indicated fear; they were then shut in a box in the rear of the train, in which I could see no sitting accommodation. The way in which these men were treated presented nothing new, for I had invariably noticed that coloured people in the south, whether bond or free, were spoken to with supercilious haughtiness, which I never once saw them openly resent.

On arriving at the next station a trader got into the carriage. He had with him two negro men and a boy; these were secured to each other by hand-cuffs and a slight negro chain.

For the last forty miles of my journey, I had a very pleasant companion in a gentleman from the state of Alabama. He was a most agreeable and intelligent young fellow, but invalided like myself through the poisonous miasma of the south. I entered freely into conversation with him on general matters, in the course of which I introduced slavery in several of its bearings. I soon discovered by his bias, that he was decidedly in favour of "things as they are."

Being anxious to obtain some information as to the observance of the nuptial tie amongst slaves, I touched upon that subject, when he told me the ceremony was mostly a burlesque, and that unions were in general but temporary, although he had known some very devoted couples. But he proceeded to state that there was much room for reform in this respect. "I will relate to you an instance," said he, "of the manner in which this, as we white people consider it, solemn compact, is entered into amongst field-hands. When a couple wish to live together as man and wife, the male nigger mentions it to the overseer, and if there are no impediments, they have a cabin assigned to them." He described a scene of this kind, which I will endeavour to give verbatim. He said it occurred on his father's estate, some years before, and that he was standing by at the time, "although," he continued, "'tis done the same now in most instances." A negro approached where the overseer was standing, apparently, by his sidling manner, about to ask some favour, when the following colloquy ensued.

Overseer.—Well, you black rascal, what do you stand grinning there for?

Negro.—Please, mas'r, want Lucy for wife.

Overseer.—Wife, you scoundrel, what do you want a wife for; be off with you, and mind your horses. (He was employed as a teamster on the estate.)

Negro.—Oh, mas'r, I loves Lucy.

Overseer.—And she loves you, I suppose. A fine taste she must have, indeed. Where are you going to live?

Negro—Got room in No. 2 cabin, if mas'r please let 'um.

Overseer.—Well, now listen; go along, and take her, but, you lazy dog, if you get into any scrapes, and don't work like live coals, I'll send her to the other estate (which was situated forty miles distant), and flay you alive into the bargain.

The poor fellow, after thanking the overseer (not for his politeness, certainly), darted off to communicate the joyful intelligence to his affianced, making the welkin ring with his shouts. The gentleman who described this scene said that it was always the custom on his father's estate to give a gallon or two of whiskey for the attendant merry-making.

After numerous stoppages, the train at length reached Charleston. The journey from Greensborough had been a tedious one; besides the annoyance of slow travelling, through the inefficient state of the line, which was so defective that the carriages frequently left the rails, the noisome effluvia arising from the swamps we had to pass through, which harbour innumerable alligators and other reptiles, had the most debilitating effect on the frame, which was increased by the extreme sultriness of the weather After leaving my ticket at the terminus, I disposed of my baggage by hiring a negro to carry it to my boarding-house, and slowly wended my way into the city. A spacious public square at the end of King-street, through which I had to pass to my table d'hote, presented an animated view, the citizens being assembled to celebrate the anniversary of the Independence conferred by Washington and his compatriots by the solemn declaration of the 4th July, 1776. Long tables, under gay awnings, to shield the company from the burning rays of the sun, which at the time were intense, groaned with every luxury the climate afforded; but the banquet was not furnished by this alone, for Cuba and some of the neighbouring islands, it was stated, had been ransacked for delicacies. Crowds of elegantly-dressed ladies (in general of very sallow look and languid air) and spirit-like children, with swarthy-looking men, many of whose visages bore evident traces of exposure to the ill effects of the climate and of dissipation, crowded the festive board. The negro attendants in dozens moved about with automatic order, as is characteristic of all the race on such occasions, for the negro is a "model waiter" at a banquet. Their snowy costumes contrasting strongly with their black visages and the jovial scene around. The merry peals of laughter, as some unlucky wight upset a dish, or scattered the sauce in everybody's face within reach, indicated lightness of heart, and merriment and conviviality seemed the order of the day.

