Part 20
After dinner another orator took his place. The inclosure was again filled with the penitent, or with others wishing to become so, and a vast congregation arranged themselves on their seats in the rear. A most pathetic prayer was poured forth, and a profound silence reigned over all the camp, except the fenced inclosure, from whence a low hollow murmuring sound issued. Now and then, _Amen_ was articulated in a pitiful and indistinct tone of voice. You have seen a menagerie of wild animals on a journey, and have perhaps heard the king of beasts, and other powerful quadrupeds, excited to grumbling by the jolting of the waggon. Probably you will call this a rude simile; but it is the most accurate that I can think of. Sermon commenced. The preacher announced his determination of discontinuing his labours in this part of the world, and leaving his dear brethren for ever. He addressed the old men present, telling them that they and he must soon be removed from this mortal state of existence, and that the melancholy reflection arose in his mind,--“_What will become of the church when we are dead and gone?_”--A loud response of groaning and howling was sounded by the aged in the inclosure, and throughout the congregation. He next noticed that he saw a multitude of young men before him, and, addressing himself to them, said, “I trust in _God_, that many of you will be _now_ converted, and will become the _preachers_ and the pious Christians of after days.”--The clamour now thickened, for young and old shouted together. Turning his eyes toward the female side of the fence, he continued, “And you, my {234} dear sisters.”--What he had farther to say to the future “nursing mothers of the church,” could not be heard, for the burst of acclamation, on their part, completely prevented his voice from being heard, on which account he withdrew; and a tune was struck up and sung with grand enthusiasm. The worship now proceeded with a new energy; the prompter in the pulpit had succeeded in giving it an impulse, and the music was sufficient to preserve emotion. The inclosure was so much crowded that its inmates had not the liberty of lateral motion, but were literally hobbling _en masse_. My attention was particularly directed to a girl of about twelve years of age, who while standing could not be seen over her taller neighbours; but at every leap she was conspicuous above them. The velocity of every plunge made her long loose hair flirt up as if a handkerchief were held by one of its corners and twitched violently. Another female, who had arrived at womanhood, was so much overcome that she was held up to the breeze by two persons who went to her relief. I never before saw such exhaustion. The vertebral column was completely pliant, her body, her neck, and her extended arms, bent in every direction successively. It would be impossible to describe the diversity of cases; they were not now confined within the fence, but were numerous among the people without. Only a small proportion of them could fall within the observation of any one bystander. The scene was to me equally novel and curious.
About dusk I retired several hundred yards into the woods to enjoy the distant effect of the meeting. Female voices were mournfully predominant, and my imagination figured to me a multitude of mothers, widows, and sisters, giving the {235} first vent to their grief, in bewailing the loss of a male population, by war, shipwreck, or some other great catastrophe.
It had been thought proper to place sentinels without the camp. Females were not allowed to pass out into the woods after dark. Spirituous liquors were not permitted to be sold in the neighbourhood.
Large fires of timber were kindled, which cast a new lustre on every object. The white tents gleamed in the glare. Over them the dusky woods formed a most romantic gloom, only the tall trunks of the front rank were distinctly visible, and these seemed so many members of a lofty colonnade. The illuminated camp lay on a declivity, and exposed a scene that suggested to my mind the moonlight gambols of beings known to us only through the fictions of credulous ages. The greatest turmoil prevailed within the fence, where the inmates were leaping and hobbling together with upward looks and extended arms. Around this busy mass, the crowd formed a thicker ring than the famous Macedonian phalanx; and among them, a mixture of the exercised were interspersed. Most faces were turned inward to gaze on the grand exhibition, the rear ranks on tip-toe, to see over those in front of them, and not a few mounted on the log-seats, to have a more commanding view of the show. People were constantly passing out and into the ring in brisk motion, so that the white drapery of females, and the darker apparel of the men were alternately vanishing and reappearing in the most elegant confusion. The sublimity of the music served to give an enchanting effect to the whole. My mind involuntarily reverted to the leading feature of the tale of Alloway Kirk: {236}
“Warlocks and witches in a dance;
Where Tam o’Shanter
----Stood like ane bewitch’d, And thought his very een enrich’d.”
