1 For a brief biography of William Cobbett, see Flint's Letters, volume ix of our series, note 4.—Ed.

2 In 1811 the growing hostility of those employed in the manufacture of stockings to the introduction of knitting frames, culminated in the Luddite Riots, and in Nottingham over six hundred stocking frames were broken. The riot spread rapidly among the artisans in the cotton and woolen industries in Lancashire and Yorkshire, mills were burned, machinery of all kinds destroyed, and it became necessary to call out seven regiments before quiet was restored. The government became alarmed, especially as the mobs had stormed the militia depots and secured arms for themselves, and several repressive measures were hurried through Parliament. The first, passed March 5, 1812, made frame-breaking a capital offense; the second, the Nottingham Watch and Ward Bill, passed the same month, enabled the lord-lieutenant or sheriff to establish watch and ward if further riots occurred; and the third, the Preservation of Public Peace Act, passed July 27, 1812, empowered any magistrate in the disturbed district to search for secreted arms, and to call upon the people to give up their weapons. See Parliamentary Debates, xxi, pp. 859, 1166; xxiii, pp. 1099, 1251.—Ed.

3 The year 1816 was a time of intense suffering among the working classes in England. Corn reached famine prices, and at the same time the return of peace, by reducing the foreign demand for manufactured articles, created an over supply of labor. Riots again occurred, but the general discontent found a new outlet in the demand for parliamentary reform. In this, Cobbett was the leader, and under his direction Hampden Clubs were established all over the country. Sir Francis Burdett, president of the London Hampden Club, was first chosen to further the cause in the House of Commons. A graduate of Oxford, he entered Parliament in 1796, when twenty-six years of age, and served almost continuously until his death, in 1844. He was throughout an earnest advocate of parliamentary reform, of freedom of speech in the House, and of other liberal measures. Cobbett, Hulme, and the Radicals disliked him because his methods were too moderate for them. The incident mentioned by Hulme refers to a large meeting held at London at the end of the year (1816), to which all the Hampden Clubs sent delegates; and to avoid which Sir Francis, who had a horror of popular demonstrations, fled to Leicestershire, and sent a letter stating his inability to be present. See Cobbett, Weekly Political Register, September 13, 1817.—Ed.

4 Next to Cobbett, the most important leader of the reform movement during this period was Major John Cartwright. Born in Nottinghamshire (1740), he had entered the navy and was being promoted rapidly when he refused to join his commander, Lord Howe, against the American colonies, thus putting an end to his professional advancement. Turning his attention to politics, he began (1780) the agitation which earned for him the title of Father of Reform. He was a frequent contributor to Cobbett's Register, in the cause of parliamentary and other reforms.—Ed.

5 Henry Hunt, familiarly known as Orator Hunt (1773-1835), belonged to a Wiltshire family. He was engaged in farming near Bristol when, during a visit to London (1807), he became interested in the Radical cause, and immediately set to work to organize the Radical party in Bristol and the surrounding country. An eloquent speaker, and of magnetic personality, he exerted his influence by addressing popular meetings, undergoing two years' imprisonment for a speech delivered at a Manchester meeting in 1819. After several unsuccessful attempts to enter Parliament, he was elected in 1831, but held his seat only two years, when, becoming estranged from the other Radical leaders, he retired from politics.—Ed.

6 December 2, 1816, a large mob collected at Spa-fields, London, and after addresses by certain Radicals and Spencean Philanthropists (members of a society which aimed to abolish private property), it proceeded to take possession of the Tower, but disbanded before much damage had been done. Feeling confident that sedition was being plotted in all the newly-organized clubs throughout England, Parliament (March 3, 1817) authorized the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. March 25, the Seditious Meetings Act was passed, prescribing the death penalty for refusal to discontinue any meeting when required to do so by a magistrate (see Parliamentary Debates, xxxv, pp. 795, 826, 1083, 1227). The reformers regarded these laws as subversive of all liberty; Cobbett headed the articles in his Register, "A History of the Last Hundred Days of English Freedom, ending with the passing of the Absolute-Power-of-Imprisonment Act, in the Month of March, 1817."—Ed.

7 For a description of this route through western Pennsylvania at the beginning of the century, see F. A. Michaux's Travels, volume iii of our series, pp. 132-156.—Ed.

8 For the Cumberland Road, see Harris's Journal, volume iii of our series, note 45.—Ed.

9 The glassworks of Bakewell, Pears and Company were established in 1808. For the beginning of this industry in Pittsburg, see Cuming's Tour, volume iv of our series, note 28.—Ed.

10 See Harris's Journal, volume iii of our series, p. 335, for a description of an Ohio River "ark."—Ed.

11 For the towns along the Ohio mentioned by Hulme, see A. Michaux's Travels, volume iii of our series: Wheeling, note 15; Marietta, note 16. Cuming's Tour, volume iv of our series: Steubenville, note 67; Cincinnati, note 166; Shippingport, note 171. Bradbury's Travels, volume v of our series; Vevay, note 164. Croghan's Journals, volume i of our series: Louisville, note 106.—Ed.

12 The common American perch is the Perca americana or flavescens.—Ed.

13 For a brief biography of Dr. Drake, consult Flint's Letters, volume ix of our series, note 61.—Ed.

14 James Berthoud in 1803 purchased the town of Shippingport from the original proprietor, Colonel John Campbell.—Ed.

15 The site of New Albany was owned by three Scribner brothers of New York, who in 1813 had a town surveyed and offered lots for sale. In 1819 it contained about one hundred and fifty houses and a thousand inhabitants. Charles Paxson removed from Philadelphia (1817) and opened a store at New Albany. For many years he owned the only brick house in the village.—Ed.