The imposing scene before me, after a long absence from social meetings in civilized life, was very cheering, and, had it not been for the inertia I felt at the time, arising from a fatiguing journey and the tertian ague, I should have felt disposed to participate in the day's enjoyment. Other considerations might, however, have prevented this: I was a stranger to all around, and knew that I should be either subjected to impertinent interrogations, or become the object of invidious remark—this, in my debilitated state of health, I felt anxious to avoid, as calculated to impede my restoration. My joining the assembled party might also have involved the chance of surveillance during my stay, which, before my departure for Europe, I intended should be rather protracted. I may have been mistaken in this view, but, from the character I had heard of the place, I felt justified in giving way to the suspicion.

I was beguiled into the erroneous idea that a sense of happiness and security reigned in the assembled multitude, a notion quite fallacious, from attendant circumstances, as I shall directly explain. Troops were stationed at a guard-house in the vicinity, and the sentinels paced in front of the building, as if in preparation for, or in expectation of, a foe, affording a great contrast to the apparent security of the inhabitants assembled in the square. Before reaching Charleston, I had been apprised of the state of jeopardy the citizens were in from the possibility of a recurrence of those scenes of anarchy enacted at the insurrection of the slaves some time before—scenes which had filled every heart with dismay, and spread ruin and desolation on every side. From what I could glean of that fearful drama, the slaves in the surrounding districts, on a concerted signal from their confederates in Charleston, made a descent upon the city, and, rendered furious by long oppression, proceeded to fire it and massacre the inhabitants. No language can convey an accurate idea of the consternation of the white inhabitants, as it was described to me. The tocsin was sounded, the citizens assembled, armed cap-a-piÉ, and after much hard fighting, the rebellion was crushed, and large numbers of the insurgents were slain or arrested. Then came the bloody hand of what was impiously termed retributive justice. A court, or sort of drum-head court-martial, not worthy to be called a trial, condemned numbers of the slaves to death, and they were led out instantly to execution. My informant told me that many a brave, noble-hearted fellow was sacrificed, who, under happier circumstances, though in a cause not half so righteous, would have been extolled as a hero, and bowed down with honours. Many a humble hearth was made desolate, and, in the language quoted by my informant, "as in the days of the curse that descended on the people of the obdurate Pharaoh, every house mourned its dead." Still, there was a strong lurking suspicion that the emeute of the negroes had only been temporarily suppressed, and awful forebodings of fire and of blood spread a gloom on the minds of all. This was the version given to me by a friend, of what he described as the most fearful rising amongst the negroes ever before known in the southern states of America.

As I passed up the long range of tables, the health of the President of the Republic was responded to by the company. The cheers were deafening, and, what most surprised me was, that the negro waiters joined heartily, I may say frantically, in it, and danced about like mad creatures, waving their napkins, and shouting with energy. Some of the elder ones, I noticed, looked mournfully on, and were evidently not in a gay humour, seeming a prey to bitter reflections. Notwithstanding the curse of slavery, which, like a poisonous upas, taints the very air they breathe with the murdered remains of its victims, the white citizens of the south are extremely sensitive of their civil and political rights, and seem to regard the palladium of independence secured by their progenitors as an especial benefit conferred by the Deity for their good in particular. Actuated by this mock patriotism (for it is nothing less), the citizens of the south omit no opportunity of demonstrating the blessings they so undeservedly inherit, and which, if I am not mistaken, will, ere many years elapse, be wrested from them, amidst the terrible thunders of an oppressed and patient people, whose powers of endurance are indeed surprising.

Leaving the square, I passed up King-street, at the top of which was my intended boarding-house. The shops in this fashionable resort are fitted out in good style, and the goods are of the best description. After sunset the streets are often lined with carriages. The city lies flat, like the surrounding country, and, owing to this, is insalubrious; stagnant water collects in the cellars of the houses, and engenders a poisonous vapour, which is a fertile source of those destructive epidemics, that, combined with other causes, are annually decimating the white population of the south of the American continent in all parts.

