mental to the happiness of both, the cause of uncounted crimes. Yet I think that some have urged their defensive character too far-without a proper respect for the rights and feelings of others, whose business it is also [to] judge on the matter, as applicable to an extension of the evil. But we advocated the compromise, as fixing certain points for the future government of all the parties concerned; believing that the moral and political evil of spreading slavery over Missouri and even in Arkansaw, was not greater than that which might have arisen from restriction, though to restrict was right in itself. The harmony of the union, and the peace and prosperity of the white population, most excited our sympathies. We did not fear the dreadful things which some silly folks talked of, but apprehended geographical oppositions which might lead to the worst of calamities. We had no pleasant feeling on the compromise, for bad was the best that could be done. Nevertheless, we hoped that the contest was at an end, and that things would settle down and adopt [adapt] themselves to the agreement which necessity imposed.

Thus situated, it was with no little concern that we saw in the constitution which Missouri was about to offer for the sanction of congress, new causes of collision. The objectionable provisions cannot be of any use to the new state, as to the things which they aim at. We are willing to believe that they were unthinkingly introduced; but they have the appearance of braving opposition, and of manifesting a spirit which the meekest man feels disposed to resist to say nothing of one of them as being contrary to the constitution of the United States—that to prevent the emigration and settlement of free blacks and mulattoes. It appears that some of the former and a number of the latter are entitled to bounty lands, for services rendered in the late war: if their lots should be in Missouri, it is idle to pretend they may not settle upon and enjoy them, if they please. But we are not disposed to examine the subject in detail the principle adopted by the convention of Missouri, to give our opinion of it in a few words, is destructive of the federative character of our great compact, and may just as well apply to the exclusion of persons with black hair or blue eyes; and no one can seriously apprehend injury from the emigration of free people of color to a slaveholding state. It would be about as reasonable as to expect that the Mississippi will discharge her waters into the lakes, instead of naturally to disembogue them into the Gulf of Mexico. The result, in the house of representatives, was anticipated; but we did think that both houses, with large majorities, would have so decided, as to striking out the offen

sive provisions, for the sake of harmony, in the spirit of the compromise: all would then have been well, and a great deal of time, trouble and anxiety saved. We totally reject the idea that any thing which it is the business of congress to do, should be left to the judiciary or any other power. With due deference to the eminent gentleman who proposed it, we regret that he did it; for had his plan been adopted, who can tell where the precedent would have stopped? But we think it more strange that, because Missouri was empowered to make a constitution, it should be argued that congress was bound to accept it. Why, then, are constitutions offered, referred to committees, and sanctioned by both houses? All this is mere mummery, if they are to be accepted at any rate-as contended for by some of the members. No one wishes harm to the people of Missouri - they are of our own kindred and lineage; they may have urged their claims imprudently, and, in our belief, have mistaken their true interests - but they have a right to judge for themselves; and if that judgment is repugnant to the general opinion or principle on the matter, they will yield it, we trust, to the law, and respect the majority.

We had written thus far when we first saw the resolution offered by Mr. Eustis, in the house of representatives, on Tuesday last ... It precisely meets our wishes, so far as it goes, and may accomplish all that either party is really just now disposed to contend for. The antirestriction members, as well as others, regretted the existence of certain clauses in the constitution of Missouri, as unnecessary, and calculated only to create doubts and excite opposition. Let them be expunged by the unanimous voice of congress, and then we shall hope for an obliteration of the feelings which this unfortunate controversy has given birth to, and that all will be willing to disavow sectional interests within the body of the republic; the peace and p[r]osperity of which can only be maintained by a spirit of forbearance and moderation:- and, if we must differ in opinion, let us differ like rational beings, and grant to others the rights which we assume for ourselves, always recollecting that the fairly expressed will of the majority must govern.

H[ezekiah] Niles, editor, Niles' Weekly Register, December 23, 1820 (Baltimore), XIX, 265–266.

CHAPTER XXI-THE GREAT WEST

137. Voyage down the Ohio (1808)

BY HENRY M. BRACKENRIDGE (1834)

Brackenridge was the son of Hugh H. Brackenridge (see No. 70 above). He studied law and became a prominent jurist, first as a district judge in Louisiana, and afterwards as a United States judge in Florida. His later life was devoted to literature. - Bibliography: James H. Perkins, Annals of the West, xviii-xx.

WITH

western waters.