16 The first log cabin on the site of Evansville was built in 1812 by Hugh McGary of Kentucky. Four years later, General Robert Evans, having purchased the land in the vicinity, surveyed and laid out a town which he named Evansville. It did not attract settlers until 1818, when Evans succeeded in having it made the seat of the newly-erected Vanderburgh County. In 1819 it contained one hundred inhabitants; but Hulme's expectation of its future importance was slow in being realized, for in 1830 the population was but five hundred. It was incorporated in 1847, and from that date its growth has been rapid.—Ed.

17 As early as 1800 settlement began in the vicinity of the present town of Princeton. Gibson County being organized in 1813 and the county seat located there, the following year a public square was cleared of timber, and town lots were offered for sale. It was named in honor of William Prince, a lawyer and Indian agent who had settled at Princeton in 1812; he later became a circuit court judge, and a member of Congress.—Ed.

18 For the founding of Shawneetown, see Croghan's Journals, volume i of our series, note 108.—Ed.

19 Morris Birkbeck (1763-1825) was a native of England, being born at Wanborough. He received a classical education and became a successful, practical farmer. Having become acquainted with a number of Americans, especially with Edward Coles, later governor of Illinois, Birkbeck emigrated (1817) to America. He purchased sixteen thousand acres in Illinois, upon which he located the widely known "English settlement" in Edwards County, whose chief town was Albion. Birkbeck and family settled a few miles distant, naming their point of residence Wanborough. Having considerable literary ability, he assisted Governor Coles in the latter's fight against admitting slavery into Illinois. In 1824 he was appointed secretary of state by Coles, but the senate, being pro-slavery, refused to confirm the nomination. In 1825, while returning from a visit to the New Harmony settlement, Birkbeck was drowned in Fox River. He was the author of Notes on a Journey Through France (London, 1815), Notes on a Journey in America (London, 1818), and Letters from Illinois (London, 1818), and some controversial pamphlets.—Ed.

20 Birkbeck brought four children with him to Illinois: his second son, Bradford, aged sixteen; his third son, Charles, aged fourteen; his daughter Eliza, who later married Gilbert Pell; and his daughter Prudence, who married Francis Hanks. Soon after their father's death, the family left Illinois, the two sons and Mrs. Hanks going to Mexico, and Mrs. Pell to England to educate her children.—Ed.

21 George Flower, born about 1780, was an Englishman of means who emigrated to America in 1816 in search of the famed prairies of Illinois, of which so much was being said. Visiting the Middle West in that year, he returned to Virginia and spent the winter, chiefly with Thomas Jefferson, to whom he had letters of introduction from Lafayette. In 1817, Morris Birkbeck arrived, and, as the two were old friends, Flower joined Birkbeck's movement and took part in founding the "English settlement." In 1818, on returning from a voyage to England, Flower was accompanied by his father (Richard, who wrote the letters reprinted in this volume), his mother, two sisters, and two brothers. After spending the winter in Lexington, the newcomers of the family removed to English Prairie in the spring of 1819. George Flower championed the movement against admitting slavery into Illinois, and lived to see Albion become a prosperous and beautiful town. He was financially unfortunate, and for many years lived in retirement with his children in Illinois and Indiana. Shortly before his death (1862) he completed a History of the English Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois (Chicago, 1882).—Ed.

22 Harmony (or Harmonie as it was first known) was the famous settlement of the German Lutherans led by George Rapp. In 1813 Rapp purchased thirty thousand acres along the Wabash, on a part of which New Harmony was built. "Contrary to the general idea, Rapp's colony was a great success, so far as the accumulation of property was concerned, and when Rapp sold out, in 1825, it was said the wealth per capita was ten times greater than the average wealth throughout the United States."—E. B. Washburne, editorial note to Flower's English Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois, p. 61. The town was purchased by Robert Owen, a manufacturer of New Lanark, Scotland, for the purpose of putting into practice his communistic ideas. After a few years the communistic plan was abandoned, and Owen returned to Scotland, leaving the property in charge of his two sons.—Ed.

23 Davis's ferry across the Wabash was twelve miles from Albion.—Ed.

24 Black River, or Creek, rises in the southern part of Gibson County, Indiana, and flows westward, emptying into the Wabash a few miles above New Harmony.—Ed.

25 George Rapp (1757-1847) was a weaver in Iptingen, Wurtemburg, and was noted for his biblical knowledge and piety. He proposed to reform society on the plan of the New Testament, gathering around him a community of persons who, in imitation of the early Christians at Jerusalem, held everything in common. This brought them into disfavor with the government, and he, with a portion of his followers, emigrated to the United States (1803), settling first on Conequenessing Creek, Butler County, Pennsylvania. In 1815, he established Harmony, on the Wabash, but ten years later led the colony back to Pennsylvania, and founded the town of Economy, about seventeen miles north-west of Pittsburg. See also, note 22, ante.—Ed.

26 A more detailed account of this society, up to the year 1811, will be found in Mr. Mellishe's Travels, volume ii.—Hulme.

27 Robert Malthus (1766-1834), an English economist, who held the theory that the increase of population is more rapid than the increase of the means of subsistence, and consequently must be held in check, was himself a married man and had a son and daughter. Earlier in life he had held a curacy; the title "Parson Malthus" was sneeringly given to him by Cobbett, as his later doctrines were considered unsuitable for a clergyman.—Ed.

