IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA. 205 



followed by the angry rush of tlie ponderous steam-engine, urged 

 forward, still forward, by the restless pursuer of his fated race. 



"Wander whither you will, take any direction, the most 

 frequented or the most secluded, at every and all points do 

 these lines of rail-way intercept your path. Each state, north, 

 south, and west, is eagerly thrusting forth these iron arms, to 

 knit, as it were, in a straiter embrace her neighbours ; and I 

 have not a doubt, in a very short time, a man may journey from 

 the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, coastwise, with as much 

 facility as he now does from Boston to Washington, a distance 

 of four hundred and fifty miles, which may be at this day per- 

 formed within forty hours, out of which you pass a night in 

 New York. 



" But to leave anticipations and imaginings, which, by the 

 way, is a forbearance hard of practice in a region where all things 

 are on the whirl of speculative change, and where practical 

 results outrun the projections of even the most visionary thorist." 



REPUBLICAN MANNERS ON BOARD AMERICAN 

 STEAM VESSELS. 



" I must not omit to notice supper or tea, for it was both, and 

 an excellent meal it was, served about eight o'clock upon two 

 parallel tables, which ran the whole length of the cabin, at least 

 one hundred and eighty feet; and to which sat down about one 

 hundred persons, of all ranks, the richest merchants, the most 

 eminent statesmen, and the humblest mechanic, who chose to 

 pay for a cabin fare, as most of those persons who travel do. I 

 was seated with an exceeding lady-like and well-bred woman on 

 my left hand, and on my right sat a man who, although decently 

 dressed, was evidently a working operative of the humblest 

 class ; yet was there nothing in either his manner or appearance 

 to annoy the most refined female : he asked for what he wanted 

 respectfully, performed any little attention he could courteously, 

 and evinced better breeding and less selfishness than I have 

 witnessed at some public dinners at home, where the admission 

 of such a person would have been deemed derogatory. 



" I do not mean by this description to infer a crowded table 

 of this kind is as agreeable as a party whose habits, education, 

 and sympathies, being on a level, render intercourse a matter of 

 mutual pleasure; what I would show is, that in this mingling 

 of classes, which is inevitable in travelling here, there is nothing 

 to disgust or debase man or woman, however exclusive ; for it 

 would really be impossible to feed a like multitude, of any rank 