At the top of King-street, facing you as you advance, is a large Protestant episcopal church. I went there to worship on the following Sunday, but was obliged to leave the building, there being, it was stated by the apparitor, no accommodation for strangers, a piece of illiberality that I considered very much in keeping with the slave-holding opinions of the worshippers who attend it. This want of politeness I was not, however, surprised at, for it is notorious, as has been before observed by an able writer, that, excepting the Church of Rome, "the members of the unestablished Church of England—the Protestant Episcopalian, are the most bigotted, sectarian, and illiberal, in the United States of America. Being fully persuaded," to follow the same writer, "that prelatical ordination and the three orders are indispensable to their profession, they are, like too many of their fellow professors in the mother country, deeply dyed with Laudean principles, or that love of formula in religion and grasping for power which has so conspicuously shown itself among the Oxford tractarians, and which, it is to be feared, is gradually undermining Protestant conformity, by gnawing at its very heart, in the colleges of Great Britain." Vital piety, or that deep sense of religious duty that impels men to avoid the devious paths of sin, and to live "near to God," is, I am inclined to believe (and I regret it, as a painful truth), by no means common in America. There are, however, many pastors who faithfully warn their flocks of the dangers of the world, and who strenuously advise their hearers to take warning lest they be over-captivated with the "Song of the Syrens." These, however, I must say, are chiefly in the free states, for I cannot regard southern ministers in any other light than pharisaical, while they continue openly (as is their constant practice) to support from their pulpits the institution that is the main stay of the southern states; I mean slavery. In my intercourse with serious individuals with whom I came in contact during my stay on the continent of America, the doctrines of Dr. Pusey and his confederates were often referred to; and although I believe "the Association for restoring the ancient powers of the Clergy, and the primary rites and usages of the Church," does not acknowledge the Protestant Episcopalians in America (owing, perhaps, chiefly to the invidious position the latter stand in with the state, and the little chance of their views being universally embraced by them, but partially, no doubt, to the evangelical principles of most of the ministers officiating in that Church), yet the subject has excited much interest there, and the Romish propensities of many pastors plainly indicate that inherent love of power that invariably, and, it may be said, necessarily, developes itself in hierarchical institutions—a propensity that ought to be closely watched by Protestant lay congregations, as being not only innovating and dangerous in its tendency, but calculated to foster that superstition which is at once the fundamental principle of the faith of the city of the seven hills, and the power of that triple-crowned monster, Popery.

I afterwards went into a large Independent chapel in another part of the town, where I was more courteously treated. Here was a very eloquent and noted preacher, a Dr. Groyard, from Mobile. He was delivering a very eloquent harangue, interspersed with touches of pro-slavery, sentimentalism and rhetorical flourish, the former especially directed to the negroes in the gallery, when, suddenly, a cry of "Fire! fire!" was raised in the street. The learned Doctor stood as if electrified, and the instant after his hearers rushed pell-mell out of the chapel, amidst the shrieks of the females, and the consternation of the men, caused, without doubt, by a lurking suspicion of impending evil from the negroes which I have before referred to. On ascertaining that the alarm was caused by a house being on fire in the vicinity, the service was abruptly terminated.

The following day I continued my perambulations; to the left of the episcopal church I have already mentioned, and surrounded by umbrageous trees in a park-like enclosure, is the Town-hall. I entered this building, where I found a bench of magistrates, the mayor of the city being amongst them, adjudicating on the cases brought before them. These consisted chiefly of negroes apprehended in the streets after nine o'clock the previous night; they were in all cases, except where their owners paid the fine, sentenced to receive from ten to twenty lashes, which were administered at once by the city gaoler, in a yard at the rear of a building, near which officers were in attendance for the purpose. I must mention, in explanation, that one of the laws passed directly after the insurrection, was to prohibit negroes, on any pretence, to be out after nine, p.m. At that hour, the city guard, armed with muskets and bayonets, patrolled the streets, and apprehended every negro, male or female, they found abroad. It was a stirring scene, when the drums beat at the guard-house in the public square I have before described, preparatory to the rounds of the soldiers, to witness the negroes scouring the streets in all directions, to get to their places of abode, many of them in great trepidation, uttering ejaculations of terror as they ran. This was an inexorable law, and punishment or fine was sure to follow its dereliction, no excuse being available, and as the owners seldom submitted to pay the fine, the slaves were compelled to take the consequences, which, in the language that consigned them to the cruel infliction, "consisted of from ten to twenty lashes, well laid on with a raw-hide," a murderous whip, which draws blood after the first few strokes, and is as torturing, I should imagine, as the Russian knout, certainly proving in many instances as fatal as that odious instrument. The crowning severity of the enactments I have referred to, remains, however, to be told. So heinous in a negro, is the crime of lifting his hand in opposition to a white man in South Carolina, that the law adjudges that the offending member shall be forfeited. This is, or was, quite as inexorable as the one I have before spoken of, and when in Charleston, I frequently, amongst the flocks of negroes passing and repassing, saw individuals with one hand only. Like the administration of miscalled justice on negroes in all slave-holding states in America, the process was summary; the offender was arrested, brought before the bench of sitting magistrates, and on the ex parte^[A] statement of his accuser, condemned to mutilation, being at once marched out to the rear of the building and the hand lopped off on a block fixed there for the purpose. I noticed a block and axe myself in the yard of a building near the town-hall, and on looking at them closely, saw they were stained almost black, with what I have little hesitation in saying was human blood. My conductor, however, tried to divert my attention from the object, and knowing I was an Englishman, refused to enter on the subject.