28 "Mud-holes" was located near the White River, in the northwestern part of the present Du Bois County. It was on an old trail called "Mud-hole trace," which led from Vincennes to Jeffersonville. As early as 1802, before the land had been ceded by the Indians, two McDonald brothers from Virginia settled there. They were soon followed by other pioneers, and a blockhouse was built as a refuge in case of an Indian attack.—Ed.

29 This is now Chambersburg, in Orange County, about thirty-eight miles northwest of New Albany. It was named in honor of Samuel Chambers, who emigrated from North Carolina (1811) and established the first store and tavern at this place. When Orange County was organized (1816), he was appointed a county judge.—Ed.

30 French Lick is about fifty miles northwest of New Albany. The springs were donated to the state by Congress on the supposition that salt could profitably be manufactured therefrom; but this did not prove practicable. In recent years French Lick and West Baden Springs, a half-mile distant, have won attention as health resorts.—Ed.

31 For the early history of Frankfort, see F. A. Michaux's Travels, volume iii of our series, note 39.—Ed.

32 The first macadamized road in Kentucky, and the first to receive state aid, was the Maysville and Lexington turnpike. It was begun in 1829, the state subscribing for $25,000 worth of stock. Congress, also, voted to subscribe for fifteen hundred shares; but the now famous Maysville Road Bill was vetoed by President Jackson. The state then made further contributions amounting to half the cost of the road. A great interest in road building was now aroused; by November, 1837, 343 miles of macadamized road had been completed with the aid of the state, and 236 additional miles were under contract, the total contribution of the state being about two and a half million dollars.—Ed.

33 Henry Clay's country seat near Lexington was called Ashland. Some of his descendants still reside there.—Ed.

34 Colonel James Morrison, born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, was the son of an humble Irish immigrant. After serving in the Revolutionary War, he came to Kentucky, and in 1792 settled at Lexington. He was successively state representative from Fayette County, president of the Lexington branch of the United States Bank, and chairman of the board of trustees of Transylvania University. Having acquired considerable wealth, he contributed liberally to educational objects, and at his death (1823) left a fund for the establishment of Morrison College, Lexington.—Ed.

35 For the early history of Paris, see A. Michaux's Travels, volume iii of our series, note 39.—Ed.

36 James Watson and his father, James Watson, senior, were both leaders of the Spenceans and by their inflammatory speeches stirred up the mob at the Spa-fields meeting (see note 6, ante). The elder Watson was tried for high treason, but he was acquitted. The son escaped to America before he could be arrested.—Ed.

37 Or 5s. 7½d. to 11s. 3d. sterling. At the present rate of exchange, a dollar is equivalent to 4s. 6d. sterling, and a cent is the hundredth part of a dollar.—Hulme.

38 For the early history of Blue Licks, see Cuming's Tour, volume iv of our series, note 117.—Ed.

39 See A. Michaux's Travels, volume iii of our series, note 23, for a brief account of Maysville.—Ed.

40 West Union, the seat of Adams County, is situated on Zane's Trace, seventeen miles from Maysville and fifty-five from Chillicothe. It was established by an act of legislature (January, 1804), which fixed the county seat at that point, and ordered the land for a town to be purchased and paid for out of the county treasury.—Ed.

41 For the early history of Chillicothe, see F. A. Michaux's Travels, volume iii of our series, note 35.—Ed.

42 William Key Bond was born in St. Mary's, Maryland, in 1792. Educated in Connecticut, he came to Chillicothe (1812) and was admitted to the bar. In 1841 he removed to Cincinnati, where he practiced law until his death in 1864. He was a member of the 24th, 25th, and 26th congresses, and was appointed by President Fillmore surveyor of the port of Cincinnati.—Ed.

43 For a brief biography of Governor Worthington, see Cuming's Tour volume iv of our series, note 142.—Ed.

44 For the early history of New Lancaster, see Cuming's Tour, volume iv of our series, note 145.—Ed.

45 For a more particular account of this place, as well, indeed, as of most of the other towns I have visited, see Mr. Mellish's Travels, volume ii.—Hulme.

46 When in 1798 Zane's Trace was laid out from Wheeling to Zanesville, a ferry and tavern were established where the road crossed Wills Creek. Eight years later the town of Cambridge was planted. Among the early settlers were fifteen or twenty families from the Island of Guernsey, who happened to be travelling through the West in search of homes when the town lots were offered for sale.

Bradshaw's tavern was in the village of Fairview.—Ed.

47 For an account of the National Road, see Harris's Journal, volume iii of our series, note 45.—Ed.

48 Trees tumbled head-long and fixed in the river.—Hulme.

49 The same as the planter only waving up and down.—Hulme.

50 Charleston, on the Kanawha River, about sixty miles from its mouth, is located on the military grant made by Lord Dunmore to Colonel Thomas Bullitt (1772), in recognition of his services in Braddock's and Forbes's campaigns. Five years thereafter, the land was purchased by George Clendenin, one of the commissioners for laying out a road from Lewisburg to the Kanawha. Clendenin constructed (1788) a fort on the present site of Charleston, and soon other pioneers built log cabins under its shelter. In 1794 the town of Charleston was established by legislative enactment.—Ed.

51 James Wilson, who had been on the staff of the Philadelphia Aurora, came to Steubenville (1815) to edit the Herald, changing the name to the Western Herald and Steubenville Gazette, and the politics from Democratic to Whig. Wilson was elected to the state legislature in 1816 and again in 1820, and was an associate justice of the court of common pleas. He died in 1852.—Ed.