Late in the evening a man detached himself from the crowd, walking rapidly backward and forward, and crying aloud. His vociferations were of this kind: “I have been a great sinner, and was on the way to be damned; but am converted now, thank God--glory, glory!” He turned round on his heel occasionally, giving a loud whoop. A gentleman with whom I am well acquainted, told me that he had a conversation with a female who had just recovered from the debility of the day. She could give no other account of her sensations than that she felt so good, that she could press her very enemy to her bosom.
At half past two A.M. I got into a tent, stretched myself on the ground, and was soon lulled asleep by the music. About five I was awakened by the unceasing melody. At seven, preaching was resumed; and a lawyer residing in the neighbourhood gave a sermon of a legal character.
At nine the meeting adjourned to breakfast. A multitude of small fires being previously struck up, an extensive cooking process commenced, and the smell of bacon tainted the air. I took this opportunity of reconnoitring the evacuated field. The little inclosure, so often mentioned, is by the religious called _Altar_, and some scoffers are wicked enough to call it _Pen_, from its similarity to the structures in which hogs are confined. Its area was covered over with straw, in some parts more wetted than the litter of a stable. If it could be ascertained that all this moisture was from the tears of the penitent, the fact would be a surprising one. Waving all inquiry into this phenomenon, {237} however, the incident now recorded may be held forth as a very suitable counterpart to a wonderful story recorded by the Methodistic oracle Lorenzo Dow, of a heavy shower drenching a neighbourhood, while a small speck including a camp meeting was passed over and left entirely dry. In Lorenzo’s case, the rain fell all round the camp, but in that noticed by me, the moisture was in the very centre.
You can form no adequate idea of a camp meeting from any description which can be given of it. Any one who would have a complete view of enthusiasm can only obtain it by visiting such a meeting and seeing it himself. I should be sorry to abuse the Methodist sect by the illiberal application of such terms as fanaticism, superstition, or illusion. I have known many of them who are valuable members of society, and several who have rendered important services to their country, but have not seen any one prostrated, or even visibly affected, at the camp meeting or elsewhere, whom I knew to be men of strong minds or of much intelligence. Females seem to be more susceptible of the impressions than men are. A quality perhaps that is to be imputed to the greater sensibility of their feelings.
* * * * *
The awakenings in Kentucky that were some years ago hailed by the religious magazines of your country as the workings of the _Divine Spirit_, {238} must have been those that occurred at camp meetings of Methodists. These assemblages are now said to be on the decline in Kentucky; and when meetings were held on a grand scale there, many disorders were committed by immoral persons, tending to the great scandal of religion, and occasioning the precautionary measures already noticed in this detail.
FOOTNOTES:
[128] Madison, Jefferson County, was to Indiana what Maysville was to Kentucky and Shawneetown to Illinois, an important _entrepôt_ and place of debarkation for pioneers moving to the interior. The early railways built to Madison and Maysville, emphasize this.--ED.
[129] Flint’s generalization regarding the Southern states is too sweeping. Virginia and Kentucky were the only commonwealths in which the people voted _viva-voce_. North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana, authorized the written ballot in their constitutions, and in South Carolina it was established by statute. The use of the ballot was a custom of long standing in New England, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, dating from the middle of the seventeenth century. In New York it was introduced as an experiment in 1778, and permanently adopted ten years later. Virginia changed to the written ballot for all popular elections, in her constitution of 1864, and Kentucky in hers of 1891; so that at present it is universal in the United States.--ED.
LETTER XX
Circumstances that retard Manufacturing Industry, and Causes of its prosperity
_Jeffersonville, (Indiana,) Aug. 15, 1820._
In my letter of the 26th of June last, I mentioned that mechanics were leaving the towns of the western country, becoming cultivators in the back woods. In many cases, their former habits are such as are not well calculated to reconcile them with their new situations. It appears evident that such people, placed in the forests, cannot for some time raise a quantity of produce sufficient to procure in exchange such foreign luxuries as they formerly consumed, and such articles of imported dress as they have been accustomed to wear. The former may be easily dispensed with, but for the latter a substitute must be provided. Family manufacture is the obvious resource; but it must proceed slowly in cases where the females are not acquainted with this branch of industry, and {239} in the uncleared woods, which are not suitable pastures for sheep. It is to be regretted that manufacturing establishments are not erected, as these would not only furnish employment more congenial to the habits of artizans, and preserve to them their wonted accommodations, but would be of vast national importance under the present circumstances of America.
