THE DUKE OF LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT.

1796.

THE Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt was born January 11, 1747, and died in 1827. He was in this country, of which he made a thorough investigation, during the years 1795, 1796 and 1797, having been obliged to quit France in 1792 by reason of the insanities of the Revolution. It is stated that his education was neglected. He was early in the army, and was in England in 1769. On his return from England he made a practical application of the methods of agriculture he had studied in that country. He set up a model farm on his estate, and established a school of arts and trades for the sons of soldiers, which, in 1788, numbered 130 students. It was he who made the answer to Louis XVI, “No, sire, it is Revolution,” when the King observed, “This seems to be a revolt.” He turned over a part of his fortune to the King. From 1792 to 1795, and after his return from America, he was in England, being much with Arthur Young, the famous agriculturist. Returning to France in 1799, he continued his scientific and philanthropic works, and (as much as was possible) was active in public affairs. He was the organizer of the first savings bank.

The two large volumes of travels in this country by the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt were translated, and published at London in 1799. These volumes are a record, and a summary of statistics for that period of the history of this country such as are not to be found elsewhere, the work of a man who had an eye for both the intimate and the exterior concerns of the State. France was a volcano in those years, and the observer was glad to give an undivided attention to the facts of the new country across the seas. Below are a few statements bearing on Virginia, taken from the second volume of this remarkable book. The traveler came by ship, three days from Charleston to Norfolk, landing May 29th [1796].

“Norfolk is built on Elizabeth River, at nine miles from the spot where it discharges its waters into the bay. In the intervening space there are few houses. An almost uninterrupted succession of pines are the only object which meets the traveler’s eye. Erancy Island lies nearly in the middle of the river at a short distance above its mouth. Two points of land, which approach within a quarter of a mile of each other in front of Norfolk, are strengthened with forts which are capable of successfully defending the entrance. Portsmouth, a small assemblage of houses on the opposite side of the river, did not share in the conflagration of Norfolk. From its situation it seemed entitled to expect all the commerce of Elizabeth River; at its quays the greatest depth of water is found. But at the conclusion of the peace, the inhabitants, being incensed against the English, refused to admit any merchant of that nation, or any newcomer whose political principles were liable to suspicion. The consequence has been that the inhabitants have removed to the opposite side; that Norfolk has been rebuilt, and that its trade is twenty times more considerable than that of Portsmouth.

“At the close of the year eighty-three there were not yet twelve houses rebuilt at Norfolk. At present the number is between 700 and 800. Last year the yellow fever is said to have carried off 500 persons from a population of 4,000. The inhabitants of Norfolk, even those among them who are the most opulent, fancy that the use of wine and strong liquors furnishes them with a preservative. Previous to the war the town is said to have contained 8,000 inhabitants. Norfolk carries on a considerable trade with Europe, the Antilles, and the Northern States. Her exports are wheat, flour, Indian corn, timber of every kind, particularly planks, staves and shingles; salt meat and fish, iron, lead, flaxseed, tobacco, tar, turpentine, hemp. All these articles are the produce of Virginia, or of North Carolina, which latter State, having no seaports, or none that are good, makes her exportations principally through those of Virginia. This port almost singly carries on all the commerce of that part of Virginia which lies south of the Rappahannoc, and of North Carolina far beyond the Roanoke. They are at present forming a canal which, passing through the Dismal Swamp, is to unite the waters of the south branch of Elizabeth River, or rather of Deep Creek, with Albemarle Sound. What must appear very surprising is that for this canal, which already seems in such a state of forwardness, no levels have been taken. It is thus almost all the public works are carried on in America, where there is a total want of men of talents in the arts, and where so many able men, who are perhaps at this moment unemployed in Europe, might to a certainty make their fortunes at the same time that they were rendering essential service to the country.