Another of the many cruel laws put in force after the emeute of the negroes, was to prohibit any coloured person from walking on the pavements, and forcing all males to salute every white they met. These distinctions, although falling into disuse, are not even yet abolished, but still, with many others equally odious, disgrace the Carolinean statute book. I saw several negroes from the plantation districts, walking in the road instead of on the pavement, in accordance with this law, touching their hats to every white passer-by; they were consequently obliged to be continually lifting their hands to their heads, for they passed white people at every step. Although I believe no punishment is now enforced for the omission of this humiliating homage to colour, the men I have referred to were doubtless afraid to disregard the ceremony.

A partiality exists in every part of America for music; indeed, so strongly is this developed, that in almost all the towns, and even in some hamlets in the western states, subscription bands are kept up—these play every evening, when the weather admits, in the centre of the public square, the citizens the while promenading round with their wives and families.

But, although a decided penchant prevails for music, the preference is given by the mass to a few ordinary airs, calculated to inspire that love of country which every reminiscence of the struggle for independence calls forth. The favourite air is the so-called national one of "Hail, Columbia," although this is but second to the fantastic drollery of "Yankee Doodle;" the latter is vociferously called for at all places of amusement, and excites in the audience, at such places of resort, almost frantic sensations. This is the more remarkable, as it was originally composed by an Englishman, and, as it is so intimately connected with Americanism, I shall, perhaps, be excused for introducing here what may be termed its history.

In the attacks made upon the French posts in America, in 1755, those against Niagara and Frontenac were made by Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, and General Jackson, of New York. Their army during the summer lay on the eastern bank of the Hudson, a little south of Albany. Early in June, the troops of the eastern provinces began to pour in company after company, and such an assemblage never before thronged together on such an occasion. "It would have relaxed the gravity of an anchorite," says the historian, "to see the descendants of the Puritans marching through the streets of the ancient city, and taking their stations on the left of the British army—some with long coats, and others with no coats at all, and with colours as various as the rainbow; some with their hair cropped like the army of Cromwell, and others with wigs, the locks of which floated with grace round their shoulders. Their march, their accoutrements, and the whole arrangement of the troops, furnished matter of amusement to the British army. The music played the airs of two centuries ago; and the tout ensemble, upon the whole, exhibited a sight to the wondering strangers to which they had been unaccustomed."

Among the club of wits that belonged to the British army, there was a Doctor Shackburg attached to the staff, who combined with his knowledge of surgery the skill and talent of a musician. To please the new-comers, he composed a tune, and, with much gravity, recommended it to the officers as one of the most celebrated airs of martial music. The joke took, to the no small amusement of the British. Brother Jonathan exclaimed, it was "nation fine;" and in a few days, nothing was heard in the provincial camp but the air of "Yankee Doodle."

Little did the author, in his composition, then suppose, that an air, made for the purpose of levity and ridicule, should be marked for such high destinies. In twenty years from that time, the national march—now universally recognized by the patriots—inspired the heroes of Bunker's Hill; and, in less than thirty, Lord Cornwallis and his army marched into the American lines to the tune of "Yankee Doodle."[Footnote A] The writer was assured, when in Charleston, that this was the case in five out of every six cases.