52 Humphrey Repton (1752-1818) was a well-known English landscape gardener.—Ed.

53 A misprint for Bonpas. This stream flows almost directly south and forms the present eastern boundary of Edwards County. It joins the Wabash about forty-five miles below Vincennes.—Ed.

54 This statement was made by Cobbett; see Flower's note, post, p. 164.—Ed.

55 This pamphlet was seen through the press by Benjamin Flower (1755-1829), a brother of the author; he also contributed the Preface and the concluding Notes. Benjamin had started in life as a London tradesman; but having failed, travelled for several years on the European continent as agent for a Tiverton firm. Being in France during much of 1791, "the most innocent part of the revolution," he became imbued with some of the ideas of the French revolutionists; and although not a revolutionist in England, he entered the lists as a Radical pamphleteer, bitterly attacking the English government for engaging in war with France. Richard, a man of substance, and although a Radical rather moderate in his views, was largely concerned in establishing the Cambridge Intelligencer, a Radical organ. Benjamin was chosen editor, and became widely known as a controversialist, Cobbett being one of his especial bÊtes noires. In 1799 he suffered six months' imprisonment in Newgate and the payment of a fine of £100 for libelling the bishop of Llandaff, a political opponent. When released, he married a young admirer, set up as a printer, and conducted the Political Register (1807-11). He wrote a life of Robert Robinson, a famous Baptist minister and hymn writer, prefixed to editions of the latter's works (Harlow, 1807, 1812), also several pamphlets on political and family matters. He was esteemed for his honesty and courage, but the vehemence of his temper largely nullified his influence. Two of his daughters became well known as musical composers—Eliza Flower (1803-46) wrote several political hymns, and Sarah Flower Adams (1805-48) was the author of "Nearer to Thee," often wrongly attributed to Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe.

A review of the pamphlet here reprinted will be found in the London Quarterly Review, xxvii, p. 71.—Ed.

56 Monthly Repository, August and October, 1820.—B. Flower.

57 Captain Jeremiah Birk shared with Daniel Boone and many other pioneers in the Western wilderness, the feeling that life in a settlement was too crowded. Emigrating from Tennessee, he lived with his family alone on the prairies until the arrival of the English settlers. He obtained his title of captain by commanding a company of scouts along the Canadian frontier during the War of 1812-15. Illinois becoming too thickly settled to please him, he soon moved across the Mississippi River.—Ed.

58 George Shaw (1751-1813), the well-known English naturalist. His great work was General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History (London, 1800-26), which after his death was extended to a total of fourteen volumes.—Ed.

59 William Flower, second son of Richard, died at Lexington, Kentucky, apparently of heart disease, in the winter of 1818-19. See George Flower's "English Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois," in Chicago Historical Society Collections, i, p. 131.—Ed.

60 Albion was made the county seat of Edwards County in 1821.—Ed.

61 Flower's Letters from [Lexington and] the Illinois, 1819.—B. Flower.

62 Flower here refers to the excitement in England in favor of the Queen, upon George IV's attempt to divorce her. See Walpole, History of England, i, pp. 573-606.—Ed.

63 See Note A.—B. Flower.

64 Socinianism was belief in the tenets or doctrines of Faustus Socinus, an Italian theologian of the sixteenth century, who denied the trinity and divinity of Christ, affirming that Christ was a man divinely commissioned.—Ed.

65 See Note B.—B. Flower.

66 Regarding the attitude of the English government, at the time, towards emigration to America, see Preface to the present volume.—Ed.

67 See Note C.—B. Flower.

68 As already explained in note 55, ante, the writer of these Notes was Benjamin Flower, brother of the author of the Letters.—Ed.

69 The last word of the title should be Englishwoman. The author, Miss Frances Wright, was born in Dundee, Scotland (1795) and at an early age became interested in sociological questions. She came to America in 1812 and made one of the earliest attempts to solve the slavery problem; but her practical experiment in employing negro labor on a Tennessee plantation ended in failure. Removing to New Harmony, she conducted, with the assistance of Robert Dale Owen, a socialistic journal. From 1829 to 1836 she lectured throughout the United States, being one of the earliest women lecturers on the American platform. Returning to Europe, she married M. Darusmont (1838), and did not again appear in public life.—Ed.

70 A modern divine gives us the following curious description of the Church of England.—"The governors of this society form a kind of aristocracy respecting the community at large, but each particular governor in his proper district is a sort of monarch, exercising his function both towards the inferior ministers and laity, according to the will of the supreme head of the church."—The English Liturgy a Form of Sound Words; a Sermon delivered in the Parish Churches of St. Benet, Gracechurch Street, &c. by George Gaskin, D.D.

How any man, with the New Testament before him, could possibly call such an aristocratical and monarchical church, one "formed according to the will of the Supreme Head," when he well knew that it was diametrically opposite to the letter and spirit of the most solemn, particular, and repeated directions of the Great Head of the Church on this subject:—"Call no man your master on earth; one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren, &c."—I shall not stay to inquire; but it may amuse the reader just to observe how this clerical pluralist exercises "his function towards the laity," and more especially as it relates to tythes:—that species of property which was first voluntarily given by the people for various benevolent purposes, but of which they were afterwards robbed by the clergy, who appropriated them to their own sole use. How they are sometimes raised, even in the present enlightened age, I lately discovered in a catalogue, at a sale of pawnbroker's unredeemed pledges, where, amongst other names and descriptions of property, I read as follows:

"Lots sold under a distress for tythes due to the Rev. Dr. Gaskin, Rector of the United Parishes of St. Benet, Gracechurch Street, of St. Leonard, Eastcheap, [and of St. Mary, Newington"].