“The European demand has within four years more than doubled the value of the exports from Norfolk. A barrel of flour, whose medium value in 1791 was $5.55, rose in 1795 to $9.35; and Indian corn was at 37 cents the bushel in 1791, at 54 in 1792, and at 66 in 1795. Exclusive of the flour exported from Norfolk, there is drawn from the State, through that and other ports, a great quantity of wheat, which is taken by the merchants of Philadelphia and New York, or the millers of Brandywine, who manufacture it into flour, which they export to Europe. Good mills are not very common in Virginia. The exportation of tobacco from Norfolk has by the diminution of the culture of that article in Virginia, been reduced above one-third within the last five years. The medium rate of house rent at Norfolk is $230. Many English commercial houses are established at Norfolk. This year England procured from Virginia a number of horses to mount the cavalry, which she proposes to send to the French islands. Of 400 horses already shipped off, only 150 lived to reach the place of their destination.“Agriculture can hardly be said to exist in Norfolk County or in that of Princess Ann. The landed property is much divided, and the inhabitants devote themselves rather to the selling of timber than to the cultivation of the soil. In all these parts land is sold at from $6 to $7 per acre; and often the value of the timber, which it offers for the axe, amounts to four or five times the price of the original purchase. From eighty to ninety vessels of different dimensions are annually built at Norfolk. The price of building is, for the hull on coming from the hands of the carpenter, $24 per ton for those above 120 tons. Ready for sea, they cost from $47 to $50 per ton. It was intended that Norfolk should build one of the six frigates of which the United States had determined to compose their marine. That which was to have been built at Norfolk was among the number countermanded: it was begun at Gosport, where there are dock yards for the construction of the largest vessels. The communication between Norfolk and Portsmouth is continual: it is carried on by six rowboats belonging to a company, and by three scows, in which horses and carriages are conveniently ferried over. The fare for each passenger is one-sixteenth of a dollar; but on paying $6 a person may become free of the passage for twelve months. To the port of Norfolk, above any other in the United States, came the greatest number of colonists escaped from Saint Domingo. Private subscriptions raised in all the towns of Virginia, together with further sums voted by the State Legislature and by Congress, afforded the unfortunate French incontestable proofs of the benevolence and generosity of the Americans. Major William Lindsey, commissioner of the Custom House, is, of all the inhabitants of Norfolk, the individual with whom I have the most particular reason to be satisfied. He is a man recommended by simplicity of manners and goodness of heart, and is held in universal esteem. I am profoundly indebted to him for information on a variety of subjects.

“A wherry, employed in transporting the mail from Norfolk to Hampton, whence it is forwarded by land to Richmond, is the usual conveyance for passengers who intend to pursue that route. In good weather the passage is performed in two hours: we were ten hours in crossing for want of wind. The Richmond mail arrives at Hampton, an inconsiderable village, three times a week. Formerly there was a custom house established here. In 1795 this was united with that of Norfolk. The monument voted by Congress for erection at York Town is not even yet begun. Such negligence is inconceivable, shameful and unaccountable. On the opposite side of the river from York Town, in Gloucester County, are annually built a considerable number of vessels. The highest rents at York Town are from $80 to $100. Flour, an article which it is difficult to procure, costs at present $15. From York Town to Williamsburg land is sold at $4 or $5 the acre. The students at the college in Williamsburg pay $14 to each professor whose course of lessons they attend. Their board and lodging cost them from $100 to $120. The lands about Williamsburg yield from eight to twelve bushels of wheat per acre, or from twelve to fourteen of Indian corn. Those few spots that are manured with dung produce double that quantity. Crowded in the stage by ten passengers and their baggage, we did not arrive at Richmond before 11 o’clock at night, though we had set out from Williamsburg at 8 in the morning; the rain, which has been abundant during the last two days, having rendered the roads very bad.

“The position of Richmond is truly agreeable. On the opposite side of the river the country rises in a gentle aclivity; and the little, but well-built town of Manchester, environed by cultivated fields, which are ornamented by an infinite number of trees and dotted with scattered houses, embellishes the sweet, variegated, agreeable and romantic perspective. This town has prodigiously increased, but within the last two or three years it has remained stationary. A few years back a conflagration consumed almost all the lower part of the town. At present there are few wooden houses at Richmond. The trade of this town consists in the purchase of the country productions, and in selling at second-hand the articles of domestic consumption, which are generally procured from England. The number of merchants who carry on a direct commerce with Europe is inconsiderable. They keep their ships at Norfolk, and send down the produce of the country in smaller vessels. The commission trade may be considered as the real business of the place. It is from the merchants of Richmond or Petersburg that those of Norfolk most commonly purchase the grain, flour and tobacco which the latter export. The country produce is paid for by the merchants in ready money or at short credit; they even frequently obtain it on cheaper terms by furnishing the planters with an advance of money on their crop. The Richmond merchants supply all the stores through an extensive tract of back country. As they have a very long credit from England, they can allow a similar indulgence of six, nine or twelve months to the shop-keepers whom they supply. All the merchants deal in bills of exchange on Europe.

“The falls of James River, which obstructed its navigation from the distance of seven miles above Richmond, heretofore imposed the necessity of employing land carriage for that space. At present a canal, running parallel with the course of the river for those seven miles, connects the communication by water, and opens a navigation which extends without interruption 200 miles above Richmond. I have seen one of the two mills at Richmond. It stands below the falls of the river, receives a great power of water, and turns six pair of stones. It is a fine mill, and unites the advantages of all the new inventions: the cogs of the wheels are clumsily executed. It costs a yearly rent of near $6,000 to Monsieur Chevalier, a Frenchman from Rochefort, heretofore director of the French paquets to America, and now settled in Virginia. Flour mills are more numerous at Petersburg than at Richmond, and the mills there are also upon a good construction. The exportations of Petersburg are more considerable than those of Richmond, although generally speaking, the produce it receives is inferior in quality. Tobacco, for instance, which sells at Richmond for $6 or $7 the hundred weight, does not fetch quite $5 at Petersburg. City Point, or Bermuda Hundred, is the spot where the custom house is established for these two places. At half a mile from the custom house stands the habitation of Mr. D. Randolph, who is fully entitled to the reputation which he enjoys of being the best farmer in the whole country.

