being several times in france, twice in america and canada, thrice in italy and as many times in holland, under circumstances which brought me into relation with representative people, enabled me to become acquainted with the ways of persons of other countries than my own. there i met great orators, poets, statesmen, philosophers, and great preachers of whom i had read—but whom to know was a greater inspiration. thus i learned the art of not being surprised, and of regarding strangeness as a curiosity, not an offence awakening resentment as something unpardonable, or at least, an impropriety the traveller is bound to reprehend, as mrs. trollope and her successors have done on american peculiarities. on the continent i found incidents to wonder at, but i confine myself in this chapter to america and canada, countries we are accustomed to designate as "across the water," as the united states and the dominion which have imperishable interest to all of the british race.
notwithstanding the thousands of persons who now make sea journeys for the first time, i found, when it came to my turn, there was no book—nor is there now—on the art of being a sea passenger. i could find no teaching handbook of the ocean—what to expect under entirely new conditions, and what to do when they come, so as to extract out of a voyage the pleasure in it and increase the discomforts which occur in wave-life. one of the pleasures is—there is no dust at sea.
on my visit to america in 1879, i, at the request of mr. hodgson pratt, undertook to inquire what were the prospects of emigrants to that country and canada, which cost me labour and expense. what i found wanting, and did not exist, and which does not exist still, was an emigrant guide book informing him of the conditions of industry in different states, the rules of health necessary to be observed in different climates, and the vicissitudes to which health is liable. the book wanted is one on an epitome plan of the people's blue books, issued by lord clarendon on my suggestion, as he stated in them.
when i was at washington, mr. evarts, the secretary of state, gave me a book, published by local authorities at washington, with maps of every department of the city, marking the portion where special diseases prevailed. london has no such book yet. similar information concerning every state and territory in america existed in official reports. but i found that neither the government of washington nor ottawa would take the responsibility of giving emigrants this information in a public and portable form, as land agents would be in revolt at the preferential choice emigrants would then have before them. it was continually denied that such information existed. senators in their turn said so. possibly they did not know, but mr. henry villard, a son-in-law of lloyd garrison, told me that when he was secretary of the social science association he began the kind of book i sought, and that its' issue was discouraged.
on my second visit to america in 1882, i had introductions to the president of the united states and to lord lome, the governor of canada, from his father, the duke of argyll, with a view of obtaining the publication of a protecting guide book such as i have described, under its authority. when i first mentioned this in new york (1879) the editor of the star (an irishman) wrote friendly and applauding leaders upon my project. on my second visit, in 1882, this friendly editor (having seen in the papers that mr. gladstone approved of my quest) wrote furious leaders against it. on asking him the reason of the change of view, he said, "mr. holyoake, were mr. gladstone and his cabinet in this room, and i could open a trap-door under their feet and let them all fall into hell, i would do it," using words still more venomous. then i realised the fatuity of the anti-irish policy which drives the ablest irishmen into exile and maintains a body of unappeasable enemies of england wherever they go. then i saw what crazy statesmanship it was in the english to deny self-government to the irish people, and spend ten millions a year to prevent them taking care of themselves.
the irish learned to think better of mr. gladstone some years later. one night when he was sitting alone in the house of commons writing his usual letter to the queen, after debates were over, he was startled by a ringing cheer that filled the chamber, when looking up he found the irish members, who had returned to express their gratitude to him. surely no nation ever proclaimed its obligation in so romantic a way. the tenderest prayer put up in my time was that of w. d. sullivan:—
"god be good to gladdy,
says sandy, john and paddy,
for he is a noble laddy,
a grand old chiel is he."
i take pride in the thought that i was the first person who lectured upon "english co-operation" in montreal and boston. it was with pride i spoke in stacey hall in boston, from the desk at which lloyd garrison was once speaking, when he was seized by a slave-owning mob with intent to hang him. as i spoke i could look into the stairway on my right, down which he was dragged.
