""Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print: BYRON. THE Reader will not, I trust, conclude from my having adopted the above motto, that I am either so weak as to have no object in offering this little volume to the world, beyond the gratification of my own vanity, or altogether so dishonest as to seek the patronage of the public to a work, which, with knowledge afore-thought, I am sensible has "nothing in it" that can arrest the attention or engage the understanding. My design, on the contrary, is to show that I am not ignorant of the risk which writers unknown to fame always incur, of having the double charge of vanity and inefficiency brought against them by a criticising public. In perusing the incidents related, and the scenes described, as they came under observation during my visit to the New World, it will not be difficult for the discerning critic to recognise less of the character of the bookmaker and more of the ebullition of the painter the enthusiastic admirer of all that is glorious in the works of nature-than he has been accustomed to meet with in books of this description. My desire is to give a "plain unvarnished tale," speaking at all times with honest truth, so that, when the winter shall succeed to the summer and autumn of life, 66 When burnish'd locks are grey, my Thinned by many a toil-spent day," the re-perusal of these pages may be accomplished with the same honest satisfaction, the same purity of feeling, as originally suggested their publication; and, when it is admitted that the following "glimpse," with the illustrations, were primarily intended for the eye of friendship, only, it may not be considered too much, in bespeaking for them the favour of the general reader, to express a hope that the critic may be induced to spare his lash. London, January, 1853. EDMUND PATTEN. A GLIMPSE AT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, &c. CHAPTER I. Departure from Portsmouth by the American Liner, Prince Albert.-Emigrants on Board.-Off Banks of Newfoundland after contrary Winds.—Pleasures and Discomforts on Board Ship.-Contemplations at Sea.Doings on Board an Emigrant Ship amongst the Passengers, and Description of them.-Character of the Ship and her Crew-French and German Revolutionary Passengers on Board.-Rules, Regulations, and Funds for Emigrants.-Contrary Winds and Prolonged Voyage. Gulf Stream and Icebergs. Dangers of Collision.-Provisions becoming scarce.-Quarrels amongst the Germans.-Sketches.Music.-No Tobacco nor Snuff left.--Thieves in the Ship-Two Births-the Mate turned Doctor.-Approaching Land.-The Pilot.-Tug Boat engaged. Description of Entrance into New York-PierLanding on Terra Firma.-Emigrant Ships, beware of them.-Character of the Captain and Steward. ON Tuesday, the 22nd June, 1852, that wellknown personage " Boots," of the Quebec Hotel, Portsmouth, gave a loud rap at door No. 5, to announce to me the arrival at Spithead of the American Liner, "Prince Albert," 1500 tons register. One of these noble ships leaves the port of London weekly; they are fitted up to carry several hundred emigrants, who are glad to leave Europe,in the hope of improving their condition in the New World, which offers a fair prospect to clever mechanics, agriculturists and others able to work, who have seldom had cause to repent bidding farewell to "Fatherland," especially those having large families to settle in life. By these means, advantages, reciprocal to both countries, are obtained, inasmuch as the present over-populated state of Europe reduces the price of labour below a just remunerative scale; emigration to a splendid new country like America, with its great variety of climate, magnificent rivers, lakes and canals, gradually mitigates the evils at home, whilst it supplies the wants of a country which, under whatever form of government, may be fairly designated the "land of promise." On the “Prince Albert" I found a motley group, indeed!-what Cobbett, the immortal, would call the "great unwashed;" from the forecastle to the poop great was the variety of the human form divine, in number upwards of three hundred and fifty; all of us well prepared to entrust our fates to the mighty deep, and to cross the once dreaded waste of waters, the Atlantic, that mighty waste, which only three hundred years since was considered beyond the pale of humanity, when the great Columbus, like the magician of old, showed to wondering Europe a new world, in extent almost too marvellous to contemplate! Westerly winds generally prevail in the At lantic during three-fourths of the year, and it was not until the middle of July that we found ourselves on the banks of Newfoundland, enveloped in fog and mist, the thermometer standing at 50°, which made us glad to take to our great coats, and we are informed that some four weeks may still elapse ere we can expect to reach our destination. The pleasures or discomforts of a sea voyage vary much, according to the weather, the sort of society on board, and the character of the ship and her officers; still, if there be nothing to complain of on these essential points, the monotony and ennui that frequently overcome a landsman, are, per se, sufficiently distressing. However, there is much to compensate for all this: for example, when sailing with a favourable wind and genial weather, to be on deck watching each object around you, the noble ship ploughing its way, gracefully as the swan, with wings expanded, like, indeed, "a thing of life;" then, again, on a clear moonlight night, dashing through the sparkling brine, vomiting forth phosphoric brilliants, when "The silver moon unclouded Holds her way through skies Where, methinks, I could count What feeling can be more benign than the con templation of innumerable stars and planets; the |