Then follow eight lots of writing paper, silver table and tea spoons, &c.

"The following sold under a distress for tythes due to the Rev. Mr. Parker, (son in law of Dr Gaskin) Rector of St. Ethelburga."

Then follow five lots of yellow and mottled soap!

Whether the body of the clergy, who have for so many ages been supported by these and by other means scarcely less obnoxious, come nearer to the description of the primitive apostles and pastors for independence, disinterestedness and benevolence, or to that description predicted by one of them of those who should come after him,—grievous wolves not sparing the flock, I leave to the reader to determine.

Dr. Gaskin, I was informed, ranks amongst the clergy who have arrogated to themselves the epithet evangelical; but I have since been informed otherwise; and I am inclined to believe, as those do who best know him, that he is not an evangelical clergyman!

I cannot help expressing my surprise that my countrymen will not, on this subject, take a hint from that great and liberal minded statesman, the late Lord Chatham, at the commencement of the American war, when our debt and taxes were not one fifth of what they are at present. His lordship in a speech in the House of Lords, turning to the right reverend bench, exclaimed,—"Let the bishops beware of war; for should the people be pressed for money, they know where to look for it!" It is a pity that amidst so much nonsense, with which the nation is pestered at our agricultural meetings, and in agricultural reports, and so much injustice as is proposed for relieving the public, by Mr. Webb Hall on the one side, Mr. Cobbett and others on the other, such as new corn laws, and breaking public faith, &c. ruining thousands by the reduction of interest of the national debt, our real resources should not be even hinted at. Is there no patriot to be found in either House of the Legislature, following the excellent example of Mr. Hume respecting state abuses, who will recommend, "An inquiry into the nature and amount of our church revenues?" Would christianity suffer if a Bishop of Winchester, or a Bishop of Durham, had not 30 to £40,000 a year! or if our overgrown church revenues in England, and more especially in that still more oppressed country, Ireland, where the bishoprics are in general richer, and many thousands are wrung from a long oppressed and impoverished people, not unfrequently in places where little or no duty is performed, were inquired into? Let Britain look at the church reformation which has taken place in France, and is now going forward in Spain and Portugal, the abolition of tythes, and the resumption of the useless and hurtful revenues of the church, and blush at her bat and mole-like stupidity!—B. Fowler.

71 That I may not be misunderstood, I beg leave to remark, that I intend no reflection on those who may have been educated solely with a view to the ministry, and of whose habits we cannot expect an alteration. It is an evil attending the present system, that while men of very moderate talents, and judging by their conduct, who have made no great advancement in the christian life, who possess a few superficial qualifications which captivate the ignorant and unthinking, are living in luxury, there are men of fine talents, and transcendent virtues, who are living in comparative poverty. The grand error is the mechanical transformation of youths into ministers at seminaries, instead of their being brought up to some trade or profession in which their independence might rest on themselves.

I have, on this subject, expressed myself more at large in the MEMOIRS OF ROBERT ROBINSON, prefixed to his Works. See also an excellent Sermon in his incomparable VILLAGE DISCOURSES, entitled, "Any one who understands Christianity may teach it." And another in the Posthumous volume of his works, entitled, "The Corruptions of Christianity."—B. Flower.

72 Flower's Letters from the Illinois, 1819, p. 32.—B. Flower.

73 Cobbett's Register, July 7, 1821. Birkbeck's Letters, printed for Ridgway, 1819, second edition.—B. Flower.

74 In my Mr. C.'s treatment of Sir Francis Burdett, INGRATITUDE seems the crowning vice. The benevolent and patriotic baronet, deceived by him as many others have been, lent him a large sum of money, which just as he was setting out for America he declined paying, under the pretext that as government had by their oppressive measures injured him, he did not consider himself bound to discharge his debts till it suited his convenience! Sir Francis, alluding to this letter, remarked, that he did not know whether such a principle had ever before been acted upon, but he believed it was the first time it had ever been openly professed! As those letters are I find, very imperfectly recollected by many of Mr. C.'s readers, if he will reprint them in his Weekly Register, they will consider it as a favour.

Mr. C. commenced his notice of the worthy baronet by reviling him, and all men of his principles; in his usual style he afterwards veered about to the opposite point of the compass, and panegyrised him in the highest terms; but although he had partly gained his ends, finding that he could not completely transform Sir Francis into one of his tools, and by his means, accomplish his darling, but uniformly defeated project, of procuring a seat in the House of Commons, he in his rage, and under that prophetic impulse with which "The angel he so long has served," not unfrequently inspires him, pledged himself that in the course of a few months he would so expose the baronet, as to hurry him to his fate:—That of committing suicide, and of being buried in a cross road, with a stake driven through his body! If Dr. Young's sentiment—"He that's ungrateful has no crimes but ONE" be correct, Mr. C.'s character appears to have reached its climax.—B. Flower.

75 Woods probably here refers to Fort McHenry, at the mouth of the north-west branch of the Patapco. This star-shaped brick fort was begun in 1794, when war with England seemed imminent. It was named in honor of James McHenry, secretary of war under Washington. During the War of 1812-15 (September 13, 1814) it was bombarded by the British; and his joy at seeing the flag wave from the ramparts throughout the attack, inspired Francis Scott Key to write the "Star-Spangled Banner."—Ed.