the interviewers, the terror of most "strangers," were welcome to me. the engraving in frank leslie's paper reproduced in "among the americans," representing the interview with me in the hoffman house, was probably the first picture of that process published in england (1881). i advocated the cultivation of the art in great britain, which, though prevalent in america, was still in a crude state there. the questions put to me were poor, abrupt, containing no adequate suggestion of the information sought the interviewer should have some conception of the knowledge of the person questioned, and skill in reporting his answers. some whom i met put down the very opposite of what was said to them. the only protection against such perverters, when they came again, was to say the contrary to what i meant, when their rendering would be what i wished it to be. some interviewers put into your mouth what they desired you to say. against them there is no remedy save avoidance. on the whole, i found interviewers a great advantage. i had certain ideas to make known and information to ask for, and the skilful interviewer, in his alluring way, sends everything all over the land. wise questioning is the fine art of daily life. "it is misunderstanding," says the dutch proverb, "which brings lies to town." everybody knows that misunderstandings create divisions in families and alienations in friendships—in parties as well as in persons—which timely inquiries would dissipate. intelligent questioning elicits hidden facts—it increases knowledge without ostentation—it clears away obscurity, and renders information definite—it supersedes assumptions—it tests suspicions and throws light upon conjecture—it undermines error, without incensing those who hold it—it leads misconception to confute itself without the affront of direct refutation—it warns inquirers not to give absolute assent to anything uncorroborated, or which cannot be interrogated. relevant questioning is the handmaid of accuracy, and makes straight the pathway of truth.
the privations of protection, which a quick and independent-minded people endured, was one of the wonders i saw. in montreal, for a writing pad to use on my voyage home, i had to pay seven shillings and sixpence, which i could have bought in london for eighteen-pence. i took to america a noble, full-length portrait of john bright, just as he stood when addressing the house of commons, more than half life-size—the greatest of mayall's triumphs. though it was not for sale, but a present to my friend, james charlton, of chicago, the well-known railway agent, the custom house demanded a payment of 30 dols. (￡6) import duty. it was only after much negotiations in high quarters, and in consideration that it was a portrait of mr. bright, brought as a gift to an american citizen, that the import duty was reduced to 6 dollars.
the disadvantage of protection is that no one can make a gift to america or to its citizens without being heavily taxed to discourage international generosity.
the mayor of brighton, mr. alderman hallet, had entrusted to me some 200 volumes, of considerable value, on city sanitation, greatly needed in america. they lay in the custom house three months, before i discovered that the smithsonian institute could claim them under its charter. otherwise i must have paid a return freight to brighton, as america is protected from accepting offerings of civil or sanitary service. there often come to us, from that country, emissaries of evangelism, to improve us in piety, but at home they levy 25 per cent, upon the importation of the holy scriptures—thus taxing the very means of salvation.
for a time i sent presents of books to working-class friends in america whom i wished to serve or to interest, who wrote to me to say that "they were unable to redeem them from the post-office, the import tax being more than they could pay," and they reminded me that "having been in america, i ought to know that working people could not afford to have imported presents made to them." indeed, i had often noticed how destitute their homes were in matters of table service and all bright decoration, plentiful even in the houses of our miners and mechanics in england. american workmen would tell me that a present of cutlery or porcelain, if i could bring that about, would interest them greatly.
on leaving new york a friend of mine, a custom house officer, told me he needed a coast coat, suitable to the service he was engaged in, and that he would be much obliged if i would have one made for him in england. he would leave it to me to contrive how it could reach him. the coat he wanted, he said, would cost him ￡9 in new york. i had it made in london, entirely to his satisfaction, for ￡4 15s., but how to get it to him free of custom duties was a problem. i had to wait until a friend of mine—a property owner in montreal—was returning there. he went out in the vessel in which princess louise sailed. he wore it occasionally on deck to qualify it being regarded as a personal garment. so it arrived duty free at montreal. after looking about for two or three months for a friend who would wear it across the frontier, it arrived, after six months' travelling diplomacy, at the house of my friend in new york.
i did not find in america or canada anything more wonderful, beggarly and humiliating than the policy of protection. but we are not without counterparts in folly of another kind.
visitors to england no doubt wonder to find us, a commercial nation, fining the merchant of enterprise a shilling (the workman was so fined until late years) for every pound he expends on journeys of business—keeping a travelling tax to discourage trade. but john bull does not profess to be over-bright, while uncle sam thinks himself the smartest man in creation. we retain in 1904 a tax peel condemned in 1844. but then we live under a monarchy, from which uncle sam is free.
