Blane's Excursion through the United States and Canada (1822-23)
Extract from An Excursion through The United States and Canada During the Years 1822-23 By An English Gentleman [William Newnham Blane, 1800-1825] [reprinted by] Negro Universities Press, New York

Baltimore is a regular and well-built city ....

I proceeded in the stage to Washington, a distance of eighty-four miles, over a very good road, but through a most uninteresting country. A great deal of the land on each side had not been cleared, and where it had, it was sterile, and apparently very unproductive.

Before arriving at the Federal City, I passed through the little village of Bladensburgh, the spot where the action was fought (if action it can be called) which decided the fate of the capital in the last war. The only American troops that opposed General Ross, were a small body of marines, commanded by Major Miller, and a few seamen, under Commodore Barney. These brave fellows were all cut to pieces. The militia, although very numerous, ran away without firing a shot; and did not stop, until they had reached Montgomery, fifteen miles distant. On account of the cowardly conduct of the militia, this action is humorously called "the Bladensburgh Races."

I was much disappointed upon arriving at Washington. I had been told, indeed, that I should see a straggling city; but I had no idea that I should find the houses so very much scattered as they really are. An European, duly impressed with the idea of an ancient metropolis, might well be astonished at seeing the infant one of the United States....

Few places could have been selected possessing greater natural beauties, and, at the same time, better adapted for the site of a metropolis. I think, indeed, that Washington, in point of situation, ranks first among American cities.

The Patent Office, to which strangers are freely admitted, contains a number of very interesting models. Among those of bridges, I particularly admired that of a straight bridge, constructed by means of timbers, connected diagonally over a span of 200 feet, at Fayettesville, in North Carolina. The model was placed across a division between two of the cases of the smaller models; and though it was apparently very slight, yet when a piece of wood was fastened to it by several small cords, it supported three or four of the visitors....

Shortly after my arrival at Washington, as I was one day coming with a friend from visiting the public offices, he pointed out to me a well dressed gentleman, walking by himself. "That," said he, "is the President of the United States." When this great personage met us, my friend introduced me to him. I took off my hat as a mark of respect; upon which the President did the same, and shook me by the hand, saying he was glad to see me. I went afterwards to pay my respects to him at his house, in company with the same friend. We were shown into a handsome room, where the President had been writing. When he came in, he shook us by the hand, requested us to sit down, and conversed upon a variety of topics. I may here observe, that whenever, in America, you are introduced to any one, the custom is to shake hands. I like this custom, as it is much more friendly, and puts you more at your ease, than the cold formal bow, with which, in England, and indeed in most of Europe, you are greeted at the performance of this ceremony. I was very much pleased with the unaffected urbanity and politeness of the President, so entirely different from what I should have met with on being introduced to a person of anything like the same importance in Europe. When going to pay my respects to a Duke of Tuscany, or even to a petty German prince, whose whole territory was not larger than a county in one of the United States, I have had to dress in a court uniform, and to pass by a whole file of soldiers, and then by half a dozen pages, officers, and chamberlains, with gold keys at their pockets, etc. But the President of the United States received me in my ordinary morning dress; and, though he is Commander-in-chief of the army and navy, has no need of sentinels at his door, being sufficiently protected by the love of his fellow citizens.

I can safely say, that the manly simplicity of the President impressed me with much more respect, than the absurd mummery of European potentates. Yet surely if pride can be tolerated in any man, it must be in him, who (like President Monroe) has been placed at the head of the government of his native country, by the unanimous suffrage of eight millions of his fellow citizens. How much more has he to be proud of, than the petty distinction of birth or fortune! and what an immeasurable distance between him and a German Princeling! Yet, to judge by their manners and bearing, you would fancy the Prince was the greatest man on earth, and the President merely a private individual; whereas the one is a most unimportant personage, except in his own opinion, and the other is really a great man.

A short time before my arrival at Washington, there occurred a fine example of Republican simplicity. Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, happened to meet together at the opening of a college at Charlottesville in Virginia. I suppose this is the only instance on record, of three men, two of whom had been, and one of whom actually was, at the head of the government of the self-same country, meeting by chance, and, in the most unceremonious and friendly way, passing the evening together. There were four presidents alive when I was in the United States, -- Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe ....


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