76 This English settlement centered about the present town of Inglefield. Its name is a tribute to the memory of the first Englishman to settle in the region, John Ingle, who in 1818 emigrated from Huntingdonshire. Englishmen came in increasing numbers during the years 1818-20, but soon thereafter hard times put an end to immigration to this part of Indiana.—Ed.

77 For the early history of Frederick, see A. Michaux's Travels, volume iii of our series, note 70.—Ed.

78 For a brief account of Harper's Ferry, consult A. Michaux's Travels, note 69.—Ed.

79 The Shenandoah River.—Ed.

80 See A. Michaux's Travels, note 68, for the early history of Charlestown.—Ed.

81 The Blue Ridge Mountains.—Ed.

82 Springfield, in Hampshire County, West Virginia, about sixty miles west of Harper's Ferry was established by law (1790), and named after Springfield, Massachusetts.—Ed.

83 Patterson's Creek rises in Grant County, West Virginia, and flowing parallel to the south branch of the Potomac, empties into the north branch a few miles west of Cresapburg.—Ed.

84 Cresapburg is the oldest town in Allegany County, Maryland, a frontier post having been established there by Colonel Thomas Cresap in 1741, and named Skipton, after his native town in Yorkshire. For further details concerning the life of Cresap, see Croghan's Journals, volume i of our series, note 56.—Ed.

85 For the early history of the National Road, see Harris's Journal, volume iii of our series, note 45.—Ed.

86 Little Crossing was the name given to the place where the road crossed Castleman's Creek, a small branch of the Youghiogheny, and at this point about fifteen miles distant from the crossing of the latter, or Big Crossing.—Ed.

87 This crossing-place of the Youghiogheny River is the present Smithfield, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The old name was "Big Crossings," and from this account, might have been contracted to Cressing. Applying the name to the river was probably a tourist's error.—Ed.

88 On the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, consult A. Michaux's Travels, note 73.—Ed.

89 Great Meadows was near Farmington, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and was the site of Washington's Fort Necessity, raised in the campaign of 1754 against Fort Duquesne. These rich meadows became one of Washington's first land possessions in the West.—Ed.

90 John Hopwood, having purchased a patent of land from Richard Penn, laid out a town which he called Woodstock, at the foot of Laurel Hill on the old Braddock Road. A son, Moses Hopwood, was planning to enlarge it (1816), when James Monroe passed along the road on a campaign tour and was entertained as his guest. In accordance with Monroe's suggestion, when the addition was platted the name was changed to Monroe. It was a bustling place during the prosperous days of the National Road, its taverns being crowded with travellers who remained over night to get an early start over the mountains the following morning.—Ed.

91 For the early history of Uniontown, see Harris's Journal, volume iii of our series, note 47.—Ed.

92 Consult F. A. Michaux's Travels, in volume iii of our series, note 23, for the founding of Brownsville.—Ed.

93 Bentleyville, on Pigeon Creek, was laid out (March, 1816) by Shesbazzer Bentley. It was of little importance, not being incorporated until 1868.—Ed.

94 Fort Duquesne was built in 1754. For a brief historical account, see F. A. Michaux's Travels, note 20.—Ed.

95 For brief notes on the early history of Canonsburg and Washington, see Harris's Journal, notes 31, 32.—Ed.

96 John Purviance opened up a tavern, soon after 1800, on the present site of this town on the old Wheeling Road. When the preliminary surveys made it certain that the National Road would pass that way, he laid out a town (1817), and advertised lots for sale. Claysville was incorporated in 1832.—Ed.

97 For further information concerning Alexandria, consult Harris's Journal, note 33.—Ed.

98 For the history of Wheeling, see A. Michaux's Travels, in our volume iii, p. 33 and note 15.—Ed.

99 Sistersville, about thirty-five miles above Marietta, is now the river port for an oil-producing region; "great red oil tanks and smoky refineries are its chiefest glory." See Thwaites, On the Storied Ohio (Chicago, 1903).—Ed.

100 For a description of Marietta at the beginning of the century, see A. Michaux's Travels, pp. 33, 34, and note 16.—Ed.

101 For the Little Kanawha River, see Croghan's Journals, volume i of our series, note 98.

The site of Parkersburg was held under patent by Adam Parker, who in 1817 laid out the town. Incorporated in 1820, it grew but little until the discovery (1864) of petroleum in the immediate vicinity gave it new life, and it is now one of the wealthiest cities in West Virginia.—Ed.

102 For the historical associations connected with the Hockhocking River, see Croghan's Journals, volume i of our series, note 99.—Ed.

103 For Letart's Falls, see Flint's Letters, in our volume ix, note 54.—Ed.

104 The manufacture of salt in the Kanawha Valley, for more than half a century its leading industry, is now a thing of the past. The Salt or Great Buffalo Lick on the Kanawha River, near the mouth of Campbell's Creek, was visited in succession by buffaloes, Indians, and pioneers to obtain salt. As early as 1797 a certain Elisha Brooks began in a crude way to manufacture salt, but it was first established as a profitable industry by the Ruffner brothers in 1808. In 1817 coal was substituted for wood as fuel. At that time there were about thirty furnaces and fifteen or twenty wells in operation, producing between 600,000 and 700,000 bushels annually. The maximum of prosperity was reached about 1850, when the output was 3,000,000 bushels for the year.—Ed.

105 For the Great Kanawha River and the battle of Point Pleasant, see Croghan's Journals, volume i of our series, note 101.—Ed.

106 For an account of the settlement of Gallipolis, see F. A. Michaux's Travels, volume iii of our series, pp. 182-185, and note 34.—Ed.