I trust that a brief exposition of a few of the principal causes which retard manufacturing industry, and of the means of promoting it, in this country, will not be unacceptable to you; especially as the policy of America, on that subject, affects at once the interests of both countries.
The primary obstacle that has hitherto prevented Americans from fabricating their own necessaries, from the products of their own country, is universally acknowledged to be an extensive intercourse with Great Britain, in exporting produce, and importing manufactured goods in return;--a correspondence that subjects American artisans to a competition with a country in which wages are low, labour subdivided, and in which the most stupendous mechanical apparatus is employed.
The indecision which has heretofore characterized the conduct of the United States, with regard to manufactures, seems to have originated in the diversity of interests represented in the government. The people of the southern States are, for several reasons, averse to making concessions for procuring home-made goods. They are comparatively little devoted to mechanical pursuits, and still less acquainted with the diversified operations of workshops. Their negroes are seldom trained to any thing but agricultural and menial services, and the {240} condition of these labourers is otherwise unfavourable to the acquisition of skill in new employments. This part of the country, besides, exports large quantities of cotton, tobacco, and rice, articles that do not excite the jealousy of the landed interest in Britain; but, on the contrary, almost enjoy a monopoly of the British market. It is plain that the people who possess advantages of this kind, have it more in their power to continue traffic with England than their northern neighbours, whose produce is excluded by the corn laws of that country, which have been wisely enacted.
Traders who have capital vested in ships, and in the importation of manufactured goods, form a class that is more interested in opposing an independent system than any other. Though their influence in Congress appears to be declining, some time must elapse before their funds can be directed to other pursuits.
The import duties on foreign manufactures, high as in most cases they appear to be, have not the effect of protecting American artizans from competition with those of other countries, who work cheaper. This disadvantage has been produced by the profuse issues of a paper currency. Money of this sort not taking the market abroad, it remains in the country, where it operates against industry, by augmenting the nominal price of labour. Hence people are complaining of want of employment, while they depend on the labour of foreigners for almost every artificial modification of the materials raised on their own soil, or that lie unheeded under their feet. Import duties are not to be considered merely as enactments for promoting American manufactures, for they constitute the principal source of national revenue. It might be difficult to form a conception of a revenue {241} that could be collected at less expense, or of taxation raised in a more voluntary manner on the part of the people. But as moderating these duties must unquestionably, on every occasion, be injurious to home industry, and as augmenting them to the extent of the total prohibition of foreign goods would introduce smuggling, the two objects of the system are in some degree incompatible in the present state of money affairs.
The capital vested in uncultivated lands, is a mere dormant stock which cannot be applied to such active employments as the erection of workshops, machinery, and other outlays necessary for the establishment of manufactories, unless it is replaced by other funds. Neither is it so easy to procure money as formerly by mortgaging cultivated lands, now when the prices of produce are so low.
The expedients resorted to, in keeping base money in circulation, are, with respect to manufacturing interests, as impolitic as they are, in fact, unjust. Bankers, who are virtually insolvent, are to be ranked amongst the opposers of manufacturers, as it must be impossible for such men to contemplate the reduction of the quantity of money so essential to industry, without dreading the retribution that awaits them.
The present condition of the United States is well suited to convince the people of the expediency of making exertions for supplying their own wants. Europe is no longer to be relied on as a market for their produce, and Great Britain in particular has in effect excluded the grain and the timber of the United States from her markets, and prohibits Americans from trading with her West India colonies. Since these restrictions have taken place, great quantities of British manufactures have been imported into America, and the course {242} of exchange has shown, that a large money balance has arisen in favour of Britain. Some persons interested in the traffic, infer the prosperity of the United States from their being able to pay a balance of trade. Though general doctrines of this kind are sanctioned by several great economists, on the broad principle that an exportation of money indicates a corresponding importation of property, or in other words, an accumulation of wealth; before adopting an assumption of this kind in any particular case, it may be safe to inquire whether the import consist of articles, which are permanently beneficial, or of luxuries either of the more perishable kinds, or of those more conducive to ornament than utility. With regard to the late imports of the United States, it is thought sufficient to notice that they have not furnished the ability to continue them in their usual amount.