france used to be the one land which was hospitable to new ideas, and for that it is still pre-eminent in europe. but america excels europe now in this respect. canada has not emerged from its colonialism, and has no national aspiration. voltaire found when he was in london, that england had fifty religions and only one sauce. america has no distinction in sauces, but it has more than 200 religions, and having no state church there is no poison of social ascendency in piety, but equality in worship and prophesying. i found that a man might be of any religion he pleased—though as a matter of civility he was expected to be of some—and if he said he was of none, he was thought to be phenomenally fastidious, if not one of theirs would suit him, since america provided a greater variety for the visitor to choose from than any other country in the world.
though naturally disappointed at being unable to suit the stranger's taste, they were not intolerant. he was at liberty to import or invent a religion of his own. let not the reader imagine that because people are free to believe as they please, there is no religion in america.
nearing santa fe in new mexico, i passed by the adobe temple of montezuma. adobe is pronounced in three syllables—a-do-be—and is the mexican name for a mud-built house, which is usually one story high; so that santa fe has been compared to a town blown down. when the emperor montezuma perished he told his followers to keep the fire burning in the temple, as he would come again from the east, and they should see "his face bright and fair." in warfare and pestilence and decimation of their race, these faithful worshippers kept the fire burning night and day for three centuries, and it has not long been extinguished. europe can show no faith so patient, enduring, and pathetic as this.
the pleasantest hours of exploration i spent in santa fe were in the old church of san miguel. though the oldest church in america, there are those who would remove rather than restore it. a book lay upon an altar in which all who would subscribe to save it had inserted their names, and i added mine for five shillings.
when an englishman goes abroad, he takes with him a greater load of prejudices than any man of any other nation could bear, and, as a rule, he expresses pretty freely his opinion of things which do not conform to his notions, as though the inhabitants ought to have consulted his preferences, forgetting that in his own country he seldom shows that consideration to others. on fit occasion i did not withhold my opinion of things which seemed to me capable of improvement; but before giving my impressions i thought over what equivalent absurdity existed in england, and by comparing british instances with those before me, no one took offence—some were instructed or amused at finding that hardly any nation enjoyed a monopoly of stupidity. there is all the difference in the world between saying to an international host, "how badly you do things in your country," and saying, "we are as unsuccessful as you in 'striking twelve all at once.'"
we all know the maxim: "'before finding fault with another, think of your own." but charles dickens, with all his brightness, forgot this when he wrote of america. few nations have as yet attained perfection in all things—not even england.
when in boston, america, 1879, i went to the best bible store i could find or be directed to, to purchase a copy of the apocryphal books of the old testament. in a church where i had to make a discourse, i wanted to read the dialogue between the prophet esdras and the angel uriel. the only copy i could obtain was on poor, thin paper; of small, almost invisible print, and meanly bound. the price was 4s. 2d. "how is it," i inquired, "that you ask so much in the hub of the universe for even this indifferent portion of scripture—seeing that at the house of the society for the promotion of christian knowledge, in northumberland avenue, london, a house ten times handsomer than yours, in a much more costly situation—i can buy the same book on good, strong paper, in large type, in a bright, substantial cover for exactly 3s. less than you ask me." "you see, sir," said the manager of the store, "we have duty to pay." "duty!" i exclaimed. "do you mean me to understand that in this land of puritan christians, you tax the means of salvation?" he did not like to admit that, and could not deny it, so after a confused moment he answered: "all books imported have to pay twenty-five per cent, duty." all i could say was that "it seemed to me that their protective duties protected sin; and, being interested in the welfare of emigrants, i must make a note counselling all who wish to be converted, to get that done before coming out; for if they arrive in america in an unconverted state they could not afford to be converted here." until then i was unaware that protection protected the devil, and that he had a personal interest in its enactment.
my article in the nineteenth century entitled, "a stranger in america," written in the uncarping spirit as to defects and ungrudgingly recognising the circumstances which frustrated or retarded other excellences in their power, was acknowledged by the press of that country, and was said by g. w. smalley—the greatest american critic in this country then—to be "one of those articles which create international goodwill." approval worth having could no further go. it was surprising to me that mere two-sided travelling fairness should meet with such assent, whereas i expected it would be regarded as tame and uninteresting.