107 The Guyandotte River rises in Logan County, West Virginia, and flowing northwestward for about one hundred and fifty miles, joins the Ohio a few miles above the Kentucky line.—Ed.

108 Greenup, the seat of the county of that name, is seventy-two miles above Maysville. It was incorporated in 1818, and named in honor of Governor Greenup.

Christopher Greenup, born in Virginia, about 1750, served throughout the Revolutionary War, and in 1783 came to Kentucky to practice law. He was elected a member of Congress (1792), and in 1804 governor of Kentucky. At the expiration of his gubernatorial term, he represented Franklin County in the legislature, continuing in public life until his death, in 1818.—Ed.

109 For further information on this point, see Flint's Letters, volume ix of our series, note 89.—Ed.

110 For the early history connected with the Scioto River, see Croghan's Journals, volume i of our series, note 102.—Ed.

111 For the Pittsburg Navigator, see Cuming's Tour, volume iv of our series, note 43.—Ed.

112 In 1790, Nathaniel Massie, the surveyor of the Virginia military tract, who played so prominent a part in early Ohio history, contracted with twenty-one Kentuckians to settle a town which he would lay out on his land along the Ohio River. The following year a stockade was built on the mainland, ten miles above Maysville, and one of the three islands opposite was cleared and planted with corn. He called the settlement Manchester, but for years it was known in Kentucky and Ohio as Massie's Station.—Ed.

113 For the early history of Maysville, see A. Michaux's Travels, volume iii of our series, note 23.—Ed.

114 This road was Zane's trace. See Cuming's Tour, volume iv of our series, note 135.—Ed.

115 Ripley, in Brown County, fifty-five miles above Cincinnati, was platted about the year 1812 by Colonel James Poage of Virginia. It continued to thrive in a mild way; twenty years after Woods's visit the inhabitants numbered about seven hundred.—Ed.

116 For a brief account of Augusta, see Flint's Letters, volume ix of our series, note 69.—Ed.

117 On the founding of New Richmond, consult Flint's Letters, volume ix of our series, note 70.—Ed.

118 This was Columbia, not Columbus. It was the first settlement in the Symmes Purchase, Major Stiles of Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and twenty-five others having established a blockhouse there in 1789. For several years it rivalled Cincinnati in importance.—Ed.

119 Cincinnati was no longer the capital. Columbus, then a complete wilderness, was in 1812 made the capital by legislative enactment. For the early history of Cincinnati, see Cuming's Tour, volume iv of our series, note 166.—Ed.

120 Newport was platted by the proprietor, General James Taylor, about 1791, and upon the organization of Campbell County was incorporated (1795) and made the county seat. In 1803 the United States government established an arsenal at the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers; it consisted of a two-story brick armory, a magazine, and wooden barracks sufficient for the reception of two or three regiments, the whole being enclosed with a stockade. General Taylor emigrated to Kentucky (1791) from Caroline County, Virginia. In the War of 1812-15, he was quartermaster-general of the Northwestern army, and was present with Hull at the surrender of Detroit, but refused to assist in drawing up the articles of capitulation.

Until 1815, the mouth of the Licking below Newport was known as Kennedy's Ferry. In that year Covington was established by legislative enactment, and named in honor of General Covington.—Ed.

121 The present site of Petersburg, twenty-two miles below Covington, was for many years known as Tanner's Station, being settled by and named after Reverend John Tanner, the first Baptist preacher resident in that part of Kentucky. It has not become a place of any size or importance.—Ed.

122 For the Swiss settlement at Vevay, see Bradbury's Travels, volume v of our series, note 164.—Ed.

123 Port William, now Carrollton, is situated at the mouth of the Kentucky River. In 1789-90, General Scott built a blockhouse at that point, which was occupied until 1792, when the town of Port William was laid out.—Ed.

124 For the early history of Madison, Indiana, see Flint's Letters, volume ix of our series, note 128.—Ed.

125 Consult Croghan's Journals, in volume i of our series, note 106, for the history of Louisville.—Ed.

126 A brief account of Jeffersonville may be found in Flint's Letters, volume ix of our series, note 80.—Ed.

127 For the early history of Shippingport, consult Cuming's Tour, volume iv of our series, note 171.—Ed.

128 A note on the settlement of New Albany is given in Hulme's Journal, ante, note 15.—Ed.

129 Salt River, Kentucky, rises in Mercer County, and flowing northward and then westward, enters the Ohio at West Point, twenty miles below Louisville. Fifteen miles from its mouth, it receives a branch nearly as large as itself, called the Rolling Fork.—Ed.

130 This town, a hundred miles below Louisville, was settled in 1808 by two pioneers named William Taylor and Joseph Wright. For many years it was the seat of Perry County, but in half a century did not acquire more than two hundred inhabitants.—Ed.

131 Anderson's Creek, rising in Crawford County, serves in the latter part of its course as the dividing line between Spencer and Perry counties. In high water it is navigable for flatboats for about thirty miles. Thomas Lincoln came with his family to Anderson's Creek in 1815, and with the help of Abraham ran a ferry until the fall of 1817.

Troy, near the mouth of the creek, was laid out in 1818.—Ed.

132 As Woods intimates, Rockport, known also as Hanging Rock, received its name from an immense boulder which projected into the Ohio, since removed as an impediment to navigation. The settlement of Rockport began about 1808, and it is now the seat of Spencer County, and the only Indiana town which Woods has mentioned for some pages past, which is of any importance at the present time.—Ed.