Farther, nothing can be more plain than the necessity of abridging the quantity of paper money in circulation; and when this is done to a sufficient extent, foreigners will find it impossible to procure dollars here on terms so easy as formerly. Were money rendered so scarce, that it would command three or four times the quantity of the necessaries of life that it does now, foreign labour would be excluded, and the American labourer, with a third or a fourth part of his present nominal wages, would find the only changes in his condition to be a greater demand for his work, and an immediate enlargement of his resources. The farmer would eventually find the means of increasing his produce, and the advantage of a home market; and capitalists now engaged in foreign commerce, would find employment for their funds in manufactures. Fortunately the impolitic course latterly {243} pursued is leading to its own correction. Specie is seldom to be seen in the ordinary transactions of business, except in small worn pieces of inferior denominations, and cut money, from which a portion of the metal has been fraudulently abstracted. The deficiency in weight prevents this part of the currency from being exported in direct payments, and nothing but the recent depreciation of paper seems to prevent these remnants of silver from being disposed of as bullion.
In former times, when Europe furnished a market for almost every kind of produce, the strongest inducements to agricultural industry prevailed. The fertility and the vast extent of the United States enabled cultivators to increase in numbers, in a manner that would have produced a disagreeable competition, in a more thickly peopled country; but the recent state of commercial affairs shows that America is not wide enough to prevent the inconveniences of competition in a narrow market. The necessity of a new distribution of pursuits becomes every day more apparent, as without it the people cannot enjoy the articles of comfort and luxury hitherto imported. Some of the most popular newspapers now advocate the cause of manufactures, and several public societies take a deep interest in promoting the internal prosperity of the country. The society at Philadelphia for promoting American manufactures,[130] have in some of their papers reasoned in such a manner as to prove that they possess a comprehensive knowledge of the subject, both of its effects on national wealth, and of manufacturing business. The resolutions of the society lately instituted at Cincinnati for the promotion of agriculture, manufactures, and domestic economy, are subjoined, {244} as a mark of the patriotic spirit that now prevails.[131] The committee of this society consists of people of the greatest wealth and influence in the city and neighbourhood.
Of the essays in favour of manufactures which have been published, it may be observed generally, that they recommend the adoption of higher import duties. That these have not been resorted to, need excite no surprise, as the secretary of the treasury has shown that an increase of duties must be followed by a decrease of national revenue, {245} and as the ultimate substitute, internal taxation, would probably be unpopular, although imposed with the most sparing hand. The spontaneous decrease in the amount of money capital now going on, does not seem to be duly appreciated;--an occurrence that is evidently well calculated to give an impulse to American industry.
When the United States shall abandon the spurious money now in circulation, and proceed on a smaller but more substantial capital, a new era of national prosperity will commence. The government will be freed from the danger, or rather the certainty, of losing the revenue by a smuggled trade, and will feel less necessity for resorting to restrictive regulations. A less sum of money will be sufficient to defray the public expenses. The consequent cheapness of labour will give the agriculturist new advantages in foreign markets, and develop in a new degree the natural resources of the country. The home market, occasioned by a manufacturing population, will be secure, as being beyond the reach of foreign governments, whose caprice is hostile to the security of American trade. Whenever the country shall be able to manufacture the whole, or the greater part of its necessaries, the exports of produce must be attended with an importation of specie. The ingress of foreign capitalists may also be calculated on as one of the effects to be produced by the change of system.
The introduction of manufactures must promote internal improvements, as the making of roads and the construction of works, for facilitating inland navigation. The country will be rendered capable of supporting a greater population than it can under the present system, thereby removing much of the inconvenience that attends their present settlements; {246} better opportunities for mental improvement, and the means of more prompt national defence, will be acquired; foreign commerce and foreign relations will be abridged, so that the hazard of hostilities with other countries may be greatly lessened. A small shipping trade evidently requires less naval protection than an extensive foreign commerce, and the retrenchment may perhaps admit of some relaxation in the present construction of ships of war. The reverses so frequently injurious to the manufacturers of Britain are less to be dreaded in the United States. While their manufactures do not exceed their own wants, it will always be practicable to prevent the home market from being overstocked, and while the vacant back woods are held in reserve, a manufacturing population need not be reduced to pauperism by the want of a foreign market for their fabrics.