WITH the reader's permission, I will now change the scene to the banks of the Monongahela at Pittsburgh-time, a fine morning in April. The shore is lined with the various kinds of keels, flat bottoms, or arks, of all the sizes and forms used in the growing trade of the west, and a bustling set of people playing different parts; but no Leviathan steamboats are seen proudly asserting their conquest over the The object to which our attention will be more immediately attracted, is a keel about ten or fifteen tons burthen, with a sort of deck at each end, affording a cabin sufficiently roomy for two men to lie under by coiling themselves up. Both bow and stern were pointed alike, and distinguished only by the bow rope on the one, and the long tail of a steering oar on the other. The open space amid ships, was occupied by barrels, bales and castings, part on freight, and part owned by the captain, as he of the steering oar is usually denominated. The captain, a swarthy, ill looking man of forty, inclining to fat, dressed in a leathern doublet, blue broadcloth pantaloons, and Suwarrow boots, gave the word to push off, which was promptly obeyed by Ralph Higginbotham, son of the 'Squire' up the Monongahela, (so justices of the peace are styled in Pennsylvania) and Bill Hulings, neither the first nor the last of the boatmen.' It might be easily seen, that this was the first voyage of Ralph, a well-set, broad-shouldered little fellow, with watch in fob, and dressed in home-made cloth, cut out and made up by his good mother, in burlesque of the mode which had prevailed in town a few years before. As this was a voyage of experience, to whet his faculties, so that he might take the management of a boat himself in due time,

he was to work his passage; which was not the case with Bill, in his tow shirt and trowsers, and handkerchief on his head, who had performed many such voyages, and who, in consequence, now appointed himself captain of the forecastle, seized a pole, bade Ralph do the same, and in a moment the boat was adrift in the current. . . .

The river was in fine order for navigation; the sky unclouded blue; winter had passed off, and 'recalled his ruffian blasts,' yet the forests still appeared naked and leafless. As we glided swiftly along, my companion, to whom every thing was new and striking, amused me by his remarks, while I endeavoured to catch some recollection of my first voyage; but excepting Legionville, the camp of General Wayne in 1792, I saw nothing I could remember. In place of the interminable wilderness, cultivated spots, cottages and farms, pleasantly situated, frequently attracted our attention. Not thinking it prudent, in this part of the river to float during the night, it was resolved to encamp; which was accordingly done, and fire kindled in order to prepare our evening meal. . . .

Before the dawn of day the boat was again adrift, and before evening we reached the town of Wheeling. The intermediate space between this place and Pittsburgh will long continue to be the wildest and rudest part of the Ohio. The hills are high and steep, the river bottom comparatively narrow, and the river itself rapid and tortuous. . . .

From Wheeling, the river and its borders undergo an almost instantaneous change. The hills rapidly subside, the flat lands become wider, the current of the river more gentle and regular, and cultivation smiles on its banks. Peace, civilization, and the cheerful sound of the human voice, have taken the place of the frightful savage wilderness, of the nightly howling of the wolf, and the mid-day terrors of the Indian scalping knife. . . .

The borders of the river had already put on the livery of Robin Hood before we arrived at Marietta, a pretty town, situated on a point at the mouth of the Muskingum; and at this time one of the most important on the Ohio. It was a handsome town when I first saw it, but it had much improved both in the style and number of its buildings. Some ten or twelve miles below this, we came in sight of the island of Blennerhasset. There was a blue mist upon the waters and on the land, softening the scene into the most mellow landscape, but either bank of the river was destitute of any striking natural objects, there being neither rocks nor hills: the giant sycamore and sugar trees may be considered

exceptions to my remark.

The island and its embellishments were seen to the greatest advantage. The clean, naked, pebbly beach divided the stream in nearly equal parts; and beyond it the elegant mansion, painted white, was half hidden among the trees, partly native, which had submitted to the hand of art, and partly exotic, such as the Lombardy poplar and weeping willow. The large gateway and the tasteful shrubbery heightened the scene, looking like what the islands of the Ohio may be a century hence. It looked more like a vision of the future, than a real landscape in the yet infant west. Such improvements are too far in advance of the state of society; they are costly to the owner, because they add nothing to the intrinsic value, and wealth is yet too scarce to pay so high for the gratifications of taste and the love of elegance. The fifty thousand dollars expended on this property, would not have produced more than two or three thousand on the sale of it, unless by mere accident some other person of wealth happened to come, who was possessed of the same fancy, and was equally regardless of calculation. It was said by a witness, on the trial of Burr, who was questioned as to the character of Blennerhasset, 'that he had every kind of sense but common sense.' The remark is true so far, that he had not directed his attention sufficiently to the business of common life; and having formed his habits in a country which had already attained the highest degree of advancement in social polish and refinement, with aristocratic feelings at war with his democratic opinions, he did not correctly estimate the difference of places and persons. The unfortunate family had left the place where they had passed several years in pursuit of happiness by embellishing nature, having been disappointed in finding it in the taste and polish and refinement of society, at least in accordance with their notions and preconceived opinions. . . . The situation of the accomplished pair was not that of Adam and Eve in Paradise, nor was Burr a Satan as to them. He found them discontented; unpleasant feelings had been experienced by them, and disappointment had ensued. The error was in their own minds; in their preconceived notions of the people and country of America, and in their uncongenial habits and ideas.

The next morning we passed Letart's Falls, having passed several villages during the night, and also some considerable streams, and among others, that one which bears

'The name so shocking

Of Hock-Hock-Hocking.'