133 For the history of Evansville, see Hulme's Journal, ante, note 16.—Ed.

134 See ante, note 2. Saundersville, which was platted by John Ingle, did not contain an inhabitant by 1830. Inglefield now occupies the same site.—Ed.

135 A brief account of Hendersonville may be found in Cuming's Tour, volume iv of our series, note 175.—Ed.

136 For the Wabash River, see Croghan's Journals, volume i of our series, note 107.—Ed.

137 For a brief notice of Captain Birk, see Flower's Letters from the Illinois, ante, note 57.—Ed.

138 Pompions are pumpkins; shalots are a kind of small onion.—Ed.

139 A large pleasure-fair in the vicinity of Guildford, Surrey.—Woods.

140 Carmi is situated on the Little Wabash, about twenty miles above its mouth, and is the seat of justice for White County.—Ed.

141 This town, on the Wabash River twenty miles southwest of Vincennes, proved so unhealthful (see post, p. 328) that in 1821 the county seat was transferred to Albion.—Ed.

142 For an account of the French settlements in Illinois, see A. Michaux's Travels, volume iii of our series, notes 132-135.—Ed.

143 Setting out upon his Tippecanoe campaign (September, 1811), General Harrison advanced up the Wabash to the Wea village, now the site of Terre Haute, and there built Fort Harrison, marching thence against the Indians at the end of October. A year later, Captain Zachary Taylor, then in charge of the fort, successfully defended it against a fierce Indian attack. It was a strongly built stockade, about one hundred and fifty feet square, and was occupied as a military post until about 1822, when it was dismantled.—Ed.

144 Woods appears to have obtained his information from Cumings's Western Pilot, which, in turn, was taken from Patrick Kennedy's Journal, written in 1773 (see Flint's Letters, volume ix of our series, note 101). All these rivers are branches of the Illinois. Migne is Crooked Creek, which empties into it from the northwest; about fifteen miles farther up, Sangamon River discharges into it from the southeast; Demi Quain is Spoon River, a considerable stream one hundred and fifty miles in length, flowing southward into the Illinois, about thirty miles above the mouth of the Sangamon; Seseme Quain is probably Copperas Creek, a few miles farther up; Plein and Theakiki are the Des Plaines and Kankakee branches respectively.—Ed.

145 The Rejoicing (Rajounisance, of Arrowsmith's map, London, 1796) is apparently the Big Vermilion. The Duchatt is a small stream emptying into the Wabash a few miles below the Little Vermilion. Mascoutins is probably the present Macon Creek, which joins the Wabash midway between Vincennes and Terre Haute. The Embarras River rises near the source of the Kaskaskia, and flowing southeastward empties into the Wabash, about six miles south of Vincennes. The Editor is indebted to W. E. Henry, librarian of the Indiana State Library, for the substance of this note.—Ed.

146 See Cuming's Tour, volume iv of our series, note 108.—Ed.

147 Wayne County was formed in 1819 from the western part of Edwards County.—Ed.

148 Daniel P. Cook (1793-1827) was a native of Kentucky. He began to practice law in Kaskaskia in 1815, and three years later was appointed judge of the western district of the state. Elected to Congress in 1820, he served until 1826, when he was defeated by the Jackson party.

Elisha Kent Kane was also a lawyer of Kaskaskia, having removed thither from New York in 1814. He was appointed secretary of state (1818), and elected to the United States senate (1824). He died in Washington (1835), near the expiration of his second term.—Ed.

149 Mr. Cooke's votes, as marked above, answer to thirty-five.—Woods.

150 As in the case of Columbus and Indianapolis, the legislature fixed upon a site in the wilderness for the seat of government. Vandalia, situated on the mail route between Vincennes and St. Louis, and about seventy miles from the latter city, was laid out in 1819 under the authority of the state. It remained the capital until 1840.—Ed.

151 This was the extension of the National Road. In 1820, Congress appropriated $10,000 for laying out the road from Wheeling to a point on the Mississippi River between St. Louis and the mouth of the Illinois. Construction was begun in 1825, the road being completed to Columbus in 1833, and to the Indiana line in 1838. The last congressional appropriation was made in the last-mentioned year; when Indiana and Illinois received the road from the government it was not finished, although graded and bridged as far as Vandalia. In the former state it was completed by 1850, but was never completed in the latter.—Ed.

152 Golconda is a small town on Lusk Creek, about eight miles above the mouth of the Ohio.

America, a few miles farther up the Ohio, was laid out (1818) by a land company. Its situation back from the river proved to be a disadvantage instead of an advantage. In 1821 the Ohio was unusually low and boats could not land near the settlement; this, together with an epidemic of cholera which occurred the same year, dealt a death blow to the prospects of the place.

For Edwardsville, see Flint's Letters, volume ix of our series, note 92.—Ed.

153 Oxford seems to have passed out of existence. Carlyle was platted as a town site in 1818, and incorporated the following year. It was advantageously located, being on the Vincennes-St. Louis road and on the Vandalia-Shawneetown road. It is now the seat of justice for Clinton County.—Ed.

154 This act was approved April 24, 1820. See Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 1st session, p. 2578.—Ed.

155 This must be a misprint. Woods probably means the treaty signed by the Kickapoo Indians at Edwardsville, July 20, 1819, and by the Vermilion Kickapoo at Fort Harrison, August 30, 1819. The Indians ceded all lands east of the Illinois River lying between the Kankakee River on the north and a line drawn across the state from the mouth of the Illinois on the south.—Ed.