“The inspection of tobacco in Virginia, and especially on James River, is esteemed to be conducted with a degree of exactness and severity, which contributes as much as the real superiority of the article itself to keep up its price in the market. The hogsheads are broken at the warehouse, and examined in every direction and in every part. The tobacco is then repacked in its hogshead, which is branded with a hot iron, marking the place of inspection and the quality of the contents. The planter receives a certificate of the particulars. It is by selling this ‘tobacconote’ to the merchant that the planter sells his tobacco. The civil laws of Virginia have struck me as wisely ordained. The State of Virginia has no public debt, except $100,000, in which she was found debtor to the Union on the settlement of the accounts of the States with the general government; and a claim made on the part of France for arms and military stores furnished during the war. From the condition of the finances of the State of Virginia it follows that the taxes are by no means heavy. The counties impose no taxes, unless when they have bridges, prisons or courthouses to build. The slave laws are much milder here than in any of the other countries through which I have hitherto traveled.

“On the 20th of June Mr. Guillemard and myself set out for the mountains; Monticello, the habitation of Mr. Jefferson, was the object of this part of our journey. Messrs. Graham & Havens, merchants of Richmond, and owners of a coal mine at Dover, near by, were so kind as to conduct us thither. This mine is scarcely wrought. There is not one person throughout America versed in the art of working mines. The country between Dover and Goochland Courthouse, where we stopped at night, is more variegated than before; you find there more heights, and some fine prospects, especially on Mount Pleasant, which commands a wide extensive vale entirely cleared, and full of houses and clumps of trees. This day was a court day at Goochland. It was near 9 o’clock at night when I arrived. At the inn the company easily discerned that I was a Frenchman. There arrived a large bowl of grog, and we drank one after another, toasting the French, France, America, Virginia, and M. de la Fayette, whose name they mentioned with enthusiasm. In spite of my little disposition for drinking, I was obliged two or three times to drink in my turn, for it was absolutely necessary to empty the bowl. It was with great difficulty I prevented the arrival of a second. The road grows duller after you leave Goochland Courthouse. The plantations become constantly less frequent and less extensive. Inns are very scarce on this road; the next is nearly seventeen miles distant from that where we passed the night. I went a mile farther on, to stop at one which I knew was kept by a Frenchman. After having spent nearly the whole day there, we went ten miles farther on to an ordinary, where we stopped for the night, and the next day proceeded to Monticello.

“Mr. Jefferson’s house commands one of the most extensive prospects you can meet with; when finished by his new plan, it will certainly deserve to be ranked with the most pleasant mansions in France or England. He has divided all his land under culture into four farms, and every farm into seven fields of forty acres. His system of rotation embraces seven years. Mr. Jefferson possesses one of those excellent threshing machines, which a few years since were invented in Scotland. He has a drilling machine, invented in his own neighborhood. Mr. Jefferson, in common with all landholders in America, imagines that his habitation is more healthy than any other; that it is as healthful as any in the finest parts of France. In private life Mr. Jefferson displays a mild, easy, and obliging manner, though somewhat cold and reserved; he possesses a stock of information not inferior to that of any other man. His daughters have been educated in France, where they became acquainted with my family. Fifteen hundred leagues from our native country, in another world, and frequently given up to melancholy, we fancy ourselves restored to existence when we hear our family and our friends mentioned by persons who have known them.

“We arrived at Staunton by the road through Rockfish Gap. The most frequented road to the Sweet, Warm and Hot Springs at Greenbriar, and from thence to Kentucky, passes through Staunton. Eight inns are established there, three of which are large. Hemp, which grows very fine, is cultivated throughout the whole of this country. Wheat in this region is mowed with the sickle, as in Europe, and is infected with the rot. On the other side of the Blue Mountains they mow with the scythe. From Staunton we passed by Keyssel Town, Newmarket, Strasburgh (formerly called Stover’s Town), and Newtown, to Winchester. Winchester sends to Alexandria the whole produce of the upper country, and draws from Baltimore, but especially from Philadelphia, all sorts of dry goods. Upwards of thirty well-stocked stores, or shops, have been opened at Winchester. The town contains ten or twelve inns, large and small, which are often full. In the course of last year upwards of 4,000 persons passed through the place, going to settle in Tennessee or Kentucky. Landed property in the vicinity of Charlestown is more divided, perhaps, than in any other part of Virginia. Very few of the planters possess more than 2,000 acres of land, and few even so much. Alexandria is, beyond all comparison, the handsomest town in Virginia, and, indeed, is among the finest in the United States. Alexandria carries on a constant trade with the West India Islands, and also some with Europe. There is a bank at Alexandria, the only one in Virginia. The establishment of a bank at Richmond was authorized by the Legislature of Virginia in December, 1792, but the subscriptions not filling it does not exist.[L]

“The roads are in general good throughout this State; and although the inns are sometimes bad, yet upon the whole they are better than in the other States. Those in the back country, where I have traveled, are preferable to the inns in many of the most inhabited parts of New England.”

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